I love it when politicians attempt to explain why they have failed, and just end up looking foolish and out of touch. I bet her street got plowed, while I had to drive my wife to work for two weeks because our streets were near impassable. You FAILED! just say it out loud to yourself, it will help with your denial. It’s called being prepared! You rattle off the statistics as to how many streets are in the county. I have news for you, the number of streets was the same before and after the storms! Save the lecture and do your job!

Thanks to Sarah Baker for these points of clarification. I’ve loved here since the Fall of 1977 and will say that in general the roads are handled better now than when we arrived. Lots of room for improvement, but progress gratefully noted

Ms. Barker, What are the pros and cons of rolling ACHD into the county? Or, perhaps let Boise take care of itself? Would it mean more money for those outside of Boise if the city was independent? What does Boise contribute vs. what they receive? Is Boise being a higher priority the reason why we never see a plow on the side streets out in the county? Boise seems to be burdensome and demanding on those outside it’s limits. Perhaps good riddance is in order?

The voters can make your organization disappear. Why shouldn’t we? I’m not joking. This was not some terrible upper Midwest kind of winter. Worst ever for Boise perhaps, but really still not that bad. Yep, we know your workers are working hard. This is not about them. This is about leadership. Please address how you let this happen and what you will do different in the future.

ho hum,

It is strategy that achd lacks and that is deficient. for example letting sara baker comment.

If all you have are pr politicians, everything looks like a pr opportunity.

It there were any snow removal experts, then there would be a real conversation.

My issue is not with the ACHD, but rather with those business and home owners who have done absolutely nothing to keep the sidewalks adjacent to their properties clear of snow and ice as the law requires. That’s the real scandal, which barely has been mentioned let alone addressed.

IMO, it’s Shoogi who looks foolish and out-of-touch.

Yes! The politicians failed! It’s THEIR fault that we had so much snowfall! It’s THEIR fault that they don’t have enough equipment to move 3 feet of snow off all 4800 miles of road, and have it done before Shoogi’s wife needs to go to work! (eyes rolling…)

REALITY CHECK: Area taxpayers don’t want to pay another $100 per year (or whatever it would cost) to have a fleet of snow removal equipment and related maintenance, personnel, etc., that will sit idle for 29 years… but ready for use in year 30. And any politician who suggested it would look foolish and out-of-touch! (And PLEASE! I’m not suggesting that we don’t have our share of politicians who seem a little foolish and out-of-touch!)

Clancy makes another good point. I’d never really thought about it. Our modern neighborhoods – you know, the ones where all you can see is the 3-car garages as you wend your way down the meandering, cul-de-sacked roadway – are NOT “snow removal friendly.” Oh man! I don’t envy the poor souls who have to plow out 3000 cul-de-sacs – before go-to-work hour!

I appreciate Ms. Baker’s presentation of “the facts.” My hat is off to ACHD. And I’m happy to live in Ada County (and not Payette or Washington County – at least right now!).

Most folks think global warming means simply a slow warming.
More heat though, equals more storm energy, and that translates to greater extremes of drought, precipitation, temperatures, and winds.
As our global society gets poorer, from the falling Energy Return On Investment (ERIO), our climate related cost of infrastructure damage is going up due to our dependence on diminishing fossil fuels.
Bad situation.

Or the “alternative facts”

Any professional driving outfit does not want their drivers driving 12 hours a day– day-in, day-out for 2 months.
UNSAFE.

A $100,000 brand new dump truck, plow set-up is not necessary to haul ice melt and push snow in a cul-de-sac.
Used heavy trucks are available for less than half the salary of one ACHD PIO.
PRIORITIES

In 2015 ACHD’s actual expense for salt was $115,795.
Their budgeted 2016 (now) salt expense is $69,000.
For some reason FY 2018 projection is $200,000 for the same expense. Really.

Add an additional $300,000 salt STORAGE expense per year. Storage? Who is getting paid to store the salt? Or is that a shelter on ACHD property? Because there isn’t one already, or wth?
WOW! That is some great weather forecasting, or bad as the case shows.
BUDGET MAGIC

ACHD’s budget doesn’t list “winter snow removal” as an item.
So how can an ACHD PIO tell the news “our costs are already more than last year”? That’s a numbers game. One year could be warm enough to be doing sweeping and uses up the maintenance budget, while the next year snow is paying 20% more in employee overtime.

This year is certainly a lot more expense- it would be nice if the Commissioners would identify specific projects by season within their budget.
Chip-seal Total Cost-x.
Snow Treatment Total – y.
Sweeping Sand Total- y.
IT IS A SHELL GAME.

C Bake is amiss in not remembering the November snow of 2014 when ACHD also delayed plowing the roads, right before an extended inversion kept the frozen snow on the roads for a long time.
2014:
“Quintana admits that the highway district didn’t get it perfect this time around, but says that this particular storm short-circuited their system, which works well almost every time it snows.”
“The ????surprise???? here was that it was a record snow event followed by record cold, ” he said.
That was 2014!!!! Just 2 years ago.
MEMORY!!!

http://kboi2.com/news/local/some-roads-still-better-fit-for-ice-skaters-than-driversbut-why

Cmr Bakers says, “There have not been conditions like this since records were kept from 1892”

— I suppose Cmr Baker helped Spicer count at the inauguration too.

For media and Commissioners to use history as an excuse is hugely Trumpian.
BIGLY LAME!

Personally, I’m not looking at 35 inches of snow in the road- but whatever amount it is, it’s chunky and rock hard! The gutter is jammed and I can only hate what is going to happen to the Boise River when it all melts suddenly.

This is the new norm folks!!!!
– weather is becoming more severe in the cold direction and in the hot direction. For Boise, that means winter inversions.

ANY decent amount of snow followed by a long Treasure Valley inversion = too much for ACHD to handle. It’s that simple.

Let’s PLAN for it happening again, sooner than another 30 years.
We can either accept it, as ‘it sucks’ and do nothing; or we can not waste so much budgeted money on stuff like 4 pretty ladies to help Quintana keep the TV news media informed in person, instead of him writing a press release, and instead be efficient with smaller more adaptable equipment. Think of Valley Ride buses– same problem.
WASTEFUL

As for me, I’m just accepting it- with a shovel.
But I certainly don’t appreciate politicians trying to blow smoke up ___.
And it’s too much to expect ACHD to change for the better.

Meanwhile Idaho votes for someone to ignore the climate all together.
So we’ll all drive our SUVs over ACHD potholes and burn more oil and coal.
Yeah, let’s close our eyes and do it baby!

But wait there is more….. I didn’t see any reference to the number of human injuries and property damage (vehicles) directly and indirectly related to the unplowed streets. Maybe if ACHD was held liable in whole or part for bodily injury or property damage related to the dangerous condition of residential streets they would place a higher priority on residential street clearing. Commish Baker needs to go to area hospitals and interview the patients who have suffered bodily injury due to ACHD’s priority policy. Idaho deals with emergencies all the the time. What is new is the ACHD’s disregard for this emergency. Imagine if these people were running the response to a flood emergency. They’d just say “It doesn’t happen often, so we’re going to ignore it”. Are you kidding me! Time to rethink ACHD’s policies and value to the citizens of Boise.

It will be interesting to see how the State AG’s opinion will play out that states ACHD is responsible for sidewalk maintenance including snow removal.

EDITOR NOTE–That issue is likely to “melt away.” There are standing agreements in place between ACHD and Boise City. Logically if ACHD were to actually have responsibility for sidewalks, they would control outdoor restaurant and bar seating, bike racks, flower pots, trees, etc. There is also an argument claiming sidewalks are OWNED by the property owners and the right-of-way is an EASEMENT.

Hey Bill, do the math on your suggestion that every driver / car owner buys snow tires and / or all-wheel drive. Let’s low-ball the tire cost estimate, say 100 bucks a year for the five-year life of the tires plus two annual change-overs. And let’s guess that the premium for all-wheel drive, with purchase and more gas, is way higher than that. All that extra cost to have what you call the “proper equipment” for a month-long period in a rare year. Alternatively, all drivers / taxpayers kick in an extra 10 bucks a year (pick your mechanism; I would choose property tax bill) so ACHD can build a snow removal fund that would allow aggressive response in unusual circumstances. That might include keeping private equipment operators on a contingency contract; hiring temporary staff; buying some small equipment so the existing big trucks can do the big jobs, etc.

Bill Litster,

A couple of points. First, as our new president would say, WRONG!!!

My bitch wasn’t about the snow removal, my bitch is the ACHD making excuses, as usual.

Second, I stated that the roads were “nearly impassable” and they were, for many vehicles, again, WRONG!!!

Third, my wife drives a very expensive Lexus sedan, again WRONG!!!

Oh, and congratulations on mastering that smug tone in your writing, your hand must be sore from patting yourself on the back…or something!

“Nuff said.

Doggone, My business pays an additional assessment downtown to the DBA, another sanctioned taxing district. Assessments are collected by Boise City and manage privately. Monies go towards flower pots, sidewalk cleaning, snow removal and downtown events like Alive After 5. But you are right….CCDC does take some money away from ACHD, yet ACHD maintains downtown roads to a higher standard.