Getting Up to Speed on Racing

Earlier this week, my colleagues and I met with the two groups under consideration by Ada County to lease the horse racing facilities at Les Bois Park. We were encouraged by what we heard. Although it will take a little while longer to get details worked out and a lease in place, it looks very promising that we will be able to have at least an abbreviated racing season at the track this year. Thank you for your patience and understanding while we work through the rest of this process.

Savings Anyone?

Tonight, someone asked me where he could submit suggestions for how Ada County could reduce the budget by saving money. All such suggestions are gratefully welcomed. Please feel free to post them on this blog. Thank you!

Surprise!

Last Monday, the Boards of the Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho (COMPASS) and Valley Regional Transit (VRT) met together and spent several hours discussing whether the two organizations should merge. On Wednesday, the VRT Board met alone and continued the discussion.

According to the mission statement on the Board’s website, COMPASS “develops transportation plans and priorities and assesses related impacts in order for members to access state and federal transportation funds and respond to regional needs for information and expertise. (Board adopted July 19, 2004)”

The Valley Regional Transit's (VRT) mission is to “move people throughout the Treasure Valley by coordinating and providing effective, efficient and convenient public transportation services consistent with our resources.”

Note the common theme: transportation. Another common theme is the makeup of the two Boards, which is strikingly similar. To wit, here is the list of people who are on BOTH boards:

Kathy Alder
Sara Baker
Phil Bandy
Dave Bieter
Jim Blacker (VRT Alternate)
Elaine Clegg
Tom Dale
John Evans
David Ferdinand
Dave Jones (VRT Ex. Officio)
Nate Mitchell (VRT Alternate)
Garret Nancolas
Steve Rule (VRT Alternate)
Vicky Thurber
Sharon Ullman
Margie Watson (VRT Alternate)
Rick Yzaguirre

The list of people who are on the VRT Board but NOT on the COMPASS Board consists of:

Chad Bell
John Bechtel
Oney Eguia
Jared Everett
Ralph Gant
Chuck Hedemark
Curtis Homer
Rob Hopper
Kurt Kopadt
Jeff Lang
Martin Luttrell
Charlie Rountree
Craig Slocum
David Zeremba

Despite the major overlaps in subject matter, as well as Board members, there was some resistance to merging the two organizations expressed. I was truly surprised. I wholeheartedly support a merger, and the possible cost savings and efficiencies that could be realized by taking such action.

One of the major concerns of the opponents of a merger is that VRT’s goals could get overshadowed within a single, consolidated organization. Another concern that was raised was that the savings – $265,620 as proposed by staff members of the two groups - would not be enough to justify the possible headaches involved in consolidating. I think far greater savings could be realized, but a quarter of a million dollars a year isn’t chicken feed, either!

Over the next month or two, the COMPASS and VRT Boards will each be voting on whether to continue to pursue a merger. I welcome public input in that discussion.

Comment Correspondence

Clancy ~ Eric is correct. Landfill fees were much lower when there weren’t so many federal regulations. Hopefully the increased awareness of the need to protect our environment and groundwater, which led to all of those newer regulations, will mean a cleaner world for our children and grandchildren. The unfortunate side effect is significantly increased costs.

My colleagues and I are working with the Landfill Director to keep any eventual fee increase to an absolute minimum.

Eric ~ There are more fire stations, therefore, those folks often show up at the scene first, so it doesn’t hurt to have well-trained fire medics. The bigger issue is that we don’t need two ambulances to show up and compete over which one will transport a patient.

Because the Boise Fire Department has expressed an interest in providing increased medical services, and so we can provide the most efficient and effective seamless system, I have been working closely with Boise Fire’s new Emergency Medical Services Division Chief to ensure we have just that.

Bikeboy ~ Sorry to have gotten you all worked up over the concept of “arming” county employees! In this case, of course, I was talking about providing good information and antibacterial hand sanitizers. In addition, our paramedics have additional protective gear, such as special masks, in case they take care of patients who are displaying symptoms of H1N1 flu.

To all ~ Thank you for your support for the blog, as well as for the comments. It’s nice to know that someone is paying attention when they read it. FYI, there have been an average of about 600 unique visitors to my blog over each of the past three months. Hopefully, this blog is not only providing some worthwhile information, but also serving as a balance to the oft times inaccurate and grossly biased media coverage we otherwise see.

Criminal Charges

Ada County is presently paying more than $1.7 Million per year to transport county jail inmates. The vast majority of these dollars could have been saved.

In earlier posts, I have discussed the failure of the Ada County courthouse financing scheme to work as originally presented to the public. The result has been an increased cost of millions of dollars in property taxes, as well as exorbitant parking rates for captive courthouse visitors by Boise City’s urban renewal agency, CCDC.

I have recently been reminded of another huge cost that could have been avoided. During the mid-1990’s, when plans for a new Ada County Courthouse were being crafted, the idea of building a courthouse near the Ada County jail, at Barrister, was floated. I publicly supported the idea at the time.

If the courthouse had been built adjacent to the jail, inmates could have been taken to court through a secure underground passageway, rather than in buses, vans and police cars, through the streets of Boise, to the downtown courthouse location.

Yesterday, the Sheriff’s office presented figures on the annual cost of moving inmates. Although a small percentage of the cost can be attributed to moving inmates from other facilities, such as the Idaho Department of Corrections facility south of town, the bulk of it can be attributed to porting inmates from the jail to the Ada County Courthouse, and back again.

Ada County Sheriff Gary Raney and his staff have worked diligently to promote the use of video court appearances, thereby saving the high cost of transport. Unfortunately, these video court appearances are limited to certain types of preliminary hearings and therefore do not provide as much cost reduction as we taxpayers might hope for.

The Sheriff’s Office moves an average of 60 inmates a day, or a total of about 15,000 inmates a year. This practice is heavily personnel intensive and, therefore, costs taxpayers over $1.7 million a year. It’s a shame more consideration wasn’t given to building the courthouse near the jail, back in the 1990’s, when a better decision could have been made on behalf of Ada County property taxpayers.

Risk Management

It has been an interesting week in county government. A few of the issues we have been working on have included:

• Finding out more about an old landfill site, now purported to contain hazardous waste, that Boise City and Ada County might have leased from the State of Idaho during the 1960’s;
• Responding to a request to increase rates at the Hidden Hollow landfill;
• Dealing with complaints about neglected and poorly maintained properties within the county (some code changes to make enforcement easier are in the works);
• Addressing the county budget situation given increasing needs, particularly in the county’s indigent (welfare) department. Conversely, revenue is way down, so some serious spending cuts need to be made in other departments in order for the county to fulfill its statutory obligations;
• Working with the Boise Fire Department to ensure that our paramedics and theirs are working cooperatively together for the seamless provision of emergency services;
• Arming county employees and courthouse visitors with the means to prevent illness, in light of more confirmed cases of H1N1 (“swine flu”) in Ada County; and,
• Recognizing the fact that Idaho has the lowest childhood immunization rate in the nation.

There is hardly ever a dull moment.

Marking Four Months

Four months ago today, I was sworn into office. The time has been eventful, and passed quickly. It’s late, and I’m tired, so this post will be brief.

Hopefully this blog has given you a glimpse into some of the issues with which we have dealt since I took office. Overall, the experience has been both challenging, as well as rewarding – even when the victories are seemingly small ones.

My colleagues have made coming to work a pleasure. Even when the most difficult issues arise, we try to maintain a sense of equilibrium, as well as a sense of humor. I am looking forward to the rest of my four-year term of public service.

Crosswalk Cross Talk

Eric ~ Yes, it is ITD and not ACHD. Front Street is a state road, not a local county road, so it is the Idaho Transportation Department that would have to act to address this situation.

Clancy ~ CCDC is now charging $2.50 per hour for every hour of parking at the courthouse, up to a daily maximum of $12. For now, they still “provide” the first ten minutes of free parking, as well as reduced prices to government agencies (taxpayer dollars) for juror and law enforcement parking. They had threatened to do away with these benefits, as well, but have temporarily backed off.

It appears that CCDC is trying to balance its budget on the backs of Ada County Courthouse parkers. My colleagues and I are looking into possible solutions, such as trying to buy out the remainder of the lease agreement CCDC has for the parking structure.

Signalized Crosswalk Needed

If one is heading to the Winco shopping center, it is counter-intuitive to have to walk a block down the street from the main entrance of the Ada County courthouse, to either Avenue A or 3rd Street, in order to cross Front Street at a crosswalk. Instead, many people take the quicker, straight-line-across, approach.

Despite past efforts by the Boise Police Department to ticket jaywalkers in front of the courthouse, countless people still make the mad dash to-and-fro, playing chicken with the motorized vehicles.

Possible solutions would include the installation of a pedestrian overpass or underpass, or a signalized crosswalk, timed in conjunction with the lights at Avenue A and 3rd Street to be less disruptive to the flow of traffic on Front Street. The most cost-effective solution appears to be the latter.

It’s high time the powers that be at the Idaho Transportation Department take action and install such a crosswalk now, BEFORE someone gets hit.

Senior Thanks!

Today, RSVP - the Retired Senior Volunteer Program - held its annual luncheon honoring many more experienced workers in our community. To the 748 seniors in Ada and Elmore Counties who volunteered 118,863 hours to our respective communities over the past year, and saved an estimated $2.3 million through your efforts, thank you!

Another Point of View

Yesterday, we met with Mayor John Evans and the Garden City Council. They are chomping at the bit to have us declare that horse racing at Les Bois Park has crossed the finish line. They see a lot of redevelopment potential in the land upon which the race track and accompanying facilities sit, and were quick to point out the economic impact a change in use would bring to the community. We've already heard from the race horse owners of the economic impact that industry provides.

We are happy to be good neighbors to Garden City, but have to say, "Whoa, there!" to the local elected officials while we are continuing to work to find a credible operator to run live and simulcast horse racing at Les Bois Park.