Syria "red line" What Do We Do?

Everyone has become a "5-minute General" with what to do in Syria. I know this is not the usual concerns put up on this blog but I heard one of the best descriptions of what to do and wanted to share it:

The "red line" has nothing to do with what we do or not what we do. The real decision time comes "when the cost of doing nothing is exceeded by doing something".  With the bad vibe of two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan hanging in the memory as well as the $2Trillion cost of these wars moving forward with due caution is a really tough thing to deal with as President.

Weapons of "mass destruction" was the war cry for Iraq and now we have the "red line" and the call for action by Mr. Obama.  I am old enough to remember the Hungarian uprising that happened in the 1950's and we did nothing but watch the slaughter of a lot of those people who got no help from us at their moment of need. 

Syria is a real bag of worms no matter how you perceive what is going on.
It is predicted to be a failed state in a matter of months.  The people doing most of the fighting are the very people we really do not want to see in power if the rebels win.  What a mess and they have some nasty stuff we may have to deal with one way or another.

How big is Syria?  Syria , officially Syrian Arab Republic, republic (2005 est. pop. 18,449,000), 71,467 sq mi (185,100 sq km), W Asia.  Idaho by comparison is 83,500 square miles with less than 2 million people.

Small Claims Court Now Held At Nampa Annex

As of April 1, 2013 all small claims actions will be held at the Nampa Annex.  You can still get the forms at the Caldwell Courthouse but you will have to file them in Nampa.

Business has been pretty slow for items of interest lately and this is all I have to offer until more comes my way.

Paul

Idaho Senator's Wife Draws Ire of U.S. Judge

Idaho Senator’s Wife Draws Ire of U.S. Judge

In an order issued Monday, U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill suggested Renee McKenzie, wife of lawyer and Idaho Senator Curt McKenzie, may have violated Idaho Code by practicing law without a license.

The judge characterized Renee McKenzie’s dealing with a prison inmate as a “side show” for the court, a “serious security risk for the prison,” and “not a professional relationship.”

While not an attorney, she presented herself to prison guards as, “Renee McKenzie of McKenzie Law Offices” and was granted “unfettered access” with convicted murderer, kidnapper, and rapist Lance Wood. Wood is being housed at the Idaho Department of Corrections facility south of Boise and represents himself with no attorney in a civil case against a DOC worker before Winmill. He is a Utah inmate, serving his time in Idaho which is common when security issues arise.

Judge Winmill denied four motions from Wood for protective orders and a contempt hearing.

However, the interesting reading is how Renee McKenzie talked her way into the prison and had multiple unmonitored visits with Wood as well as 91 hours of phone calls. Prison officials allowed the visits at first, but eventually became suspicious and launched an internal investigation. That’s when Winmill rescinded the attorney-client arrangement on February 14. The McKenzie law firm does not represent inmate Wood according to court records.

Winmill went on to explain in his order,”Even more troubling, the prison learned that Ms. McKenzie attempted to circumvent the monitoring of her calls from Wood by having the calls routed from the telephone line at McKenzie Law Offices – a non-monitored line because it is associated with a law firm – to her cell phone.

The prison also learned that Ms. McKenzie set up a P.O. Box to receive “legal mail” from Wood, but Mr. McKenzie indicated that the P.O. Box was not associated with his firm.

This was the P.O. Box Wood used to send the returned personal letter sent to Ms. McKenzie. This underscores the attempt by Wood and Ms. McKenzie to have unmonitored communication under the guise of legal communication. Under these circumstances, prison officials determined that, at the very least, there was a strong infatuation between Wood and Ms. McKenzie, and that it would be dangerous for them to meet in isolation as they had been mistakenly allowed to do previously.”

In conclusion the court said, “Under these circumstances, the Court finds that IDOC has simply followed reasonable security measures by separating Wood and Ms. McKenzie. Accordingly, Wood has not demonstrated good cause for the Court to issue a protective order.”

Here's a link to Mr. Wood's murder and please be aware it is really graphic in what happened to the victim  http://www.trendsinhate.com/hatedates/NovemberHateDates/November21.html

What You May Not Know About the Canyon County Fair Moving Out of Caldwell

THE GUARDIAN read with interest the recent articles in the local paper on the move of the Canyon County Fair out of the current site the new site on Hwy. 20-26.  THE GUARDIAN had a nice long chat with one of the Fair Board members and here's the situation:

First, the Fair does not own any of the property the current fair uses except Gabiola Field and the metal building (and not the ground the building sits on) at the current site in Caldwell.  The title to all of the ground is held by the City of Caldwell.  The Fair can't build on property they don't own.

There are meeting minutes from many years ago where the grounds were ceded to the Fair but for whatever reason the deeds were not recorded and the City still holds title to the land and has shown no inclination to do anything to keep the Fair in Caldwell.  The City of Caldwell has been disinclined to meet the Fair needs at any level of reasonable accommodation.

Second, there were many concerned citizens back in the day who saw a need for fair expansion and they all put $1,000.00 or more towards the purchase property from 21st to Linden that was not already owned by the City.  They took the initiative to buy this for the City for the sole purpose of Fair expansion.  The City ignored the Fair and built baseball fields on all of the property much to the chagrin of those who thought they had made a contribution to Fair expansion in Caldwell.

Third, the College of Idaho football program is going to take over the use of Simplot Stadium and will not allow the Fair to use the Stadium property due to turf rehabilitation costs and need to keep the field in good condition for their football program.  The costs for the renewal and care are put at around $1MM if you buy into the talk around town.


Fourth,  Caldwell Mayor and City Council have all but ignored the needs of the Fair by not deeding property to the Fair Board and paving the way for needed expansion deemed necessary by the Fair to remain a viable event.  Talks with Mayor Nancolas pretty much were; they had a good meeting but the needs of the Fair Board were ignored. 

The Fair did the only reasonable thing they could do and that was try to figure out what the best site would be moving forward.  The site out on 20/26 was bought from a bank that had repossessed the property from a bankrupt developer at market price based on the appraisal made at the time of purchase.  They did not remove farm ground from ag production; it had already been bought for development and was destined to be used for housing.

Fifth,  the Fair Board approached the Mayor Tom Dale of Nampa and the City Council of Nampa about locating the Fair at the Idaho Center to no avail.  The City of Nampa wanted the Fair Board to buy up property east of the Idaho Center for the carnival portion and outside exhibit areas of the Fair and then let the City of Nampa use it rent free the rest of the year.  Cost of the property next to the Idaho Center was in excess of $300,000 per acre.  The math on the cost of the property would not work for the Fair Board.

In summary,  the City of Caldwell has once again unwittingly worked long and hard to get the Fair to move out of town and have done little to nothing in order to keep this event in Caldwell.

Bujak Mess ...Please Make It Stop!

The County is still battling Bujak issues and they have not won a single court case to date.  The cost of litigation in all of this has cost Canyon County Taxpayers an astounding $480,000! 

THE GUARDIAN has to ask;  just what "THE COUNTY" expects to gain with all the court battles.?

It is time to put a stop to all this insanity and waste of taxpayer dollars.  Mr. Bujak has lost his job, gone bankrupt, has been publicly humiliated and the public whipping post via the courts continues.
It is way past time to put a stop to all this waste of time and taxpayer dollars.  Both sides need to declare victory and stop the bleeding. 

Taxpayers need to let the Commissioners know enough is enough.  Here's the phone number to reach the Commishes if you want to be heard on this issue 454-7300.

Here's a link to the Idaho Press Tribune article in today's paper.

http://www.idahopress.com/members/canyon-county-still-battling-john-bujak-issues/article_f273c5c0-911b-11e2-8686-001a4bcf887a.html

Taxpayers should have say on costly projects

 

The following is a letter to the editor of the local newspaper submitted by Bob Gaddis and is reprinted here with Mr. Gaddis' permission on March 14th, 2013

Taxpayers should have a say on costly projects

"Mayor Tom Dale and City Council members Pam White and Martin Thorne have voted in favor of spending $350,000 of our money on the renovation of the old Mercy Hospital and yes, urban renewal money is property tax money.  The only one at the previous meeting speaking in favor of this expensive project was the private developer, although 12 taxpayers objected.

Councilman Thorne commented several times that he couldn't understand why people are opposed to urban renewal.  Perhaps I can answer his question.

The taxpayers of Nampa will soon be over $100,000,000 in debt without taxpayer approval on any of the projects.  The cost of the public safety building, with interest, is $31,500,000.  The estimated cost of the new library is $55,990,774. To upgrade the sewer treatment plant will cost $17,00,000 (passed by judicial approval).  The total is over $104,000,000.

We have subsidized the Idaho Center more than $1.5 million in 2012 alone and will continue to indefinitely. (note: Mr. Gaddis says the total here should be $1.775,000 when the cost of a new roof is added to the Idaho Center costs to Nampa taxpayers.)

City Attorney Terry White stated that normally they would need voter approval for the sewer project but because of time constraints, they had no choice.  We have known about this since the early 80's but had to pass this immediately. 

Over $100,000 of our tax money was spent on attorney fees to prevent the taxpayers from voting on the public safety building.

The disagreement has never been about whether or not these projects should be built but whether the taxpayers should have to opportunity to say yes or no.

Please contact Mayor Dale and the council members if you agree that we as taxpayers have the right to have more input than just to pay the taxes.  You might also want to ask why our taxes are double those in Meridian and are the highest in the state."

Bob Gaddis
Nampa, Idaho

Boise Valley Chamber Exits Valley for Junket to S.V.

Valley Taxpayers To Fund Chamber Of Commerce Junket
by David R. Frazier (Boise Guardian)

For the 20th year citizens of Treasure Valley will be asked to fund a SUN VALLEY JUNKET for various elected officials and government staffers to learn about making Boise and the surrounding area more appealing to businesses and tourists.

The Chamber of Commerce website post says:
This year’s theme will be: “Building Livable Cities in the Boise Valley.” And what better location to begin the building process than 180 miles away in Sun Valley? Interesting how many folks follow each other to the “leadership” conference.

Sun Valley has benefited financially over the years as local officials leave their home territory to listen to a menu of speakers selected by the Chamber. They never seem to be able to have it in Boise, Nampa, or Meridian.

For years the GUARDIAN has written about the absurdity of leaving town in order to plan methods of promoting our towns. The event is funded by taxpayers, but taxpayers are generally frozen out of attendance by the $450 admission fee, $300 lodging, and transportation to get there. Such luxury is only affordable by executives, public servants, and those who own their own businesses.

The standard excuse for spending Boise area tax dollars in Sun Valley is to “gather leaders in an area where they won’t be tempted to leave or be distracted by other business.” That translates to kidnapping the deciders who hold the purse strings without having to account to the masses.

Another benefit of going so far away is the almost total lack of public scrutiny. Not only are citizens effectively priced out of attendance, the media outlets generally ignore the event as “not newsworthy,” especially as they struggle for financial survival.

 

Editor Note: It will be interesting to note how many Canyon County politicos will be attending this event on the local taxpayer dime.  THE GUARDIAN will be checking to see who will be attending from Canyon County on the taxpayer dime.

3-13-2013
1. Mayor Tom Dale will indeed be attending this event.  So far the Canyon Commishes are not scheduled to attend.
2. Mayor Garrett Nancolas is currently out of town in Washinton DC attending the National League of Cities junket. His scheduled is noting he will be out of the office on the dates of the Sun Valley Junket.  More on this when the Mayor's Secretary returns to work.
3. None of the Canyon County Commissioners will be attending this meeting.
4. Email from Mayor Nancolas stated he is not going on this trip out of town.  3/26/13.

Thoughts on Food Stamp Program by Wayne Hoffman

The following is offered by permission from Mr. Hoffman of the Idaho Freedom Foundation and first appeared in the Idaho Press Tribune March 4, 2013 

The last thing Idaho should be doing is finding new ways to make poverty more convenient.

The Senate Health and Welfare Committee, which previously advanced a bill to allow food stamp benefits to be distributed multiple times per month, changed its mind and killed the measure over cost concerns. That means food stamp benefits will continue to go out on the first of each month, resulting in continued long lines at the grocery store and spoiled food left by shoppers who gave up on making a purchase on food stamp distribution day.

Some lawmakers said the multi-day distribution idea ignores the bigger problems with food stamps. Sen. Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston, has long been frustrated by the visual of poor Idahoans buying grocery carts full of junk food on their government entitlement.

“We need a committee that is willing to keep emotions out of this and find ways to help people stretch their food dollars,” Lodge said. “The food stamp program is supposed to be supplemental nutrition, and we need to get people to stop buying cookies, energy drinks, soft drinks and such. We need to encourage them to buy potatoes instead of a bag of potato chips. Simply issuing food stamps for 10 days instead of one doesn’t ensure that people are stretching their food budgets in nutritious ways. I cannot support this bill.”

I will add to what Lodge said: If the food stamp program is “improved,” it will eliminate the need to truly fix the program.

Right now, program users — food stamp recipients and grocers alike — have reason to improve the safety net for people in poverty. They’re united in the disdain for how the program works and the impact on Idaho citizens.

When I talk to groups about government entitlements, not a single person has disagreed with me that food stamps reflect badly on compassionate impulses, on our desire to help our neighbors who are struggling.

The committee’s action came as the Idaho Hunger Relief Task Force announced the results of a study finding that 15.4 percent of households in the state had an “inability to afford enough food.”

“It is unacceptable that so many people across Idaho are struggling and cannot afford enough food to provide for their families,” said Kathy Gardner, director of the Idaho Hunger Relief Task Force in a news release. “These numbers show us that we must make our nation’s safety net stronger, not weaker. We can’t afford to leave these vulnerable people behind.”

It will be shocking for some to read this, but she’s right. The food stamp program is clearly broken, and all the money the government keeps throwing at poverty and hunger doesn’t seem to be working.

However, Gardner wants more money for the program. I don’t.

And Lodge is right; we need a different kind of discussion, one that results in improved nutrition and greater accountability, one that connects people to private charity, families, churches and communities — groups that will find ways to help lift people up from poverty, not provide a resource that keeps them there.

More "Magic" Via Urban Renewal in Nampa

This past Tuesday evening Nampa City Council met to discuss the possibility of making the old Mercy Hospital building in Nampa into yet another Urban Renewal District.  All is is more magic, along with smoke and mirrors to pour over $8 million taxpayer dollars that will transform the old dilapidated structure into 50 senior citizen living units.  The final assessed value was estimated to come in at around $2.5 million once the project is completed.

Councilman Bob Henry suggested in the discussion on the project the possibility of putting the measure up for a vote when the city runs the issue of adding two more city council slots.  Mayor Tom Dale is reported to have suggested that this is far to complicated to put up for a vote of the good people of Nampa.  They simply would not understand the complexity of this project.

The real issue here is why would the leaders of Nampa even consider funding or even encouraging a project so upside down as this one.  All of the smoke and mirrors of the funding elements and inflow of taxpayer dollars does not make financial sense.  This money has to be paid back.  Additionally,  the project will end up with 50 living units that will cost about $160,000.00 each when the project is completed. 

The "magic" of this project is pure PORK FUNDING and more property taxes shifted onto Nampa and all county property taxpayers.  The foregone and forgiven property taxes creates a tax shift that has to be made up by all county taxpayers.  The "magic" is the way 70% of taxpayer dollars disappear.

Is it any wonder property tax levy rates are overall 40% higher in Canyon County than in Ada County?

 Here's a link to the Idaho Press Tribune article in todays edition: 

http://www.idahopress.com/members/nampa-city-council-needs-more-time-to-consider-mercy-hospital/article_bb8a780c-7bf3-11e2-b236-001a4bcf887a.html#.USYwQmfagsU.aolmail

Due Diligence Fair Relocation Letter From Caldwell Chamber of Commerce

February 13, 2013

Dear Members

Caldwell Chamber Launches “Due Diligence 2013”

To Evaluate Canyon County Fair Relocation Proposal

CALDWELL---The Caldwell Chamber of Commerce will launch shortly an in-depth evaluation of the impacts of a proposal to move the Canyon County Fair from its present location in Caldwell to a new site adjacent to the Ada County line, Chamber officials announced yesterday.

“Due Diligence 2013”, as the project is known, is a formal effort by the Chamber to examine and evaluate the overall rational behind the relocation plans. The results of “Due Diligence 2013” will provide the Chamber and community at large with meaningful, factual, verifiable data to guide the Chamber in its future public position on the project, explained Julie Taylor, Caldwell Chamber Chair.

“Due Diligence 2013” will study a variety of elements of the proposal including:

· To what degree the move might impact the Caldwell business community, economy and individual citizens;

· Whether the proposal meets the litmus test of a generally acceptable business plan that will ensure self-sustaining profitability or will eventually require a subsidy,

· If taxpayer subsidies are required, would it impact the chances of passage of other tax funded projects such as a new jail, school district improvements, infrastructure improvement, etc.

· Whether the plan might ignite a new round of land speculation and unwarranted commercial development in what is now agricultural lands; and

· Whether or not moving the fair from its current location will negatively impact the traditional “Canyon County” nature and social heritage of the fair.

“We believe that the ‘Due Diligence 2013’ process will provide valuable information to our membership and the community at large because it will help provide answers to some of the important questions that are being asked about a proposal that could impact our City,” Taylor explained.

Chamber members with expertise in the various specific areas of concern will be used to help develop a factual and unbiased evaluation for consideration by the Chamber membership, Chamber officials said.

No time frame for completion of the project has been set. However, it is expected that the process will last through the coming summer with information and findings being released to the public as it is made available to Chamber membership, according to Taylor.

A letter outlining the project has also been sent to the Fair Board asking for its cooperation in the effort.

Theresa Hardin

Executive Director

Caldwell Chamber of Commerce