Singing Mayors Junket to Washington DC

THE GUARDIAN took the time to read the email from Senator Mike Crapo's staffer Lindsay Nothern that arrived today. Seems the "Singing Mayors" of our fair cities of Caldwell and Nampa will not be deterred on their junkets to Washington DC in these times of economic strife for the unwashed masses paying the bills.

Both Mayors took a contingent of High School students with them to our national capital to present Senator Crapo with a petition signed by 400 other high school students. The travel for this trip needs to be accounted for to the taxpayers of both Caldwell and Nampa. How many kids, who paid for the trip, how much for the whole trip and how many days?

"Caldwell Mayor Garrett Nancolas said the student advisory board has done extensive research about government spending. "They brought this issue to to us and they are concerned about what is being asked of them, "their children and their grandchildren," he said."

It is past time for some transparency and accountability with respect to taking students on these trips if they are funded in anyway by the taxpayer's of Caldwell and Nampa.

Editor note:

We learned today from the local IPT page 4 article the trip cost Nampa students $1,000 each for the four students from Nampa. Mayor Nancolas was less clear on how much for the seven Caldwell students saying through Tom Dale's public information officer, Sharla Arledge.. "Caldwell students received some funding from local businesses, Nancolas also said the Caldwell students raised money themselves".

What is not clear is how much taxpayer money was spent on this trip. Additionally, Caldwell and Nampa were the only Idaho cities to take students to the National League of Cities Conference. The trip was six days departure to return to Idaho.

Note to the good mayors...next time think about a fax, postage stamp, or FEDEX overnight delivery for the petition. This trip makes all the budget cutting talk look like you are not doing the walk.

Sense of Community and Belonging

I just returned from the Laguna Beach area in Southern California to deconstruct what remained of my father's life and estate. Bolg entries have not been made since my departure for this effort.

While cleaning out my Father's worldly possessions my two brothers who still reside in Southern California asked me what I like the most about living in Idaho. It gave me pause to really think about this question. The weather down there was sunny and warm and we were all in shorts and t-shirts doing the clean-out. We were inland about five miles from the ocean and the air was clear as well.

The summary is quite simple when I think about it. It is a sense of community and people knowing you and your family members when you are out and about town. Knowing the faces and names of your neighbors, elected and appointed community, county and state officials along with the ability to be involved in what is going on in my community are important to me. My brothers could not name a single elected official of their community, county or state. Amazing to me they are totally detached from what is going on around them.

I also noticed a much diminished Los Angeles Times and Orange County Register newspapers. These two papers were bigger than most Sunday papers around here on a daily basis. The local Idaho Press Tribune is the first thing I read each morning with cup of strong coffee. I get a sense of knowing just a little bit more about current events in my community and the people in the local news.

My 2002 Chevy has just over 30k miles on it. I don't drive the 80-100 miles a day they drive to sustain their lives. Think of it as two weeks a month handed back to me each month to enjoy as I choose. I like the changing seasons, the short and for the most part, mild winters along with the certain renewal spring brings to us each year.

What I don't like are the wind and dirt storms we have. Poor urban planning resulting in our roads and highways overwhelmed with way more traffic than the streets and highways were ever designed to handle. Growth not paying for the impact it creates on those already living here not getting addressed by governments at all levels in the Treasure Valley. Housing located in the middle of valuable farm land. Urban sprawl subsidized and encouraged by local cities and community planning departments.

On balance living here vs. there a person has some identity and you are not just another car with a driver rolling to some unspecified place. I can pick up the local newspaper and see news and articles of interest about people and places and things of a personal interest to me. Obituaries are not seen in the newspapers down there, too many people checking out of life each day to even keep up with on a daily basis. I can't recall actually seeing a cemetery in my travels down there.

I feel very lucky to have made the break with the big city life early in my life. My wife is a Caldwell native and we made the permanent return to Caldwell in 1978. My children have come to appreciate the features and benefits of small town life now that they are out of college and on their own. I am thankful for this gift in ways that are very hard to express.

I can only hope our elected and appointed people will use this pause in growth to do some serious review of how the past 15 years of growth have been handled and implement what needs to change. The past patterns and approvals of just about every project have not enhanced the quality of life in this valley. We can do better and we as residents need to insist this happen in the future.

Caldwell City Hall Nobody Asked for Moves Forward

Caldwell Mayor Nancolas and City Councilors appear to be assuming the role of Nero in their quest to get a new city hall built despite no demonstrated need for this edifice. Add to the "not needed at this time" is "who asked for a new city hall".

The cost to build this legacy project in downtown Caldwell is at or near $15 million and you have to ask yourself are we in ancient Rome or Caldwell?

Spending $15 million property taxpayer dollars on a facility not needed, asked for nor approved by the voters makes the Mayor, City Councilors and the Caldwell East Urban renewal district look like NERO when Rome was burning.

Who will get to write the question in support of and against this project if and when we have an advisory vote? The Mayor and Team Garrett are getting a fair amount of blow-back on this particular project. The real question that needs to be answered is: Who of us in the community asked for a new city hall complex? The short answer is it came forward in much the same manner as the Gazebo without going thru the rinse cycle with the voters. It just poped up and was announced it was going to be built and it will be good for all of us.

Urban Renewal has taken over the role as the "decider" for what is good for all us taxpayers. In this economy the use of our tax dollars on a new city hall lends credence to the "greed is good" mantra of Wall Street and the debacle of the bankers of late. We get to hunker down and they still get to spend money, take trips, and get bonus money from taxpayers. A new city hall has all the same aroma.

THE GUARDIAN read the IPT article this week on the fiscal health of our fair city with some healthy skepticism. Virtually every government function in the State of Idaho is scrambling to make ends meet, cutting jobs, hours, budgets, and perks but Caldwell finds itself in the magical land of OZ with only about $20 thousand or so to make up in budget shortfalls this year. I really hope this is the factual case for the citizens of Caldwell.

A new city hall project flies in the face of every citizen in Caldwell who is currently struggling to make ends meet in this economy. Mayor Nancolas offered that the electrical and HVAC systems were getting some age on them in the current buildings and would need some updating at the public meeting held last month as justification for a new city hall. THE GUARDIAN would offer the HVAC system in my residence is over 30 years old and when it fails I will not get a new house but will replace the unit and continue to live in my beloved surroundings. Add to this, the building next to the fire station downtown used by the City Engineering and Development Services Departments has a lot of unused office space. Where is the need for a new city hall? (The Fire Dept has been denied the use of empty spaces for their needs. No real reason is known for this denial by the Mayor.)

Most everyone is having to do more with less in this economy. A new city hall flies in the face of the people paying the bills. It makes Caldwell elected officials look rather selfish and self serving spending money unnecessarily. People are starting to question just what the heck is going one with their tax money with a project that nobody asked for in the first place.

Last note on downtown redevelopment. We are being told the Mayor, Urban Renewal and Team Garrett are following the Leland Report Phase II Strategic Report. The Leland Report has a key element the City/Urban Renewal buy properties downtown and sell them at steep write downs to get private capital to invest in our downtown. And.."Re-invest in existing businesses utilizing high quality, energy efficient, sustainable development practices" are also outlined in this report.

Other key elements in the Leland Report are to keep civic functions downtown and create housing options for downtown. We will be losing the Southwest Health District out of our downtown core when the economy turns around. This move will take about 75 jobs out of downtown Caldwell when this happens. Meanwhile, the Mayor is please to tell us in public forums that he and his team are courting the Veterans Administration to locate in downtown.

Parking options for private capital businesses will be severely limited with TVCC and the VA located in Downtown. Economic growth will be severely curtailed when people can't find a place to park. The City Deciders like to call the new city hall a "catalyst project", the reality of this is highly questionable in the absence of factual data analysis to support this statement.

Downtown Caldwell Should Use Renewal of Boise As Blueprint

One of the best pieces of information that came out of Mayor Nancolas's meeting on Downtown Caldwell came from Skip Oppenheimer. THE GUARDIAN asked Mr. Oppenheimer how Boise turned around.

Mr. Oppenheimer offer that Boise was known as the "City that destroyed itself". The demolition of old buildings was a stark reality of the new beginnings for Boise. Boise Redevelopment Agency now CCDC (Urban Renewal Agencies) bought up all the old dilapidated buildings tore them down, cleared the land and sold it to developers on the cheap. In addition, some visionary members of the BRA developed a PLAN for downtown Boise and along with Boise City Govt. maintained the political will to stick to the plan come hell or high water.

THE GUARDIAN has to be one of the few people who actually read all the Caldwell redevelopment plans. They all talk about a capital improvement plan and even the Leland Report talks to the city buying and clearing old buildings out and taking the write downs. Mr. Oppenheimer in succinct fashion pulled all of these plans together with his explanation of what happened in Boise. Caldwell will have to destroy downtown in order to save it. Private capital will not invest in downtown without the help of the Urban Renewal Agency help in buying and clearing property in our downtown. The numbers simply will not work to produce a profit for the gamble required of private capital.

Caldwell Urban renewal expenditures of our tax dollars have not been dedicated to buying old buildings and clearing property on the scale necessary to revitalize downtown Caldwell. The property tax dollars generated by urban renewal has gone in a variety of projects that have little to do with downtown renewal. There has been little taxpayer oversight in how Caldwell East Urban Renewal Agency has spent our Urban Renewal monies. The decisions on spending that money has been made at poorly advertised "public meetings". Urban renewal generated $6 million dollars last year.

If Team Garret and the Urban Renewal crew want to walk the talk on revitalizing downtown Caldwell, THE GUARDIAN would like to suggest they follow the Boise model. Buy the property, clear it, sell it cheap to a good developer who will invest in our community and HAVE A DEFINED PLAN. Without a plan, it will be a hodge-podge of little to no renewal. The new city hall project will become our version of the Idaho Center.

Thank you Mr. Oppenheimer for your explanation and clarity of what is needed in Caldwell. I would also, like to thank Al Mc Cluskey for his vision in this as well. Al was asked what was needed and he didn't mince words...tear it down and start over. We have a revenue stream with Urban Renewal to do this but all the "bling" projects have got to stop. TVCC is the right idea in the wrong place in downtown. Leave it where it was originally sited in Sky Ranch Business Park.

Downtown Caldwell, NO PLAN ..PLAN, Is Unraveling

THE GUARDIAN attended the first two hours of the downtown Caldwell meeting held last night at the Caldwell Police Station public meeting room. The meeting was a standing room only event. It started off as a well scripted event with the front loading of guests invited by the Mayor and Team Downtown to speak in support of the new city hall project. Things changed in tone once the agenda speakers finished their presentations.

I was able to ask Skip Oppenheimer what was the "tipping point" at which downtown Boise turned the corner. Mr. Oppenheimer gave a brief history of Boise as the "CITY THAT DESTROYED ITSELF". Boise Redevelopment Agency purchased properties downtown and leveled all the old buildings to make way for new stuff. The key part of his answer was the BRA had a plan and stuck to it. Political will and vision made downtown Boise Happen. Again, the key was a PLAN and writedowns on the property were taken to make the sites cheap and appealing to developers.

Caldwell got essentially the same information in the Leland Report of 2006 where Mr.Leland makes a point that the Urban Renewal Agency must buy buildings knock them down and sell the property to private capital developers who could come in and build projects that could compete with the local lease market.

Right now, with the exception of the new city hall project, all downtown Caldwell property is owned by private owners. There is no economic way the numbers will pencil out for private capital development without benefit of the urban renewal agency buying the property and selling it at reduced cost to developers.

TVCC in the new city hall complex drew a quick and pointed challenge from the development community of East Caldwell. A heavily vested group of developers in East Caldwell are so vexed over the move of TVCC from Sky Ranch to downtown they are openly talking about funding the project themselves in or near Sky Ranch Business Park. This move by private development will effectively take the need for TVCC in downtown away from the Mayor and Team Garret's city hall project. It may even kill the project given the cash position of the Urban Renewal agency. Revenue bonding will be a questionable deal as well.

The absence of a plan and the political will to execute the plan was evident at the meeting last night. A concerned citizen in the audience asked where the current city hall is located and the Mayor responded it is downtown. The follow-up question was just what economic activity will a new city hall bring to downtown? Mayor Nancolas launched his response that the buildings were getting some age on them and in need of some updates to heating and air conditioning systems. The Mayor's response was perceived as pretty weak sauce when it got down to brass tacks and a clearly demonstrated need for a new city hall. (Especially when the building at 7th and Cleveland has lots of empty office space right now ready for any future needs for city office space.) $14 Million of taxpayer money seems profligate with tax dollars at this juncture and time of economic uncertainty. It certainly flies n the face of people having to make do with less due to job losses and retirements destroyed by the financial markets.

Perp Walk Time For Bankers and Wall Street Crooks

We are now over a year into all the financial shenanagans pulled by Wall Street and the Banks. If you have watched the value of your retirment and stock accounts evaporate into the electronic cosmos via all the crooks, you need to start screaming for a pound of flesh.

Just like Enron and WORLD COM, only on a bigger scale, the pretty boys in Gucci loafers and Brooks Brotthers suits have fleeced all of us once again. When do we get some retribution? Quite simply, what went on was a free for all of unbridled greed with our money and without our knowledge. We trusted these guys to do the right thing and act honestly, they didn't and it is past Time to do the perp walk and face the music in court.

The banking system and the equity markets are built on fiduciary responsibility, trust and a certain amount of risk taking. You can't loan a guy making $20k a year a million bucks and call it responsible or keeping the trust. These kids of actiona are a violation of fiduciary responsiblity. The guys and gals making the loans knew is was wrong but they had their marching orders from the TOP DOGS. Time for their collective heads to be served up on a platter.

Just like ENRON, it is past the time we need to see some people doing the perp walk and hopefully going away to "CLUB FED" for a few decades. It won't bring back the cash, stocks, and retirement accounts but it will send a clear message to those contemplating a repeat. I can't believe more people are not marching in the streets over all this baloney.

Jail Dopers For Criminal Acts-Not Drug Use

GUARDIAN GUEST OPINION
By Dr. Richard Jay

At a time when Idaho’s state budget crisis threatens to cut essential state services and corral prisoners in warehouses, perhaps it is time to reconsider a long-recommended plan that would be all pluses for the state.

It’s simple to explain: Repeal the law making “drug” use a penal crime. Note that this is not saying to make the trafficking in or manufacture of those drugs lawful, or reduce the penalty for doing so. It is simply saying that we should stop putting people in prison for using drugs.

This one simple act could have dramatic beneficial effects on the addict, the finances of the state and various important state programs. And it would cost less, not more, to implement it than does our present policy.

The benefits are many, but a few jump right at us:

-Stop imprisoning people for an offense that rarely causes violent harm to anyone else. (Other laws handle violence or injuries.)

-Permit consequences to the user more appropriate to the degree of the offense (such as mandatory treatment), rather than overkill with prison time, which often turns users into serious criminals.

-Permit rehabilitation programs (which we now say we can’t afford) that might have some chance of working - which prison almost never does.

-Save jobs, marriages, families and reputations from permanent damage.

-Save the state and its taxpayers from the horrendous continuing acceleration (without an end in sight) in outlays to finance new prisons and penal costs.

-Leave the saved money for education, health programs, environmental improvements and countless other needs that we now struggle to, or fail to, finance.

-Free funds to pursue and bring to justice the manufacturers and traffickers in illegal drugs - operations that are now grossly underfunded.

-Encourage drug users to seek help with their problems, which imprisonment does not.

Such a proposal would, no doubt, bring the wrath of those who benefit from terror tactics and mindless fear-mongering, but it should be possible to find legislators from both parties (who do not think with their glands) who could jointly develop and present the proposal as a nonpartisan one, and one that unlike our existing imprisonment response might create some real benefits and solutions to a problem that prisons simply cannot help.

Dr. Richard Jay of Boise is a retired professor of economics.

Meetin on Downtown Monday February 23rd

Monday evening at the Caldwell Police HQ Mayor Namcolas will give us all the latest info on downtown Caldwell. (Monday February 23rd 6:00 PM)

This ought to be an interesing meeting as if follows the Caldwell Chamber of Commerce meeting this past week where the main topic was inaction with various "catalyst projects" from the new City Hall nobody has really asked for to the move from Sky Ranch to downtown for TVCC and other issues of Chamber members.

Questions for the Mayor and his team might be:
1. Who asked for a new city hall? (Nobody seems to know the answer to this.)
2. Who is making decisions with the TVCC project move from Sky Ranch to Downtown?
3. How much will the new city hall project cost taxpayers?
4. Is the D.L. Evans Bank project really at all stop?
5. How will downtown businesses cope with parking if TVCC is located in downtown?
6. Is it true the City of Caldwell told St. Lukes they were not intersted in a new St. Luke's hospital project on 20/26 near Sky Ranch?
7. Codes and draconian update requirements are limiting economic devleopment downtown. Why can't reasonable accomodations be made for existing non-compliant buildings be made?
8. Why is Caldwell mandating more than is required by the Americans With Disabilities Act. No oversight of the building official enforcing this is demonstrated and it is hurting small business in Caldwell.

It will be interesting to see Mayor Nancolas "tap dance" through all this stuff come Moncay evening.

Caldwell Chamber of Commerce Hosts Caldwell Govt. Charette

THE GUARDIAN attended a charette on city government in Caldwell Tuesday evening of this week. The meeting was attended by over sixty businesses owners and chamber members in Caldwell. An outside facilitator was brought in from Coeur d' Alene to keep the meeting focused and on task. I should also mention that no Caldwell employees or elected officials were invited to attend this meeting. An open and free flow of comments, ideas and constructive criticism was the purpose of the meeting. Therefore, city officials were asked to not attend.

Everyone broke out into groups to bring up what is both good and what needs improvement with our fair city. It was informative as well as a bit amazing to see just how much general agreement there was on a variety of subjects for what is good and what needs improvement from a city government administration point of view.

All of the issues discussed will be put together into a final report for the community as well as the elected officials in the community in the near term.

Concerns of downtown business people are TVCC/City Hall project and how it got authorized along with what it will do to parking for businesses downtown. The Issues of City Manager Government, Urban Renewal accountability and transparency were also raised at this meeting.

Expect a formal "white paper report" on this meeting in the near term from the Caldwell Chamber of Commerce Board in the very near future. THE GUARDIAN would like to thank the Caldwell Chamber of Commerce for hosting this informative and much needed reviewe of our city.

Taxpayers Fund COMPASS Legislative Party

by David R. Frazier Tuesday, February 17th

The GUARDIAN has obtained more information about the taxpayer funded party set for Thursday evening to curry favor with legislators to advance their “agenda” in the Idaho Legislature.

While the invitation sent to COMPASS members said “We will have heavy hors d’oeuvres and a hosted bar,” we have learned from COMPASS executive director Matt Stoll that an outfit called HDR will pick up the bar tab. Stoll tells us he contacted the engineering firm in January asking them to pay the bar tab for the legislative reception, estimated to be about $235. Taxpayers will pay another $885 for food and chairs for the event.

According to Stoll, HDR has done some sub-contracting for COMPASS amounting to about $27,000 in the past 24 months and does work for various cities and counties in Idaho. HDR is a big outfit with a heavy interest in transit projects, judging from their WEBSITE.

Suffice it to say, HDR has a lot to gain if Legislators vote for transit projects or local option taxes.

To put this all in perspective. The GUARDIAN has no problem with private firms spending their private money attempting to influence lawmakers for their personal benefit. It is ironic–and revealing– that COMPASS has no compunction about hosting a party, buying nearly a $1K in party food, but gets a private contractor to pick up the booze tab.

The problem as we see it comes when the likes of COMPASS solicits money from a firm doing business with local governments. HDR is big in the train, trolley, and transit business…the prime focus of COMPASS which acts as the “Treasure Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization”…mandated by congress in order to qualify for regional funds.

Of even more concern is using public funds to schmooze with Legislators who are supposed to be working in the public interest. COMPASS pays a lobbyist to advance its agenda and the guy told a
Senator the reception provided an opportunity to make a “FORMAL presentation and hold INFORMAL discussions with legislators.” These discussions and FORMAL presentations should be conducted in open public meetings. At the very least, all citizens should be invited.

Like the recent ACHD/Boise City Council meeting where citizens were snubbed, COMPASS has its own agenda and makes no provision for citizens to join in the merriment and voice THEIR agenda with lawmakers.

Since the Senator was led to believe there would be a FORMAL PRESENTATION, the GUARDIAN thinks it appropriate that any citizen wishing to attend this meeting of government officials should drop by the Gernika Room beneath Bank of The Cascades from 5-7 p.m. Thursday