City Government

On Again Off Again Bieter Staffer Back

Exhibiting the precise type of behavior that lost him the Boise Mayor’s race, Mayor Dave Bieter rehired a campaign staffer into a city job the day after his failed election bid.

BOISEDEV reports that Amber Pence served as Director of Intergovernmental Affairs until June of this year. As of December 4th, she is back in that job, a city spokesperson confirms. Pence reportedly was paid $91,500 per year as of March.

It will be interesting to see what types of government funded jobs are doled out to those fleeing the sinking ship.

Comments & Discussion

Comments are closed for this post.

  1. I hope McClean looks across all departments at the number of totally unnecessary positions like Intergovernmental Affairs (whatever that is), “project managers” in PDS, a full-time fire department position managing their social media accounts…

  2. Diogenes of Boise
    Dec 12, 2019, 4:58 pm

    Don’t kid yourself, Boise’s incoming DeBlasio think-alike will clear out all these patronage jobs and fill them with her own squad(TM) of SJWs.

  3. There is also a Pence in Risk Management. Pence – an old family friend of Daves?

    Swapping in an out of highly paid jobs doesn’t look good.

    This is a request for incoming Mayor McLean to take care of it.

  4. Pence must know where a bunch of skeletons are buried in City Hall! Bieter buys loyalty with patronage jobs.

    It’s also a poke in the eye to Mclean, who now has to figure out what to do with a Bieter uber-loyalist.

  5. Big Spender
    Dec 14, 2019, 3:20 pm

    I don’t think one excessive personnel situation will matter. The post election interview I saw tells me new mayor’s priorities will require maximum tax and fee increases. This is the angle that Bieter coulda shoulda used to differentiate himself. Because, yes our taxes and fees are gonna go nuts way past Bieter’s nutty increases.

    The objective of all liberal city leaders is to financially crush the taxpayer and have excrement on the sidewalk from all the free social programs. They even have special liberal policy schools to teach them how to do this.

  6. Wow! $91.5K per year? Intergovernmental mismanagement pays pretty well. Commissar Pence can buy a nice dacha with them rubles.

    I’m sure comrade Bieter has bigskee plans for shouting at GOP Leg members once his coronation is complete when he re-assumes the figurehead of the United Northend of Socialist Republiks (aka District 19). Of course the RINOs in the Leg are known to cave and wobble with the best of them.

    Trotskyist McClean will have to proceed with her permanent revolution with some Bieter holdovers, I’m sure. I wonder when propagandist Greta Thunberg will be invited to scold all of us boomers for stealing her childhood, in the name of Climate Change.

  7. Want to know
    Dec 16, 2019, 7:08 am

    I would like to now what priorities exist within the city regarding intergovernmental affairs. Not just headlines of the big picture, but who the inter gov person has been talking to, about what, and the position the city takes.

    Additionally until we see budget cuts we cannot see tax cuts. What they can take private they should. Like cheerleading camp. Like kindness campaigns.

    Somehow because I voted for a new administration I’m feeling like I should have a place to offer a voice, though I know that is not the case.

  8. Not so much change
    Dec 16, 2019, 11:33 pm

    In today’s news, Jade Riley will stay on as “Chief Operating Officer” (currently pulling nearly $160,000/year in his role in the Mayor’s office) and Courtney Washburn has been brought over from Conservation Voters for Idaho (who endorsed McLean, Bageant, Clegg) for the Chief of Staff position. Not the kind of change-making headlines many of us are wanting. Would be interesting to see the salary negotiations that took place and a historical comparison for those roles.

  9. Add 3% to the COO’s pay ($4800), as the City’s annual budget includes a 3% base compensation increase for employees each year. . . which pretty much tracks the 3% budget increase that has been impacting property taxes.

    Here is the link for the May 15 article with the database where one can see all employee wages:

    https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/investigations/article228871314.html

    This database is just wages, and does not include overtime pay, bonus pay, etc., and the City doles out bonuses each year, as the total amount shows up on various financial documents. In addition, city employees Total Compensation includes very “rich benefits” – which add high costs that are rapidly compounding each year, and will most likely not be sustainable in the next recession.

    The numbers show that Bieter used alot of taxpayer money to buy loyalty; both on the inside with pay and perks, and on the outside doling out contracts. Will Lauren McLean take what she heard from her citizen listening tour and make the tough choices to lessen the burden on the taxpayers?

  10. now < before
    Dec 17, 2019, 8:21 pm

    Jade should stay with a pay cut and more bucks based on performance and how much he can cut from his budget. Repeat – cut from his budget.

    It is the highly paid that are taking necessary wages from the lower paid. It is obvious and everybody is ignoring it.

    The peons don’t get 3. To some the system is actually cruel and greedy.

  11. 3% Is Not For All?
    Dec 18, 2019, 12:45 pm

    I believe the comment submitted by “now < before" based on the following from a Dec. 28, 2018 Boise Public Works Department Memo:

    “Implementing the Budget: Once the budget is adopted, departments have discretion as to how the budgets are expended. . ."

    This sounds like a city department can submit their budget with the annual 3% base compensation increase included, then has the freedom to decide how to apply this money at will? So a manager awards one employee with their 3% share and also allocates 2% of the total allocated for “an other” employee’s share, while that “other” employee only gets 1% or none at all? If so, this is a really easy way to buy loyalty, and would explain why there are enormous differences in payroll for city staff positions.

  12. It’s so. Cruelty and greed. Cliques. Under-medicated on reality, high on themselves.

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