City Government
More Than 1,500 Sign Petition Opposing F-35
July 10, 2017 
Packed house of more than 200 at Boise Public Library learns about F-35
The Citizens for a Livable Boise group opposing the F-35 fighter jet being based at Gowen Field have collected more than 1,500 signatures on a petition asking officials to drop support for choosing Boise as a base.
In a letter to Boise officials which accompanied the petition, the group said in part, “We, the people are opposed to the basing of F35 Jet aircraft at Boise’s Gowen Field. We request that Mayor David Beiter, the Boise City Council, Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter, Senator James Risch, Senator Mike Crapo, Representative Mike Simpson, Representative Raul Labrador and the United States Air Force to cease all efforts to promote and consider Boise as a viable site for these aircraft.”
They also wrote to Dr. Heather Wilson, Secretary of the Air Force, to inform her there was a significant public opposition to basing the loud jet in Boise. In that letter, the group said, “Boise is just not a good fit given its proximity to private homes, schools, churches and businesses. Shoehorning military fighter jets into the existing infrastructure is fraught with environmental and economic downsides. We have been told that should Boise be named that the Air Force will conduct an Environmental Impact Study (EIS). Given that you already did an EIS in 2012 (when F35 basing was considered) nothing material has changed for the better. What has changed is that residential homes are continuing to be built all around the proximity of increasing airport noise.”
Complete letters and files attached.
F35 Petition Signatures and Comments Detail 5:15 – 063017
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Comments & Discussion
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Jul 10, 2017, 1:43 pm
CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF IDAHO
ARTICLE I DECLARATION OF RIGHTS
Section 2. POLITICAL POWER INHERENT IN THE PEOPLE. All political power is inherent in the people. Government is instituted for their equal protection and benefit, and they have the right to alter, reform or abolish the same whenever they may deem it necessary; and no special privileges or immunities shall ever be granted that may not be altered, revoked, or repealed by the legislature.
Jul 10, 2017, 3:14 pm
I didnt sign it. i wish they had come to all the houses in the flight line. i live right off overland. the jets this past weekend flew over my house. i wish i had a head set the flight crews wear to protect their hearing.
EDITOR NOTE–go to citizens for a livable boise website http://www.citizensforalivableboise.org
Jul 10, 2017, 3:31 pm
Humm What is the population of the valley today? 225,000? 1500/225,000= 1% ( if you round up)
I don’t think most people care
JMHO
Jul 10, 2017, 7:21 pm
Porcupine you’re quills are uninformed. Those 1500 signatures more likely represent 42500 votes.
Jul 10, 2017, 11:09 pm
Bring on the f35 program means money for the city. Boo hoo if you are in the flight path you chose to live there. The boise airport was there long time before you moved in.
Jul 11, 2017, 6:17 am
For those that remember the wonderful 70’s and the F4 which was stationed at Gowen, this is a relative noise reduction program.
During takeoff, the F-35A produces 111 dB whereas the F4 Phantom produced 128dB
(www.jsf.mil/news/docs/20141031_F-35_Noise_Executive_Summary.pdf)
https://www.nap.edu/read/11443/chapter/5#79
Jul 11, 2017, 7:18 am
I’ll know these people are serious if some of them run for the Boise CIty Council.
Jul 11, 2017, 7:47 am
The F-35 will come to Boise and be welcomed warmly with fanfare, a news bit or two, some speeches, flag waving, etc.
I mean the politicos stopped listening to the citizens a long time ago and have ignored the states constitution on a regular basis, or there wouldn’t be a blog like this one.
Oh it will come alright. Bringing more to the valley. More as in:
Jobs, but only if you qualify for Military Service.
Housing, Some people will relocate here depending on the nature of the new mission for the 124th. Then some will leave (if they can) because of living too close.
Growth, Growth is good they say until it takes its toll on infrastructure, schools, affordable housing, etc.
Taxes, yes, I said more taxes. The tax increases will be needed for schools, road repairs and improved services at Gowen Field overall.
Idaho Power and Intermountain Gas rate increases to off-set expansion and growth for new services.
I mean how else do you justify a 406-Billion + dollar program called the F-35?
Jul 11, 2017, 10:15 am
Better Estimate
I don’t know where you pulled the 42,500 people that the 1500 signatures represent but even at that number you are talking about only 19% of the valley.
And in most elections only 20% or so vote…
Kind of like the old saying goes…Every one wants to feed the starving children but try asking them for money.
Many people are against the F-35 but wait and see if they vote.
Jul 11, 2017, 10:55 am
ryan montgomery: “…if you are in the flight path you chose to live there. The boise airport was there long time before you moved in.”
An oft-repeated but specious argument.
Suppose somebody bought a house on Eagle Road, when it was a narrow, 2-lane country road. If they complained about 5 lanes and 55mph nonstop traffic 15 years later, would you dismiss their complaints by saying, “You chose to live there.”
Suppose you live next to a 3-cow pasture. Would you have no right to complain, if the farmer turned it into a 10,000-head feedlot? “You chose to live there.”
(I wouldn’t sign the petition, because I still don’t know if I’m against the F-35 mission or not. But I am TOTALLY in favor of the “trial demonstration” that the Boise Guardian has advocated. PLEASE bring in a squadron of F-35s for a couple weeks, or maybe a month. Have them do the kind of drills they would be doing, if permanently stationed here. Let us see and hear for ourselves!)
Jul 11, 2017, 11:06 am
The petition is a limited, but a very good sampling of how citizens of Boise feel about the F-35. The fact is that those on the south end of Boise will be far more affected than those on the north end, but the negative effects of the F-35 will be felt at some level throughout the community.
What I find interesting are those that retired from the military and moved to Boise because of its lifestyle and now want to make it like the environment they left behind.
Jul 11, 2017, 5:14 pm
Please do not move forward with your expansion plans. I just bought my retirement Townhouse near the Airport off Owyhee…the noise we have now is enough of an intrusion.
Jul 12, 2017, 8:08 am
The US military and spy industry are for profit tools of corporate America. It is the cause of nearly every global instability problem today.
The strategic policy of the past 40 years will probably result in the fall of Europe and a generations-long terrorist campaign against the USA by the sand people.
The best part is it’s intentional. It’s a corporate profit strategy. Worried we might come to know this, the spy agencies are focused inward now.
Jul 12, 2017, 8:24 am
That leaves several thousand that live in the area that are not concerned about the aircraft. I wonder what the split is between Republicans and the Democrats/Socialists. Now that would be interesting.
Jul 12, 2017, 11:15 am
Bikeboy, I like your line of thought on the comparison however, your comparison is also specious. Good word: superficially plausible, but actually wrong.
Here’s why I think so- zoning.
If I bought a house on Eagle Rd, I have a reasonable expectation as the area grows so will the road. It is seldom an overnight drastic change. More commercial development, more traffic, bigger road. A reasonable person can “see the writing on the road” over 15+ years.
A change from F-4s to F15s, to F35s or C-130s for firefighting, or regular visits from Air Force One’s 747… a reasonable person expects different aircraft at the airport.
In any case, current zoning laws give us a reasonable expectation of what is going to happen with a neighborhood by saying, within this area you can expect X, Y & Z.
If I buy a place in a rural area where there are cows, there is zoning that allows a particular number of livestock. Maybe 3 cows will go to 30 or 90. A reasonable person can expect more or different livestock in that pasture. This is much different than the loser who moves next to an existing dairy and then 6 months later complains about the smell during the summer.
But, if the 3 cows change into 3 early morning roosters… bang! You do have a right to fried chicken.
As to “let us see and hear”… Newsflash: The jets are LOUD! Really loud!
We don’t really need a demonstration of it- regardless of the merits of the suggestions.
They ARE going to disturb the neighborhood when they fly.
EXACTLY like the A-10s when they buzz BSU for a game opener, or downtown for a parade. Or when a Cessna plane cruises low over the city.
LOUD- like Harley motorcycles going by, loud like those damn 2-cycle bicycles, loud like police sirens, loud like firetrucks, loud like FIREWORKS, the list of loud noises put upon the city is long.
BOTTOM LINE: The issue is not about the noise.
It is about economics.
Those 1,500 people are really saying:
“My home value is going to go down”
” I can’t afford to live anywhere else in a comparable house”
” I can’t afford to move”
“The city is not going to pay me what I think my house is worth”
Imagine if the Guard was going to pay all affected people 4 times what their house value is assessed. Most of them would be parading in the streets with ‘Welcome F-35 signs’.
4? 5? 10 times? If they were going to make a windfall, no one would oppose the change. Everything has a price. 🙂
Look at the above photo of the meeting. A pretty homogeneous group.
Detail the demographics of those 1,500 and we will see the real issue- economics. Everything else is just window dressing.
Jul 13, 2017, 1:40 pm
Hey, does anybody know why the USAF built nearly all of it’s post WWII airbases several miles from town?
1) Privacy/secrecy/control
2) In case they bust open a nuke in an accident
3) Noise
#3 is still of concern these days with a non-secret, non-nuke weapon. Why are they ignoring this concern at Gowen? Because they can. Because we let them.
Jul 14, 2017, 10:52 am
Dear Yes, But,
For one, ALL of the USAF bases are “post WWII” the USAF did not exist prior to September 18th, 1947.
Of course, we could go through the list of air bases to further highlight your post. “several miles”
And btw the F-35 has “secret” technology and is designed with nuclear weapon capability…
So what are you talking about other than more meaningless opposition chatter?
Jul 14, 2017, 2:10 pm
Originally supportive of the F-35 mission, mainly in support of our Air National Guards, I’ve changed my mind:
The F-35 is six times as loud as the A-10, and four times as the F-16. The noise maps presented are based on 24-hour averages and do not portray intensity or duration. At 1,000 feet, the F-35 noise level is 121 decibels, which will do permanent ear damage if sustained for a few seconds a day. Those who want THAT “sound of freedom” will only be able to hear it for so long before they go deaf.
Jul 14, 2017, 2:44 pm
Eastie, I think your diaper is full, because you smell. What bugs you is the cat is out of the bag. The plan to ignore, minimize, and intimidate opposition didn’t work. Now he mayor and friends are worried about the next election. The Guard will get the airplane and be despised by the host city residents because the opposition will be proven correct. They won’t be able to pretend this was never discussed in advance.
Counter to your counter points about why the bases are isolated:
Secret: The F-35 is less secret than a new Ford because of hacking and likely intentional transfer of info to China and Russia via the numerous cooks in the kitchen. It’s also very important to the defense industry to keep the competition up to date so they can overcharge the country for the next big ‘secret’ breakthrough. So F-35 based close to population not an issue anymore.
Nukes: USAF or anyone else do not and will not carry nukes in and out of Boise/Gowen. Not since the Genie and Davy Crockett were they so careless with nukes. Nukes involved in a crash or ground fire present a huge dirty bomb problem, so they don’t want one of those happening at Overland and Cole. Read about the 1980 Grand Forks fire and a few other similar mishaps. USAF won’t plan nukes on F-35, Navy not likely either. NATO probably will plan to use B-61 bomb on F-35 to deliver the weapons we ‘loan’ them.
Noise. Yes this is about Noise.
Air pollution is a concern.
The local fuel shortage they will cause is also an unmentioned problem.
Most of all this dispute is about our governments and military telling lies. Too many to list. Lies for profit. Lies because they don’t care.
Jul 21, 2017, 10:51 am
It is in the water Boise….you all have been dupted by Bieter & Co….who as of this morning…have garnered the World’s attention for being the @@@hole of modern civilization….(and 3-7 billion others now know) when cops beat women / international guests…ON CHRISTMAS no less….and are reported for rape…and Dave looks the other way…and his judge brother forgets to show to Court…well….Boise….your LDS days and ways have caught up with you…..overtaxed and underserved…..a bad combo when dealing with my kind. BE KIND. STAND UP TO THIS BOISE FRAUD CIRCUS MESS>…….Boise….you have more power than you think….tell Butch where he can go…Today NOT Tomorrow…..you are running out of time. Circle your own wagons…..millions more of us…than them. Fraud hurts everyone….even you Boise Guardian….grow teeth….bite harder. Thank you. Trev
Jul 21, 2017, 10:54 am
p.s. the F-35 are flying over Idaho Falls tomorrow…and although I would like to see them…Blue Angels too…..not sure I can get there…as broke as Idaho has left me….sinners.
what I can tell you is that the F-35s will make you want to sell your home should Dave get his way….he hates YOU the Citizen…too big for his britches.
-Hitch
Aug 6, 2017, 7:32 am
Please read the F-35 editorial in the Sunday Aug 6 ID statesman by Rocky Rotharmel. After attending an air show in Idaho Falls with F-35’s he confirms our worst fears regarding the noise.
Aug 6, 2017, 7:49 am
Below is the Air Force contact regarding the Boise F-35 mission. This address was in an Idaho Stateman editorial earlier this week. I wrote and hope you do as well but do not procrastinate as they are deciding this month.
Dr. Heather Wilson
U. S. Air Force
1670 Air Force Pentagon
Washington, DC 20330-1670