On Wednesday, the Valley Regional Transit (VRT) Board voted against consolidating with the Community Planning Association (COMPASS). I was the only VRT Board member to vote the other way. It would make sense to consolidate these two closely-related agencies. VRT is responsible for the bus system and COMPASS does transportation […]
Uncategorized
An alert Ada County Pest Control employee noticed what he thought was a noxious weed, while he was out making his rounds. Unfortunately, it turns out he was correct. The aggressive, noxious weed was Dyer’s Woad, which causes woes for Weed Departments, farmers and potentially, taxpayers. Crop losses in areas […]
Woad Weed Woes
We still have no human cases of West Nile Virus (WNV) in Ada County. In Idaho, thus far this year, there has been one case identified in Bonneville County. In Ada County, tests on the mosquitoes that are routinely trapped by the county’s Weed, Pest and Mosquito Abatement Department have […]
Still WNV Free
This blog will be staying here, but my oldest son Kevin will be revamping my sharonu.com website. I am grateful to have a younger generation in my family from whom I can get necessary technical expertise. Communication is a key to problem solving, and Kevin has always made himself available […]
Website
Thanks to you…
Yes, Adam
A few things have changed since the first time I held the District 1 seat on the Board of Ada County Commissioners — most dramatically, the Commission colleagues with whom I now have the pleasure of serving. Our trio works well together. Let’s take a look at what has been […]
Retrospective
There were 2381 property valuation appeals filed in Ada County this year. For the past few weeks, we have served as a Board of Equalization, hearing appeal after appeal by citizens who believed the values assigned to their property by the Ada County Assessor’s Office were too high. In a […]
Bidding ‘Bye to BOE
We spent three days last week, and will spend most of the next two weeks, hearing assessed property value appeals. There is a lot of misunderstanding about this process and how the property tax system works, in general. As I have mentioned previously, one of the hats we wear is […]
It’s Not Personal
According to a June 23 news release, Governor Butch Otter appointed a 15-member task force of legislators and private individuals composed of 13 men and 2 women, “to consider how best to modernize the user-pay fee system for financing maintenance and improvements to Idaho’s roads and bridges.” More often than […]
Taxing Transportation
This week is representative of the diverse nature of issues with which we deal on a regular basis. A few of the highlights: Monday morning, the three of us showed up at the Public Safety Building at Barrister and performed a two-hour, statutorily required quarterly jail inspection. We found a […]