I’m guessing the “Strategic Innovation and Performance Director” is going to be doing the work that Dave Bieter and the Boise City Councilors would be doing if they weren’t busy planning their trolley route, and running from one construction site to the next with their golden shovels.

EDITOR NOTE–Mr Smith, you give too much credit to mayor and council. They already have a guy working full time on the trolley along with an outside consultant. James Pardy was pulled from his usual duties of designing city sewers two years ago to be the city’s liaison to a circulator analysis, overseen by the URS Corporation.

Brian –
“The people who cast the votes don’t decide an election, the people who count the votes do”
Joseph Stalin

Until we practice “Democracy” where people have real information, not corporate media fabrications, and vote by a show of hands, I’ll assume voting is a total fraud and hand picked politicians are being placed in office by a few super powerful people lurking in the shadows (oligarchs).

Did you know you can hire a company called “Rent a Crowd” to hold protest rallies like Trump is experiencing now? Do you understand that our “media” is an arm of the state nearly identical to what they had in Soviet Russia? Nothing is as it seems anymore. A police state bent on protecting itself at any cost has arrived. We’ve lost the Republic, just like our founding fathers warned would happen. Voting results mean nothing.

There is something prophetic and actually honest about the mayor getting his trolley guy and plans out of the sewer…

Still waiting to see or hear any word of the “Community Outreach” Ms. Camacho Mendoza stated was her main goal when she accepted Bieter’s offer of the highly compensated parttime position as Director of Office of Police Oversight (formerly Ombudsman,full-time served honorably by Pierce Murphy). There have been a number of protests, marches, cultural and police events where Camacho Mendoza was strangely absent. This, plus these new jobs imply Bieter has a excess money floating around for positions with flowery descriptors but no real purpose or visibility.

Wow….these new positions really look comfy. $94K for employee culture….I need to sign up for that. I’m a cultural dynamo for $94K/yr. I don’t have any college creds other than auto mechanics but I have lived here for 53 years. I’ve got Boise cultural history pouring out my ears. I’d probably not get the job because I’m guessing they are looking to import a whole new culture into Boise, maybe from offshore. I guess we’ll find out when they hire their fully vetted and credentialed cultural Czar.

remember the money could be coming from the United Water Franchise Fee. since off loading the hydrant maintenance to United Water the Public Utility Commission suggested the City cut their franchise fee (tax), of which $450K was for hydrants (almost the $500K needed for these jobs), to which the city responded the PUC should mind their own business.

https://boiseguardian.com/2016/02/04/puc-suggests-boise-cut-water-fee/

another example how the city works around the rules for budget and tax increases.

EDITOR NOTE–Based on agenda documents it appears the money is “unused” in the various departments. We have noticed a pattern almost every year whereby department heads are ordered (advised, encouraged) to hold back 10% of their approved budgets. Then at the end of the year the council has a spending spree for “one time” items. Some are no doubt needed, others are not.

Well, at least keeping the attention on all these new ideas there is no real rumble from the rank and file who are severely underpaid. Use any measure you want – national average, poverty guidelines, or spot on the pay scale, the city is trying to force rank and file to quit so they can hire even cheaper. By force to quit I’s saying starve them with no discretionary income. Also they’ve got lots of little summer entertainment type jobs that suck funds from necessary rank and file.