Hometown Heroes!

On Tuesday, I had the privilege of being in the group of Ada County Paramedics and friends who welcomed home one of our local heroes, Chris Ehrman.

Chris was hired by Ada County in 2004, where he is currently a Paramedic and Field Training Officer. He has worked on the Special Operations Team and is also a huge support to the Ada County Paramedics’ Education Department.

Chris was sent to Twentynine Palms, California last fall and in March was shipped off to Iraq, where he served as a Navy Corpsman attached to a Marine battalion. He and his wife Brande have three children, and have been married for two-and-a-half years. They were anxiously awaiting his arrival and we are all glad he made it back home safe and sound.

I am always appreciative of the emergency services workers in our community, whether paramedics, fire fighters, police officers or dispatchers. Chris took his public service commitment to a higher level. Veterans Day is right around the corner. Be sure to find a vet, like Chris, and say, “Thank you!”

Say It Ain't So, ACHD!

At the October 21 meeting of the Valley Regional Transit’s System Performance and Planning Committee, of which I am a member, a VRT staff member brought to our attention the demand of Ada County Highway District (ACHD) attorney Steve Price to shell out $400 per bus stop bench to have the benches and their access audited for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. ACHD apparently has some level of authority in the situation because the benches will be placed in their right-of-way.

I want the bus stops and benches to be accessible and ADA compliant, but paying $400 per bench to have them reviewed is outrageous. As I pointed out at the meeting, it is stories like this one that give government a bad name.

Upon further investigation, I confirmed with three individuals who advocate for the rights of people with disabilities – Kelly Buckland, who is now the Executive Director of the National Council of Independent Living, Todd DeVries, Executive Director of the Idaho State Independent Living Council, and Bobbi Ball, Director of the ADA Task Force – that the $400 per bench price tag was ludicrous. All three said they would gladly perform the task for $400 per bench but that the cost should be significantly lower.

It’s time for common sense to play a bigger factor in government decision making. I will continue to advocate for a more cost-effective process for ensuring that all of VRT’s bus stops and benches are ADA compliant and accessible.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I haven’t posted anything on here for a little while because things have been busy; however, there are numerous issues to address. I hope to get something written up and posted soon about:

• Proposed changes to the Air Quality Board’s Rules and Regulations.
• How we saved a Million Dollars at the Landfill.
• Changes being made to the county’s contract review process, particularly with regard to maintenance and service agreements, to save money for taxpayers. Thus far, just asking a few questions has saved county taxpayers over $600.
• The absurd demand by ACHD’s attorney for Valley Regional Transit to spend $400 per bus bench to have them reviewed for ADA compliance. I want ADA compliant bus stops but there must be a better, more efficient, less costly way.
• Ways in which the county might be able to facilitate the provision of preventative health services in order to cut the $3.4 million property tax burden on Ada County residents.
• The point of the ACHD plaque issue – one of openness in government decision-making – being lost in the media melee and why I asked in 2001 that my name NOT be added to the plaque on the new courthouse due to my objections about the unconstitutional financing arrangements. Multiple problems have plagued the courthouse project since that time.

YOU'RE THE BOSS!

TO THE 408,000 PEOPLE OF ADA COUNTY ~ HAPPY BOSSES' DAY! I APPRECIATE HAVING THE OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE YOU!

Courthouse Crosswalk Update

Yesterday, I met with Ada County Highway District (ACHD) Commissioner Sara Baker, and a couple of ACHD staff members, about putting a signalized crosswalk in front of the Ada County courthouse. You might recall that I have been advocating for this project. As it stands now, people frequently run across Front Street in front of the courthouse, darting through traffic, and it is only a matter of time before someone is hit and seriously injured or killed.

It turns out the problem is even more significant than I had realized. According to ACHD, on average, 80 people per hour are jaywalking across Front Street in front of the courthouse. I knew we had a problem. I didn’t know it was this big.

The bad news from ACHD is the cost of this project, which is expected to approach $200 thousand. But then, what is the value of the lives of the people who are crossing, including the infants in strollers and children being tugged across the street by their parents or grandparents?

The other piece of the crosswalk puzzle is the fact that Front Street is a state road, so the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) will have to sign off before this project can be completed. ITD approval seems to be the lowest hurdle to jump. Finding funding is the bigger problem. Perhaps there are stimulus dollars or grant funds we can tap into in order to complete this much-needed public safety project. I will be looking.

Interesting Ada County Trends

I ran into an Ada County Sheriff’s Deputy at Moxie Java in Meridian yesterday. Good news: Deputy Don Clough told me that crime rates are down in Ada County! Today, Major Ron Freeman confirmed that, although it seems counter-intuitive with the economy in such bad shape, crime rates ARE down. Let’s try to keep it that way.

This is, sadly, a good news/bad news story. The bad news is that today, Ada County Coroner Erwin Sonnenberg made us aware that he is seeing an increase in the number of cases in which families are unable to pay for the cremation or burial of their loved ones. That responsibility then falls upon the shoulders of Ada County property taxpayers.

Penny and the Plight of Idaho’s Mobile Home Owners

Last weekend, I had the privilege of speaking at a meeting of the Idaho Manufactured – Mobile Home Owners Association. I was there because of my late friend, Penny Fletcher.

I wouldn’t have known about the difficult situation faced by many mobile home owners, had it not been for Penny Fletcher. The purpose of my speaking at the meeting was to talk about the issue, as well as to pay tribute to Penny, who passed away on July 4 of this year.

Although in recent years, Penny and I have been on opposite sides of the political aisle, we have both been passionate in our belief that the people who own mobile or manufactured homes, but not the land underneath, need an advocate to help them protect their private property rights.

Penny was always supportive of me, and even in the end when she was ill, never failed to provide words of encouragement. In fact, when I lost the race for Ada County commissioner in November of 2006, Penny – already knowing she was quite ill by then – told me that she believed I would win in 2008. She also told me she would be there for my swearing-in ceremony in January of 2009, which would be years later. Penny kept that promise.

As far as Penny’s issue, it seems fitting that if she had to go, it was on Independence Day. For decades, Penny worked to ensure the rights of mobile home owners, many of whom are elderly, disabled and/or low income folks.

In the interest of public safety, we now have laws on the books that require a mobile home to be brought up to code if it is to be moved. The cost of these code upgrades, together with the cost of moving a mobile home, can exceed $10,000. In some cases, even with necessary code improvements, the homes are old enough and in poor enough condition that they cannot withstand being moved although they are habitable and providing much-needed housing when left in place.

The problem occurs when the homes themselves are privately owned property, but they are located on someone else’s privately held ground. Both home owners and land owners have private property rights. But how can we protect both at the same time?

If a land owner wants to sell the ground under a mobile home park, shouldn’t s/he be able to do so? Of course! But how can we protect the rights of the home owners, many of whom cannot afford the cost of updating and moving their homes, if the land owner sells the ground on which they sit? Here’s how:

If a landowner wants to sell, home owners should have the right of first refusal. In other words, the folks who own the homes that are already situated there should be able to pay the appraised value and purchase the land under their homes.

How can they do so? According to Idaho Code section 67-6201 (b) on the purpose of the Idaho Housing and Finance Association (IHFA) it is declared:

That private enterprise has not been able to provide, without assistance, an adequate supply of safe and sanitary dwellings at prices or rents which persons and families of low income can afford, or to achieve rehabilitation of much of the present low-income housing. It is imperative that the supply of housing for persons and families of low income be increased and that coordination and cooperation among private enterprise, state and local government be encouraged to sponsor, build and rehabilitate residential housing for such persons and families.

The Idaho Housing and Finance Association is the ideal agency to provide assistance. Mobile homeowners, within a given park, can form an association and then work with IHFA to secure financing to purchase the land under their homes at fair market or appraised value, when and if the property owner decides they want to sell.

One such deal was in the works when a Boise-area mobile home park was going to be put up for auction. Boise Neighborhood Housing Services stepped forward to help with management, and IHFA was gearing up to help with financing, as well. As it turned out, the debt that made the sale imminent was paid off and the park was never auctioned, but it’s nice to know that a system now exists for assisting mobile home owners under these difficult circumstances.

The community benefits from intervention, because forcing these folks out of their homes would result in an increasing homeless population. This is a win-win-win situation. The land owner’s private property rights are preserved because s/he can sell their land. The mobile home owners’ private property rights are preserved because they can stay in their homes. The community wins because we do not suddenly have a large increase in our homeless population.

Penny, I hope you realize what a difference you have made in my life with your encouragement and good advice, as well as in the lives of Idaho’s tens of thousands of mobile and manufactured home owners.

You can reach the Idaho Manufactured – Mobile Home Owners Association at:

IMMHOA
PO Box 45964
Boise, ID 83711-5964

Prioritizing Protection of Personnel by Preventing Problems

At our quarterly jail inspection on June 15, I noted a safety concern. A young woman was alone in one of the classrooms with a male inmate. The Ada County jail has four classrooms, where inmates take classes and receive counseling. In this case, one-on-one counseling was apparently taking place.

I asked whether we had cameras in the classrooms to ensure the safety of the teachers, counselors and even inmates who frequent them and was told that we did not. In addition, plans for buying and installing cameras had been abandoned when the expenditure was removed from the proposed 2010 fiscal year’s budget in an effort by the Sheriff’s Office to make the cuts expected by our Board.

Although all of the classrooms in the jail have large windows that face well-trafficked hallways, I felt this situation created a safety risk that needed to be addressed, regardless of the budget concerns. My colleagues concurred.

I am grateful that the Sheriff’s staff went back and “found” $8000 elsewhere in the old 2009 fiscal year’s budget to purchase and install the much-needed cameras. Given that my colleagues and I are the ultimate risk managers for the county, I am very pleased to be able to report that the cameras are now up and running. From a more compassionate perspective, I am also pleased to know that we have ensured greater safety for the teachers and counselors whose work takes them inside the walls of the Ada County jail.