Les Bois Park in Black and White

Sorry to keep beating the same drum over and over, but based on some of the comments that are being posted on here, there is apparently still some confusion about Les Bois Park, so here goes again.

My colleagues and I were not trying to shut down horse racing at Les Bois Park. If that were the case, we would have avoided the cumbersome Request for Proposals process altogether and just agreed to change uses. In fact, we streamlined the RFP process and advertised nationally, with the hope that a credible operator would submit a reasonable proposal to run the track.

It HAS been possible to find an operator that passed the County’s background check. Capitol Racing did. They also had horse racing experience and did a very credible job running the place. Unfortunately, according to the Idaho Racing Commission’s annual reports, in 2006, Capitol lost about $1.1 million, in 2007 they lost about $1.2 million and in 2008, they lost nearly $1.3 million. Perhaps the problem finding an operator now has to do with the fact that no one wants to risk a $1.4 million loss in 2009.

Some people have asked: How does not running the track benefit the community more than running it with an operator that hasn’t met our standards? History speaks for itself on this issue. It is apparent to me that everyone would have been better off in the long run had Lariat Productions not been given the opportunity to run the operation.

There can still be income realized, whether the track is leased out for horse racing or not. Perhaps rather than horse racing, we should pursue the possibility of hosting dressage competitions at Les Bois Park.

LesBois Trainer wrote: “Since when does an annual audit of the Green Group bingo become an "investigation" by the Idaho Lottery?” The documents I have seen, November Allegations and Consent Order, indicate that there has been an ongoing investigation of a number of alleged violations, above and beyond a typical annual financial audit. It is fair, in my opinion, to say that Greene Idaho is under investigation.

Please be sure to note that the November 12, 2008 Revocation Order announces the Lottery’s intention “to revoke Greene Idaho’s charitable gaming license.” In the January 16, 2009 Consent Order, Greene Idaho admits to violating Idaho Law on at least two occasions, and “agrees to pay a $1000 fine to the Idaho State Lottery.” Considering the gravity of all of the initial charges against Greene Idaho, which were levied as recently as last November, it behooves us to ensure that the forthcoming results of the audit are squeaky clean.

LesBois Trainer also wrote: “You should follow your campaign promise of full disclosure and let everyone know the real reason you rejected both proposals, YOU DON'T WANT HORSE RACING AT THE WESTERN IDAHO FAIRGROUNDS ANYMORE.” You don’t have to agree with what we have done thus far, but that doesn’t mean I have broken any campaign promises or been less than completely open and forthright about the nature of the difficulties we have been having in getting a credible operator to run horse racing at Les Bois Park.

Eric asked me to compare the situation with Les Bois Park and the Hawk’s Stadium. In or around 1989, then Ada County Commissioners Vern Bisterfeldt, Judy Peavey-Derr and Mike Johnson entered into three long-term lease agreements for pieces of the Western Idaho Fairgrounds. Les Bois Park was leased out for $100 per year, an amount that was annually adjusted by the Consumer Price Index. Some maintenance and improvement of the facility was included in the deal. The RV Park, on the river side of the fairgrounds, was leased out in a similar arrangement, starting at $50 per year.

Hawks Stadium was a little different. The baseball franchise leased the ground under the stadium for $1 a year for 50 years, paid up front, and then built the stadium there. At the end of the 50-year lease, ownership of the stadium will transfer to the County. We still have over 30 years to wait. It won’t take nearly that long to figure out an appropriate course of action for Les Bois Park.

Go Fly A Kite

The kids and I had a fun day yesterday, including flying kites at the park. It looks like it might not be quite as warm, but not bad kite flying weather today, too. I'll get back to political blogging, including responding to your questions and comments, in the next few days. In the meantime, I hope you will go fly a kite with your kids or find something else fun to do. If you run into me, please don't hesitate to say hello!

One More Time

We have been hearing from people who are both happy and unhappy that the County has, at least for the time being, stopped subsidizing Idaho’s horse racing industry.

The County tried to work with Capitol Racing by allowing them to make their lease payments to the County on a month-to-month basis. Recently my colleagues and I also agreed to renegotiate the County’s contract with Capitol; however, the company never took us up on the offer, apparently realizing they could not make money in the horse racing business in this market even with a reduction in rent.

Capitol Racing was a good tenant. All lease payments due to the County for the time in which Capitol had control of the facility have been paid in full.

Nothing of value has been given to Capitol Racing for which the County has not been compensated. Ada County assets will not be taken by Capitol, despite rumors to the contrary. Equipment purchased by Capitol still belongs to Capitol and could be purchased by a new operator.

I would encourage anyone with an interest in the whole Les Bois Park issue to do their own due diligence. I would be happy to assist by providing a list of records from various agencies to be reviewed that will support everything I have previously written on this subject.

Like many people in Idaho, I believe strongly in personal responsibility. With that thought in mind, the horse owners might want to consider these suggestions:

• Research the track’s finances, by examining the Idaho Racing Commission’s 2008 Annual Report, if you haven’t already. The financial summary on page 15 shows that Les Bois Park reported a net operating loss of $1,279,849 last year.

• Put together a management group to submit a proposal for horse owners to operate the track. We are very open to entertaining such a proposal.

• Go to the Idaho Legislature to try to get the law changed so that fewer live racing days are mandated, in an effort to reduce the costs for a potential operator.

• Seek sponsors to offset the losses the track has been taking.

• Seek financial backers and make an offer to the County to purchase Les Bois Park outright.

Please feel free to contact me if you have questions or comments. Your input is appreciated.

Les Bois Park – Déjà vu All Over Again

If you haven’t already heard, this morning, the Board of Ada County Commissioners voted to reject both proposals we received from potential operators for Les Bois Park, the County-owned horse racing facility at the fairgrounds. Rumors and outright lies are flying about why we took this action. I would like to set the record straight:

• After doing a national search for a tenant/operator for Les Bois Park, the County received only two proposals. Spirit Valley Raceway offered Ada County a lease payment of $50,000 per year and Alabama-Idaho, Inc., also known as the Greene Group, Inc., offered $12,000 per year for the multimillion dollar facility. Under the prospective lease, our maintenance obligations, alone, are $25,000.

• The owner of Spirit Valley Raceway has a criminal history, has admitted to a violation of the Alcohol Beverage Control laws, and has no horse racing experience.

The Greene Group’s nonprofit corporation, the Greene Idaho Foundation has admitted to a violation of state law regarding their bingo operation in Post Falls, Idaho, and is still under investigation by the Idaho Lottery Commission. Until the group has been cleared of all legal violations, the County would be ill-advised to enter into a lease agreement for a similar kind of operation.

• If we wanted to do away with horse racing at Les Bois Park, the extensive RFP (Request for Proposals) process could have been avoided altogether. However, it was our intention to have horse racing at Les Bois Park this year.

In fact, in an effort to accommodate a racing season at the facility in the future, we are open to further negotiations in an effort to resolve the outstanding issues with the proposers, or for that matter, with any other party who might be interested in leasing the facility.

• We are not trying to do away with horse racing so that the fairgrounds can be redeveloped. We voted weeks ago to reject, on a long-term basis, all proposals to redevelop the fairgrounds because they are not financially feasible.

• Ada County has NOT given Capitol Racing permission to ‘take any equipment they want’ from the facilities at Les Bois Park. No such permission has been, or will be, given to Capitol.

• Although there is surely a local economic impact, horse racing at Les Bois Park is not worth millions of dollars to Ada County. The proposal submitted by the Greene Group would not have even covered the County’s annual maintenance costs.

• If we can get an operator in soon to continue horse racing, great. If not, then the County does not lose out. We can use the facilities or lease them out for alternative activities, such as an outdoor concert series, catering, etc., and generate more revenue than the amount of the highest bid we received.

Back in 2002, I spoke out against Lariat Productions taking over operation of Les Bois Park. No one listened. The horse owners claimed that Lariat would save horse racing in Idaho. Instead, things went wrong almost immediately. It took the County three years to evict Lariat, and the horse owners were out hundreds of thousands of dollars. I am thrilled, this time around, to be working with Commission colleagues who believe in doing our due diligence, and actually paying attention to the results.

Why I Voted No - Again

Yesterday, at a meeting of the COMPASS (Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho) Board, I was the only member to vote no on a motion to move a list of transportation projects along. What was my problem? These projects will require a 20-percent match of local funds, but when I asked from where these funds would come, the answer was unsatisfactory, at best.

It was explained that the local jurisdictions (i.e. cities, counties, highway districts) would have to provide local dollars when and if the projects received federal funding and moved forward.

We’re talking about large amounts of money here. The total cost of the proposed highway and transit projects, combined, is over $117 million. If even one of the proposed projects were to be funded, we are talking about a significant amount of money. At a time when ACHD (the Ada County Highway District) already has a backlog due to a lack of available funds and Ada County is even laying off Sheriff’s deputies, let’s face it folks – these dollars are just not readily available at the local level.

Before voting to move these highway and transit project proposals forward, there should be a feasible plan in place for how much and from whom the necessary matching funds will be collected in case the federal funding comes through. Until that time, I will continue to just say no.

Confidential

To the Ada County employee who wants to have a private conversation: You did not leave a phone number where you can be reached. Please call back as I would be happy to talk to you.

Why I Blog on Fridays

Okay, it’s trivial, but here goes: the Board has “routine” meetings scheduled pretty much all day long on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Mondays are meeting days, as well, but Monday meetings tend to be with people, or about topics, we only deal with on an occasional basis. Fridays are typically kept “free” of Board meetings, providing an opportunity for us to catch up on everything that has fallen through the cracks during the week because we were tied up in meetings! Fridays also provide longer blocks of time to attend to more complex issues.

One recent Friday, I spent the day out visiting some of our “satellite” sites in Star, Eagle, Garden City, etc. I appreciate having the opportunity to talk with County employees in an informal setting (as opposed to in our conference or hearing rooms), and the on site knowledge gained through these visits allows me to make better decisions when sitting in meetings, back in our conference room on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays!

Eventful Week

You haven't heard much from me on here lately, mostly because I have been busy. For example, this week, in addition to all of the usual meetings, paperwork, e-mail messages, and phone calls, I had the pleasure of meeting with Randy Howell, the Boise Fire Department's new division chief over Emergency Medical Services. The same day, I sat in on a meeting of the Ada County Fire Chief's Association. The chiefs are a lively group and the discussion was both entertaining AND informative.

Tuesday evening, the Fair Board met. The agenda that was covered ranged from fair finances to website designers. Today, my colleagues and I had the pleasure of attending a Boise Metro Chamber luncheon at which Idaho's U.S. Senator Jim Risch was the speaker. Whether you agree with Jim or not, he is an intelligent, well-informed and engaging speaker.

I'm now working on a new piece to post on my blog in which I am trying to address all of the misinformation being spread about Les Bois Park, horse racing, and the RFP (Request for Proposals) process.

One of the highlights of last week was attending a meeting of the Weed, Pest and Mosquito Abatement Advisory Board. The department is utilizing advanced computer technology to track all of their critter-fighting efforts.

The County has a number of citizen advisory committees. If you have an opinion and want to get involved, serving on one of these committees is a great way to go about it. When we have advisory committee openings, they are posted at www.adaweb.net. My colleagues and I value citizen involvement and input. Please feel free to call me at 287-7001 (direct dial office) or 362-0843 (home) or send e-mail to sharonu@cableone.net .

Acronymania!

Just a quick note to pass along an observation: the number of acronyms being used by government at all levels seems to be growing by leaps and bounds. Although acronyms can be a useful tool, other than the most common ones, they are not altogether "user-friendly." Perhaps frequent users of multiple acronyms should issue acronyn/English dictionaries or glossaries?

On the Job with Ada County EMS

On Friday, April 3, I did a “ride along” with an Emergency Medical Services supervisor. It is said that when there is a rider along, the department usually has an unusually quiet day. Such was not the case on this day. As we went from station to station, calls came in very near to wherever we were. I was able to witness some of Ada County’s finest paramedics in action, and rode in on the ambulance to the hospital with them a couple of times, as well.

The most dramatic moment of the day came around 3:30, when we were stopped at a red light at the intersection of Emerald and Cole and two cars collided right in front of us. The airbags in one vehicle deployed and one man was knocked unconscious. My tour guide for the day, EMS Supervisor Clinton Wolf, immediately sprung to action contacting dispatch and taking control of the disturbing scene. The recorder in the supervisor’s vehicle in which we were riding caught the whole thing on video. It is being provided to the Boise Police Department, the agency responsible for investigating the collision.

Unlike sitting in my office and in meeting after meeting, ride-alongs* prove to be a useful tool for gathering information and finding out more about the daily challenges faced by our public safety employees. In years past, I have had the privilege of doing ride-alongs with Ada County Sheriff’s Deputies, Boise Police Officers, and the Firefighters at downtown Boise Fire Station 5 on a Saturday night. Ride-alongs provide an informal opportunity to receive input from the crews on the street, as well.

On Friday, I learned several things. Although not all earth-shattering, in running the best operation we can, they are all issues that need to be addressed:

• The fan in the women’s restroom at Glenwood has a ball bearing problem.
• The computers used by EMS are not all uniform, and their level of functionality varies from time to time from station to station.
• The paint on the “Ada County Paramedics” sign on the EMS station in Boise’s North End, which we borrow from the City of Boise, is peeled and fading. The crew is willing to sand the sign down and re-paint it. I don’t know why they have not been allowed to do so thus far, but it sounds like a cost-effective way to address a simple, yet worthwhile, project.
• There are some issues between Ada County EMS paramedics and medics with some of the fire agencies that should be addressed. For example, there are some differences between the Standing Written Orders of the agencies. I plan to meet with the medical directors to try to work through the differences.

*Grammatically, it should probably be “rides-along” but the phrase as I have always heard it is ride-alongs.