The Media Cries Racism, I Cry Foul Some people are claiming that those of us who disagree with President Barack Obama’s policies must be motivated by racism. In the national media, Maureen Dowd in The New York Times on September 12 wrote: But (Republican Representative Joe) Wilson’s shocking disrespect for […]
Yearly Archives: 2009
Yesterday, I had lunch with Sheriff’s Captain Linda Scown. She runs the Ada County jail. Just coincidently, we also had a surprise quarterly jail inspection scheduled that very afternoon as well. In one of those quirky legal oddities, we as county commissioners are responsible for conducting quarterly jail inspections, although […]
Black and White Cars and Stripes
Two days, two events, two worthwhile causes. On Friday, September 11 – Patriot Day – I had the privilege of attending a Celebration of “Idaho’s Finest” which was a fundraiser for the Idaho Peace Officers’ Memorial and The Boise Police Activities League (PAL) Alcohol Prevention & Education Programs. At the […]
Two for Two
Someone asked me why I care about city council races. We work closely with our fellow local government colleagues who serve as mayors and city council members. We serve together on regional boards such as the Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho (COMPASS), Valley Regional Transit (VRT), the Growth Alliance, […]
Who cares?
Congratulations for throwing your hat in the ring! Now it’s time to find out what you are really made of. Anyone can say or write that they want to cut wasteful spending, protect air and water quality, improve our quality of life, etc. Voters want to know HOW you plan […]
Message to City Council Candidates
From the City of Boise website: “2009 BOISE CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE LIST (Official list) “Boise City Council Seat 2Vernon L. BisterfeldtDaniel L. DunhamDavid A. Honey “Boise City Council Seat 4TJ ThomsonSteven B. SiebersLeland (Lee) J. LayDavid S. Litster “Boise City Council Seat 6Maryanne JordanLucas BaumbachDavid Webb” It looks like there […]
City Council Candidates
Yesterday, I attended a meeting of the Emergency Communications Planning Committee and heard updates on some exciting advances being made in Ada County emergency services under the direction of new Emergency Communication Director Carl Rader. First, some computer hardware connectivity issues have been worked out so now the folks in […]
Going Global
City council elections are just around the corner in November of 2009. There is a bright, young, upcoming crop of political newcomers and I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce some of them to you. We work closely with city council members in Canyon and Ada Counties, so I […]
Council Candidate Coverage
Whenever possible, it is nice to see the private sector and/or religious community step up to help people down on their luck, rather than expect government (in other words taxpayers) to fill that need. St. Vincent de Paul is already gearing up for to provide turkeys and food boxes to […]
Better Than Government
We spent five hours today hearing appeals on medical indigency cases. Per Idaho law, the counties are responsible for paying medical bills for people who are found to be medically indigent. The county pays these medical bills at the Medicaid rate, up to $11 thousand per person, per year. This […]