State Treas. Ron Crane Loses $27Million In Bad Investments

THE GUARDIAN has learned today after a read of the Idaho Legislative Audit Division's audit report to the Idaho Legislature and Gov. Otter $27MM has evaporated into the electronic cosmos of Wall Street investments.  State Treasurer, Ron Crane invested taxpayer money in all manner of investments that were outside the fiduciary responsibility of his office.  Mr. Crane invested taxpayer money in derivatives, securities rated at less than AAA and in AAA securities that did not have both the rating of AAA by Moody's and Standard and Poor's investment ratings agencies.

In short, it appears Sec. Crane was playing fast and loose with taxpayer money and doing so in the absence of any oversight on investments. 

The audit was conducted by the Idaho Legislative Audit Division and was signed by Ms. April Renfro, CPA who heads up the Audit Division. Below is a link to the audit and it is a very straight forward document most people can easily understand.  It will be interesting to see how the layers of this onion get peeled away going forward with all the political finger pointing that is sure to follow this document.

http://legislature.idaho.gov/audit/2013internalcontrol.pdf#storylink=relast

The Reality of Teachers and Turnover Losses

We are reprinting this with permission from Shari Webster of Nampa.  This was originally a letter to the editor and appeared this past week in the Idaho Statesman:

National estimates reveal that one-third of all new teachers leave the profession after three years.  46% depart within five.  What day-to-day experiences have so many headed for the door?

• In the midst of crisis, Nampa's dedicated teachers (equipped with personal funds) formed a line at an office supply's self serve photocopier.

• Report cards were printed on the blank side of used paper.

• A first-year teacher received access to a long neglected classroom 13 days before opening day.  After expending 12-16 hours a day and $1,500.00, she transformed the space into one suitable for instruction.

• District policy mandated that designated employee complete all laminating processes.  Because the sole worker became contractually available four days prior to opening day, a trip to a local office supply became necessary--as did another out-of-pocket expense.

• A non-working printer accompanied by a technician's growing waitlist necessitated documents being emailed to teachers' personal accounts for home printing.

• Utilizing a single workbook, teachers awaited turns at a solitary photocopies to produce student copies.  Added frustration?  A limit on pages!

• Traditional classrooms became occupied by 35 plus students, some void of English speaking ability.

Upon arrival of 2014, we honor these teachers, whose sacrifices are worthy of front-page headlines.

Shari Webster, President on behalf of Chi Chapter
Delta Kappa Gamma Society International

King's Bldg., Downtown Caldwell (and other stuff) Discussed at City Council Meeting/Workshop

THE GUARDIAN attended the Caldwell City Council meeting/workshop last night as there were subjects of interest on the meeting agenda. 

Bill Deal along with two other people from the State Insurance Dept. who discussed the oversight the state has with self insured cities and other public entities that fall under their oversight.  City of Caldwell is self insured for claims up to $75k and then their insurance policy kicks in for city employee health, dental and other insurance claims. 

Next subject of interest is what to do with cash that will flow to taxing districts from the urban renewal.  Will it be retained by the urban renewal agency or will the taxing district claim the money and use it to spend or reduce property tax burdens.

There was a lively discussion about downtown and how $1.3 million of unencumbered URA money will be spent from 2015 to 2022 tax years.  The lack of sidewalks in Caldwell was discussed and the safety issues this presents to school children walking to and from school.  There was a lack of consensus on this matter and little input from the city council noted.

Members of the URA board made a motion to get bids for demolition of the King's Building eyesore in downtown back in  December 2013 URA Board meeting. To date there have been no solicitation of bids has been done for this project.   URA Board Chairman Eljay Waite stated he was busy with audit issues but would have the biding process completed and perhaps the demolition of the King's building done  by April 1, 2014. 

There were several downtown business owners there to discuss the plight and blight of downtown and how to improve on the $2-5.00 lease rates that are now the norm for renting space in downtown.  Obstacles like sprinkler systems, ADA compliance issues and lack of investment by the URA in downtown were discussed.  Another issue brought up was the previous efforts to get the King's building land area converted to a plaza and the plans presented to both Mayor Nancolas and URA Chairman Eljay Waite at previous URA board meetings.  Both Mayor Nancolas and URA Chairman Eljay Waite declined to give any hint on the preferred plaza location at this meeting. 

One business owner spoke to the lack of interest he has seen from members of the City Council and the Mayor.  He has not seen Mayor Nancolas and only one City Council member since he opened for business across from the Post Office.  Nor has there been any press releases from the city or the chamber of commerce on his new business in downtown Caldwell.

Canyon County Jail Expansion

THE GUARDIAN has learned about a jail expansion project of late.  The plan will cost an estimated $12MM and will come from tax dollars flowing to the County General Fund.  Increased assessed values along with not spending all the cash flowing to the county has put a load of cash in the coffers.
 
A recent audit pointed out the need to spend the money or lower taxes.  Commishes have held the line on taxes as noted by a Guardian friend who lives in the county.  He stated his taxes did not go up this year when asked about this.  Bottom line is the Sheriff will get a new jail addition to the existing Dale Haile Jail.  It will be paid for without a bond election. The number of beds and other details are not known at this time.

The new jail addition will start construction some time after the new admin. building is completed and courtrooms constructed to accommodate new judges assigned to Canyon County.  Sheriff Donahue can now quit whining about a new jail.  That won't happen but he will get additional beds when the new addition to the existing jail is completed. The new jail addition will extend into the existing jail parking lot on the north side of Dale Haile Jail and extend outward toward Chicago St.

Oddly enough, this is the very plan put forth by former Sheriff George Nourse.  Let's hope they also put a basement in this new structure so the jail has adequate storage needs that are in a secure area that was advocated by Nourse.

Also planned in all of this is to close the Nampa Court Annex building and bring all that back to the main courthouse.  The Nampa Annex will be sold to the city of Nampa and turned into a parking lot if plans go according to what was related to the Guardian.

NOTE: I ran the afore mentioned blog post info past Comm. Steve Rule and he sent me an email that all of this is "conceptual" at this point in time and has not been formally discussed by the full BOCC.  And as a conceptual deal all of it is subject to a lot more discussion by all the stakeholders.

Police and Fire Pay, Nampa, Caldwell, Boise

We got this information from a Nampa Guardian Reader and thought it worth sharing with you.  The information comes from "ACCOUNTABLE IDAHO"

Average police pay:
Nampa 2012......  $65,585    Caldwell..... $48,744       Boise..... $72,295
Nampa 2011......  $66,446
Nampa 2010......  $66,562




Nampa Sgt. Tim Randall whose retirement is announced in today's IPT:
2011.... $89,566   2012....  $88.339

Fire Dept. average pay:
Nampa 2012... $71,640   Caldwell.... $66,890   Boise.... $81,845

All of the above  have added benefits which in Nampa's case includes over $12,000 in health insurance, PERSI retirement and a smorgasbord of other fringe benefits.

Update, January 7, 2013:  A commenter wanted to know Sheriff Dept. avg pay and here it is:

Paul:

Average pay for Ada County Sheriff officers  2012  $50,612

Average pay for Canyon County Sheriff officers 2012  $42,451

I have no way of knowing if any of the info I have sent you include

desk people but I would assume it does. Information taken from Accountable Idaho website. 

Mayor Nancolas Resolves More Time At Disneyland

All of the leaders of Canyon County were polled for their resolutions for 2014. 

We plucked this gem from the pages of the local paper for Mayor Nancolas' resolutions for this next year.  THE GUARDIAN will leave the following for readers to enjoy:

"Spend every precious moment I possibly can with those whom I cherish and treasure the most.
P.S. Go to Disneyland more often! — Garret Nancolas, Caldwell mayor"

*Cartoon courtesy of a local artist.
The shirt button says "Ask Eljay"

Brandon Hixon In Default to Wells Fargo Bank

It was reported to THE GUARDIAN, Idaho State Representative for Caldwell District 10 is once again in financial difficulty.  Rep. Hixon has a history of stiffing creditors and now this latest event as reported to THE GUARDIAN:

"Doesn't seem to matter much about a Representatives financial status but in legal ads today in Idaho Press Tribune page C12 Brandon Hixon of 919 North Plateau Drive Caldwell has not paid his house payment  of $1,625.80 since July"

A quick check of today's Press Tribune  Legal Notices on the right hand side of the page gave the details of this latest financial difficulty of Mr. Hixon.  Mr. Hixon is now more than $10,000 behind in his mortgage and late fees to Wells Fargo Bank.

Update: 12/28/2013.... THE GUARDIAN read the legal notice in the IPT again and noted Rep. Hixon's debt to Wells Fargo is $241,277.95 for his address listed as 910 N. Plateau Ave., Caldwell, Idaho.  A search of the Canyon County Assessor's data on the value of Rep. Hixon's home is $89,100.00.  Mr. Hixon managed to get Wells Fargo to give him 2.7 times the value of his home.

Fruitcake; You Know You Reall like It and Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone and a prosperous New Year! 

I can remember well the smell of a well made fruitcake made by my God Mother, she did not spare the rum in her recipe and the goodies in it were amazing.  It was moist, chewy and loaded with dried fruit and pecans and walnuts.  It was a labor of love and doled out a small piece at a time.  I think it got a bad name when it was produced commercially.  The bean counters kept the price down and the quality suffered as a result.

New Years Resolution: Quitting Tobacco

Every year the issue of resolutions comes up and this year is no exception.  THE GUARDIAN would offer for your consideration quitting tobacco.  I didn't say smoking as that does not cover the myriad of products that fall under tobacco use.  I have included a couple of graphic photos to help bolster your resolve to quit smoke and smokeless tobacco. 

I am probably one of the most ardent advocates of quitting tobacco and do so as a former smoker.  My last cigarette was in February of 1970.  I got started when I was in the Navy and cigarettes sold for a mere $1.10/carton of 10 packs of smokes, chewing tobacco was $0.25/can of Copenhagen.  A smoke break was a really good excuse to go topside and get some fresh air. 

All the bad news about tobacco and smoking was just starting to take hold with the public after the Surgeon General's Report of 1964 with a direct link between smoking and lung cancer.  Since that time it has been linked to a myriad of health issues.  Tobacco companies know the health issues and they know they are going to lose the battle in this matter but they want to lose it slowly.

My wake up call came when I was still in the Navy and was traveling to New London, Ct. for Submarine School in 1968.  I ran out of tax free smokes and bought a pack of Luck Strikes at JFK Airport for $0.93.  I was making $82/month at that time and it was not hard to do the math.  I could smoke or eat but could not do both on that income level. 

It was not until February of 1970 that I quit cold turkey.  Withdrawal is not a pleasant exercise and has been likened to kicking heroin in some of the journals.  It can be done, and there are millions who have come to grips with this challenge.  You can expect about three weeks of intense withdrawal before the urge to smoke begins to taper off.  It will be different for everyone who takes on this challenge.

Smoking is not something that sustains life, it costs a lot of money and will kill you off at least a decade or more as you continue to age. No matter how you do it, a lifetime of tobacco use will add up to around $100K.  THE GUARDIAN hopes you will consider giving yourself the gift of a longer life and resolve to try and quit the use of tobacco products.

Property Taxes Up 21% in Caldwell

The following is a letter to the editor of the IPT by Guardian reader Chuck Stadick.  He has outlined all the increases and where the money is going on property tax assessments this year.

"Just received my 2013 property tax bill, and it has gone up 21 percent vs. 2012. The major taxing agencies with increases were city of Caldwell, up $223; Highway District 4, up $34; Vallivue School District, up $147; and Canyon County, up $52.

Thanks Mayor Nancolas, school and highway officials, Canyon County commissioners, and last but not least, the urban renewal committees. I’m sure the feds will chime in and increase my Social Security by that amount once they find out, don’t you think?

* Chuck Stadick, Caldwell"