City Government
City Plans To Market Depot, Exclude Public
Only those able to afford rental fees will be welcomed at The Boise Depot after the city council approves a new plan to increase efforts at “niche marketing” of the facility for private events. A committee of Team Dave supporters has been meeting–after getting their marching orders from the Mayor last spring. THEIR REPORT and […]
Mayor Hotline September 27 to October 3
Sorry to be late with this one, but the GUARDIAN was on a “fact finding trip” to the Northeast getting a dose of Yankee history and learning about how they do it with the advise and consent of citizens. The fall colors were great too! FOOTHILLS TRANSPARENCY, GANGBANGERS, WEDDING PARKING 10/2/08 Eric Schoman 1201 N. […]
Council Bullys Eat GUARDIAN’S Lunch
The Councilors and Mayor looked down from their perch at the GUARDIAN editor as he tried to finish a sentence about the insider trade they made with citizen-owned commercial land on Fairview. Three minutes to the second and it was time to “sit down and shut up.” They even bragged about “making a profit” on […]
Lingering Land Deal Questions
Boise City needs a shooting range for the coppers and the city owns bare ground in a blighted area–which they created–that needs to be developed. Obvious solution is to sell the bare ground and buy the shooting range. Not in this River City. Boise officials are scrambling to clean up the swap with some docs […]
Boise Land Deal Probably Illegal
UPDATED 9/22/08 Looks like Boise City officials are playing fast and loose with the law. Public hearings and legal notices are required with details of proposed sales and exchanges of land to trade Citizen owned parcels at 25th and Fairview for a police shooting range.. The city followed the rules FOUR YEARS AGO! IT wasn’t […]
Aimless Visitors On Boise Streets
Sunday the GUARDIAN bumped into some real nice tourists from Canada pouring over a highway map at a local coffee shop. Being the know-it-all GUARDIAN, we asked if the visitors needed some directions. “We went to your capitol, but it was boarded up, so we went to the Depot and it too was closed. Do […]
Will Boise Market Misery For Profit?
It looks like the squabble over who will run–and profit–from ambulance service in Boise is alive and well. Boise firefighters have been quietly adding trained paramedics to their ranks for a couple years. On the face of it, a way to save lives and generally improve the level of emergency service to citizens. Meanwhile, during […]
Land Value Disparity In City Deal
As a follow up on the post below about Boise City’s land manipulations, the GUARDIAN will attempt to run a play-by-play as we learn more under this post. –The land at 950 Citation off Gowen Rd. is valued by the County Assesor at only $232,600, but the city is acquiring it for $415,000. We can […]
Boise Officials Skirt Bid Law
Boise coppers will resume using the infamous shooting range in the foothills, but City officials will be competing with Pinocchio in the area of facial features when Councilors approve a new land acquisition Tuesday night. After declaring land at 25th and Fairview to be “surplus property” and ordering it to be sold to the highest […]
Mayor Hotline September 6 to 12
NOISY CHOPPERS NEED COPPERS, LEAKING DITCH, DEVELOPER HASN’T WIDENED STREET, DUI COPPER GOT OFF LIGHT, WHO SELLS COPPER BROCHURE? We are learning the system and are back in town, so hopefully this week’s hotline will be easier to read. Just click “more” to get the rest of the story. Anonymous DUI: I’m calling in reference […]
Mayor Hotline Aug 30 to Sep 5
UNHAPPY EAST ENDERS, FIRE CONCERNS, CALIFORNIA DREAMING The lead comment with regard to a neighborhood party looks like it will result in an insurance policy if the neighborhood association wants to use a City Park AND sell food or entertainment. City risk management people stood firm. Here is the transcript aug-30-sep-5-2008.
Mayor Hotline August 23-29
Our apologies for the late entry, but the GUARDIAN is back in town and will try to get more information posted. This week’s transcript aug-23-29-2008 offers a “Fire Storm” of comments–both pro and con–over the Columbia village incident and the City’s response.
Growthophobe: Development Requests Absurd
Local governments are faced with deciding the fate of more than a dozen applications to build large developments in SW Idaho in the near future. We think it is time to act responsibly on behalf of the public and JUST SAY NO! The Daily Paper did a nice round up of the PROPOSED DEVELOPMENTS in […]
Mayor Hotline August 9 to 15
PARCHED PARK VISITOR, DIRTY ZOO, YEAH KRISTIN, and of course the latest from CALIFORNIA FRUIT AND NUTS 8/9/08 Anonymous Municipal Park: Hi, another week goes by and the drinking fountain at Municipal Park is still not there. I mean it not only is not working, it’s not there; they took it out. I’m sure they’ll […]
Caldwell To Start Building Without Agreement
By PAUL ALLDREDGE CALDWELL GUARDIAN THE GUARDIAN received a beautiful invitation to the groundbreaking ceremony for TVCC in Sky Ranch next week. We did a public records request for the financial arrangements with the developer, City of Caldwell, TVCC and the Caldwell Urban Renewal District only to get a response from city attorney, Mark Hilty […]
Ice World Woes Hot Topic
Granted, the City operated Ice World skating rink is probably not uppermost in the minds of citizens or city councilors. Despite assurances that everything is under control from City officials, we tend to believe problems lie deeper than the slick surface of the ice. Seems clear that some folks have been sacked, but the city […]
Money Drives Mayors Car Policy
Our CALDWELL GUARDIAN could not help but notice the car allowance for Mayor Nancolas of Caldwell in the new budget is a whopping a $10,000.00 a year. So, the two GUARDIANS set about a quest for knowledge of what other mayors in the valley are allowed for vehicle use: From the fair city of Meridian– “The City […]
GUARDIAN Proclaims Kristin Armstrong Day
Not to be outdone by the local mainstream media or politicos, the BOISE GUARDIAN has proclaimed Saturday, August 16 to be KRISTIN ARMSTRONG DAY. (We can ride tandem on the bike of a winner too.) We aren’t surprised to see local politicians jump on this one, but you read the proclamation “first on the GUARDIAN.” […]
Daily Paper Features GUARDIANS
The Daily Paper did a front page story Thursday featuring the Caldwell GUARDIAN and others who work to keep local governments accountable. Paul Alldredge, our Caldwell alter ego, looks stern in the picture, but he has done a great job providing a forum for discussion of local government action and spending. He shares the GUARDIAN […]
Greenbelt Bikers Seek State Help
Gary Segers, the hard pedaling proponent of opening the Garden City stretch of Greenbelt to bikers, is taking his case to the top elected officials in Idaho–the Land Board. He will make a presentation to the Idaho State Board of Lands Commissioners on Tuesday, August 19. The GUARDIAN is not certain if the board has […]
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