The Nampa City Finance Director has pulled $250K out of thin air to facilitate a move by the Nampa City Council to the New Police Station. Ms. Chandler Went on at length to describe the move in a Statesman story today. Here's the Link to the story by Kris Rodine for your edification on this move.
City Councilors are getting the bums rush on this great offer to move them to the new digs downtown by city employees who want to do their version of "THIS OLD OFFICE" with the current city council chambers.
When questioned on where the money would come from Madam Finance Director was less than forthcoming. THE GUARDIAN will make a educated guess that the cash for this move will come from that wonder of wonders...URBAN RENEWAL. This is the pot of gold at the end of the politico's rainbow. They can spend this money on anything and everything their political hearts desire with no accountability for their actions to taxpayers. While it comes from property taxes and all county taxpayers anti up for this even when they don't live in the district or even in Nampa. It is that mysterious "increment".
Barring a better explanation from the Nampa masters of the Nampa Universe this is our story and we're sticking to it. Anyone with a better explanation for where this chump change money for the move will come has an open invite to explain it to all of us out in taxpayer land.
Also reported to THE GUARDIAN is Nampa will be taking the 3% increase in property taxes "they are ENTITLED TO TAKE this year". We will have to wait until the budget meeting by Mayor Tom on the 13th of July at 6:00PM for the details of his latest and most draconian budget for 2011/12.
I shudder at the mentality when one says "it should cost no more than 250,000.00" For a minute there I thought the move was going to be expensive! Glad they could get it done so economically. Again, this building is the only construction project happening on the boulevard. Everything else from Caldwell to Meridian is either for rent,sale or being boarded up! When did this use of the urban renewal candy jar become ok? I must have missed it. Tom Dale needs to be replaced before he builds more of his legacy on the taxpayers backs. Would someone other than a transvestite please run for the mayors position when it comes time? I'm done,thanks.
ReplyDeleteInstead of your term, "pot of gold at the end of the politico's rainbow," we in Corrupt d'Alene use the term "bucket-o-cash" to identify the civic slush fund accumulated and spent by unelected officials who, according to the Idaho Supreme Court, aren't really accountable to anyone after being appointed.
ReplyDeleteHubert says...
ReplyDeleteAfter several years of planning and now construction on the new police station which will be a crown jewel or lump of coal depending on your point of view Nampa City Council last nite was presented with a last minute deadline which will move Council chambers into the police building.
Impassioned pleas from Finance Director Vikki Chandler to keep her team together and repeated meandering statements from Mr. Davis who apparently is in charge of arranging office space finally convinced City Council that they had to make a decision NOW or else. Never mind that they have had years to figure this out as one city employee commented.
Stampede was a word that came to mind as City Council was carefully herded over the cliff by the fiefdom chiefs.
Oh well, just another $250,000
Dare I suggest that this kind of incompetence deserves a pat on the lower back and have a happy retirement?
$250,000 out of thin air for this move leaves me weak. I would have hoped the reporter from the Statesman would have pressed Ms. Chandler for more specifics on where all that cash would come from.
ReplyDeleteThe lords and ladies of Urban Renewal continue to get away with no accountability to taxpayers. I'll bet this move will create a huge "CHANGE ORDER" for the contractor of the new police station. The original plan was to lease it out to the county for $20/square ft/year until they realized it was illegal to do so without a vote of the people. The county was going to get free rent for a a couple of years in exchange for the current county ANNEX bldg.
It must be fun to be a wheeler-dealer of public money in Nampa with no oversight or public reviews of how they spend our tax dollars. Sounds like Nampa and Coeur d` Alene have a lot in commmon with local government gone crazy with our cash.
Again, I ask where is the local Tea Party outrage over this. Seems like all Team Tom wants to do is spend and spend. I thought the local Tea Party was against this kind of stuff, unless of course, maybe Tommy D has bought them off and is using them as his useful idiots, also. The continued stomping, on the middle class in Nampa continues.
ReplyDeleteThe all reminds me of how Mayor Tom engineered the removal of Tod Lakey as an opponent in the last mayoral election. Then they went about smearing the remaining candidates.
ReplyDeleteAccording the Vicki Chandler, City Finance Director the cost of the move has now ballooned to $1 million in money the city has under the mattress. It would be interesting to know just how much money they have that is not reported to taxpayers as overages tucked away in various rat holes.
I forgot to say how they engineered the removal of Mr. Lakey on the mayoral race last time around... they offered him the job of rewriting the City of Nampa Comprehensive Plan for God only knows how much money. Lakey is a lawyer by training and one of the Republican faithful by avocation. He took the money from the City of Nampa and left his supporters who put up a reported $20k to hang in the wind. I have not seen the sunshine reports on just how much Lakey got just to be accurate here.
ReplyDeleteIt would seem to me the first job of elected officials is to protect and use wisely all public money. This latest news of a million dollar make over of city offices in Nampa raises the questio...
ReplyDeleteWHAT THE HE!! IS GOING ON?
It would appear there is little regard for taxpayers of Nampa, they have millions tucked away, they are doing all of this big dollar musical chair business while very few citizens of Nampa seem to care a hoot about any of this waste and spend management of public money. I am not an advocate of direct democracy but where are the checks and balances on all of this spending in Nampa?
Isn't it amazing how Mr. Dale and company can pull money out of thin air when they feel its necassary. If we had all of this money avaliable why did we see a 5% increase in our property taxes. I found it particuarly ironic that The article in the IPT this morning was right above one where Mr. Bernanke is saying the ecconomy is still shakey and may not get better for sometime.
ReplyDelete"It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it."
ReplyDeleteJ. K. Rowling
I could not help but notice some comments on past mayoral candidates. I am still wondering about what happened to that guy who ran the burger place on 12th Ave Road in Nampa, that ran for mayor in 2009. There was a thriving business there, and now it is just gone. Does anyone know what happened to him?
ReplyDeleteThe burger place guy? Maybe he ended up like Larry Craig, who ran Joe Glutz's Donut Shop, located in a closed 7-11 store on Fairview Ave in Boise, in the early 1970's. The donut shop went belly up, Larry ran for Congress and won, then the Senate and won. Then he was featured on the cover of MAD Magazine. The city of Caldwell has a lot of ex furniture store workers running it. Canyon County has a lot of workers who filed for bankruptcy serving on the Commission. Seems like the taxpayers in Canyon County have elected a lot of people that did poorly in the private sector. When your business fails and you have nothing to lose, run for office! Read the Bankruptcy notices to get a feel for who may be the next leaders!
ReplyDeleteAgain, why do we need an $80 million dollar police station? We don't. The idea of $40 million for a jail paid by the whole county was bad enough. Now Nampa city residents get to pay twice that by ourselves for a new cop shop!
ReplyDeleteAfter all, we can't be out of money. We still have Urban Renewal, right?
It's time to seriously reconsider the idea of unifying all the police under one roof instead of having all these individual money hungry kingdoms with their power hungry leaders.
One police, one dispatch center, and for that matter one jail. All of it could have been built in one economical structure, but the powers that be insist on having their own little kingdoms.
It's time to overthrow King Dale, King Nancolas, Duke Ferdinand, Duke Rule and Duchess Alder and take back our community!
Just happened to be in Boise yesterday, and on the corner of Maple Grove and Emerald in that mini mall, there is a new burger place. It's the same one that was in Nampa that I was wondering about. He cooks good burgers, stop in and try one sometime, when you are over there.
ReplyDeleteJust to be clear (or not). The cop shop started out at nearly $30MM, the it was published in the IPT at $14.5MM. We won't know for sure until they pay all the costs for this structure. Next project on Mayor Tom's agenda is a new Library followed by new city hall if he stays on plan for a new and improved Nampa.
ReplyDeleteIn reply to Pauls comment. The announced cost of the police station is $14,500,000 but when you add in the cost of the intrest on the bonds I belive the total cost is about $23,800,000. Then add in the hidden costs that are starting to become public and you see what a mess this is going to become.
ReplyDeleteJust to remind you that the new tax on rainwater in Nampa is heading down the pike. Read IPT's July 16, 2011 article on page 3, about old fuel storage tanks and read between the lines. By way of deception, huh.
ReplyDeleteThere was another burger guy that ran for mayor in Nampa in 2009. The burger and steak place on 3rd right there by City Hall. His sign indicated that he is not happy about this rainwater tax. I think that there is enough resistance in Nampa to overthrow these pompous princes and princesses in the next city election.
ReplyDeleteThat rainwater tax is really going to put the bite on people who own rental properties and commercial properties in Nampa.
Pharoah Tom, trying to out build his predecessor and take his place in history. All at our expense.
ReplyDeleteFrom the number of posts on this thread it seems Paul has hit a sore spot. I hope enough people become involved that we can make a change in how our mayor and most of the city council are spending our hard earned tax dollars. The Nov. city council election isn't far away.
ReplyDeleteOh, I haven't forgotten the insurance guy that used to be on the Nampa School Board. He gave Martin Thorne a run for his money in 2009, came pretty close to beating him. I know that if he got on the city council that he would put Tom Dale in check.
ReplyDeleteI find this truly amazing (not really) to move the City Council chambers to the new public safety building so an experience like in Quartzite, AZ can happen? (Google this: Jennifer Jones, arrested for speaking at a City Council Meeting. The Police Chief went on to declare Marshall law, which he cannot due) Then there is the factor of supposedly moving to a 108 seat chamber. That's 108 seats for the citizens to observe/protest city government activities (not like they listen) without adequate parking. Not unlike the current City Hall where you can safely park at the Civic Center. Speaking of parking...where do they plan on parking the patrol cars? Will they be issued to take home like the Idaho State Police? Why can't Vikki Chandler utilize the offices she already has? Does she need to be on her knees in the Mayor's officer or something? Then there is the 25-30 seat conference room that the Statesman article mentions that will sit empty (underutilized space) just like the council chambers. More costs are in store is this project. No wonder it will cost the taxpayers $80MM. Nothing wrong with what the city had the powers wanted to screw someone and waste more money. Encourage people to vote and this will stop.
ReplyDeleteI find this truly amazing (not really) to move the City Council chambers to the new public safety building so an experience like in Quartzite, AZ can happen? (Google this: Jennifer Jones, arrested for speaking at a City Council Meeting. The Police Chief went on to declare Marshall law, which he cannot due) Then there is the factor of supposedly moving to a 108 seat chamber. That's 108 seats for the citizens to observe/protest city government activities (not like they listen) without adequate parking. Not unlike the current City Hall where you can safely park at the Civic Center. Speaking of parking...where do they plan on parking the patrol cars? Will they be issued to take home like the Idaho State Police? Why can't Vikki Chandler utilize the offices she already has? Does she need to be on her knees in the Mayor's officer or something? Then there is the 25-30 seat conference room that the Statesman article mentions that will sit empty (underutilized space) just like the council chambers. More costs are in store is this project. No wonder it will cost the taxpayers $80MM. Nothing wrong with what the city had the powers wanted to screw someone and waste more money. Encourage people to vote and this will stop.
ReplyDeleteEditor Note: The Revenue Bonds Issued for the project were for $14.5MM, the payback with interest will put the total cost at somewhere north of $20MM at today's interest rates. There is a multi-story parking garage going up with the police project and we have no count for the cars it will hold. Generally, public parking requirements are codified at about one public parking space per 250-350 square feet of retail or office space. We know the upper floor was originally built to house space for the County Sheriff and Courtrooms. The deal didn't materialize due to a very wise decision by our Commishes to not sign onto a multi-year lease agreement with Nampa. The original deal was the Commishes would sign over the County Annex property and get two years free rent in the new police digs. The Commishes remembered the Idaho Constitution barring debts, liabilities or obligations going out beyond one budeget cycle and declined Mayor Tom's offer of renting office space at $20/square ft. in the new police digs. They now have all that real estate and no legitimate use other than parking the Nampa City Councilors upstairs for their twice monthly meetings.
The meeting of all this is on the record and can be obtained via FOIA requests to the County Commissioners. Mayor Tom will violate your Constitutional rights every time he thinks he can get away with doing so. Com. Ferdinand politely reminded Mayor Tom of this Constitutional restriction last summer when they started this police station project.
Paul
Here's a LINK to the Jennifer Jones deal in Az. should you like to see a video of how this lady was treated at a city council meeting mentioned in the above comment http://www.therightscoop.com/woman-arrested-for-speaking-at-city-council-meeting-in-quartszite-az/
ReplyDeleteYou'll have to copy and paste it to your browser search to pull it up..Paul