Ms. Tingstrom told Mr. Clements he would have to file a bonafide public records request with Ms. Angie Sillonis, Communications Officer for Canyon County. All of this run around does not pass the smell test for such a reasonable request and surely it does nothing to promote transparency of government.
Here is the letter Mr. Clements sent into Ms. Sillonis:
July 30, 2010
Angie Sillonis
Canyon County Commissioners Office
Dear Angie,
I requested a copy of the application I submitted for a booth at the Canyon County Fair from Ellen
Tingstrom at the Fair Board Office. I also requested a copy of the application submitted for a booth by
the people who are promoting "yes" on the Jail Bond Election. She informed me that I would have to
get these documents through you. I am hereby requesting you send me these two applications.
Maurice Clements
7326 Rim Road
Nampa, Idaho
The county is allowed three business days to answer Mr. Clements in this matter. Sadly, the fair as well as the election will be over. All this makes the case that nepotism is not tolerated unless you are a friend or a relative. Mr. Clements should have received the answer to this simple question immediately if not sooner.
Here's link to the story as reported by TV 6 News Fair Booth Application Dates In Question
Final note: THE GUARDIAN called Ms. Tingstrom to lobby for Mr. Clements to get his booth space at the fair one day after his request was submitted. Ms. Tingstrom said she had four applications and two spots left. It appears the YES people got one and Mr. Clements did not. You can make you own decision on just how fair the Fair was in this matter.
The only way to beat the bureaucrats is to go to the polls and VOTE NO JAIL BOND ON AUGUST 3.
ReplyDeleteThis stinks to high heaven.
Those that do not play fair, do so because they think they are in the right. These pro-Jail Bond people will do anything to "do what is right" for the benefit of their select group.
ReplyDeleteAs the media contact person for the Canyon County Fair I would like to address your concern. The deadline for vendor application was April 2nd and then filled thereafter as applications came in based on availability. Once the vendors spaces were full, vendors were turned away due to lack of vendor space.
ReplyDeleteThe Canyon County Fair followed proper protocol for processing public information inquires.
Thank you.
I might add to Ms. Allen's comments, that the Public Records Request was fulfilled as soon as the information was available.
ReplyDeleteA simple question deserves a simple answer and not a bunch of bureaucratic BS.
ReplyDeleteYet another suspect situation.
ReplyDeleteyou MUST watch the story on this issue as reported by KIVI TV channel 6 News!!! The pro-jail bond people admit that they got their application in LATE, but some how THEY got the last booth? WTF!!!
ReplyDeleteWhy isn't the Idaho Press-Tribune reporting on this?
http://www.kivitv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12902529
Dave says..
ReplyDeleteIf the action of the Canyon Commishes and their Fair staff is any indication of how the county will conduct Tuesday’s Jail Bond Election, the name of the game is DIRTY POOL!
The commishes set the Aug. 3 election at the last possible moment which was long past the deadline for applicants to get space for booths at the Canyon Fair…but the proponents of the bond got booth space while opponents were turned down. Fair officials stonewalled a records request for copies of the booth applications–which were obviously made past the April application deadline. They said it would take three business days for information to be provided which is AFTER the fair closes and the election is past.
It may seem like petty politics, but when local governments make the rules and change them to suit their own agenda while denying citizens the right to free speech, everyone suffers. Trust in Canyon County government is a sparse commodity.
KIVI 6 TV did a good piece on the issue Friday and poked holes in all the information offered by the Fair staffers.
This is typical for the poorly administrated Canyon County fair. If there was a question as to the duplication of efforts or same message why didn’t the fair contact Mr. Clements? It seems that they just made an assumption.
ReplyDeleteWhy wouldn’t the fair sell both spaces to anyone that is not advocating violence, pornography etc? The Fair is a separate operating entity from Canyon County government. Why does Canyon County fair need a P.R. spokesman and why is Angie Sollinis getting involved in Fair business?
Yet another example of how things are done in Canyon County. I hope we have people who have some common sense show intrest in thease offices come election time.
ReplyDelete