City Government
HELP! We Need Some News
The GUARDIAN is hurting bad for news. The best we can offer is this shot of Sam the GUARDian dog romping through the wildflowers near Cascade. Sometimes the flowers will pin your ears back! Things are a couple weeks late, but with all the rain the displays should be fantastic in the usual spots near […]
Mayor Hotline May 28 to June 3
6/2/11 Marla Martin N Maidstone Place Boise, ID 83713 ISSUE: Her daughter stepped on the lid of their grey Allied Waste trash can, fell into it and hurt herself. Marla would like to file a complaint about the garbage can. EDITOR NOTE–Unclear if she fell into the lid or the can. Anonymous ISSUE: He has […]
Should Government Spend Tax $$ To Lobby?
A recent story in the IDAHO REPORTER about the Pocatello Auditorium District using $20,000 in taxes to lobby on its own behalf exposes only the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes to government influencing government. Perhaps the worst offender in the influence peddling game is the City of Boise. The city is awash […]
Mayor Hotline May 21 to 27
5/23/11 Trevor D. Hitchin N. 15th St. Boise, ID 83702 ISSUES: He would like to discuss the following issues with Mayor and City Council. 1. Bike/pedestrian safety – Three people he knows have been hit by cars on their bicycle or walking in the last two years. He would like to make some suggestions on […]
Garden City Bike Ban Remains, Court Date Set
City officials in Garden City continue to run up the legal bill to fight bicyclists seeking to enforce an agreement to allow two wheelers to peddle along the greenbelt north shore west of Glenwood. They will have to defend their decision to ban bike riding in a lawsuit filed by the Citizens for an Open […]
Mayor Hotline May 14 to 20
5/16/11 Deborah ISSUE: She is trying to provide information on bath salts, but hasn’t had much luck with various agencies. She will not go to Ada County any more. Debbie Field, director of the Idaho Office of Drug Police, should be brought in to speak with the Mayor, Gary Raney and herself. Police 5/20/11 Elysia […]
Chamber Cheerleader Checks In For Council Contest
You have to be careful what you wish for. The GUARDIAN has been seeking candidates–any candidates–to run in the Boise City November election to fill four council seats and the Mayor post. At this point running unopposed for the council we have Ben Quintana, a public relations guy with the Chamber of Commerce. He is […]
City Cleaning Contract Fails Smell Test
Sylvia Hampel runs Clearview Cleaning with an impressive list of clients ranging from St.Alphonsus Hospital to the Idaho National Guard. When she won a bid In January to do a $395,000 contract for Boise City to include the Library! and Public Works she geared up on staff and equipment, eager to get started. In February […]
A Different SLANT On Election Results
Now that pundits, critics, and proponents have had a day to digest the results of the Tuesday election, it is time for the GUARDIAN slant. The DAILY PAPER’s Joe Estrella did a piece on the Meridian school levy election claiming voters “torpedoed” the tax hike. Did voters perhaps “decline to grant a request to raise […]
Kloc and Peavey-Derr Win G-BAD Race
If campaign promises mean anything, it looks like the Boise Visitor and Convention Bureau won’t be getting any public tax money from the Greater Boise Auditorium District (G-BAD) in the near future. Hy Kloc and Judy Peavey-Derr were top vote getters for the two seats up for grabs. Kloc had previously told the GUARDIAN, “My […]
Boise Budget Grows 8 Times Faster Than Population
A big shout out to the STATESMAN and reporter Cynthia Sewell for once again doing lots of digging through census, budget, and other records prior to the annual Chamber of Commerce “Live Aid” speech Wednesday by the Mayor Dave Bieter which grosses up to $45,000 for the private special interest lobbying group. We have been […]
Mayor Hotline May 7 to 13
5/12/11 Beth Doan N Turret Drive Boise, ID 83703 ISSUE: A badger has taken up residence near her property, the back of which borders Farmer’s Union canal. She’s worried about the canal flooding and the extra damage the badger hole could cause. No action – badger is now deceased EDITOR NOTE–The GUARDIAN talked to Ms […]
Abandoned Bodies, Hookers In Meridian, Naked Man
Without the legislature in town and in the midst of the TV ratings “sweeps week,” the news is just a bit tawdry–but still fun. The DAILY paper reports the arrest of a man in the North End wearing a birthday suit and it wasn’t even his birthday. KIVI exposes hookers in Meridian, KBOI-TV tells us […]
GUARDIAN Turns Six, But No Party Scheduled
In a shameless attempt at self-serving friendly comments, we offer the following. It was six years ago today when the GUARDIAN posted its FIRST STORY which just happened to be about the public being locked out of the City-owned Boise Depot most of the time. Things haven’t changed much. Ironically, the Depot was purchased with […]
Mayor Hotline April 30 to May 6
5/1/11 Bob Cogswell Eagle Hazard Reduction (Company) ISSUE: He is concerned about the fire ordinance that requires everyone to be responsible for a 30 foot defensible space. Someone will have civil action taken against them for not keeping that space clear and that the fire mitigator will profit from this. Since the state set these […]
Eagle, Others Owed Nearly $8,000 From Urban Renewal
A clerical error in calculating the “base value” on some open space in Eagle’s urban renewal district has resulted in about $8,000 in taxes being diverted away from the Eagle City general fund and other taxing units, based on a revelation uncovered Tuesday. Seems that a parcel of land was split and split again in […]
Boise PD Gets Iconic Makeover For Man & Machine
Like a scene from the television show “Extreme Makeover,” Boise PD had a media event Friday to rollout new patrol cars and shoulder patches. With yelps of a siren and LED lights flashing, the first new “BLACK VELVET” patrol car rolled up sporting a silver “swoosh” on the door that looks like it had creative […]
Foothills Lockout Not Popular With Neighbors On Eve Of Levy Celebration
Some neighbors in the eastern foothills area purchased by Boise City at a cost of $4 million last year are joining forces to protest a lockout by Idaho Fish and Game on the public land. No two ways about it, Boise has been less than transparent with the expenditure of public funds and the subsequent […]
Mayor Hotline April 23 to 29
4/23/11 Betsy Russell Hillway Drive Boise, ID 83702 ISSUE: Yard sale signs on Harrison Boulevard were taken down due to City Code that prohibits signs. She is concerned that there will be no other way for neighbors in the North End to alert each other to yard sales. She thinks it’s inconsistent that real estate […]
PERSI Scam Not Mentioned In CDA Press
The COEUR d’ALENE PRESS ran a Saturday story that looks to us like it was planted by someone within the Idaho state government aimed at getting government worker retirement raised–or to draw attention away from the political abuse of the system. The GUARDIAN doesn’t know where this story came from, but it is a self […]
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