City Government
Taxes Fund Chamber Business Programs
The GUARDIAN has discovered Boise and Ada County are SPENDING at least $150,000 of YOUR TAX MONEY to CREATE GROWTH. Then they turn around and PAY $300 a head to attend a seminar in Sun Valley to figure out how to handle the massive growth problems they paid to create! This year’s retreat at Sun […]
Mayor Hotline March 10 to 16
The following mining message is representative of 16 nearly identical calls to the Hotline 3/15/07 Annie Moore Stoneview Drive Boise, ID Mining: I just read an e-mail that I probably should have read about a week ago. I’m seeing that the City Council has taken a stand against the Atlanta Gold Mine and I am […]
GUARDIAN Overwhelmed, Seeking Help
The GUARDIAN has been overwhelmed with information on stories the local media has either missed or refuses to research and publish or air. We have actual e-mail texts below or summaries. I simply cannot do the research and writing on these with no staff and continue to make a living with my photo business. If […]
CCDC Jumps On Arid Club Issue
Boise’s Urban Renewal agency board, the CCDC (Capitol City Development Corp.) made a code-3 response after the GUARDIAN sounded the alarm, revealing they have been approving use of public funds to pay for membership in a private club. Within 18 hours of the GUARDIAN posting, the board had unanimously decided to stop paying for Director […]
Bieter Wants Control of ACHD
Team Dave’s coach, Mayor Bieter, declared on a Thursday KTVB-7 newscast that cities–not Ada County Highway District Commishes–should be in charge of roads. We don’t know exactly what Team Dave wants–control of ACHD or responsibility to fix roads. Legislators ignored a proposed bill to give control of the district to city officials. It sounded like […]
Anyone FOR Cyanide In Boise River?
Following the Tuesday “anti-poison”vote of four Boise city councilors, a coalition of greenies sent out a press release praising Mayor Dave Bieter for his actions, even though he is not allowed to vote on council resolutions. There were three references to “Mayor Dave Bieter” and “city council members–not a single councilor was named. Two were […]
GUARDIAN Predicts Tibbs Bieter Race
GUARDIAN EXCLUSIVE Copyright 2007 Just under two years ago the GUARDIAN ran a story about Jim Tibbs gearing up to run for City Council. We speculated he would be in position to run for mayor. Our humility is awesome and everything the GUARDIAN predicted has come to pass right down to Tibbs defeating Jerome Mapp, […]
Develop At All Costs Everywhere
The GUARDIAN admits a lack of knowledge about the funding details of the Idaho Housing and Finance Association, but we know when things don’t smell right and a bill to expand bond authority for IHFA has an aroma. We know IHFA is created by Idaho law, but it isn’t a state agency. People who work […]
Monkeys In Urban Jungle
Southwest Ada residents against annexation are conducting their annual legislative battle with cities who want to capture them–and their taxes–against their will. We thought it was time to roll out this early GUARDIAN post. In the realm of Southwest Idaho Cities, Boise stands head and shoulders above the rest as the “800 pound gorilla” with […]
MAYOR HOTLINE February 12 to 18
2/12/07 Rick Munson 1037 Warm Springs Ave BPD: Mayor Bieter, I would like to commend the Motorcycle Patrol Division for an outstanding job. I personally today got to meet Officer Christensen on the connector, or right by the connector. I think the City Council and you should take a long strong look at the amount […]
Luxury Living At Our Expense
The Daily Paper tells us there are no fewer than 11 condo projects currently in the works for downtown Boise. It looks like all but one has already been approved by the City. If you are into growth, more people living in “a vibrant core area that creates economic vitality,” lots of cars, and dirty […]
Boise Fire Responds To Growth
Boise Fire Department finds itself in a bit of a dilemma over a new station. To accommodate new growth in the northwest part of the city they are aiming to build a new station somewhere along Hill Road. Seems there is a fair amount of resistance–some folks don’t want to hear sirens screaming all the […]
Blaine Voters Approve Jail
After being turned down several times and losing a court fight over an illegal financing scheme for a new jail, Blaine County officials are ready to start construction–after getting permission from the voters. Voters Tuesday approved a county sheriff’s office, consolidated dispatch center and county jail. About 76 percent of the voters supported the bond […]
City Survey Costs $60 Per Interview
If you get one of those “survey” phone calls like the GUARDIAN did yesterday claiming to be working on behalf of the City of Boise, beware your tax dollars are paying $30,000 for the survey. That’s right. Boise City Councilors authorized $30,000 to be spent for a mere 500 responses to the survey–that comes out […]
Boise Taxes Go to Private Lobbyists
The recent GUARDIAN piece questioning WHO calls the shots regarding the Boise City position on state legislation has prompted increased communication among Boise Councilors. It seems council president Elaine Clegg gave direction to lobbyist Lyn Darrington on how to testify on a bill that would impact Boise’s urban renewal agency, the CCDC. She told the […]
Rio Inspires Thoughts of Boise
The GUARDIAN’s recent fact finding trip to Brazil gave us plenty of inspiration for ways to improve life in Boise. After visiting the favelas of Rio we can clearly see the benefits of “in fill” development advocated by some members of Boise’s city council. You can certainly create a demand for mass transit and eliminate […]
Councilors Clueless On Lobby Effort
The Idaho legislature’s House Revenue and Taxation Committee heard testimony Friday on a proposed urban renewal law that would require members of agencies like Boise’s CCDC to be elected. The bill was held in committee and effectively killed by a 10-8 vote, but the REAL story is WHO testified and WHY. Two non-elected people paid […]
Vote Them Out Of Office
Boise’s urban renewal director and the Chamber of Commerce lobbyist were able to convince legislators to hold an urban renewal reform bill in committee Friday, effectively killing the proposal. From the reports and quotes we have seen–especially the great reporting by Lora Volkert at the Idaho Business News web site–it is another story of government […]
Legislature Could Rein In CCDC
Thanks to some fed up folks up north, we may have a shot at reforming the CCDC and all the subsidy to developers at the expense of us common folk. There is a pair bills in the legislature up for hearing Friday that could force ELECTION of urban renewal boards. These guys take our tax […]
Public Employee Bonus Plan Take Two
We got to thinking about this bonus business for public employees and came up with a plan that should define the compensation system. It is really quite simple. Public employees are EXPECTED to do a good job, be on time and not absent from work. Those who do good things and follow the rules should […]
Recent Comments