On the road it meant driving with intelligence and realizing the speed limit is not a suggestion. Your turn signals are meant to be used in a timely manner. One of the most basic ways to be respectful is to use your turn signal.

We can’t read your mind. So do not make a turn or cut into a lane without signaling a good distance away. Stop signs mean full stop, not rolling through and putting others in danger. You are on the road driving a vehicle with the potential to cause great harm so please pay attention. Not the time for putting on make-up or texting. It also meant living in a neighborhood, a place where neighbors are people who know, help out and care for each other.

Sadly, things have changed so much in the last few years. This up-zone is a developer’s dream. The neighborhood I live in is on a road that is 25’ across. It actually should be a lane as two cars cannot park across from each other or emergency vehicles cannot get through. Our street, sadly, now has 5 rental houses. Some are rented by the room and are overflowing with occupants, too many cars on the street and an abundance of visitors who come and go. Most of these have Cali plates and go way too fast up and down the street without paying attention. Damn, there are small children who live here!

Along with the above, other traffic has really increased with trucks from UPS, AMAZON, FED EX and food delivery ALL DAY LONG. Places that were once homes and focused on family living are turning to rentals, Air BnB, and VRBO.

So, from one who grew up here, I feel there is very little respect left. It’s a losing battle to get newcomers to understand and I feel our city government has lost control and can’t seem to help in any positive way. They don’t seem to care much about the Boise way of days past and now seem to react only to the green…..and I don’t mean the trees.

As citizens, we must speak out against the proposed city lead zone code rewrite, which seems to be based on a premise as ridiculous as the plot of the movie “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”

Just like the three convicts in the film, we have been duped into believing that increased development density will magically bring affordable housing to our city. But let’s face it, folks, we’re not living in a fairy tale. Increased density only leads to increased traffic, noise, and overcrowding. And as for affordable housing, well, we’re still waiting for that treasure to be found.

Mayor Lauren McLean, who is playing the role of Pappy O’Daniel in this real-life drama, seems to be singing the same tune as the city’s new development director, Tim Keene, and the entire development industry. They’re all trying to sell us a bill of goods, folks. But we’re not buying it.

Former Boise Police Chief Mike Masterson is playing the role of Homer Stokes in this plot, trying to put a stop to this madness and save our city from the destructive effects of increased density.

We need sensible zoning policies that will protect our neighborhoods and preserve our quality of life. We need policies that will truly address the issue of affordable housing, rather than just promising us a treasure that doesn’t exist.

So let’s be like Homer Stokes, folks, and stand up for what is right. Let’s tell Mayor McLean and the city’s development industry that we’re not going to be fooled by their false promises anymore. It’s time to put the interests of the citizens first, not the interests of developers who are only looking to make a quick buck.

Affordable housing is a real issue, and it requires real solutions. Let’s work together to find those solutions, rather than chasing after a mythical treasure that will never materialize.

RESPECT THE CULTURE was actually emblazoned on the tailgate of a small truck. It got us to thinking.

How many of the thousands of newcomers to Boise and Idaho in general come here to join in the lifestyle, rather than change it? Do folks come here to take advantage of cheap labor, cheap electricity, business “incentives,” or do they want to become Idahoans?

We would welcome your thoughts. When farms start growing houses, schools are overstuffed, the roads are insufficient for the traffic volume, and there aren’t enough jail cells, the culture changes.

While some may see the expansion as a coup for Boise, the GUARDIAN fears the expansion and all it will entail will change the culture and character of our beloved city and state.

There are many aspects of the project that concern us. They include cost of infrastructure to residents while the chip making giant gets all sorts of tax “incentives.” Then there are issues of water, power, traffic, costs for police and fire, which are glibly addressed by Micron with no mention of who will provide the money for all that is required.

If Micron paid their fair share of taxes based on the touted $15 BILLION value of the project, their annual tax bill would be something close to $135,000,000. That calculation comes from a combined projected 2022 levy rate of .09% for city, county, schools, ACHD, etc. The firm has numerous tax concessions and limits which were passed by the Idaho legislature. Granted, if they were included in the tax equation, the levy rate would likely be lower.

Sadly, it appears to us that state and local government is quickly getting in so deep it will be impossible to say NO to any of the concessions sought by Micron. Simply put, it is too much in one place which will give the company untold power and authority over the lives and lifestyle of those who live here.

Officials sternly tell residents that “aerial fireworks,” including bottle rockets, mortars, and those producing “booms and bangs” are illegal. Meanwhile hundreds of dogs jump fences and run off in terror as both police and “patriotic” citizens ignore the illegal acts.

Last year on July 4th, there were 62 calls for service into dispatch from people reporting either illegal fireworks or a hazardous situation. BPD did not issue any citations.

Each year the folks at two large fireworks vending outlets ask customers to sign documents promising not to set off fireworks on public lands or other areas where they are prohibited–like the state of Idaho.

Both the Boise Police and Ada County sheriff’s departments have issued statements saying they “prioritize calls” and don’t really enforce the use of illegal fireworks.

The aerial explosives and fire crackers are responsible to injuries, lost dogs, disastrous fires, and sleepless nights for many. Meanwhile the much tamer devices described as “safe and sane” fireworks go on sale in strip mall and supermarket parking lots. For all but 10 days of the year children are admonished to not play with matches. Ironically, the only place to play with fireworks away from restrictive adults is in vacant lots and foothills land subject to wildfire.

A wise old father once suggested simply burning cash to get the same results as shooting off retail fireworks. In Vietnam resourceful revelers celebrating the lunar new year burn U.S. $100 bills for good luck. At least they do it with photocopies instead of real Benjamins.

The answer to the issue of fireworks displays is to boycott the arson stands and attend licensed displays found throughout the state. In Boise fireworks are scheduled to begin at 10:15 p.m. (dusk), but festivities at Ann Morrison Park begin at 6 p.m.

Exercising forward planning and backward logic, Ada County Highway District has installed an ADA certified wheelchair ramp TO NOWHERE at the corner of Columbus and Targee.

The GUARDIAN didn’t even bother to file all the record requests to find out what it cost to install, but the concrete placing, excavation, and ramp component provides access to NOWHERE! If the installation could even be justified as a “future use,” it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to relocate utility poles and condemn private property for future sidewalks.

There are sidewalks on the opposite sides of both Targee and Columbus.

The recent announcement of a Meta data center moving to Kuna would be great if the predicted 100 workers were from the ranks of Idaho unemployed. Whenever state or county governments offer any “incentives,” the beneficiary should post a bond to insure they pay for all the promised items like sewer, water, schools, roads, etc.

If not, we can expect a desert “State Government Campus-South” just like we have at the former H-P site on Chinden.

GROWTOHOBES stand by the policy of welcoming anyone who wants to locate a business here as long as they pay a fair wage and the same taxes the rest of us pay. Growth for the sake of growth is like cancer and it is expensive.

To further add salt to the wound, Kuna politicos are planning to create an urban renewal district in the desert. That means the city of Kuna, the schools, ACHD, and Ada County will receive NO TAX revenue on the $800 million building. It will be diverted to the urban renewal district.

It is critical of the police handling of the incident and and the mall security. Chief Ryan Lee has read the letter. Lee has had staff contact Murphy in an effort to discuss the letter and potentially add to the plethora of information and evaluations gathered following the shooting deaths.

GUEST OPINION
By MIKE MURPHY

To Whom It May Concern,
As one of three security officers on duty at the time, and assigned to patrol the exterior and parking areas of the mall at the time of the shooting, I offer the following perspective based on first hand knowledge and observation.
Before I continue, it should be noted that nothing I have to say here should be misconstrued as minimizing the bravery exhibited by individual officers, or a condemnation of the profession . . .

The response to the MCI (mass casualty incident) was an absolute clusterf… and failure of leadership, training, and operating procedure, and it is by the Grace of God alone that an infinitely more horrible outcome did not come to pass.

Police leadership failed to recognize / act upon the real possibility of an accomplice and / or placement of explosive devices outside of the entrance / exit to Macy’s where the shooter egressed (a not uncommon tactic of terrorists) and allowed all responding vehicles — which represented a substantial portion of Boise’s overall Police, Fire, and EMS vehicles and personnel — to be bunched up in front of the Macy’s entrance where they would have been decimated had a device been detonated and / or an accomplice had opened fire.

No perimeter was ever established / secured in the area surrounding those vehicles, despite an abundance of law enforcement who can be seen in news footage chatting and milling about.

SWAT sniper(s) (easily identified by their weaponry, balaclava, and subdued BPD patches) — instead of milling about the main entrance to the mall laughing and chatting with other equally idle law enforcement — should have been posted on the roof to observe and report / act upon any suspicious / threatening activity in the area of Macy’s.
In parting . . .

On the day of the MCI there should have been eight security officers on duty, but there were only three, because mall management (Brookfield Properties) and their security company (Professional Security Consultants) fail to pay, train, equip, and support their officers properly.

I escorted the shooter off of the property to the corner of Emerald and Milwaukee a week earlier when he was armed with four handguns (including at least one with a silencer) and enough ammo to start a war, yet for whatever reason, Brookfield Properties and / or Professional Security Consultants disapproves of and does not utilize the tools developed by the Department of Homeland Security’s Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) Initiative (NSI) that may have helped avert this preventable tragedy.

In My Opinion . . . Boise Towne Square does not take the safety and security of their tenants and the public seriously and I have advised my friends and family to avoid it at all costs as I and other security officers have since resigned, and all of the extra security visible in the days immediately following the shooting was entirely theater and is already long gone, having returned to Iowa, Utah, Nebraska, and California, where they were brought in from.

Rest in Peace, Jo Acker — Hero.

Sincerely,
Michael Murphy

EDITOR NOTE–The GUARDIAN welcomes a response from both the Boise PD and the Mall management. The police post action review is ongoing, but the GUARDIAN has unofficially been informed that only one Boise officer discharged his weapon, the shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot, the SWAT team was never activated in the brief period the incident unfolded, some officers not assigned to the call “self deployed” which added to the chaos.

Based on what we have learned the guardian does not anticipate any charges being filed and if there is any redeeming value in the two tragic deaths, it will be increased training, organized response and procedures the next time violence erupts in a public place.

On an otherwise quiet Wednesday evening in September 2019, I returned from a trip to Warsaw, Poland, to the Boise Airport.

I was one of only a handful of returning passengers at the baggage claim carousel around 6 p.m. that evening. Yet sparse airport attendance wasn’t enough to deter one Boise real estate promoter, who had set up an information kiosk on the airport’s lower level, staffed by alluring, model-like employees.

Their purpose? To invite arriving Boise passengers to invest in real estate and to move to this city … and to encourage departing visitors to return to Boise and to cash in on the money-making opportunities in local home-buying.

Two years later, the promotion of Boise continues unabated, as the enclosed photos of “local real estate information” banners in the Boise Airport, taken by me during a recent airport visit, will attest.

The purpose of this letter is to suggest that the time for City of Boise-sanctioned over-promotion of this community is over … and that it’s time for the banners and the advertising and the literature racks to come down.

Mayor McLean has declared that Boise is now in the midst of a “housing crisis”. Home prices are beyond the reach of average Boiseans. Affordable rentals are virtually non-existent. Last night, CBS News declared Boise to be the “least affordable housing market” in the United States.

After a decade’s worth of vigorous self-promotion on the national scene, Boise now finds itself saddled with a predictable housing supply gap, which will not be remedied over the short-term, and whose ultimate solution will forever change the character and complexion of this once-charming city.

I do not believe we should undercut our mayor and City Council’s efforts to grapple with this magnifying social problem in our community. Continuing to complicate efforts to restore balance to our local real estate market through contrived efforts to “goose” the in-migration of new residents is, simply, irresponsible.

Director Hupp, it’s past time for a bit of needed “housecleaning” inside the Boise Airport. The over-sized house-buying banners now need to be taken down and the Boise boosterism and Chamber of Commerce-styled over-marketing need to stop. We have a genuine housing crisis on our hands, partly of our own making. Our challenge now is not in how to lure more people to this community, but to take care of the ones who are already here.

I encourage the Boise Airport to examine its role in meeting this new challenge, and to support Mayor McLean’s efforts to restore some balance to a community that, increasingly, may find its airport becoming a “point-of-departure” for Boiseans who can no longer afford to live here.

Respectfully yours,
David Klinger

Klinger is a local activist who opposed the library expansion/construction and relocation of “The Cabin” literary facility.

Her allegiance appears to be to corporate America rather than the citizens of Boise since she has a “non-disclosure agreement” with the business (according to the BoiseDev story) in an effort to deprive citizens of information until the timing is right.

A November story in BOISEDEV details the mayor’s secret taxpayer-funded trip to an undisclosed destination to meet secretly with an undisclosed business in an attempt to lure them to Boise.

While growth, the “housing crises,” and increased demand on sewers, water, schools, and municipal services are major issues, it appears our city mother is far from transparent in her actions.

In a transparent environment citizens would be advised of the interest a business may have and the intent of local politicos to sort of “test the water.” Instead we citizens are left to navigate the cloudy waters until it is too late to effectively protest any actions.

Perhaps some “water renewal” is in order.

UPDATE–Evening TV news on the national CBS segment showed a feature on Boise being the #1 least affordable city in the USA when it comes to housing. Secret government encouraging more workers needing more houses will do little to abate the “housing crises.”