City Government
Coppers Oppose Tickets As Fund Raiser
The GUARDIAN has inadvertently stirred up a hornet’s nest with the publication of Top Copper Mike Masterson’s cost containment memo. The local news channels jumped on the GUARDIAN story and the police union has come out in strong opposition to Masterson’s cost containment strategy–especially as it relates to ticket writing. We pretty much agreed with […]
Where Have All The Busses Gone?
The tipster called the GUARDIAN asking slyly, “do you know about the bus Valley Transit gave away to the mechanic?” That prompted a series of phone calls that got more incredible as the day wore on. A Valley Regional Transit spokesman confirmed that a maintenance manager and a deputy director of the government funded organization […]
More BPD Tickets Likely In Future
More than a third of the anticipated Boise City budget deficit will hit the coppers according to an internal memo being circulated at the cop shop, saying they need to come up with a plan to save $1.2 million. While the document is clearly a “work in progress,” one of the items bound to raise […]
Mayor Hotline January 31 – February 6
2/6/09 JoAnn Kachigian 376-1772 Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial: I’m just calling to see what it would take to put a sign up there on Capitol Blvd. to show all of these visitors who are here for the Special Olympics, that we have the Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial. I have been calling the Mayor’s […]
Businesses Could Be Forced To Pay For Trolley
Struggling downtown Boise businesses could get whacked with a big tax bill for a trolley to nowhere if a funding scheme is created to go around the will of the voters. Rather than put the funding straight forward to a vote of the citizens, they are exploring the creation of a LID–“local improvement district.” LIDs […]
Bungling Bureaucrats Botch Boise Buses
In a refreshing bit of local journalism, Cynthia Sewell of the Daily Paper detailed a pattern of BUNGLING BUREAUCRATS either unwilling or unable to put together a plan to spend federal funds for a downtown transit center. The fed money was earmarked for Boise in 2005, but Boise City, the Urban Renewal Agency (CCDC), Ada […]
Streetcar Desire At CCDC Prompts Notice
A short little legal notice in the Daily Paper Friday includes an invitation to engineering firms to submit a “Statement of Qualifications for conceptual design consultant services” for a downtown streetcar project. No budget is mentioned for the six month contract, but it looks like local officials are forging ahead with their “street car named […]
CCDC Short On Funds For Courthouse Debt
The new blog by Ada Commish Sharon Ullman yielded a little gem about the Capitol City Development Corp and the controversial funding scheme for the courthouse. According to Ullman’s POST, CCDC officials met with the three Commishes looking for some bucks to make bond payments on the Courthouse which just happens to be owned by […]
Boise Coppers To Cut Code 3 Responses
If it seems like you can’t walk outside without hearing an emergency siren wailing, you are probably correct. Boise coppers made more than 10,000 high speed responses in the past three years, but an estimated 38% of those adrenaline charged car races will be eliminated when a new set of rules go into effect by […]
No Surprise, Woods Gets City Job
After being defeated by Sharon Ullman and losing his Ada Commish seat, Paul Woods landed a job at Boise’s Public Works Dept. as a division chief–to the surprise of no one. By all reports, Woods is a great guy and highly qualified for the job which had a new description drafted just prior to the […]
Arabs, Jews Have Message For Team Dave
When the Wall Street Journal ran a story over the weekend reporting that both Arabs and Jews in Jerusalem were united in their opposition to a light rail tram in that mideast city, we were instantly notified by a local reader. The JOURNAL STORY says both sides call the project a “dumb idea.” Sounds like […]
Mayor Hotline January 10 to 16
PRETTY MUCH “SIGNS OF THE TIMES” THIS WEEK. LIKE THE SNOW ON THE SIDEWALKS, CITY NEEDS TO EITHER ENFORCE OR RECIND THE LAW…THREATS ONLY OFFEND. NOTE: We apparentlyhave a Boise version of the “lady from Sacramento” and out of courtesy we won’t post, but the city does properly provide the public document for the GUARDIAN’s […]
Mayor Hotline January 1 to 8
Lots of complaints about channel 7 story warning folks about clearing snow from sidewalks. Council needs to rework the ordinance, but it is only an issue when it snows–like the roof that leaks only when it rains. For Hotline transcript click on MORE.
Mayor Hotline December 27 to 31, 2008
ENFORCE SIDEWALK SNOW SHOVEL LAW, DON’T ENFORCE SHOVEL LAW 12/29/08 Pat Giese 2010 N. 16th St. Boise, ID 83702 Snowy Sidewalk: My concern is the sidewalks that aren’t clear. I don’t know what the city ordinances are in Boise even though I’ve lived here since the 70s. I’ve never really thought about this, but where […]
Ferdinand Plea Bargains Out Of Gun Charge
Canyon Commish who got caught at the Boise Airport packing heat in the security area copped a plea this week in what both sides describe as a “Negotiated Resolution.” The GUARDIAN is headed to watch the Poinsetia Bowl, so here is the entire text of the 2008-12-23-joint-media-statement_final2. This is the same Boise City attorney that […]
Mayor Hotline December 13 to 19
BAD DRIVER ED TEACHER, GOOD TOWING ORDINANCE, BAD METH SIGN, BAD TRASH, MISSING CHRISTMAS SPIRIT IN PARK 12/14/08 Anonymous Christmas Park Lights: I am a concerned citizen of Boise. I was just curious why the lights haven’t been put up on the entrance to Ann Morrison Park yet. I’m used to seeing those up every […]
City Job In Future For Ada Commish?
A couple of cynical GUARDIAN readers sent us a message today noting the City of Boise is advertising in the Sunday Daily Paper for an Environmental Director at the Public Works Department with a salary starting at $72,000 on the low range. They predict TEAM DAVE has created the position to take care of Ada […]
Detox Deal Done, Despite Dollar Drain
There is no doubt about the need for a detox center in Boise so the coppers can take people someplace besides the Emergency Room or the slammer to sober up. There was a lot of fanfare about an agreement and possible 2010 opening for a joint city, county, state facility known as “Substance Abuse and […]
End Of Year GUARDIAN Review
Believe it or not the GUARDIAN has been on line going on four years. As the year winds down we want to offer a refresher course in the “theme” we use to offer that different SLANT on the news. –We take credit for creating the words “GROWTHOPHOBE” and GROWTHOPHILE.” No better confirmation for our claim […]
Positive Note On Illinois Politics
While the world is pointing fingers at a “tradition of corruption” in Illinois politics, the GUARDIAN takes a different SLANT on the news and offers a positive view–at least Illinois politicos get prosecuted for their misdeeds. The FBI arrested Illinois Guv. Rod Blagojevich Tuesday. We would like to see a division of either the Idaho […]
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