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City Misses Target (again) At Shooting Range
April 7, 2011 
Team Dave and the Councilors just can’t seem to get away from consequences of their back room dealing on the police shooting range three-way land swap. That deal left Fairview and 27th a vacant piece of urban decay with only a doggie day care kennel and the city holding a vacant piece rock-strewn land in […]
Boise Officials Avoid Public Scrutiny
Boise officials have continued a legacy of backroom deals and deceptive behavior on a foothills convservation project that probably is a worthwhile endeavor. The Hammer Flat land acquisition was done in secret using $4 million in Boise tax funds with the explanation the deal had to be secret to keep the price low–action permitted by […]
GUARDIAN Year In Review Ballot
We are working on our 6th year at the GUARDIAN and it is time to have you weigh in on the biggest stories of 2010. The most disappointing for us and a clear victory for government and big money was the passage of the three state constitutional amendments which take away our right to vote […]
Daily Paper News Content Lacking
Apart from endless stories about BSU football, we have noticed a paucity of local news content in the STATESMAN of late. Not only have they cut staff–and consequently coverage–the paper has put staffers on a rotating “furlough” system that results in a week of no editorials with the pages being filled by syndicated columnists or […]
A Gem Hiding In Plain Sight–Table Rock
Like a silent sentinel, Table Rock stands guard over the City of Trees and provides a scenic vista equaled only in cities like Rio and perhaps a few smaller metro areas. It provided the stone for the Statehouse as well as the Old Pen prison and the cross–like it or not–can be seen as a […]
Mayor Hotline May 29 to June 4
OVERWHELMING TAX OPPOSITION, PRO GLIDER, PRO SOLAR, STRICT HOME OWNERS ASSOC. 6/3/10 Michael Gibson 3554 N. 39th Boise, ID 83703 Local Option Tax: I just wanted to voice my concern and opinion about the local sales tax. I don’t have a problem with the local sales tax if it’s going to do something that benefits everyone in the […]
Mayor Hotline May 22 to 28
DIRT IN SEWER, HAZ MAT, HAMMER FLAT, BUS, TRADE FOR TABLE ROCK 5/27/10 Mark Hammer Flat: I don’t necessarily need a call-back on this. I just have a suggestion about the Hammer Flats issue. What is the possibility of swapping that land out there, swapping the state for Table Rock. The State Department of Corrections, […]
Mayor Hotline May 8 to 14
PRO GROWTH, ANGRY CHRISTIANS, NO DRINKING WATER, MOTORCYCLE NOISE 5/13/10 Anonymous Hammer Flat: When we first bought this Hammer Flat I wondered what this would do for the people of Boise. It’s obvious that there are some people who don’t want it to do anything for the City of Boise. Why not buy land up […]
Citywide Conservation Areas, Not Just Foothills
There are rumblings among the Greenies about another Foothills Levy and the Daily Paper is soliciting comments from readers on the potential serial levy–a two year only tax increase. The money from the levy of 10 years ago is mostly gone. The previous levy was full of illegal and dishonest acts. Former Mayor Brent Coles […]
Mayor Hotline March 6 to 12
HAMMER FLAT LOVE FEST, HALFWAY HOUSE CONCERNS, TRASH CAN SCOFFLAWS REVEALED 3/9/10 Calley Spear Boise, ID 83706 345-8511 Hammer Flat: I just wanted to say I’m so glad that the City Council decided to purchase Hammer Flat. That is so awesome. Thank you for your foresight and thank you for making Boise one of the […]
Boise Joins Growthophobe Movement, GUARDIAN Offers “Back Story”
In a brilliant act to cut development in the Foothills, Team Dave has apparently seen the light and joined the GUARDIAN GROWTHOPHOBE movement. Boise City Council Tuesday made public the purchase of Hammer Flat – a 701-acre wintering range for mule deer, elk and antelope in east Boise – using funds generated by the 2001 […]
Decision Due To Dissolve Developer Deadlines
By TONY JONES Critics of the county’s policies dealing with planned communities, and the manner in which the Commish’s handle all things public, will feel vindicated learning the county is quietly preparing another gift for the development community. Under current county code, when a planned community is approved, the developer has two years to get […]
P&Z Commish Wants Growth Moratorium
GUARDIAN EXCLUSIVE By STEVE EDGAR Sitting as an Ada county P&Z Commissioner for over a year now, I have come to the conclusion that we need a moratorium on growth in the Treasure Valley. My reasoning is to allow time for catch up and create some breathing (no pun intended) room. I have arrived at […]
Highway Money Goes To Consultants
–Ada County Highway District paid $115,000 for a consultation by the Urban Land Institute to tell them what they wanted to hear. Namely that 6 cities within the county have to stick to their comprehensive master plans and ACHD should work with them. In short, everyone should play nice. The GUARDIAN would have told them […]
Looking Down On Development
With the great weather Tuesday worthy of putting Boise on some magazine “Top Ten” list, we decided it was time to take a close look at the are we write about– from 500 feet in the sky. Amazing how different things looked from the helicopter! It had been seven years since our last aerial tour […]
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 […]
Developer Gets Ag Exemption
GUEST POST BY TONY JONES (Jones lives on the plateau being developed by Skyline Development and heads up the “Save The Plateau” group.) The Idaho tax code is designed to encourage farming and ranching, most notably via property tax agricultural exemptions. Basically, the agricultural exemption creates a formula whereby farmers and ranchers are taxed on […]
MAYOR HOTLINE Oct 2 to 6
SWEEPING CONCERNS, NO BoDo LIBRARY, DIRTY NEIGHBORS, CHOPPERS! (In the interests of space and reader interest, we have eliminated the graffiti calls.) 10/2/06 Sandy Shields Street Sweeping Concern: We just had the city street sweepers come by and my request is there is so many people that work there during the day and this is […]
Growth Triumphs Over Good
“The mayor told me that if you don’t grow you die. I got to thinking the faster you grow the sooner you die.” –Pete Seeger on Democracy Now! Ada County’s local governments (Boise, Garden City, Star, Kuna, Meridian, Eagle, ACHD, and Ada County) have been working on a dream plan called “Blueprint For Good Growth” […]
Desert Homes In Fire Peril
Thursday night’s intense thunderstorm and accompanying winds were not really unusual for Southwest Idaho, but losing homes and risking lives should send a signal to local authorities considering development in lands subject to wildfire. Three occupied homes and an empty house trailer burned in the Tipanuk (Kuna Pit backwards) settlement just north of I-84 at […]
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