Editor: I hope your item on this post about the “coppers” is in direct relation to the issue of the cars they drive, and not the need for the personnel. I say this because I have seen comments on social media where some do not believe our expanding population needs more “cops”.

For every person who is in an abusive relationship or situation, such as a domestic partner or elder abuse, for every female who is raped, for every child who is in an abusive environment . . . I say they might believe otherwise.

Many of these types of situations are the female gender on the losing end of the equation and therefore many men fail to understand how this matters because they are not the ones in the majority group needing the protection and assistance.

EDITOR NOTE–The issue is strictly cars. It has gone on so long that it is now pretty much accepted that 150 coppers need to drive to and from in a “company car.”

Hello? We’re all on the panel to ask questions. We just need some forums.

Daley, vs daily occurrences? I would like more information about this..

It is time for a change in administration. Bieter is not McLean nor Coles, nor the ACHD gal, what’s her name?

So, get out there and campaign serious candidates. It is possible to prevail over the incumbents.

I’ll vote against any candidate who has blown off my questions in the last four years. Not all of them, surprisingly. But they who have not are not up for reelection. Tired of the lawsuits, and tired of the idea that the public does not have a voice.

I’ll vote for new blood, new money, new minds, new ideas, and I hope the community also sees this need.

How about the city’s plan to coerce three oil companies into selling their tank farm to a fourth entity that will have a monopoly, and then passing the costs of building a new tank farm to the consumers with a new “withdrawal” tax of 2 cents a gallon. All this so a developer can get a sweet deal to develop some condos – smart growth they call it. I’m sure CCDC will also use tax dollars to sweeten the deal at the expense of schools, fire, ACHD and other priorities.

So if I’m a criminal and I see a cop car parked in front of a house, am I going to commit a burglary in that neighborhood? Or worse? Most likely not.

Should Boise cop cars leave the county? No. Or maybe not go to Kuna or Star either, although low crime in the entire county would benefit Boise.

But cars taken home ARE a force multiplier and we know from the City’s own commissioned studies, we are low on cops.

We definitely need new blood in Boise. We will have three new council people if we vote in Debbie Lombard Bloom to take out Elaine “I’ve been in 16 years and still have soooo much to do” Clegg, who has never seen a program she wasn’t willing to throw money at, well except for the Humane Society. I guess she hates dogs and cats.

EDITOR NOTE–Vast majority of the cars are unmarked. In the past I have suggested (tongue in cheek) real estate-type signs with BPD badge in the front yard of copper homes. Cheaper than a $40,000 car! Truth is the practice has simple gotten out of hand.

I would like to see impact fees based upon density and property value per acre. The cost for servicing low density development is exponentially higher, especially upfront for items like roads and sewer. Comparing different development types shows that box stores(Walmart) are worth 6 times less per acre than my office near downtown. Property values for housing in Eagle is worth about 3-4 less per acre than the Northend.

I want to second Bieter Begone’s remark about Clegg and the Humane Society. At a summer City Council meeting, TJ Thompson gave a presentation on why Boise’s animal code needed to be updated. He had done a tremendous amount of work in preparing a detailed presentation. More work than I’ve noticed any of the other Council members do on an issue that is presented at a public forum at a City Council meeting. Clegg attacked it, and showed her heartlessness towards animals at the same time. In fact, the only thing that seems to warm Clegg’s heart is more sprawling development. Meeting after meeting she goes to great lengths to find ways to shore up even the most rapacious of developments. And prattle about minor tweaks in the bus system that no one wants to ride. With her at the helm, it’s no wonder the bus is such a failure. I liked Coles suggestion when he announced his candidacy – make the bus free. As it stands now, more and more money gets poured into something that’s a big failure.

I think she was jealous. Everything she has worked on all these years has been a failure – especially her baby the bus system.

…and no one is addressing Bieter’s highly paid part time “Office of Police oversight” hand picked Mendoza. Notice how there is no news at all now regarding citizen issues/complaints? Used to be we could read up on investigations and resultant findings in the daily papers. Today: whistleblower complaint on supposed selling of arms on duty; not a chirp from Mendoza. There is some $$ to be saved in eliminating this.

Ref: PD vehicles parked in neighborhoods. Yes, criminals will go elsewhere but that’s just the ‘balloon theory’. Squeeze a balloon and it moves elsewhere. Why should neighborhoods without a home parked police car have to suffer.

And bet me there are RARE instances when an off-duty officer responds to a problem. And if they do respond, it’s OVERTIME. With more PERSI to pay at the higher rate.

Agree that traffic enforcement is non-existent, cept for motorcycle officers on sped enforcement.

What is concerning, and quite revealing, are the details that are hidden within other city documents.

The 2020 Budget (p.76) refers to the zoning project as, “a targeted zoning approach” – so which neighborhoods are in the bulls-eye? Everyone should be asking this of those running for office.

To me, this means the city has simply inventoried the land to see how much profit is left for the taking – to both continue the gravy–train for the development industry, and to feed the ballooning city budget via more rooftop revenue. Both a wholesale giveaway of the land and the City’s primary development tool; the power to zone.

Why? In 2018, the new 300+ unit Kensington Apartment Complex at Glenwood/State Street made the top 10 of the list of Principal Property Tax Payers (Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, p.131).

How about this recent headline: Boise Mayoral Candidate Denounces City Action In Homelessness Case; McLean.

It would be awesome to have a discussion about it. In one regard she is right.

But in another more pressing regard…in places where the homeless are allowed to camp out, it devolves into people pitching tents on storefronts, defecating and using drugs on those storefronts and no one can do anything about it. Its all over the news now and not hard to find. Its not a safe practice. On this one issue, I stand with the current mayor.

I very much like the comments by Begone and Katie regarding Clegg. That woman is dangerous.

I recently attended a meeting regarding property rights vs a dictator like city government. I made it my business, maybe just out of curiosity, to see where that (previously mentioned) cole and fairview property is heading. I view this as a very good test case to see what will happen in my own neighborhood when they come for us.

Clegg wished and proposed to impose her own views onto private property owners in the form of dictating what they “should” build on their own land. Obviously this lot is one of her baby’s in regards to her failed buss system; it is a major road and she wants to force high density low income housing so they will use the buss since no one else will; of which she basically said during her rant.

Mclean questioned as to why her motion was even necessary but then voted in favor of it; she seems like a flimsy sort of person whom is easily pushed over. Indeed, Mclean forgot she had a hot mic and at the end of the meeting said “oh, maybe I shouldn’t have voted in favor of the measure since it was a tie and I was the tie breaker”. At the very least, she appears to have no idea what she is doing, including how to turn a mic off, and I cant see her as mayor.

Ludwig was the hero who voted against said measure strongly and frequently voicing his concern that the city should not be able to dictate to or bully a private property owner. In fact, if it wasn’t for Ludgwigs frequent inquires, the intent behind the measure would not have been discovered and it would have passed unanimously.

TJ voted against it but said very little otherwise. Sanchez went on a 5 minute soapbox rant about why people should not dislike low income people, indicating she is one and therefore she takes great “offense” anytime someone mentions it; she of course voted in favor of the measure. Woodings was mostly silent but voted in favor; she seemed impatient and not really wanting to be there.

The measure passed with McLean breaking the tie on a hot mic; and the city is now allowed to bully a private land owner on what he can and can not build; and to do so to force a loser issue (bus system) to maybe have two more riders at the expense of an entire neighborhood who will have no more than 30 ft from the proposed ‘projects’. The overall consensus was, and this is a shared view amount the neighborhood which was verified when I contacted my friend who lives over there, ‘screw the people who live there and how it might impact them, I want my buss system used and this is the best way to start forcing it to happen’.

My point is, these people really sort of suck, and I will actually be extremely disappointed if Boise elects McLean; she is kind of a simpleton of whom a slight breeze would push over. Clegg is dangerous and needs to be voted out even moreso that Bieter. Sanchez is a social justice warrior forcing other people to shoulder her lifestyle in the form of taxes and low income housing instead of asking for charity or finding a community to belong to.

Why isnt Ludwig running? I would vote for him.

Clegg shall always be remembered for her wise response to citizens bemoaning the loss of recently annexed ag land to high-density housing:

“Let them have edible landscaping,” she proclaimed.

“. . . the City of Boise in my time has been really committed to not expanding our footprint, except where it made sense . . . um . . . when it didn’t take up farmland, where there were services nearby enough, adequate enough, that you could extend them in a reasonably cost efficient way.” Elaine Clegg at October 1, 2019 City Council Work Session With Ada Co. Commissioners (video: 14 minute mark).

I think the residents of the Northwest Neighborhood would fully disagree with this comment regarding both farmland and providing services, especially when only hours later, she voted in favor of a development that approved increasing density on farmland in their neighborhood!

Reasonably cost efficient manner – really? You annexed the Northwest area of Boise in 2015 and did not secure an Automatic Aid contract with the Eagle Fire District. Boise paid zero for emergency response and allowed the Eagle Fire District to continue to provide fire response service to this area they use to control. The Eagle fire fighters continued to respond because it is the right thing to do – they care about safety first, not just the rooftop revenue. But the City of Boise’s actions have meant that the Eagle Fire District taxpayers have been subsidizing Boise services for nearly 5 years.

When Harris Ranch was built, the City made sure to get a fire station built on the front end of development, then closed the nearby Whitney Station 22 off Amity Road. The people near this station who were annexed in 2003 now have a net loss of taxpayer funded municipal services. Another example of what “reasonably cost efficient manner” means to Clegg? Take from one and give to another?

I noticed that the candidate forums go all the way to Cole Road! Wow!

To Deep Midnight and what he or she perceives as private property owners being told what to do on their land: The meeting in question was for REZONING. The original zone of parcel under discussion (parcel 3) was A-1. This allows 1 house on an acre of property. Before a rezone, the property owner was fully limited by that. Period. He/she could not do whatever they wanted on their land as you suggest.
I am not pro or con on housing as proposed through Clegg’s motion. But I want to point out it is within her/council authority to make a motion requiring conditions more defined or stringent than standards. There is Idaho caselaw regarding such authority when rezone or CUP process is at play. There must be supportive evidence, of course. Clegg/Council quoted transportation studies, Smart Growth, Blueprint Boise. These are not code, just suggestions for future direction. Again, not that I agree, but it is within their authority.
I think the quote from Council was “Zoning changes are a privilege, not a right.”