Taxes
Former Legislator Questions Land Board Action
Former Idaho Representative Bob Forrey has been an ardent opponent of recent Land Board actions regarding cottage leases, trades of state land for commercial property, and the Land Board going into commercial business operations like the storage unit venture in Boise. The following is a guest opinion from him. By BOB FORREY Despite a constitutional […]
Greedy Garden City Wants OUR Fair Grounds
This post first appeared in the GUARDIAN more than 6 years ago after Dave Frazier, GUARDIAN editor, communicated with then Ada Commishes over the ailing Les Bois Park race track–part of Expo Idaho. The issue remains the same: Garden City politicos want OUR land for business. This comes only 2 days after Boise voters were […]
Boise Voter Apathy Means 14% Is A Landslide
Each election we try to put things in perspective when it comes to the voting numbers game with the typical GUARDIAN SLANT. Boise incumbents retained their seats with only 11-15% of the possible votes. Just divide the number of votes by the 108,000 registered voters and you start to see the picture. Top vote getter […]
Boise GUARDIAN Election Analysis
While there were no surprises with the incumbents keeping their Boise City Council seats, we were surprised to see Bill Jarocki come in third in the race against TJ Thomson who was also challenged by Jill G. Humble. The big news was the defeat of both bond debt proposals which would have cost taxpayers more […]
Boise Councilors Stay, Bond Debt Goes
At 11:30 p.m. Tuesday it looks like the Three Musketeers of the Boise City Council–TJ Thomson, Marryanne Jordan, and Ben Quintana–easily retained their seats. It also looks like both the Fire Safety and Parks Open Space bonds failed once the precinct results began coming in. The votes “bought” with direct mail absentee ballot request forms […]
Republican Insider Uses Own Funds Against Bieter Bonds
Republican insider Mike Tracy has used personal funds to send out a post card urging voters to oppose the two bonds on the November 5 ballot in Boise. Tracy noted the sophistication of the campaign waged by Team Dave to get the bonds passed and decided to send his own message to conservative voters. He […]
Dept. of Lands Business Policy Short Sighted
Three years ago when the GUARDIAN exposed the state ownership of Affordable Storage in Boise, politicos dug in their heels on both sides of the state owning businesses. We pointed out at the time there was a significant loss of local property taxes when commercial property is owned by the tax-exempt state. Since then, the […]
Up And Down With BOI
First we get news the Boise airport is ranked #7 in a poll of some sort by a travel magazine. On time departures seemed to be the reason for the national ranking. GOOD NEWS! Then, the same day we hear the airport is turned down for a $700,000 grant from the Feds to get flights […]
Bond Opposition Muzzled By Team Dave And Friends
The standard media statement about the upcoming bond election is along the lines of, “There is no organized opposition.” Pretty hard to have organized opposition when the health care industry, contractor/developers, unions, and others who do business with the city pony up $137,000. Consider the following: –Boise’s City Council passed an ordinance and rushed to […]
Big Money For Bieter Bond Proposal
Proponents of the bond measures that could put Boise into debt to the tune of $51,000,000 have collected about $137,000 to push the ballot question. The Boise WEEKLY checked the campaign finance reports and came up with the following highlights: ESI ($15,000) Gardner Property Holdings ($15,000) Thornton, Oliver, Keller ($1,000) Old Boise Properties ($1,000) Boise […]
“Buck-A-Month” Sales Pitch Ignores $51 Million Debt and $18 Million Interest For Boise Bond
Gotta hand it to Team Dave on the sales campaign for the proposed debt question before voters in November. The NorthEnders have been mobilized and the council candidates have all avoided the issue in a joint campaign brochure. Even the DAILY PAPER editorial has offered an endorsement while addressing–almost point by point–the GUARDIAN concerns. We […]
Risch, Crapo Charitable Vows For Wages Unacceptable
A story by Statesman writer Dan Popkey about the federal shutdown reports, “Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch say they will donate the portion of their $174,000 annual pay earned during the shutdown to charity. Such a simplistic move by our elected officials illustrates the problem. They have no shame. These guys shutdown the government […]
“Mr. Everyman” Pens Note To Congressman Simpson Et Al
The following letter was actually sent to Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson and should be read by the entire Congress. The author has requested anonymity, but is well known to the GUARDIAN and soon, no doubt, to Congressman Simpson. The GUARDIAN felt it brilliantly expresses the sentiments of many frustrated Americans. Dear Congressman Simpson, I am […]
Idaho Land Dept. Under Fire On Land Swap
A a non-profit, voluntary group calling itself The Tax Accountability committee (“TAC”), will hold a press conference Monday morning at the Statehouse to call attention to a land swap they say cost the education endowment fund $1.3 million due to faulty appraisals. According to TAC, the Idaho Department of Lands traded 14 acres of endowment […]
Bieter Uses Public Resources To Promote Bond
Boise Mayor Dave Bieter is most certainly entitled to a “bully pulpit,” to spread his wish list and opinions, but Idaho courts have ruled it is illegal to use public resources, staff, or other assets to influence a ballot issue. However, that’s exactly what he is doing with the city website. Bieter sent out a […]
Fire Bond is An Open Ended $24,000,000 Line Of Credit To Be Repaid By Taxpayers
PART TWO OF ANALYSIS OF THE Nov. 5 BOND PROPOSAL Boise Mayor Dave Bieter has convinced the City Council the city needs a $24 million loan to be repaid by property owners for the purpose of fixing up existing fire department facilities and constructing new projects. He seems to have forgotten to sell it to […]
Park Bailout Needed Due To Bad Management, Citizens Deserve Voice In Spending
ANALYSIS OF THE PARK BOND Mayor Dave Bieter has promoted his voter-financed bailout of needed fire department facilities and additional parks as “A buck a month,” project. The GUARDIAN sees it as a whopping $51,000,000 expenditure of tax money. The ballot fine print legalese says: “The total amount to be repaid not later than twenty […]
Demo State Senator Opposes Bieter Park Bond
In the midst of questions about whether or not he lives in Idaho Senate District 18, Senator Branden Durst has weighed in on Boise’s proposed bond for parks–AGAINST! Turns out he’s pissed about puppies potentially pooping on private property possessed by people on the perimeter of the park. Durst wrote a comment on the GUARDIAN’s […]
Bieter Splits Bond, Follows Guardian Advice
Boise Mayor Dave Bieter has taken the free advice from the GUARDIAN and split a bond debt proposal into two portions, allowing citizens to have a say over both park and fire department expenditures. A downtown police station was removed from the debt package because the specifics were not ready to be considered. Bieter shaved […]
Boise Continues “Cart-Before the Horse” Management
Boise has been creating urban sprawl for years, annexing hundreds of acres into the city–often despite protests by residents–and then bening forced to provide services. Fire stations have been built out of the annual budget and park land purchased with no money left to maintain or “green up” the space. Now, they are claiming the […]
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