City Government
Monkey Business Trumps Sexual Assault When It Comes To Outrage
THREE OF THE “OUT OF ORDER” BSU EMERGENCY PHONES PERSPECTIVE! We need to get things in Perspective. When a woman was assaulted near the BSU campus Sunday night, it drew only a couple paragraphs in the DAILY PAPER. There was no outrage among citizens, no call for extra security (while several security phones are out […]
4 of 5 Oppose Non-Discrimination Ordinance
Despite an orchestrated turnout at a public hearing on a proposed Boise City ordinance outlawing discrimination in housing and the workplace which exempts local governments, scouts, and religious organizations, four out of five calls to the Mayor’s Hotline oppose passage of the new law. The hotline contains no transcript of the callers reasoning–or even a […]
Records Of Publicly Funded Phones Are Public
If Boise City Councilors follow through with their move to take $150 a month for an auto and phone allowance, the GUARDIAN reasons those phone records should be available to the public. Boise coppers get iPhones with data packages so they can text, tweet, call as part of their duties–for$50 a month for each phone. […]
Boise Councilors To Propose Unneeded Ordinance
A couple of well intended Boise City Councilors are about to propose a gay rights ordinance which “would not apply to churches, religious schools, groups such as the Boy Scouts of America, and local, state and federal governments. Existing law limits how the city can regulate those organizations,” according to the DAILY PAPER. In Sandpoint […]
G.C. Bike Ban Lifted By Voters
Garden City voters passed one of the two initiatives on the Tuesday ballot, prompting the bicycling advocates to issue the following press release. Attorney T. J. Angstman said, “The passage of Initiative B renders the bike ban in Garden City void, effective immediately”, as it states that the People of Garden City ‘believe that all […]
Councilors Should Delay Pay Hikes
After our earlier post regarding raises for Boise’s Mayor and City Council, readers prompted us to actually take a position on the proposed ordinance which will be considered today at first reading. The GUARDIAN sent the following letter to each member of the City Council. Ladies and Gentlemen, I posted a GUARDIAN STORY about the […]
Boise Officials To Reward Selves With Raises
We haven’t seen any campaign signs and doubt there has been any public outcry to grant Mayor Dave Bieter a 20% salary hike, but in this non-city election year the Mayor and City Council are granting themselves pay boosts. Not many people are able to give themselves raises. Most folks who work for someone else […]
Despite Empty Lot And Declining Passenger Use, BOI Airport Seeks $15 Million Parking Garage
Locked securely behind a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire sits a well constructed landscaped parking lot with sparkling restrooms and waiting rooms at the corner of Victory Road and Orchard. The “ECONOMY AIRPORT PARKING LOT” is closed and has sat mostly unused–despite more than $2 million in recent improvements. Now, despite a decline in […]
I-84 In Caldwell Hosts “Forest” Of Weeds
Looks as though the financial settlement with former Idaho Transportation Department director Pam Lowe has cut into the state highway maintenance budget. Caldwell Mayor Garret Nancolas has made several attempts to get the ITD to cut unsightly and dangerously tall weeds in the I-84 median within Caldwell City limits to no avail. The worst area […]
No Income Tax For Major Ada Employers
NOTE–Boise State Radio is part of a project called “StateImpact Idaho” which does some good non-partisan research. A recent post at Boise State PUBLIC RADIO provides an interesting interactive map of Idaho counties which shows just how much government impact we have when it comes to jobs. Of particular note was Ada County where the […]
Coppers Grow Facial Hair For A Cause
Next time you see a Boise copper with a fuzzy face, chances are he (or she) is not an undercover narc. Chief Mike Masterson has initiated a deal that allows officers to buy a “goatee license” for $50, allowing them to sport more than those common little black mustaches–all in the name of charity. The […]
City To Hike Electricity Tax By 20%
Those pesky politicos in both Boise and Nampa are raising the tax on your electricity by 20%. The local “franchise fee” only applies if you use electricity and it will increase from 1.25% to 1.50%–an increase of 20%. Currently, 92 municipalities charge the “fee” which is really a tax paid by consumers. It is an […]
Planned Skinhead Event Disguised In Mayor Hotline Summary
Word of a planned gathering of neo-Nazi skinheads was relayed to the Mayor’s hotline August 31, but only became public knowledge Tuesday when KTVB Channel 7 reporter Jamie Grey broke the story after following an e-mail tip to her. Record of a call to the Mayor Hotline August 31 three weeks earlier was so sanitized […]
Time Running Out On CCDC Tax Gravy Train
The DAILY PAPER ran a piece recently about Anthony Lyons, the new director of CCDC (Capital City Development Corp) who was quoted as saying, “We want a city that has lots of cranes, lots of scaffolding, lots of construction signs. That’s the sign of a city that’s moving forward.” Part of the motivation to get […]
Dynamis Hot Potato Investigation Flipped (or mashed) Yet Again
The “Hot Potato” investigation of the Ada County-Dynamis trash to energy deal has been tossed once again thanks to the withdrawal of Boise PD from the case. Sadly, it was only after the GUARDIAN informed readers of the BPD involvement that Mayor Dave Bieter called them off the case. Several potential witnesses contacted the GUARDIAN, […]
Bieter Ignores Public, Seeks More Tax Money From Feds For Pet Train
Ignoring at least two public opinion SURVEYS funded by the city and one conducted by the Idaho Statesman, Team Dave has continued its short sighted quest engineer expensive trains in the Treasure Valley. Mayor Dave Bieter gave away an autographed Kristin Armstrong bike helmet to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and got a promise of […]
Mayor Hotline Lists “Anonymous” Request For Radio Appearance By Mayor Or Councilor
The GUARDIAN used to post the weekly summary of the “Mayor’s Hotline” calls as they provided great fodder for the blog. City Councilors and department heads also got the same document which is a public record. A few years ago after we learned of Zamboni drivers going through the drive up line at Burger King […]
Boise Budget Woes Worsen, Mayor Seeks Extra $$ For Unions
If we understand what the BOISE WEEKLY’S George Prentice has written, it looks like there is a shortfall of several million dollars in the proposed City budget, but Team Dave is seeking some extra bucks for the coppers and firefighters. The GUARDIAN has expressed concerns about inequities of our civil servants. The union members are […]
Bike Group Forces Garden City Election
The Committee for an Open Greenbelt (COG) filed petitions today containing more than 130 signatures from Garden City residents on two initiative petitions seeking to overturn the Bike Ban. According to the group, once the signatures are validated the City Council must call for a special election. The election will apparently allow the residents of […]
Hoku On Trickle, Zonda Misses The Bus
The Pocatello Hoku plant that was set to make photovoltaic cells is in its death throes as the NASDAQ stock exchange has forced the firm to delist its stock which most recently has been listed for less than a dime. While it is sad to see any company go under, the GUARDIAN feels we don’t […]
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