In 2005 he said the answer was to complain to the legislature–not the Boise Cops. Seems that Team Dave has had a change of heart this year. Mayor Dave Bieter issued a statement saying extra FIRE INSPECTORS would be out in force to enforce the law. Call non-emergency dispatch at 377-6790 to report violations. We hope the cops write a few tickets as well.

Fireworks are banned in the foothills from Warm Springs Mesa to Seamans Gulch. Last year there were fires, and injuries including burns, buts, and a lost eye due to illegal fireworks use.

The GUARDIAN advocated an outright ban on fireworks. It makes no sense to sell “arson kits” to kids for a week and tell them not to play for matches the rest of the year.

There is nothing patriotic about burning your city and injuring your kids.

Boise’s airport Commission and City Council had a joint meeting Thursday to plan their next move following the Idaho Supreme Court decision earlier this month which declared their financing to be unconstitutional. That suit was brought by GUARDIAN editor David R. Frazier who has worked for nearly three years to get the city to follow the law and have an election.

Councilor Alan Shealy grudgingly conceded defeat at the public meeting when he said, “I hate the idea of a local photographer’s hat size going up anymore, but I think (a bond election) is the most feasible option.”

They concluded the best course of action is to hold an election in November.

Councilors had been adamant about not allowing voters a voice at the original public hearing and continued spending tax money for the legal battle they ultimately lost. They will also have to pay the legal fees for Frazier’s winning attorney.

Had the councilors allowed the citizens a vote for the much needed parking garage, they could have been parking cars today. Now, they say it will be completed sometime in 2008.

The sticky point was a provision in the Idaho Constitution which mandates bond elections for long term debt “unless it is ordinary and necessary.” The Supremes cleared that issue up when they pretty much said “ordinary and necessary” would apply to emergencies, but a construction job didn’t apply.

Throughout the state, banks have made a tidy profit offering “lease-purchase” deals and getting judges to approve “ordinary and necessary” deals. That should pretty much be a thing of the past as lawyers are telling schools, cities, and other entities they need a vote to buy things they can’t pay for in one year.

Our deepest sources tell us a group of bankers, lawyers, and local government types did a conference call in the past day or two in an effort to plan their next move. If they take the lead of Boise, there will be more bond elections and local officials will be asking permission of the citizens to spend their tax money.

We can’t properly use “conviction” and “prosecution” in their common context because this case is a civil matter, but a judge found the three–Judy Peavey-Derr, Fred Tilman, and Rick Yzaguirre–to be in violation of the statute which mandates public business be conducted in public forums.

The matter stems from a closed door meeting with Boise City Councilor Vern Bisterfeldt. Bisterfeldt has testified that matters not involving legal issues were discussed during the meeting. The court ruled that an attorney must be present and litigation issues were necessary to qualify for “executive” sessions.

The AG wants Ada taxpayers to pony up the cash for the state fees and the commishes want us to pay their defense costs which are nearly $18,000. Their defense lawyer has offered to appeal the findings of Judge William Woodland to the Idaho Supreme Court at no additional costs.

Bottom line, Ada Taxpayers are on the hook for $30,000 to defend violations with $150 fines. This is a matter of principle for the commishes, but they are doing it on the taxpayer’s PRINCIPAL.

The crux of the argument was whether or not the proposed expense was “ordinary and necessary.” The court noted that parking at the airport may be an important goal, but it was not sufficient to warrant an emergency expenditure that would exempt the city from first seeking voter approval.

Blaine County is currently embroiled in a lawsuit over the issue of getting “judicial confirmation” instead of voter approval for a proposed sheriff’s office and 911 center. This supreme court decision means they just lost their battle.

For many years it was Boise City policy to circumvent the voters. They lost on the issue of a new police headquarters three years ago, but forged ahead on with plans for a new airport parking garage without voter consent.

GUARDIAN editor David R. Frazier filed the suit against the city on the police building case and then again on the parking garage. He issued the following statement.

“I am gratified the SUPREME COURT has explained the constitution and the laws of Idaho to Boise City officials.

The issue  is not the need for an airport parking garage–the issue is allowing the citizens to have a voice in how their public money is being spent.  It is an absolute right of the citizens to approve expenditures for these long term debts, be they for fire stations, libraries, convention centers, police headquarters or parking facilities. 

This landmark decision is a victory for citizen-voters throughout the State of Idaho.  Since this is a Supreme Court ruling it applies to every city and county government in Idaho.

The practice of having a judge make decisions the constitution says the people must approve was standard policy during the era of  the previous  Mayor and City Council.  

Mayor Dave Bieter and this Council had continued the practice with the parking garage– despite pleas I made at public hearings to simply allow  citizens the voice they are guaranteed by the Idaho Constitution.

They refused to allow a citizen bond vote on the Airport Parking Garage, saying it is time for a supreme court decision.   That decision has been rendered and these officials have cost Boise citizens a bundle of cash  in legal fees and  delayed the construction of a parking garage they claim was badly needed.  They could have had it well underway by now had they merely followed the law and held a bond election.

Citizens throughout Idaho can now be assured  major local construction projects  will be  financed more honestly by local governments in the future with bond elections to approve the expenditures.”

House Bill 620 would raise the fine for violation from $150 to $500 for a first offense and top out at $1,000 for a second offense. Representative Russ Matthews is pushing the bill in the wake of the Ada County commishes current court battle with the Attorney General’s office.

The Ada Commishes have run up a legal tab of more than $17,000 in public money defending themselves against charges they held an illegal closed meeting last June. They claim the meeting with Boise councilor Vern Bisterfeldt was over impending litigation. Bisterfeldt and the AG say otherwise and the matter is still pending in court.

Matthews’ bill would also clarify the definition of “pending litigation” as litigation commenced by the governing body or WRITTEN notice from another party either threatening a lawsuit or notice that one has been filed.

(For non library types: hoist with (or by) one’s own petard means to have one’s plans to cause trouble for others backfire on one. A petard is a bomb…from Shakespeare’s Hamlet.)

Legislators passed the law under the guise of protecting unwary consumers from unscrupulous contractors. The little guys however claimed the big guys were trying to run them out of business with some of the provisions in the law.

The GUARDIAN talked to the Occupational Licensing Bureau of the state and we were told about 2500 contractors had registered so far and the deadline is January 1, 2006. Some estimates claim there are 20-25,000 contractors who would be subject to the law.

In simple terms the law says anyone engaged in construction–everything from excavation to “altering and improving” a building, road bridge, etc. is subject to the registration law.

One achilles heel of this law is that a contractor can’t hire a sub contractor without proof he is registered. Both parties are subject to $1,000 misdemeanor criminal fines and or six months in jail for violation.

This means the BIG contractors either hire only registered subs or put them on their own payroll. They would have to withhold income tax and social security, pay workers comp and unemployment. The third choice is jail…a guy is either an employee or a contractor. Contrctors have to register.

The other achilles heel is a provision that PROHIBITS anyone engaged in unregistered contracting work from bringing ANY collection action in any court in Idaho. In short, you can hire an unregistered contractor and he has no recourse to collect for his labor PERIOD. Unregistered contractors must BEWARE of unscrupulous consumers!

With 90% of the contractors unregistered who install tile, flooring, cabinets, insulation, windows, roofing, or paint it will be fun to see if the housing boom continues.

Since the state has no enforcement division for checking construction sites, don’t look for the local sheriff or cops to be out in the mud with ticket books in hand. Probably just another law to be ignored by those who passed it.

The latest filing includes an affidavit of Boise City Councilor Vern Bisterfeldt who flatly says, “There was no discussion of pending litigation…Additionally…I was not aware of pending litigation or general public awareness of probable litigation…” The topic was the county emergency medical services and how to get a future bond issued passed.

The Idaho Attorney General has charged the three commishes with holding the closed meeting June 15 which he says should have been open to the public. It is a civil procedure which could result in fines of no more than $150 on each of three counts and will result in no criminal record–less damning than a speeding ticket.

The commishes have denied the charges and hired a private defense attorney at taxpayer expense (about $3,700 so far).

In a move that can be interpreted as an effort to “stop the bleeding” or “putting a gun to their heads” depending on your point of view, the AG filed a motion for summary judgment claiming the undisputed facts of the meeting along with Bisterfeldt’s sworn statement are sufficient evidence for the court to rule now and preclude a trial.

Is there anyone out there willing to call Vern a liar?

In the the case of the tragic police shooting death of 16-year-old Matthew Jones it is time to start serving up “the broth” from the inquiries. The FBI has been called in for a civil rights investigation and we figure that move is out of frustration on the part of someone.

In an effort to be impartial and thorough, this case is beginning to look like a FEMA operation! No one is in charge and no one is telling the public what happened with their police last December.

So far the Boise Police, Meridian Police (as a task force member), Ada County Coroner, Boise City Ombudsman, and now the FBI are looking into the death. They all seem to be waiting for the results of the coroner’s inquest and that is on hold.

The system is flawed when taxpayer money and hundreds–if not thousands–of man hours are expended seeking the truth, but results of those investigations will not be examined by jurors during the coroner’s inquest.

The GUARDIAN has refrained from discussing any of the facts or rumors of the case, but we have called for the Ada County Prosecutor to bow out due to conflict of interest.

The public is quickly losing faith in the system as allegations have surfaced on KTVB Channel 7 of the coroner deferring the inquest until after city elections. These charges are quickly followed by denials on the part of the coroner and former police chief. Letter writers to this blog have also called into question the motives of officials. Meanwhile the IDAHO STATESMAN has called into question the coroner’s contention that an impartial jury could not be seated.

THE GUARDIAN suggests that all parties involved prepare their final reports and conclusions. The coroner or his designated legal counsel should subpoena the investigators AND their reports to appear before the inquest.

It is absurd to hand pick a jury and then feed them only bits and pieces from the pot. The jurors AND the public deserve to smell the contents of the entire pot. Then we as a society can decide if it tastes good enough to swallow.

The lengthy legal battle with Lariat Productions over the lease at Les Bois Park had many legal turns and twists navigated by Lariat’s lawyer, PAT FUREY who opposed the commishes.

Fast forward a couple months to when the AG filed civil charges against the commishes over a closed door meeting with City Councilor Vern Bisterdeldt.

They were in search of outside private legal counsel and obviously considered the old adage, “When you want a guard dog, you get the meanest scariest one you can find.”

The commissioners were bitten and chased by Pat Furey enough to know he can keep intruders at bay. So they hired him! What is unclear at present is who will pay–the commishes who stand to pony up a max of $150 each for a civil penalty–or the citizens who were left out of the equation altogether.

The true irony in all this is the action of the AG as watchdog/prosecutor may cost the taxpayers more in attorney fees than it is really worth. The taxpayers may pay for BOTH the prosecution and defense. We see the whole thing as a speeding ticket that doesn’t go on your record: didn’t mean to do it, but got caught over the limit and the fine won’t go on your record. Pay the fine and get over it.

One more thing. Pedigree is as important within the legal community as it is with canines. Just a coincidence we are certain, but PAT FUREY has a cousin who is also a lawyer. SHERM FUREY is chief deputy in the same Attorney General’s office that filed the charges against the commishes.

The only way it could be more fun would be to have Mayor DAVE BIETER’S brother, Judge CHRIS BIETER, hear the case in his court. What a great state!

It may sound oxymoronic (for you non-library types that means contradictory) but some honest lawyers have expressed concern about professional legal sanctions against her. Our sources at the Bar assure us charges were filed in April and are still pending.

She was to have written a letter to the quasi government agency which licenses lawyers informing them of her conviction and admitting she would be subject to disbarment and banned from practicing law. So far, no letter and the Ada County prosecutor may be forced to take her back to court. At least she will be easy to find.