Limit all U.S. politicians to two terms..
One in office
One in prison
Detroit and Chicago already do this.

ONE READER SENDS: How is it that county commissioners are forgiving property taxes for some, especially farmers, but refusing to lower taxes for everybody else? Driving by the latest golf course, I wondered what has happened so I started asking questions. The story is the previous owner, who is a big area farmer, sold the land, for the golf course but got it back when the golf course developer went broke. The farmer then goes to commissioners and gets thousands of dollars in taxes forgiven just by asking. Nothing was presented showing other properties like the golf course set at lower tax rates. The ground sure is for development and cannot be farmed again. He wants to hold out for better times but not pay the set taxes. Get this. Our farmer commissioner initiated the give away for her friend. It's not what you know but who you know. Please check this out. It just recently happened.

COMMENTS: I'll do that but until CCW checks this out I deleted the farmers name.
CCW does not understand how this could have happened recently since it is not time for tax hearings yet. We will check it out. Commissioners will have a hard time justifying raising the levy or increasing taxes, if they are reducing taxes for some, after those taxes have been set by the county. That would be unfair and we hope you are wrong. CW has been hearing the county officials are still cutting positions and taking other steps to reduce spending so why would they lower taxes for individuals? The county can forgive taxes if a real proven hardship is presented to them.

ONE READER SENDS: Hey, can't we all just be friends? We should build more and more jails 'cause jails keeps us folks safe, didn't you all know that?

COMMENTS: You must have more money than you know what to do with. Young families especially are having a hard time keeping up with all the taxes they must pay. Families should not have to sacrifice and take from families to give to government. It's especially nice to have property taxes due five days before Christmas.

ONE READER SENDS: Who is responsible for stopping the county from throwing our money away? What happened to the lawsuit about the jail costs before a bond? I read about some litigation but never heard what happened.

COMMENT: Those involved in that litigation did go before a judge for a summary judgement hearing. The county commissioners did the same thing they did prior to them having to go before the Supreme Court on a similar issue. Commissioners take just enough steps to be able to plead with the court to throw the case out claiming the matter is moot because they did this or that. Prior to the Supreme Court hearing the county lied and said the ground in question was sold. The case was then dismissed with no answer given by the justices. The land was not sold. Compare the date of the Supreme Court hearing to the date when the land was sold. The county lied to the Supreme Court and didn't bat an eye while doing it. This last case in District Court was dismissed when Comm. Ferdinand provided the judge with an affidavit saying the county would never us the pay as you go method again. The judge says the question is then moot because the county won't do it again and the official question asked about commissioners not following the State Constitution is never answered.

Think about this. Comm. Ferdinand's affidavit said the county wouldn't use the pay as they go system again. That means we won our case which said the county could not legally use the pay as they go system. The county admitted they were spending money with no vote of the people as required in the Constitution. But the county knew a judge would side with them if they gave that judge any shred of argument so the case could be thrown out so the admitted what they had done. They got away with it and will get away with it in the future. End of argument. We've been had one more time.

ONE READER SENDS: While reading all the hype about Canyon Co needing a new jail, I've learned that jails cost a lot of money to build and to operate. As I have talked against building more jails in Canyon Co. I've been accused of being soft on crime and smears have been hurled at me saying I don't know what I'm talking about. Now we are being told by Comm. Rule that private business owners have offered to build a jail and lease it to the county. Comm. Rule has also claimed the commissioners are working to cut the bond down by millions of dollars.

Here's my question while some are hurling nasty threats at anyone who don't want more jails. If the commissioners can run a bond for millions less, why were we asked for 43,000,000.00 on the last bond? It is clear the commissioners now will come back with a plan to build a jail for less since they think a bond for 43,000,000.00 wont's pass! Seems to me that commissioners are trying to get the most money possible and those amounts have nothing at all to do with the actual cost of building a new jail.

Why weren't we told about business owners who offered to build a jail? Comm. Rule seems to be the spokesman for county commissioners about jails. I suggest some of those ignorant people trying to scare people who don't like the way people are locked up, throw some of your threats at Comm. Rule and his buddies.

Some are trying to make us believe this bond issue for a jail has been well planned out and well thought out, only asking for the rock bottom amount needed. Now, a different, lower amount will suffice. The jail we got now is all cleaned up so that is where law enforcement needs to put people. No one is closing down our jail.

COMMENTS: CCW has to agree with this post. Our jail is clean and it needs to have maintenance all the time to make certain the money spent to clean it up was not wasted. Concerning this bond issue, County commissioners are not spending their own money so they practice with our money. It doesn't bother them if they are wrong or if the people say no. They just come up with some other plan claiming they got it right this time. Now, we are being told that regional jails won't work for our county because we need a jail now. CCW does not know if they remember that a jail will take years to build and Ada Co. claims they could need a regional jail with Canyon Co. as soon as two years.

It is the opinion of CCW that we need to just keep saying no on this jail building until our commissioners give us all the truth prior to a bond vote. We are learning now about all kinds of information we were not given prior to the last vote.

This is a good example of why a county SHOULD NOT PURCHASE LAND FOR A NEW JAIL PRIOR TO A BOND ISSUE PASSING!!!! Now a regional jail is a possibility with Ada Co. and the location on 20/26 won't work for a regional jail. So, in order to share costs with Ada Co. we will need to sell the land we purchased because Ada Co. wants a regional jail built at the county line with Canyon Co. as it should be. CCW wonders if elected officials know what is said about their lack of expertise and fiscal responsibility.

The land at 20/26 should not have been purchased prior to a bond just as the land for a new fair grounds should not have been purchased prior to having the money to build a new fair grounds. The county does this stuff to bring pressure on tax payers but the tax payers have begun to figure out the games played by elected officials.

EDITORIAL:

People working in public service ([paid by public funds) simply should not insult the public. If you do not like the vote on the jail bond, get out and work harder than those who are satisfied with the vote. That's the way this great country works. There's no free ride. Quit insulting people and stick with the facts. Many people do not want more jail cells because we do not want more people thrown into jail. This country throws more people into jail than any other country IN THE WORLD. Some of us don't like the fact and it has very little to do with the cost of building or running jails. We don't like giving money to put people in jail. No amount of insults or threats will change that.

National data shows jails breed criminals. What part of that fact makes people want to build more jails? National data shows the recidivism rate is outrageous so jailing people simply keeps them off the street.The number of vicious criminals who need to be locked up are a small percentage of who is really locked up. So, sorry if some of us aren't lining up to shove people into jail.

Now, let's address those few people in law enforcement who have insulted the public and tried to scare people who worked to defeat the jail bond. 90% of those working in law enforcement at all levels are good, honest, hard working public servants. 10% are egomaniacs who have given themselves permission to try to threaten and intimidate the public. The people I know who voted no on the jail bond, respect law enforcement and appreciate the hard work they do to keep us safe. However, deputies keeping us safe has little to do with running a jail. Judges sentence people to jail after they have heard a case. One of the main things law enforcement does to keep the public safe is being seen out in public. A huge amount of people who interface with law enforcement are fined not taken to jail.

CCW feels better sounding off about this jail bond. People should be able to work together for the good of our county and not go head to head when we don't agree on a vote. Surely we are bigger than that.

ONE READER SENDS: In a meeting I attended I heard Sheriff Smith speak about a regional jail being built . Some guys were talking with him about jobs at that jail so I thought it was almost built then between Nampa and Caldwell. Now I heard a bond for a jail was defeated in Canyon Co. Did the regional jail get built or was the bond for the regional jail?

COMMENTS: CCW wishes you had included a date as to when the meeting you attended was held. Back in 2006 the county commissioners planned to build a jail (justice center) between Nampa and Caldwell. However, there were legal questions about the commissioners way of purchasing the land and litigation followed. That land was sold and the next plan is for a jail to be built on the west side of Caldwell. Possibly that jail is being considered for a regional jail but all the information which was made public about a regional jail was an essay by our sheriff printed on an Assoc. of Idaho Sheriff's website. If people were talking with our sheriff about jobs, perhaps they wanted to be first in line if a regional jail was built. That possibility is still open and perhaps we will hear more about regional jails prior to another bond election. CCW has had a number of positive comments about the possibility of a regional jail where several counties pay for the use of that jail.

ONE READER SENDS: Jails are ordinary and necessary. They've been around forever. We got to lock up the crooks so the rest of us are safe. I'm for building a big new jail with an area for target practice if the crooks get out of line. All you guys are just soft on crime.

EDITORIAL: We have certainly been called worse! If so many jails are necessary, why aren't the statistics different? Why do so many inmates return to crime just as soon as they are released? CCW guesses if people want to pay to keep locking up the same people over and over, you probably have more money than you know what to do with. The cost of housing prisoners is extraordinarily high when compared to providing rehab. If we pay for rehab facilities, then we have a chance to change some lives and keep them out of prison and supporting their own families so you and I don't have to shoulder that cost. Remember, when you lock up a breadwinner for a family, someone must pick up that cost. It makes the matter of running a jail very costly. Who pays for welfare assistance to families without a bread winner?
You and I.

The cost of a jail, is not just what happens in that jail. When a breadwinner is locked up the costs are staggering and all that must be considered as cost for the operation of a jail. Helping someone get well can keep that person out of jail forever.

EDITORIAL: If people in this county do not take the time to speak up, we are going to find ourselves paying to get all our cars inspected. Please email, write or call your local legislator concerning this matter. They have passed laws and are looking to pass more laws this legislative session which will affect Canyon
Co. and our ability to decide for ourselves whether or not to require emissions testing.

EDITORIAL: Please call Director Hardesty at DEQ and give her your ideas about DEQ imposing emissions testing on Canyon County since we have presented DEQ with varous options instead of emissions testing.

Here's her number: 208-373-0502

Ask to speak to the director about this issue which is coming at us full force. Don't wait.

EDITORIAL: Canyon County is asleep at the wheel!! If we don't wake up and speak out, we are going to have emission controls shoved down our proverbial necks and we are going to pay, pay. pay. Now we just begged the county to NOT tax us more for a new jail, and here comes the state of Idaho wanting...no not wanting...they are going to force us to take every vehicle we are driving to get it tested for car emissions.

WHY? There is only one reason, the DEQ and COMPAS are going to insist on emission testing in our county. The State of Idaho agreed to some conditions years ago to get clean air litigation settled between the state and federal government. The State of Idaho, DEQ , agreed they would have car emission testing in place in Canyon County within a certain number of years. They wanted out from under that clean air litigation in the worst way. Guess what!!! That time has come.

Two residents in our county has studied emission testing and worked tirelessly to help people understand that we are being led down the lane CCW calls "the pure bull land." They have brought us the facts and they have seen to it that all politicians have these facts. At least, if our politicians do not fight this and SAVE us from emission testing, these same politicians will not be able to say they didn't know what they were doing.

Canyon County Commissioners have taken a stand against forcing citizens to have our cars tested every year, paying money to the government so they can set up but another bureaucracy. The commissioners deserve our thanks for they are fighting for the people and has come up with their own way to handle this situation. DEQ and COMPAS are not inclined to allow Canyon Co. any time to try their ideas. Who would understand collecting money to keep a government agency afloat better than COMPAS??? They are the biggest leech on people's back and completely useless in the entire scheme of things.

First and foremost, Canyon County residents need to know that DEA is not abiding by the law. When they break any part of the law, they strike out. But only if the people stand up and scream bloody murder. We must follow all laws and so must they. We need to shout it out to the DEQ. You made the deal, you get yourself out of trouble and leave us to our own plans in Canyon County.

Although, CCW usually sticks totally to county business...this matter needs the mayors, city councilmen and all government authority to take a stand and tell DEQ they are not going to get the feds off their backs.

HB586 is the legal basis of DEQ's imposition of Vehicle Emissions Control onto the citiizens of Canyon County. The subject of this law is very clearly stated in the opening line of this law. "Section39-116B. VEHICLE INSPECTION AND MAINTENANCE PROGRAM."

This first paragraph is extremely important. There are two items to note specifically. 1) THE EPA DETERMINES ATTAINMENT OR UNCLASSIFIED AREAS AND 2)implementation of the rule to implement VET is subject to two conditions. Of course, it is inherent that the director's determination be based on factual scientific truths, not a political agenda.

"1) The board (Idaho Board of Environmental Quality) shall initiate rule making to provide for the implementation of a motor vehicle inspection and maintenance program (VET) to regulate and ensure control of the air pollutants and emissions from registered motor vehicles in an attainment (ADA) or unclassified area (Canyon) as designated by the United States environmental protection agency. (EPA)..if the director determines the following conditions are met:

a)An air shed, as defined by the department (DEQ), within a metropolitan statistical area (MSA), as defined by the United States office of management and budget (OMB) has ambient concentration design values equal to or above eighty-five percent (85%) of a national ambient air quality standard (,064 ppm of the 075 ppm ozone standard) as defined by the United States environmental protection agency (EPA) for three (3) consecutive years (Implied 2006-2007-2008 with status to be determined in 2009) starting with the 2005 design value (080 ppm for ozone) and ....

(b) The department (DEQ) determines air pollutants from motor vehicles constitute one (1) of the top two emission sources contributing to the design value of eighty-five percent (85%)

2) In the even both of the conditions in subsection (1) of this section are met...

(3) In the event both of the conditions is subsection (1) of this section are met..

The law is adamant that both conditions (a) and (b) must be met in order for the law to be enforceable.

Both conditions are not met but for some reason DEQ thinks they don't have to abide by the laws.

CCW cannot help but remember back several years when Idaho Power thought they were going to walk over the top of people in Canyon Co. NOT!!! Director Hardesty you need to remember who you serve. You serve the people and you are setting a very bad example for a state agency sworn to uphold the law.

Tomorrow CCW will provide readers some phone numbers where readers can call to the director of the DEQ and tell her what you think of their actions. Phone calls from the public are extremely important when you want your voice to be heard. (Ask Idaho Power if they want to deal with Canyon Co. agian.) Let's invite Director Hardesty over to meet with Canyon Co. residents and explain to us why she wants to control what happens in this county. If she can prove that the DEQ will make a difference worth the amount she is trying to take from citizens, we will have an open mind. Director's need to earn the huge salaries they take home each month. How about it Canyon Co. Think we can get her over here for a town hall meeting. CCW doesn't want the director's flunkies to look us in the eye and tell us they are going to break the law and force emission controls on Canyon County.

Automobile builders have installed emission controls for years. Sorry DEQ...they beat you to it.

EDITORIAL: How much political spin existed prior to the bond election? Some times CCW walks into information that surprises us. This happened today.

When speaking to Ada Co. Sheriff's office today, CCW asked how many outstanding warrants they have in Ada Co. Would you believe they have over 20,000 out standing FELONY warrants. That number only include misdemeanor warrants if that misdemeanor involved violence.

How many inmates can be locked up at one time in Ada Co. 1,000 beds in Ada Co. Considering their huge population compared to Canyon Counties population, it seems we are right on tracks with the number of beds we have available, especially if the work release center beds are included.

That brings us back to the SPIN. Our county commissioners used our number of cells, or beds in our jail many times in the same sentence with our number of unserved warrants. CCW heard that 7,000 unserved warrant number in all kinds of spin. Politicians spin information. Sometimes spin is so camouflaged you really have to pay attention to catch it but you don't have to watch O'Riley on Fox to observe the art of political spin. It's alive and well in Canyon Co. with our SPINNNING COMMISSIONERS.

ONE READER SENDS: Blake Hall has been entrenched at the top of the Republican Party here in Idaho and also at the national level. He has been a responsible leader and does not deserve the harassment he is enduring now at the hands of a local judge who should know better. If they can put Blake in jail, no one is safe from the over-zealous cops. How can anybody prove they are being stalked? In her dreams!!! A man of Blake's stature does not need to stalk women. What is this country coming to? And down there in Canyon Co. (where I used to live) you all want to build a bigger jail!!! I hate jails. Judges are people just like you and I and they should not have the power to lock up out standing citizens. You should forget spending any more money on a jail.

COMMENTS: When this post first came in, CCW didn't know exactly what this reader was referring to but after doing some research CCW found that Blake Hall is in jail in Idaho Falls. He pleaded guilty to stalking a young woman and is doing some time in jail and then will be on probation for some more set time.


whether or not this man has been, in this readers mind, a responsible leader in the Republican party, seems to make no difference since he pleaded GUILTY. Who knows whether or not law enforcement had a lot more than stalking on this man and he was allowed to plea bargain down to stalking. CCW will do some more checking and get back to readers with the rest of the story.

CCW agrees with the reader on one point. We don't need a larger jail in Canyon Co. We have plenty of room to lock up violent people who should be locked up. Since the ACLU has capped the number of prisoners allowed in our jail, the court system and county commissioners have been forced into a corner and must make some alternative, appropriate changes to sentencing people in our county.

ONE READER SENDS: I don't think judges can require a new jail. They can only act when an outside party files a complaint or cause of action which then goes before a judge. But, if the county would file an action seeking judicial confirmation to build a new jail, then a judge could sign off demanding a new jail. I might be wrong, but I don't think judges can simply act on their own "creating" a court case. I do understand the problem when judges hand down sentences and their is no room for that sentence to be carried out. I'll do some more research and see what I can find out

COMMENTS: CCW will also ask some more questions. But...judges have a lot of power. Some of that power goes unused because certain problems don't arise. However, it stands to reason that if a judge sentences a person to jail time, they should be able to force the case of jail availability. No one but a judge can sentence people to jail time. If the jail can't hold anymore prisoners, judges probably have the power to change that picture. We've just never seen it used. Judges also could "coach" the county to submit a complaint to the court about the lack of space in a jail. Let us know what you find out.l

ONE READER SENDS: What happened to cause four planning and zoning commissioners to quit all at the same time, shortly after the director of DSD resigned? I've asked around and everything is hush hush. They are claiming these guys are personnel of the county. They are paid a stipend for their time as volunteers and provided a small meal prior to meetings. This does not make them county employees and they are not protected under the same rules as employees. The public has a right to know what happened since these commissioners are volunteer public servants. What are the county commissioners worried about? What has CCW heard about this issue?

COMMENTS: CCW has already posted some information concerning the sudden departure of the latest DSD Director. CCW felt that this guy had attachments to private construction firms which created quite a conflict of interest on his part. He was also attempting to make some questionable changes to the way the P&Z commissioners dealt with certain issues and he hit a solid wall of power from the county commissioners as did the P&Z Commissioners.

Getting on the wrong side of the most powerful block of republicans in Canyon Co. (three county commissioners) is not good for ones working status!!! And word has it that is what both the director and the four volunteer P & Z planners learned real quick.

More on this matter as we learn the rest of this story.

In some of the claims flying around since the election, somebody claimed the public had played right "into the hands of the ACLU" by voting no on the jail bond. That statement simply does not hold up to the light of day.

Why are the ACLU even involved in this jail issue? Because the county threatened the people with the ACLU so loud and so long, that finally the boogeyman came right over the hill and pounced on Canyon County. We went through this same thing when the tent jail was built. If we didn't build the tent jail, the ACLU was coming to cap our numbers in the jail. Canyon County cried wolf long enough and finally the wolf swallowed this county. We will be under the eyes of the ACLU for a long time but no one is to blame but the county commissioners.

You see. With as much power as commissioners have there is also a lot of responsibility. So, if an inmates complaint is treated more seriously than it was in the past, just thank the commissioners for their failure to do what is required of them by law. County commissioners are responsible for building a jail and taking care of that jail (it is called maintenance)!!! The failure to do this is why the ACLU is breathing down the counties neck.

In a recent news article it was mentioned that a judge could end this entire question about whether or not tax payers should build a new jail in Canyon County. "The people" have voted not to build a new jail.
However, if the courts sincerely believe a new jail must be built to incarcerate people, in order to keep Canyon County safe, then judges are exactly who should be responsible for demanding that jail be built. Judges sentence people to certain sentences and demand certain crimes have certain consequences. Idaho laws guide judges. If judges think their sentences cannot be carried out, because a jail is too small, they can certainly act.

The job of a deputy is to apprehend suspects and to operate the jail. This is outlined clearly in Idaho Statutes. It is not the job of deputies to get jails built. When did that job get placed on the backs of deputies who already have the most dangerous jobs in the country? Sure, deputies want people they arrest to go to jail. Usually, if they need to be in jail, that is where the deputy takes that person after an arrest is made. It is not the job of that deputy to see to it that a jail is built large enough to hold those arrested.

Judges pass sentences. There are many alternatives to placing people in jail. Deputies do not decide whether jail or an alternative to jail is used. JUDGES decide. Once again, if Judges decide to force people
to pay enough taxes to build a jail, Judges can do that. This is a negative, hot political issue and Judges do not like to step up to the plate, but that is exactly who can force this issue.

The following is the "strategy" used by CCW to help get out the vote for or against the bond issue. Sometimes the most basic strategy can result in getting many people to the polls who might have sat with there feet up if not reminded of the serioiius question before us.

FIRST STRATEGY: Have mass email addresses set up to send out information to members of the public who had expressed an interest in the election.

The most important information used for this strategy to defeat this bond election was handed to us by the county commissioners. Each claim they made, beginning in May, 2009 was compared to county documents, including minutes of their own meetings. If commissioners were saying one thing one day and something else the next, emails went out to alert voters to the discrepancy.

Over 13 different times, county commissioners gave a different set of numbers when telling the public how many inmates the county facilities could hold. Sometimes they added the beds from the work release center, and sometimes they didn't. But, rarely did the county commissioners give any detail about why the work release center was hardly ever even 1/2 full.

SECOND STRATEGY: Emails went out with facts which had been made in claims by county commissioners prior to the building of the tent jail. The public was promised all kinds of promises prior to that facility being built. We had sworn testimony from elected officials making these promises none of which happened. Why trust commissioners now if they didn't do what they said they would do previously?

THIRD STRATEGY: People came up with the idea of each voter taking at least one other voter to the polls, three or four people if possible. When you can do that, you double your voting power.

FOURTH STRATEGY: Reminding people of what could happen in such a bad recession as we are in right now. This took very little work since many people were expecting failure from the federal government at great cost to the pubic.

FIFTH STRATEGY: Reminding people to vote absentee and reminding them how to go about absentee voting. This involved many senior citizens.

Although CCW has received several cautions telling us not to tell what works during election time, CCW only gives time working on county issues to encourage good government. We are not running a negative campaigns against government. We want to see our local government become not only responsible in their actions, but OPEN when they take any action. We've had numerous calls this weekend about the counties recent announcement concerning Enterprise Zones. DAVE FERDINAND HAS BEEN WORKING ON THIS FOR TWO YEARS!!!!!!! Again, the public is the last to know.

Just as the two major political parties have learned to use the Internet as a vast money making tool, "the people" too have learned how to use the Internet as a way of getting information to a large number of people to influence an election. It works.

EDITORIAL:

Listening to and reading all the post-election comments makes a common, ordinary citizen wonder if county commissioners think the public is stupid.

CCW did have a stratigy we used for months and months leading up to this election. Soon, we will go through our strategy, step by step, so readers can understand why we worked to defeat the bond issue, at this time. Keep checking back for the rest of this story.

ONE READER SENDS: I feel a bit better about the other county departments since the jail bond failed. If they could have built a different jail, we all knew us working at the courthouse would have been short-changed and have to give up staff in our departments to run that jail. Thank you 661/3.

COMMENT: CCW knows Noel Hales had those same concerns when he was a seated recorder. He felt all departments would have been short changed if the Justice Center would have gone through. Let's see how this whole mess shakes out.

From articles in today's Press Tribune, questions have surfaced. Commissioners seem to think they submitted an article explaining MYTHS (opponents) FACTS (county commissioners)

Soooooooo......Let's look at some of the commissioners FACTS!!! (PRECEEDED ONLY BY MYTHS)

MYTH: A new jail wouldn't be necessary if we'd incarcerate only the real bad guys. (Opponents know county commissioners want to lock up everybody and throw away the key, but first let's look at their claims.)

FACT: On Oct. 1, the jail held ....4 accused of murder....42 some sort of battery...21 sex crimes....9 drive by shootings...3 robbery...3 rape...three kidnapping...51 with felony probation and parole.

Let's see!!!! That accounts for the grand total of 135 total bad guys so deemed by County Commissioners on Oct. 1, 2009.

If the total cells available is 350 that leaves 224 cells empty, if of course we only lock up the bad guys.
224 empty cells after we have locked up commissioners "bad guys".

Commissioner FACT finders down 135. MYTHs win again by 224!!!

FACT BY OPPONENTS: A new jail is not necessary, even if we lock up only the bad guys.

(In a recent letter to the editor in the Western Chronicle, Comm. Ferdinand called out an honest, good man and called him a liar. Mr. Ferdinand should be real careful when he calls name.)

GIVE US BREAK!!!

COMMENTS: CCW had previously posted that we would only address jail bond issues after the vote on the bond was over. When reading in Sunday's paper "Myths about specifics need to be clarified" remaining quiet was no longer a possibility. The following is CCW's viewpoint about what is a myth and what is yet more political spin.

First CCW must clear up one issue. Commissioners claim "We've seen that when people actually learn the facts about the jail bond, they overwhelmingly agree that the rhetoric of the bond's opponents is based on myths and assumptions. Commissioners are still not addressing facts about this jail, Because statements are made by commissioners does not make those statements fact. More likely, commissioners dance around issues, such as the likelihood Canyon Co will be the location of a regional jail. There is nothing factual about their response when asked about a regional jail. The just don't answer the question. Opponents claims are not meaningless rhetoric just because they don't agree with an elected official. So, the very introduction from county commissioners in their article in the paper is not factual.

Commissioners claim as MYTH the opponents claim that:

... The jail bond is not financially sound and isn't much different than the previous bond that failed in 2006.

FACT: We are in the worst recession since 1930. Public money over and above basis, required spending, should be returned to the public in tax cuts. In 2006 the bond asked for more than $ 72 Million but that was to build a Justice Center, which included a jail. Commissioners then presented a drawing in much greater detail than what we are being shown today for this new jail project. In 2006 drawings, tax payers could tell the county was asking for brick buildings and large, spacious courtrooms and admin. offices. When commissioners realized that the eloquence of that project probably helped shoot it down, they decided to show quite a different drawing of this proposed jail. We can't tell if the jail will be tip out concrete because the sketch is vague. Commissioners claim the jail will have tipped cement walls. The truth is, once commissioners get their hands on bond money, this jail could be built how ever commissioners want it built. If they decided not to build tip out cement, all they would need to do is inform people they have changed their minds. Actually, they don't even need to tell voters they changed their minds. Once voters give them that money to spend....watch out.

This set of commissioners claim previous commissioners who were responsible for building the Dale Hale Jail, did not know what they were doing and did not plan an adequate design for enlargement in the future. All three of those commissioners (1993) were business owners and were extremely conservative with taxpayers money. It just does not equate that their plan was inadequate. Those commissioners hired the same engineering firm today's commissioners have hired and the same architect hired by today's commissioners.

So, who are the commissioners making decisions about the building of this jail. We have one farmer and two other commissioners who have failed in their attempt to operate a business, winding up, both of them bankrupt.

Commissioners claim as MYTH opponents claim that:

It would cost less to expand the existing jail, or build a new jail in the neighborhood north of the existing jail.

FACT: When a new jail was first discussed, the city of Caldwell was anxious to keep the jail in the same location because of course, the jail brings a lot of business to Caldwell. The city offered to use Urban Renewal money to level two city blocks considered blight and also an offer was made to give the county VanBuren school. Cooperation from the city would have vastly curtailed the cost of a new jail for taxpayers. Not one time have taxpayers been given hard fast data showing how much it would cost
to clear some area and build an addition where the jail is now. They claim it would cost 10 Million to purchase and and 2 more Million to demolish homes. Not one time has a single taxpayer seen on paper, estimates from professionals showing how much money it would take to build a jail in place. Although commissioners claim this location was studied at length but we are asked to take commissioners word for what they are telling us. A COMMISSIONER'S WORD IS NOT FACT!!!

Commissioners claim as myth opponents claim that:

...Canyon Co. is planning to build a regional jail that would benefit surrounding counties at our expense

Instead of telling what has been discussed about a regional jail, commissioners just gloss over that issue and dish out more rhetoric. CCW stands by the claim that a regional jail will be at the 20/26 location if commissioners can get a bond passed. We'll have the "shovel in the ground" and be the first "ready" for a regional jail. CCW also stands by the fact that the Owyhee Co. has already started talks with Canyon Co. about this very issue.

Commissioners claim as myth opponents claim that:

..a new jail would not be necessary if only the " real bad" guys were locked up.

CCW and opponents stand by our claim that alternative methods work fine and then we do not have to
pay for inmates living in the jail. These county commissioners claim that locking up people required us to build a new jail is pure fallacy. A felony does not mean an inmate has committed a crime which has caused physical harm to the public. Lock up inmates who have a record of physically harming people. Use alternative sentences on inmates who have committed crimes against property. The counties own numbers prove opponents claims.

Locking up people does not deter them from committing crimes. Locking them up helps them learn how to commit crimes more efficiently.

Get Real County Commissioners. When you refuse to investigate data about how jails cause more problems in society, the public has no chance of getting that FACT through your sculls. Commissioners are perpetuating crime in our county by locking up everyone arrested.

Commissioners claim we don't hold enough illegal aliens to make any difference in prison numbers only opens another door to a more serious question. If the public reads the jail roster, it is very clear that one race of people are arrested more than white people in this county. If they are not illegal aliens, are we then a bunch of racists in this county?

ONE READER SENDS: Back when the Dale Hale was built out, we passed a bond then too. I don't remember all the issues that came up then but I remember massive cost over rides by builders and
I also remember a law suit against the county for more money. Gov. has deep pockets and buillders will
do the same thing to us now. Just watch them.

COMMENTS: Oh, yes. Cost overrides. When and if our county commissioners can get their hands of 43M, it will be next to impossible to keep track of the spending of that money. It is one of the many hazzard of giving your money to a government agency.

ONE READER SENDS: Building more jails, to lock up more criminals, defeats the purpose. We have to have commissioners smarter than the criminals before the right things will be done in Can. Co.

COMMENTS: Serious, chronic, violent offenders should be behind bars.
That expense is justifiable. We are warehousing those with mental health problems and drug abusers. US prisons are bigger than the populations of some smaller states and the costs of prisons is more than the entire budget for the state of Missouri. We started in about 1986 locking up more and more people for crimes which could have been handled outside the prisons.

Commissioners are obligated to provide a place for violent criminals. They need to lock up those who would use force against another or defraud a person. But people charged with non-violent crimes
do not need to be locked up in a prison.

We do not have an unsafe jail for employees. CCW has been contacted by many who work in the jail right now and another who previously worked in the jail. There is rarely ever a case in the entire history of the Canyon Co. jail where employees were placed at any risk. Then the risk pertained to health issues. We have no way of knowing whether or not the same medical risks will be available in a new jail since many think because commissioners did not maintain his jail, it won't be long before the new jail is a real mess. If not liking to work in a place that needs a paint job or has developed other problems from a lack of maintenance, or a lack of installation of cameras and mirrors, then commissioners are to blame and need to use county money to make the places frequented by employees in a jail area, safe. Just because commissioners turned a blind eye to a lack of maintenance, is not a reason to build a new jail. It should have never happened.

If people are interested in why the Dale Hale jail has deteriorated, ask to read the reports made by commissioners after they visit the jail, quarterly. Commissioners consistently report that everything in the jail is great and if a communicable disease is or has been present, they have a name for that kind of risk calling it a jail house risk or some other name which tells you they don't give a darn about personnel or prisoners or the tax paying public. When reading those reports one would never get the opinion that the jail has any problems. COMMISSIONERS CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS.

If employees are complaining of feeling ill because of a lack of ventilation, then the commissioners are going to have to install a new ventilation system. Commissioners know exactly when problems were reported and when reading their reports, it is easy to see how long they have been ignoring certain problems. Commissioners are the ones stating they are going to leave the women prisoners behind in the Dale Hale Jail. Surely, they won't leave them behind to breathe bad air!!! For their failure to act, Rule and Ferdinand should resign. Then the public might get behind a bond for a new jail.
Tax payers do not need to build new jails because ventilation systems break down.

ONE READER SENDS: I attended at least two forums when Kathy Alder was running for commissioner. Both times I heard her say she was against a new jail and against the location they are now purposing.
I voted for her because she agreed with my view. Now she's working for a new jail at the spot she previously claimed was bad. Is there anyway to hold these politicians to their word?

COMMENTS: CCW knows of no way to enforce campaign promises. A lot of people are visibly upset about Kathy's change of heart but we all did the best we could to get a commissioner in place we thought would protect the people and not put political spin on information. CCW feels as bad as anybody because we worked hard to get her elected. CCW does hold her feet to the fire and emails her sometimes several times a day seeking information. She is living up to that campaign promise to respond when asked questions from constituents. She usually answers email questions rapidly and we appreciate that effort.
Why don't you email her at the county and ask for an explanation about her switching her views?

EDITORIAL: What in the world happened to remove DSD Director Forrey from office so quickly? On Friday AM he quickly resigned from his job and was not seen again. He resigned, however, after a visit with the County Commissioners.

CCW can just imagine how that visit went!!! One more time county commissioners thought they could do anything they wanted, even hiring a person who only recently appeared before them representing an application for a big subdivision near this counties largest dairy. That applicant, wanted to build a subdivision with riding paths, and all kinds of amenities for subdivision owners. One problem was to be able to enjoy all the perks, an owner would have, they would have to wear nose plugs to keep from smelling the sweet aroma caused by milk cows nearby.

We can just imagine, when the economy picks up, that application will be coming back before the Commissioners with many complaints about the dairy which was in existence years before the subdivision applied to build in Canyon Co. Would kickbacks take place? Don't forget that Comm. Rule was recently name one of the Worst Persons In The World on NBC World News for decisions he made as a county commissioner when an application was before him.

Rule was recently turned in to the State Attorney General for accepting campaign contributions from another applicant right while that application was before the Board for a decision!!! What was Rule's response??? He said, other politicians will understand me taking money in this situation. RIGHT!!! CCW knows some politicians who don't sell their souls to the highest bidder. Appearances are, with at least one certain application, Rule was up to no good once again. CCW sure hopes Rule was the only commissioner playing down in the mud concerning applications before the Board.

No one wants to be called a jerk!
Not even Commissioner Rule.
So he better be careful what darkness lurks!
Or folks won't think he's so cool!!!

ONE READER SENDS: Isn't it just what we need at the county to have Forrey here in DSD able to hire all his old cronies from Kastera? You can bet that BOCC Rule has something up his sleeve since he supported the guy from the get go. Politics..politics...politics.

COMMENTS: Your new director seems to have made a lot of money directing the Kastera project. CWW
will know later today what is going on with the Kastera project south of Lake Lowell. The county has several large dairies located in the same area Kastera wants a high end subdivision. What are the plans for Kastera? Shoving out our daries with complaint upon complaint? Some of these dairy owners moved to
Idaho after being complained to death in California Our comp. plan dedicated an area so. of the lake just for dairies coming to Idaho. Guess it didn't do us much good to work on that comp. plan. This story just keeps coming.

ONE READER SENDS: Can a guy work for the BOCC getting money from them and also developing out a subdivision and getting money from that? Smells like kickback time to me.

COMMENTS: We are continuing to check out this question. We did learn for certain today that the new director of DSD did recently appear before the county commissioners and the planning and zoning commission regarding a subdivision south of Lake Lowell. A legiitimate question is whether or not he is still being paid by Kastera payroll? This could be hard to prove, but you're correct in saying this whole thing has a bad smell. Keep checking for the rest of the story.

ONE READER SENDS: I've got a friend working for the city of Nampa and a bug
was put into my ear to notify you about an issue they are questioning when the city deals with the county planning dept. where there's a new director. Does the county do background checks before hiring somebody in a job that important? Is it legal for county commissioners to hire somebody to that position who has lobbied them for a big subdivision and has made loads of money developing Canyon Co. farm ground? Can you get us some information about that new director ? Something's not right
with this whole situation.

COMMENTS: This reader will realize I took out the name of the new director, even though it was used in this inquiry. We aren't sure if the county does background checks before hiring directors or not but if
he (the new director is a man) has been representing subdivisions in Canyon Co. we are sure the county would be aware of that part of his background. We will find out the legality of hiring someone who appeared before the board and whether or not that hiring is problematic. Just off hand, we would need to know the status of any subdivision with which the new director was associated . Is it totally built out or is it like many other subdivisions in Canyon Co. permitted but waiting for the economy to pick up. A question like this has not surfaced before.

ONE READER SENDS: No, No is all we hear. Is anything ever right with this site? Anybody looking at our jail knows it has been used way past its time. Cough up some more taxes for a few years but a new jail will be used for decades. I hope commish goes right ahead and builds a new jail, even if people don't pass a bond. The federal money should be enough to build a good jail.

COMMENTS: CCW takes seriously what this recession has done to many people living in Canyon Co. We have neighbors with many children barely able to put food on the table. AND you want more money so prisoners can have a better place???? This is not the right time for government to squeeze more money from their constituents. CCW would rather see food on our neighbors table than fine accommodations for prisoners.

EDITORIAL: How can taxpayers have a voice when commissioners want to build a new jail and build new fair ground facilities?

PROBLEM #1: If taxpayers don't immediately jump on the bandwagon supporting a new jail, they are blackballed as naysayers, and worse.....Can opposing voices be heard or are elected officials intelligent enough to work with taxpayers who may have a different idea about county needs that does not necessarily agree with the commissioner's idea? CCW has been active for ten years now and consistently we have observed the same approach from county elected commissioners. That approach is...if you are not with us you are against us !!! When that stand is taken, all ideas are not heard.

When county officials held a meeting nearly six years ago, exploring the possibility of holding a bond election for the purpose of building a jail. CCW attended that meeting and told elected officials we would stay quiet, which is unusual for a watchdog group. At that time, CCCFRG was the only citizens group actively voicing opinions about county government. But, at that same meeting there were some citizens who voiced their opinion and had sound objections to building a jail big enough to take in prisoners from other areas. They clearly stated they did not want criminals from other counties or states being housed in our local jail. They felt we already had enough criminals in our county population without advertising for more as a means of additional revenue.

At the time, CCW remembered all the promises of additional revenue the county would get if the tent jail for 250 was approved. Of course, none of those promises took place and our tent jail has been only 1/2 full most of the time since it was built and forced on the city of Caldwell.

Each idea from taxpayers was met with prepared negative responses . CCW kept their promise and said nothing as taxpayers were shot down over and over, even called CAVE people..."Citizens Against Virtually Everything." CCW stayed silent. And calling the folks who will be stuck paying for any new facilities, CAVE people was not conducive to good relationships between citizens and elected commissioners. Then the bond was brought to a vote after the county had introduced their plan to build a justice center . County Commissioners seemed to forget that in Canyon County they were representing frugal, conservative republican voters when they showed drawings of a grand justice center complex.

The bond was defeated soundly. CCW has made no such promise of silence now as more plans for a new jail are on the horizon. Commissioners seem to want taxpayers to believe the county will receive thousands of dollars of stimulus money which they claim will help defray costs of a new jail. it's a good thing we have not promised silence since commissioners now think they can receive federal dollars.

CCW has one more phone call to make tomorrow and then we will bring some interesting information to readers about the likelihood of Canyon Co. getting federal dollars for any project.

CCW wants readers to think about something. How dumb is it to ask taxpayers to foot the bill for a new jail while at the same time learning that commissioners approved the spending of 1.5 million on new fairgrounds 31/2 miles away from any city water and sewer????? We couldn't afford sewer and water to the jail property and it is closer to city boundaries than the new fair ground.

How scary is it to read that the fair ground board had that much money in their control and commissioners could not touch that money during this recession or any other time,for any other expenses. Commissioners have zero control even though the fair board admits some of the money in that account came from county taxpayers. Did anybody know such a banking account even existed, let alone if it was legal. Who handles all the revenue from the fair and other revenue throughout the year? Much of that revenue is CASH!!!! Is a county commissioner even on the fair board? Do county commissioners get quarterly reports so they know about the fair revenue and expenditures or do they get quarterly reports that tell them nothing other than trust us to take care of fair money? Is the possibility of embezzlement greater with fair revenue than driver license revenue???

When taxpayers get the kind of information we received last week, it seems like we are held hostage by the fair-board wanting new grounds. Then turn a page and the county wants a new jail NOW!!! ''

We won't be quiet again. We will be at meetings with specific questions we deserve to have answered, prior to county commissioners obligating us to years of bond payments. Prior to any meeting, the public needs to go to the county web page and click on jail roster. Count up the number of DANGEROUS, VIOLENT criminals in our jail right now!!! You will see there are few dangerous, violent criminals in our jail. Other programs can be administered by the county which does not force us to build a new jail right now.

We must continue the work we are now paying for to clean up the jail we have. We cannot build our way out of this dirty mess. It will take too long to build a permanent jail. If we must spend the money to clean up the jail, we can continue to use it until other possibilities are explored instead of building a whole new jail complex when we have so much money invested in the prison complex we have now. Can we ask Caldwell to close specific roads, allowing us to build to connect our jail with the work release center? Can minimum security prisoners be housed in the work release center if fences and security provisions are enhanced? Can we install all new cameras throughout our jail facilities to make our deputies safer? What would the cost be to install all new cameras so deputies could preview any area prior to entering that area?With all the advances this country has made, we should be able to look into every corner in any jail facility. What would the cost of new cameras be compared to what electronics would be for a new jail?

Can we ask Caldwell to close roads around the county complex which would allow us to develop better parking lots? Could we apply with the city of Caldwell to build a parking facility to increase the parking spaces and facilitate a bigger jail right on county property we now own or can purchase near our courthouse?

The public is not dumb. Don't try to trick the public. CCW has been around a very long time. We know all the tricks used by elected officials to tell half truths and to frighten. Don't call CCW a CAVE!!! Keeping people ignorant is not the way to win friends and influence people Give us straight answers.

The fair board and county commissioners have made a big mistake speculating with taxpayers money. They think people are too dumb to figure them out. They are wrong.

EDITORIAL:

Because county commissioners are now determined to build a new jail facility and also establish a new fair ground location, some questions need to be answered by our elected officials.

Question #1: Are elected officials aware of the fact that the pages and pages of legal notices in the local paper represent taxpayers having such financial hard times, they are losing their homes to foreclosure?

Question #2: Have elected officials considered the number of requests for lower taxes by applicants to the Board of Equalization in the last three years, and compared those numbers to the number of taxpayers
who filed for relief in 2005 and 2006? ( The number appealing to the Bd. of Equalization in 2007 and 2008 and 2009 for tax relief, has grown by a huge amount as more and more people are losing their property to foreclosure and losing profits in their businesses.)

Question #3: If county budgets greatly determine levy rates, and levy rates determine the amount of property taxes property owners pay, why do commissioners keep approving requests for new fair grounds and new jails if those approvals will also require the payment of more taxes by ALL property owners, including those who are losing their homes and businesses during this time of recession?

Question #4: Should county commissioners actually figure out and inform the public, what it will cost county taxpayers in additional taxes to operate the jail, if a new jail is built on the land purchased west of Caldwell?

Question #5: Did county commissioners recklessly approve the purchase of new fair grounds before finalizing the negotiations between the city of Caldwell and the county regarding the city signing over certain deeds for fair ground property to the county?

Question #6? Is the property west of Caldwell the best location for a new jail, or has the county simply already spent so many tax payers dollars on that location, they feel forced to build at that location?

Question #7:Why did Rosalee, who works at the fairgrounds office, claim "no one was taking us seriously, but now we have purchased at a new location, they will have to take us seriously?

Question #8: What's more important, having a new jail for criminals or allowing property owners taxes to decrease during a recession?

Question #9: The county is receiving far less revenue so why are commissioners so determined to build new facilities?

Question #10: Why do Comm. Rule and Ferdinand get so riled up when asked to give up their spokesperson so the county could save her salary of over $57,000. plus benefits? (When this position was initially hired Comm. Ferdinand told the press she was hired as a spokesperson. Now he claims that is not true. Are many county employees who have worked for the county 10-15-20 years, disgusted to have commissioners pay a spokesperson over $57K when their salaries have stayed far less?)

CCW is investigating several matters at the county. As we receive responses to our requests, the facts
will be reported here so keep reading for the rest of the story. (Mr. Cram recently had unexpected surgery so this sight has been down for several weeks but we're back.)

ONE READER SENDS: Budget time's here. What a laugh. People want less taxes and commissioners aren't cutting budgets for most departments. When they are cutting, it is minor. Did you know that department heads don't even have to come to work more than four hours a day, as long as they make sure the required work in their department gets done? That has been true for many years. The BOCC got a few complaints about the 2.5 cut and they turned right around and gave us all an hour a week paid vacations. When the BOCC told us about the one hour week paid vacation, they explained one hour vacation pay would be the same as the 2.5 salary cut we sustained. Then they close their office for an hour a week!!!
Get prepared for higher taxes. The BOCC doesn't' have the stomach to enforce a 2.5 cut in salaries, why would anyone think they will cut the budget?

COMMENT: Where did you get the idea that department heads only have to work 4 hours a day? That's a new one to CCW. Was that a rule under different commissioners? We are closely watching the budget and appropriations for all departments. CCW hopes you're wrong about the commissioners ability to cut taxes. In the last election, both Comm. Alder and Comm. Rule claimed they wanted lean government and smaller government. It is essential they put action behind their promises and make large cuts in taxes to ease the burden on people who have lost their jobs and many who have lost part or all of their retirement.

The scene in California is a dark example of what can happen when government does not have open eyes and an ear close to the ground. Many in California who were financially stable, some in their employment and some with large retirement checks, have realized when the whole state goes under, their income goes too. Even though Idaho has a balanced budget requirement, they do not have adequate laws to force government to stay as small as possible.

Case in point: Some counties are now discontinuing most if not all, of the money they pay to some agencies, such as COMPASS. To CCW this is proof that county government can operate just fine without paying huge sums to COMPASS each year so that agency can impose their will on county residents. If Canyon County is forced to have emission controls, COMPASS will be to blame. How much tax dollars could be saved if the county refused to pay fees to all the numerous associations, such as Assoc. of Counties, Association of what ever department ? All these associations are administrative fat and it would not damage our county at all if these associations were discontinued.

It come down to whether or not Canyon Co. commissioners are serious about cutting taxes. CCW has seen enough records over the years to know cuts can be made which would not affect our county employees. So many people are out of work now, all county employees should be thankful for the jobs they have and the wonderful benefits which accompany those jobs. Even if cuts must be made, county jobs are great jobs and people should be thankful they have those jobs.

ONE READER SENDS: Power corrupts quickly so quit hoping for less taxes. They'll happen when hell freezes way over. Our Board rules with awesome power and longs to be loved by all. I expect a big raise in Oct. to make up for the "attempted salary cut" FY09.

COMMENT: This group of commissioners all claim to be republicans. If we cannot expect lower taxes when republicans have unanimous power, when can we expect less taxation? CCW has reminded people time and time again, the republican platform calls for less government and less taxes. It's about time the platform means something. CCW hopes we are all surprised by lower taxes.

If you were a little mouse listening at the
water cooler, or camped out in the commissioners
meeting room, this is what you might hear.

" We don't have enough money in our
budget to pay our bills."

"You're right! What shall we do?"

" We don't want to take any $$ from the
elected paychecks, but what can we do to save our own butts?"

"Nothing else we can do..we must all take a 2.5 % decrease in salary"

"That hurts."

"What if we make employees mad at us and they start telling
what really goes on around here? I really hate to risk that by
cutting every one's salaries."

"There's nothing else we can do. Let's take the cut."

Several weeks pass.

"I just can't hardly tolerate the dirty looks
I'm getting from the employees. I thought
they would take 2.5% and stay loyal or at
least stay quiet. What now?"

"Well..the public thinks we are really trying to
save a little money...how can we keep employees
quiet and not have the public asking questions?"

"I know!!! Let's give everybody here at the
courthouse a paid hour off each week. What
do you think about that?"l

"Well, that idea won't help us elected comm.'s
We don't come to work 40 hours in a month,
let alone in a week. (You know, the law
doesn't require us elected to put in any
specific number of hours per day.)
Can't we come up with
some reward which will enrich us commissioners
and not just the employees?"

"Back to the drawing board fellow commissioners:"

"Let's give the employees a paid day off each
week and then when we don't get to work
until 9 or 10 each morning, it will just appear we
are taking our paid vacation. No one will be the
wiser. They can't prove a thing."

"Your right. Let's call this hour a week vacation
employee appreciation and maybe the public won't
even know that elected officials are giving themselves
more vacation than before."

"Fine. Employee Appreciation with one hour a week
paid vacation. And us commissioners will take time
off too. I like this plan."

"HMMM..Ok. The public is too dumb to catch
on to what we are up to. This way the public
thinks we cut everybody's pay by 2.5% when
actually we will all get a paid vacation out of this
bad economic fiasco!!! "

"What if the public asks how employees will
get their work done with less time? What
will we say?"

"Just tell the public we'll get back to
them. They are so busy trying to make
a living in these bad economic times, they
won't remember they asked. Just wait them
out. It works every time."

"Deal?"

"You bet. Deal. It's unanimous."

ONE READER SENDS: I think people ought to hold on just a minute about the
little boy accused of killing his father in Caldwell. People are up in arms saying the
boy shot his father because he was abused. Some claim the boy was abused and
also the siblings. How do they know anything about anything other than the bit we
have been told happened in court? The boy hasn't pleaded guilty to nothing from what I
heard. If evidence points to this young boy, the state has to hold him somewhere unless
some of these people screaming to let him go come up with money for bond which I
thought was quite low considering the crime. Let's get the facts please.

COMMENT: CCW has had several calls about this matter. We feel the people need to
read the laws which govern a case of this nature. CCW will try to locate the specific
laws that apply to a case such as this one and put them on this website Maybe the
law requires that anyone over the age of 13 be held and tried for murder one
in a case of this magnitude with the evidence the state now has. If trying this
14 year old as an adult is required by law, maybe holding this young man in an
isolated cell, away from other adult prisoners, is the best thing for him. CCW has not been on a tour of the jail but we are quite certain there are cells not only islated, but completely out
of view of other adult prisoners. Perhaps the Juvenile buildings don't have adequate holding
cells for a crime of this nature. CCW has not toured that facility either.

If the law sets requirements for charging an person over 13 years of age, probably that
same law demands that they be tried as an adult if certain eveidence is found. The law
also would state the length of time the state should seek in a case like this. For instance,
the law will state either life or death penalty or a specifi number of years the state can
ask a judge in a situation like this. Remember,
this young man was not arrested on Saturday, the day of the killing. He was arrested on
Tuesday after the state had time to view all the evidence available at that time. Apparently
the evidence pointed toward a 14 year old boy. Apparently the evidence pointed toward a
premeditated crime. Apparently the evidence supported that the 14 year old knew how
to use a hunting rifle. That is just a small amount of the evidence in this case known by the
state prior to them arresting and charging the 14 year old boy.

If we don't like the charges, perhaps we should go to our legislators and see if the laws
can be changed. In our opinion, our prosecutor's office is following the law which they
swore to uphold when taking office. Again, CCW will hunt for the applicable laws and
put them on this site when we find them.

Most of the people contacting CCW have been in support of our prosecutor's office and the
way this issue is being handled. CCW knows enough about the prosecutor's office and sheriff's
office and the people who work there, to know the 14 years old young boy is being treated fairly and kept completely safe.

ONE READER SENDS: Money can stop city progress. My family wanted to have a roundabout at our corner close to Orchard and Middleton. Why would some one want stop lights when roundabouts actually add some decoration to a city street. We think some of the people fighting the progress a roundabout represents, have a ton of money and that's not fair.

COMMENT: CCW has been closely watching the city's attempt to locate a roundabout at that intersection. It is less than a mile from our home. First of all, the information which has been put in the paper by city representatives, is flat out false. CCW has been allowed to read many documents from the highway district involved and from engineers hired during this planning process. The last article written by a representative from Nampa was full of false information. It was like he had not read any of the documents that have accumulated as engineers worked on plans.

Engineers submitted claim a traffic light is cheaper and more appropriate for that intersection. All the costs have been outlined by engineers.

Let us just give you a couple of examples that any property owner would object to. This roundabout intended to take road frontage from one property owner down Orchard and down Middleton. We can tell you that land owner was offered less than $10,000.00 for that property. Anyone knows how valuable road frontage is to property. It can determine all kinds of opportunity for the land involved. Because one corner of that intersection was farm ground, the government planned to take twice as much property from that land owner than they would take from any other owner involved. If government wants to take private property that had road frontage and is located in an area which can be used for commercial, they better dig deep and offer a lot of money because they must pay a fair price. Road frontage can determine whether development has several entrances to roads.

Come out to this intersection and look where the stakes were placed in front of two homes facing Orchard. If the government would have been allowed to place a roundabout at Orchard and Middleton, two homes would have had a front door just a few feet from the location where cars would be traveling on the roundabout. The stakes clearly showed how close the road would be. How would anyone like to own a home and then have the government put a heavily traveled road less than 20 feet from your front door? One home would have to give up usage of his front door because traffic would be so close. Now, if the government wanted to pay these people fairly for their homes, perhaps it would not be so bad, but we know the amounts offered and both of these properties were offered less than $10,000.00 . Their properties would have become almost worthless with a road that near the front door. The only thing CCW could think would explain the highway district offering these people such insulting amounts was that they really did not want to build that roundabout at that location, no matter what they were saying.

CCW has read the different articles and letters to the editor favoring this roundabout. We wonder if they would favor them if they owned the home or the road frontage on farm ground. One engineer claimed it was only farm ground, why did anyone care. All CCW can say is that guy had no idea what farm ground with road frontage on Orchard Ave and Middleton Rd is worth. More importantly, that ground is someones livelihood. There have been some pretty ignorant comments made by people who were hired by the highway district. Government in this case, so deserved to lose this battle. Remember, if you added together what government offered three property owners, it was less than $20,000.00 for three different parcels of land, two homes and farm ground. Get real somebody!!!!

ONE READER SENDS: Why are people talking about the mayor running for election? Didn't we just have an election a few months ago? I thought we only had elections every two or four years.

COMMENT: City mayors are elected this next Nov. 09. School Boards also just held elections. Even though our legislature had a bill this year which would have cut down on the number of dates elections can be held, it did not become law. There are several dates, set by law, for holding elections.

ONE READER SENDS: Now the paper says our property tax might go up even though property values go down. Every thing depends on a new budget. Does that mean county leaders can put millions in a budget for a new jail, and then raise our property taxes to pay for the new jail? I think property taxes stink and should be outlawed.

COMMENT: Some states don't have property taxes, but most do. CCW has to laugh when we hear that property taxes are governed by budgets. When we first started watch dogging the county, past Comm. Lakey and past Comm. Beebe told us over and over that the property taxes had nothing to do with the budgets they were setting. Of course property taxes depend on budgets. The county commissioners set budgets for all county departments and several other services such as elections. courts and etc. As long as society and laws demand these services, those of us owning property are going to pay.

Is that fair? Do other people living in the county use these services but do not own property and do not pay property taxes? Sure they do all the time. That fact is one reason we have elected officials supporting the raising of certain fees. They claim by raising fees, it forces users of certain services to pay their own way, even though they do not own taxable property. That argument holds some water, but it also raises the cost of fees to all who do own property and are required to pay property taxes. It would be nice if people paying property taxes, were not required to pay any other fees for county services.

Now, to answer your question. No, the county won't include millions for a jail in the budget they are now working on. They would if they could, but when the next election rolled around they sure would be looking for work. Adding 14 million to our property taxes to build a new jail would increase everyone's taxes big time. If you pay $1,000 now you would be paying $3,000 or more if they added 14 million to the county budget. There are some laws also, which prohibit county commissioners from making capital improvements such as a new jail by just raising property taxes.

ONE READER SENDS: About the young boy now in prison for shooting his father. I think we should all wait and reserve our judgement until we know more of that story. I feel the father is being made the bad guy here and we don't know what took place in someone else's home. The father could be a real nice guy and he is being labeled pretty bad by people who don't know the facts. Another mess for Canyon County.

COMMENTS: These children have a mother. She reportedly is in a hospital in Boise. It has been reported that when the mother was informed that her children's father had been killed, her response was, "Who did it? The kids? " To CCW, that says a whole lot. We are not holding the mother up necessarily, as a good mother, but what an interesting thing to come from her mouth when informed of the death of the children's father.

CCW has full confidence in the office of our county prosecutors. (It is so good to be able to say that) As the case unfolds, they will decide what charges, if any, to carry forward. When the first evidence comes forward in many cases, decisions which were first considered, can change. We have witnessed this many, many times in past cases.

CCW stands firmly against any kind of abuse against children. If it is proven that the children in this family were abused, it's no different than torture that happens to innocent prisoners of war. Children must have a safe place in their home. They must have a place where there parents protect them and allow them to grow up healthy. If readers do not agree that child abuse is a form of torture, let us hear from you. To CCW abuse of children in there own home is perhaps even worse that torture in wartime. In wartime, those acts are against adults. Abuse of children is as low as a human being can sink.

ONE READER SENDS: Health insurance for our family, gives us hope. We know if our
family is ill, we at least, have a chance to have our family treated. Is it right that Comm.
Ferdinand, Comm.Rule and Comm. Alder have available to them the same cheap insurance
as the county employees but the common public has to decide if we will feed our youngsters
or have health insurance? Providing gov. health insurance or forcing employers to make available
affordable health insurance better happen soon. It's overdue.

COMMENTS: CCW wants everybody to have health insurance and because it is so
expensive, it appears that government intervention will have to be taken. CCW does
worry about government spending so much money they don't have. Perhaps our
government has reached a point when they better stop giving so much money to
other countries and take some time to survey the needs of their own people and make
sure Americans are able to receive the best that health care has to offer. To have
government elected officials controlling their own salaries and their own benefits, does
not afford the kind of government our forefathers envisioned.

ONE READER SENDS: Your blog wants to know what I think about the
salarys them commissioners get. If you could see my tongue, you would
visually know what I think. The rest of us get a paycheck an it's gone
the same day for bills. Why do we must give them money every year when
we can't make it? I hope we do get gov. health insurance for everyone. Those
guys get insurance and I and others pay for it. Ain't it fair that us guys
get it to?

COMMENTS: CCW will say this. Health insurance for every person in
the U.S. should be loudly supported by all who are elected officials
and/or work for government and have health insurance as a benefit.
Pubic officials and public employees COULD be paid a salary and not be
paid benefits. CCW is not recommending that public servants not
get insurance as a benefit, but if public officials and public employees
get health insurance mostly paid by the tax dollars which come from the
public, the public too should have this benefit.
We pay for public officials to have insurance at very low rates,
but we can't afford insurance!!! Something is very wrong with this
picture.

ONE READER SENDS: Hey dudes....I feel real sorry for Stevie. Here we find him
working at such a low life job when he is so intelligent he could be making millions
Don't you know when you all have a good thing? Rule is cool

COMMENTS: CCW will leave your comments alone. Thank you very much.

FACT: Comm. Rule refused to disclose or recuse when
JAPS (a company applying for a CUP) appeared before
the county commissioners in Feb. 2008. Why should
Rule have disclosed or recused? Prior to Rule announcing
he would run for a second term and prior to Rule appointing
a treasurer, he accepted money from one of the owners
of JAPS and from the real estate agent representing JAPS.
Even though the money he accepted was
claimed to be campaign contributions, how did the two
men who donated know Rule was a candidate? These two
men had to give the money directly to Rule, since he had not
appointed a treasurer. If Rule claims he told these two
contributors to give the donations to someone else,
he broke the law which demands that candidates CANNOT
RECEIVE CONTRIBUTIONS OR SPEND ANY MONEY FOR THEIR
CAMPAIGN BEFORE APPOINTING A TREASURER.

Is there another reason Rule should have recused or disclosed?
How about the fact that the Prosecutor who attended that
hearing asked Rule three separate times if he had any information
he needed to disclose? Each time Rule said NO. He deliberately
hid the fact he had taken money from the applicant and one of
his representatives.

Why are any of these FACTS important? Put yourself in the
place of those who appealed this decision. They were forced
to pay $2008.00 to the county to be able to appear before
our holier than thou board. When a person pays that kind'of
money to a public agency, they expect to receive a fair
hearing and also expect they will be told the truth and have
judges who have not had previous associations with the
application they are appealing. In this case, there was nothing
fair and just after the hearing was over, one of those appealing
heard previous Commissioner Beebe, bragging saying "I guess
we showed them!!!!"

If Canyon Co. Commissioners know how to treat their constituents
fairly, they had better rush to the auditor's office and have a check
cut for $2,008.00. No one received a fair and equal hearing. Do
the right thing for once. Give those fees back to the people who
were systmatically cheated.

CCW has received more information which sheds some light on Canyon Co. salaries and comparisons of Canyon Co. salaries with other large counties in the state.

Think about this and let us know how readers feel. When voters elect officials to public office, and they are elected to do the same job as other elected officials, should all elected officials be paid the same? If county commissioners are required to set all salaries, even their own, what criteria are they using to deny other elected officials the same salary the commissioners are paid. What happens when county commissioners demand they be paid more than other elected officials? Past president Bush was paid the same salary for each of the eight years he was in office. When President Obama took over as President, he is paid the same salary as was past Pres. Bush.

Longevity is not considered for the highest office in our country. A new senator or representative is paid the exact same as their comrades who have served the country for many years. They get the same salary and the same benefits. These facts support paying all elected officials the same salary.

Thanks to readers for sending the following information which allows us to see how elected officials in other counties are paid compared to Canyon Co. elected officials.

First, lets compare the number of employee working full time in four counties.

ADA CO. 1,455 employees

CANYON CO. 747

KOOTENIA CO. 711

TWIN FALLS. 319

(Each county has some part time and some seasonal but we are only looking at full time employees)

Now let us compare the salaries paid by these four counties to their elected officials.

ASSESSOR:

ADA CO. $79,560,00

CANYON CO. $75.487.00

TWIN FALLS: $58,781.99

KOOTENIA: $91,400.00

(Anyone know why Kootenia pays their Assessor so high?)
*****************************************************
CLERK:

ADA CO. $90,480.00

CANYON CO. $78,387.00

KOOTENAI: $66,949.00

TWIN FALLS: $60,320.00

*******************************************************

COMMISSIONER

ADA CO. $90,480.00

CANYON CO. $82,852.00(Ferdinand)
$81,961.00(Rule)
$78,399.00(Alder)

TWIN FALLS $61,713.00

KOOTENIA $66,949.00
*********************************************************

CORONER

ADA CO. $72,280.00

CANYON CO. $73.923.00

TWIN FALLS CO. $36,472.00

KOOTENIA CO. $59,739.00

************************************************************

SHERIFF

ADA. CO. $95,160.00

CANYON CO. $84,476.00

TWIN FALLS CO. $67,080.00

KOOTENIA CO. $82,400.00

*****************************************************

TREASURER

ADA CO. $79,584.00

CANYON CO. $70,825.00

TWIN FALLS CO. $58,281.00

KOOTENIA CO. $66,600.00

*****************************************************************

THE FOLLOWING DATA SHOWS THE POPULATION OF THESE FOUR COUNTIES
AS OF 2006 (Estimates)

ADA CO. 359,039

CANYON CO. 173,302

TWIN FALLS CO. 71,575

KOOTENIA CO. 131,507

ONE READER SENDS: Why didn't Rule get in trouble when he refused to provide copies of his emails about the black widow spider dress to the press? This makes twice now he had just been slapped on the wrist for breaking the law on emails and taking money from friends. Other counties in Idaho have been forced to turn over emails after denying public information requests. In Ada Co. the IT Department got told they had to keep email that had been archived accessible to be reproduced for the public if so requested. How come Rule got away with out producing his emails?

COMMENTS: Could you provide CCW with more information about other counties you claim have been forced to produce public records. We know about the Prosecutor in Lewiston but not about Ada Co. Was there a court case in Ada. Co?

ONE READER SENDS: What's happening in court offices isn't fair at all. Just a few years ago the BOCC had a meeting and voted to make Dan Kessler's job the same as an elected official with the same power. When that took place, the BOCC were meeting about the court interpreters and required experience for court interpreters, when they decided that he was to have the same authority as an elected official. I think a resolution was passed to make that determination official. Can you check the records and post what you find? The BOCC stuck their noses into business involving the courts probation and fired an excellent employee with no consideration from people in that department.

COMMENT: Hopefully, you can send CCW some dates showing when commissioners took that action. Even though CCW does not know that employee personally, we have received messages concerning the firing of that employee and she certainly had the respect of many people and had worked for the county a long time. If you can come up with even approximate dates, it will be easier to locate that action.

CCW has received several posts requesting more information about some county salaries. CCW has located documents which show county salaries as of 1/28/09.

First, questions are being raised about why all Canyon county elected officials are not paid the same salary. When did that get started. In Ada Co. all elected officials are paid equally. CCW has asked people who were commissioners in the 90's and at that time, all elected officials were paid the same. Who took the liberty of deciding that some elected officials were more important or worked harder than other elected officials? Another fact is, when past commissioner Beebe became Chairman of the Board, he began to receive a larger salary than any other commissioner. Who died and made him so important. Now, that practice has survived and the chair man of the board is paid more than fellow commissioners and for some unexplained reason, Comm. Rule has a higher salary than the newest commissioner, Comm. Alder.

SALARY: (Benefits not included and each county salary has been decreased by a couple percentage points because of the bad economy and financial shortages, and these salaries are BEFORE those decreases)

Comm. Ferdinand: $ 82,852.00 (Began work for Canyon County in 2004)

Comm. Rule: $ 81,961.00 (Began work for Canyon County in 2007)

Comm. Alder: $ 78,399.00 Began work for Canyon County in 2009)

CCW does not think it is reasonable for one elected official to decide they should be paid more than any other elected official. That's right!!! If commissioners decide that some elected officials are to be paid more than others, experience should count for additional salary. Not in Canyon County!!! The county commissioners set county salaries, including their own. The sheriff's salary is higher than some but we need to remember that job can be dangerous and Sheriff Smith has worked for the county for 26 years, so it is reasonable for that salary to be paid accordingly. Let's look at the rest of the elected officials. Send in your thoughts as to why a couple county commissioners think they are more important than the other elected officials. Our clerk has to prepare the entire budget for the whole county and they pay themselves more than the clerk. Preparing the budget is a huge responsibility and the Clerk's office has many other responsibilities concerning the courts and auditor's offices.

William Hurst: $78,387.00 (Began work for Canyon County in 2007)

Chris Smith: $84,476.00 (Began work for Canyon County in 1983--26 years)

Tracy Lloyd: $70,825.00 (Began work for Canyon County in 1981--and has worked there for 28 years)

Gene Kuehn: $75,846.00 (Began work for Canyon County in 1977-- 32 years)

Vicki Degeus: $73,923.00 (Began work for Canyon County in 1986--23 years)

Canyon County Commissioner have established a pecking order when they made their salaries more than other elected officials and that pecking order is detrimental and shows the arrogance of some MALE county commissioners.

Their pecking order appears to value women less than men!!! That's right. Two of the lowest salaries for elected officials are paid to women elected officials. Somebody ought to sue these arrogant men commissioners and teach them that constitutionally, women must be paid equal to men. Pay all elected officiials the same amount. We don't have Kings in Canyon Co.

CCW wants to verify some information dealing with county salaries. Back a week or so, we gave an estimate on what CCW thought was the salary of the counties Communications Office. We very quite low in our estimate so want to update that info.

CCW is just in the process of getting documents which show current salaries since some cuts were made. Our list of salaries is for FY 2008.

Communication Officer: $58,558.00 plus another approximate $20,000.00 for benefits.
Since her hire date was 1/31/05 that department advanced far more quickly than any other
county position. So, with benefits, our Communications Officer as of that date, received either in cash or benefits, $78,588.00. If I worked for the county for 10 years and was still being paid around $30,000.00 I would be madder than a hatter!!!

Comm. Ferdinand recently in the news, claimed that position was never filled to act as a county spokesperson. CCW thinks he needs to go read his own job description. CCW has had many complaints about the pay for that position since many have claimed the county spokesperson has a lot of free time during the work day. Hopefully that has changed with the spot light shining on that department.

CCW also received a question asking what is the salary of Officer Robert Munsey. (We think he just retired)
Again, during 2008 his salary was $67,086.00 plus benefits. He was hired by the county on 10/17/88.
So here we have an officer of the law, who had held down several different posts in his time with the county, paid approximately $8,498.00 more that a newly hired Communications Officer, who did not spend one day taking care of hundreds of criminals or driving patrol car each day to face who knows what!!! Now, is that right under any conditions? What task is included in the job description for a Communications Officer that would merit paying as much as the county pays that position. That is so unfair to the other employees who have worked so much longer at jobs far more important.

The commissioners refuse to inform the public as to why this position is paid such a high salary because they have no viable explanation. One would think the suitable background or experience for this position could be a newspaper reporter. They certainly don't earn that much salary. Some earn less than half that amount. Again, CCW has thought something was up with this salary for a very long time, but commissioners tell people to take a flying leap if we ask any questions about the amount of that position.

ONE READER SENDS: Say, what's up with the BOCC firing the public defenders for C.C.? Word is somebody has a good friend they want to give that job to, such as previous county prosecutor. Do politicians have to be so blatant with the good old boy system? Couldn't they wait until the twp year contract was complete before making their move? Now the BOCC announces they will only give that contract to an individual attorney, not a firm? Politicizing the public defenders office, is wrong. Check out the State of Montana. They are more interested in following the constitution and less interested in the good old boy system.

COMMENTS: CCW knows zero about the public defenders office and the way that office functions. County Commissioners are forced to cut their budget because taxes are going down not up. CCW does think Commissioners should not contract with an attorney who is named in any litigation against the county. That would be one limit CCW would put on such a contract. CCW has not heard any complaints against the two attorneys who have contracted with the county for many years to provide the poor with legal representation. That has to be a thankless job. If any readers know more about the attempted change of contract, just let CCW know. We are certain we have not heard the end of this story.

ONE READER SENDS: Who is yanking the chain on our P & Z Commissioners? I've heard some grumbling from a couple of them and they don't much like being forced to follow the law. Who is the new master of the P & Z?

COMMENTS All we have heard here at CCW is that a new county prosecutor has been attending meetings and keeping a close eye on how things are progressing with development in our county. All we have to say is ABOUT TIME. Actually, it is not fair to imply that our P and Z Comm. routinely break the law. The fact is our previous prosecutor's office was responsible for havoc involving building in this county. It will be great to have a prosecutor who follows the law and give that leadership to P & Z.

CCW has had emails asking us to show the salaries of Department Heads for the County. We will do so today, but these amounts do not show any cuts for salaries which just took place.

WELFARE: Leslie Pardue $55,122.00 (Hired 8/24/88)

JUVENLIVE CENTER: Steve Jett $71,396.00 (Hired 5/2/88)

WEED CONTROL: Jim Martell $46,943.00 (Hired 2/7/94)

PARKS RECREATION: T. Bicak $55,209.00 (Hired 10/2/89)

LANDFILL: John Biddle $67,348.00 (Hired 1/10/02)

HUMAN RESOURSES: Nancy Heck $64,141.00 (Hired 6/13/88)

EMER. MANAGEMENT: Todd Herrera: $58,724.00 (Hired 7/15/91)

ANIMAL CONTROL: $69,920.00 (9/21/87)

CCW must locate the rest of the salary sheets and will put up additional dept. heads salaries.

ONE READER SENDS: This state's DMV couldn't find their way out of a wet paper bag. You can bet that Canyon county is not the only place embezzlement is happening. I wouldn't give the Dept. of Transportation one red cent until they can prove to the public they can run their administrative office in an accountable fashion.

COMMENTS: CCW is hearing more and more about that Department's break-down and failure to wisely use the public funds they have already been appropriated. Although we don't know for certain how much money was embezzled, apparently it was a large amount of money. How many miles of road would that embezzled money have built? If the embezzled amount is anywhere near the reported $300,000.00 we do know it would have paid for the salaries of several people.

ONE READER SENDS: Some potholes are so deep you could fall in and find yourself visiting China, unexpectedly. No wonder Otter has his hand out for more money for roads. We gave Otter the money once, but Canyon County took it away. The moral of the story is ride more bikes (very carefully). What does the Bible say? One hand giveth and the other taketh away.

COMMENTS: Somethings tell us we better leave the Bible out of this.

ONE READER SENDS: Any county office that's getting cash should be forced to turn over cash to
a disinterested county employee to check the balance each day. Cash receipts should be accompanies by verification as to why the money was collected so cash amounts can be checked against receipts. In this day of computers, there's just something real wrong with a county not being able to keep track of their money. Suspicion abounds at the courthouse that a whole lot more money is being skimmed right off the top. These wind bag politicians better carry calculators and not guns.

COMMENTS: Again, in this case, the money coming in was sent to the State of Idaho. For sure, though, the county does have some controls set up when money is turned into the auditor's office and/or the treasurer's office each day. However, if some elected officials or employees have the chance to keep both cash and documents showing the cash was received, it would be hard to even know the cash ever existed. For sure, this county has a whole lot of reason to review all handling of cash receipts for each and every department, including departments that operate in different locations, such as the animal shelter and the county annex.

ONE READER SENDS: This site noted irregularities with several contracts between C.C. and a soft ware company who is contracted to work with DSD. My department too, registered a complaint about these same contracts. How hard is it for a lawyer to look at contracts and give an opinion as to whether they are legally binding? Since the inception of these contracts questions about their legality have been discussed. Since embezzlement has come to light, once again costing taxpayers their hard earned dollars, why isn't the county having their prosecutor's office render an opinion on these contacts. If found to be problematic, getting this money returned would add hundred and hundred of thousands of dollars into the county budget. Why haven't the county commissioners asked for an opinion on these contracts. If found illegal, we are in very hard times and those contracts should be null and void with all pay outs impounded and returned to the general fund.

COMMENTS: If this world were perfect, maybe all the things mentioned in your post would happen. If you have followed this blog, you will remember that the recipient of this money, is a friend and former business partner of Comm. Ferdinand. CCW does not know if these contracts have been brought to the attention of our new prosecutor's office. We will try to find out and report back. It is our opinion, here at CCW, that nearly a 1/4 of a million dollars has been paid out to this previous business partner of Comm. Ferdinand in numerous contracts with the county. All of these contracts have been called into question but we are not certain any questions have been made since our new prosecutor has taken office. You are correct. If these contracts are found not to be legal, the county should have all the money returned, although we are certain it would take litigation to accomplish that goal. Sock it to the people, one more time. Considering the crisis the county find itself in, Comm. Ferdiand should launch this investigation himself.

Stay tuned for more on this story.

ONE READER SENDS: Hey! Money is missing. Surprise! Who all done took
our countys money??? I'd say there is a whole lot more money to find.
The plot thickens at the county courthouse.

NO COMMENT:

ONE READER SENDS: Claims that the county didn't want to hide the truth about missing money is pure bull. They hide stuff like tha all the time. Young took a bunch of electronics from the county. Everybody knows when his boy Marc got thrown in the hooscow, he trashed his own computer so the hard disk could not be read. A lot of county stuff left the courthouse when Young was in office and had the protection of the sheriff. IT ALL COST MONEY. Isn't failure to investigate and prosecute him more of the good ole boy system? I'll help them start a investigation. Just locate all electronics assigned to Young's office and see if you can find them.

COMMENTS: After Marcus was arrested, CCW tried to locate Young's computer and county employees did try to locate it but I was told Young did not have a specific computer assigned to him and it would be impossible to locate any one computer Young used exculsively. We have a lot of respect for our Prosecutor in office now and we are certain he will guard taxpayer dollars carefully.

ONE READER SENDS: Thanks to you guys for getting this news out to the public. It is so quiet around here today, you could hear a pin drop. What if more money is missing? Who woulda thought this would happen with all our righteous people working here?

COMMENTS: As far as we know at CCW, the Caldwell Guardian first reported this news to the press. You can also read more about this embezzlement on the Caldwell Guardian blog.

ONE READER SENDS: Get ready for higher fees to get our cars licensed. Don't it take
the proverbial cake to be breaking our piggy banks to license our cars and then find out
county employees are painting the town with our dough! Unbelievable. Now they will
probably raise our fees to make up what's been stolen.

COMMENTS: CCW knows what these two women have done is really bad, especially because they
were trusted with public funds but it is also really sad to see this happen with women who have
worked with the public for so many years. It's just real sad.

ONE READER SENDS: Hard to believe it took 7 years to catch these women. Who was getting paid off in this deal? The official in charge could have been getting pay backs to look the other way. Some heads sure better roll.

COMMENTS: Again, these fees were not sent to Canyon County. The were sent to the Dept. of Transportation and that agency should have caught such a huge shortage. Our assessor is a decent man and seems devastated at this turn of events. No wonder our roads are full of pot holes. The Transportation Dept. apparently needs some attention. It's a state agency.

ONE READER SENDS: Seven years to discover money missing? Who the *&##( was watching the store?
Here's a prime example of elected politicians drawing huge checks each month not interested in nothing else. Some heads better roll.

COMMENTS: Again, don't forget. That money was not being sent to the county. It was being sent to the State of Idaho and they should have caught the shortage. Our Assessor is a decent person and appears to be just devastated about this. If heads roll, they need to roll at the State Dept. of Transportation.

ONE READER SENDS: It's the same old story again. People caught stealing from the county and the real story only came out because the public found out about it. When these elected yokels claim they want to be upfront and inform the public when money is missing they've got their fingers crossed
behind their backs. This embezzlement is the last thing they wanted leaked. They've known about it for weeks and kept it hushed up. There should be a thorough audit in any department that handles cash money. All some people need is opportunity and they will steal. Look how much cash money comes into the probation and courts. Who's watching? Why aren't elected officials doing weekly audits of their employees? Mainly they sit at their desks or slither throughout the courthouse so people will know how important they are. Bets are going on right now and employees are betting how much money is missing from other departments receiving cash all the time. Want to BET? Why did it take Keuhn so long to find the embezzlement? Are pay offs going on to keep it quiet?

COMMENT: Your comments are interesting. However, CCW has been around a long time and we absolutely do not think Gene Keuhn had anything to do with or took any county money from anyone. We have observed him over a 9year period of time and that shoe just doesn't fit him.

You are right that departments working with cash should be audited regularly. It's sad but often true that cash money and opportunity are many times not a good thing. As far as elected officials are concerned, the buck stops with them. The people have voted them into office to "be the boss" over certain sections of the county and we expect them to be observing the functions of their departments closely.

This embezzlement case sounds like it involved a state department, but news coming out now claims Mr. Kuehn was the one who found the irregularities. It sounds like this embezzlement should have been caught by the State Transportation Dept. CCW is not sure giving that department more money to build roads is a good idea if they can't even keep track of cash from license sales.

ONE READER SENDS: I take a little, you take a little. No one will notice. Taxpayers here are rich and I need some extra money this month. Take a little more next month. Now it's a habit. Didn't get caught, take
a little more this month. This story plays out over and over in our wonderful courthouse. An example...just try to trace surplus auction funds. If the BOCC stayed in the courthouse and did their work, our taxes could drop way low. A lot of cash funds runs through the courthouse each day. Those elected to protect don't even look at the reconciliation or end of month balance sheets. It's not hard work. They just aren't here to do the work. It's down right sad.

COMMENTS Perhaps the fact that embezzlement has been going on for years, will open the eyes of our elected officials and they will begin to do their job. We agree that if cash money is handled, there must be check points in place to make sure policy is followed and the money is used in the correct account.

CCW heard during this legislative session that the Dept. of Transportation with state offices in Boise, were audited and that audit cost taxpayers $500,000.00. That's half a million dollars paid out for an audit which apparently did not find that hundreds of thousands of dollars were being skimmed.

CCW is looking forward to the annual Canyon County audit soon due to be published. Hope this audit is worth the taxpayers funds paid out. CCW is especially interested in whether or not levies were kept whole or did money get transferred around and around and around!!! How many $$$$ have our elected officials abused and misused?? Hmmm CCW writes poetry!!!

EDITORIAL: As more and more news breaks about what is going on at the courthouse, CCW has a sick feeling for the numerous excellent employees who work day in and day out for the people. Even though there appear to be a few bad apples at the courthouse, most employees should be applauded for their service.

ONE READER SENDS: In case everybody has forgotten the BOCC schmooze the newspaper or hide from them. Here's a question they don't want to answer. Why would one more employee be fired while they are paying over $50,000.00 for one new position to speak for the board? One would think those elected could at least speak for themselves and dissolve that position to help ward off firing anymore employees.

COMMENTS: CCW hears lots of rumbling and grumbling about that position. The facts are that this specific position should never have been brought on board. County Commissioners cannot by law hire clerks. When they found that out they declared that the new position of county spokesperson was a department and the spokeswoman was the head of that department. We think that position is paying about $56,000.00 per year plus benefits. (Haven't checked since cuts have been made.)

Now Rule stated several times while running for election that he would vote to get rid of that position if elected. We are waiting and have not heard a word. Hm mm.

ONE READER SENDS: Looking for money to run the county so more of us don't get fired? The money is gone for a long long time. Your website forgot some waste by Beebe, Rule and Ferdinand. Remember the law suit about the juvenile who was being abused by her step-father? Who knows what that suit will cost, but more than the Leon case.

COMMENTS: CCW had forgotten that case is still pending. We'll check it out and see where that case stands now. Like we have always said, if the Leon case cost $900,000.00 this case will cost double that or more. We are dealing with a case where our prosecutor's office deliberately sat on abuse charges because they "didn't like to deal with cases involving children." CCW does not have to even wonder about this settlement. What we do wonder about is WHERE WILL CANYON COUNTY GET MONEY TO PAY IT OFF IN CASE THE INSURANCE HITS ITS CAP????

ONE READER SENDS: Put this in your readers hats...some state agencies are so angry at the BOCC they
have taken back a whole bunch of lap-top computers they had supplied some working in the courts. The
BOCC fired a long time employee from probation for no reason other than they wanted to control supervision which belonged to another official. We hear next they will be firing at the Juvenile Center so they can run it too. If I was Estella that ran against Alder, I'd be real worried.

COMMENTS: I'll do some checking and post what I can find out. I heard some rumblings from some other posts and a couple of phone calls. I'm sure those other two bozo's are trying to drag Kathy down to their level. I promise I'll find out what's up.

ONE READER SENDS: I sent this post to you earlier, but it came back so I'm trying again. In a time so many are losing work, the BOCC prove they worship power and should be closely watched. Anyone paying attention to recent business by the BOCC could see them going on a power trip at the expense of long time proven county employees not to save the county money but to award themselves more and more power. They've bucked right up against the Supreme Court this time but couldn't care less. Claiming jurisdiction for Detention and Juv. and Criminal Probation will involve some more firings of at will directors. It's only a matter of time. They already fired the head of probation and have their sites set on others. I guess we could take fair, explained cuts in salaries, but the way the BOCC handle things, fear abounds.

COMMENTS: CCW has received several other posts about this matter. Other posts claim the director was fired from probation and she was earning over $70K yearly plus benefits. CCW will post the other info now that my site is back up and operating.

ONE READER SENDS: Personally, I voted for Ms. Alder because your website backed her. I agree with most of the news that comes out here but a lot of us are getting shocked by her failure to carry through with her campaign promises. I stumbled unexpectedly on an interview done with Ms. Alder and the Press Trip. Listening was an eye opener. Ms. Alder claimed everything at the county was being done in a transparent way and she was completely happy with the way things are running. That's a lie and she knows it. They hide stuff from the taxpayer everyday. I'm kind of mad that I listened to you and voted for her.

COMMENTS: I'll go to the papers website and see if I can hear the interview you heard. I just cannot imagine you heard correctly if you think she claimed everything is transparent at the Canyon County Courthouse. We supported her after knowng her for years and transparency was one of Kathy's biggest complaints prior to being elected. Let me check it out. You must have misunderstood.

ONE READER SENDS: Here's the facts. The Board fired an empoyee who works as a supervisor in Juvenile Probation. She was earning over 70 thousand each year because she had worked for the county for a long time. Her supervisor was not even a part of her being fired. What goes around comes around. Election time is coming soon.

COMMENTS: CCW has been receiving several posts about these issues. I'll do some investigation and get back to you. Apparently, this issue is very important to many working at the county. I've had to clean up some words in a couple of posts before I posted them.

ONE READER SENDS: Surprise, surprise surprise. I found some lost money for salaries. A couple million for mink do-do. $30,000. for phantom tables, a million for new license plate offices, $200,000 or $300,000. for Ferdinand's friend. Now we are sued and have to spend millions fixing up the jail 'cause they are caught red handed for negligence. Now I'm told the law knows exactly where their doors went, but it's an inside job and they don't want to hurt one of their own. That $30,000 would pay the salary for one employee. The only funny part of this whole mess is watching the BOCC all huddled together trying to figure out how to keep all their messes out of the press while they screw over more county employees.

COMMENTS: This is not good. CCW agrees all that money is absolutely wasted but not one county employee had any thing to do with that waste and should not be suffering because of it. It is the opinion of CCW that until the time elected officials are forced to pay back taxpayers money they deliberately waste, this will not stop. These elected officials are bonded and should be held accountable. The people would then at least, get their money back. However, as long as elected officials refuse to hold each other accountable, instead of conveniently looking the other way, the people are held hostage. The waste described in your post, involves some illegalities. The people deserve to have those activities declared null and void and get our money back so our property taxes go down instead of up.

ONE READER SENDS: No one is safe from these ego-maniac three musketeers. Now they have their eyes on money in the Fair Board account. First they fire long time great employees working in the courts and now they are salivating over the fair account. Power corrupts. Please get what's happening out to the public. None of us working for the county are safe.

COMMENTS: CCW sure didn't see this coming. Are the commissioners giving anybody any reasons for shifting this authority to thier office?

How many times do we have an opportunity to say "I told you so" especially when dealing with politicians and their comments? "I told you so" does nothing productive, but once in awhile, it just must be said. Last year, at the end of our legislative session, some politicians tried to quietly slip through a bill which would have limited some rights we have been given in our State Constitution. Have you read the State Constitution? It is quite small. Doesn't take long to read it in it's entirety. If we are not acquainted with our rights under the Constitution, how will we know if lobbyists and politicians sneak in changes, when they think no one is looking?

CCW is so thankful for all the work done by a few, as they keep us updated about bills introduced in the legislature and their ramification for us as citizens. Last year, when Canyon Co. representatives defeated an attempt to change the constitution and requirements about the handling of long term debt, we must admit we were guilty of saying we were certain politicians would not let this defeat stand. That's where the "I told you so" comes into play.

They are back this year. Once again late in the legislative process. CCW will report on this activity after Friday's votes are registered. Some where in this state, there is a public hospital in financial trouble and
a few politicians are attempting to amend the constitution because a public hospital is in dire financial trouble and it is the only hospital of any size in their area. Are there other ways to handle this hardship, without amending the state constitution?

You should know, certain politicians have learned way to try to amend the Constitution, WITHOUT ASKING THE PEOPLE AND THEY ARE AT IT AGAIN.

Why would any politician think tax payers would want to spend more money building more buildings when many of our people are losing their homes to foreclosure??? What part of hard times don't these politicians understand?

Sure enough, new bills are working there way through the legislative process, which would accomplish the very things (changes to the Constitution) that were stopped last year. Fortunately, the Constitution cannot be amended, without a vote of the people. Believe you me, if politicians could change the Constitution without asking the people, we wouldn't even recognize the historical document, The Constitution of the State of Idaho. I've been expecting to hear our politicians begging to use stimulus dollars to over ride our constitution.

Right now, those trying to enact these changes, have a bill working it's way through the legislative body. CCW will have a lot more about this story after the meetings of this week are completed.

Every single day CCW is so happy in the fact that the constitution cannot be changed without a vote of the people. Once more, that law will save us.

ONE READER SENDS: The board of commish need to follow their own rules and ordinances. The think they can just call out the need for a meeting and by voting together, make up their rules as they go along. My family lives in Caldwell and I'm sick to death of paying twice for animal care in our county. I once worked at the courthouse and saw the outlandish amounts of money especially Caldwell and Nampa paid, even after we all paid property taxes which should be used to operate the animal shelter. Commish are making some of us pay double for those services. I don't even have a dog or cat so getting hit twice is quite offensive to me. What can we do to stop more and more taxes?

COMMENTS: Here at CCW, we know at least one commissioner who is fully aware of the fact that the county is forcing double taxation in several cities in the county when it comes to the counties responsibility of operating an animal shelter. Write letters to the editor to the local newspaper and write to the commissioners and let them know your concerns. CCW is going to file a formal complaint about the counties reckless abuse of their power concerning their charging cities twice for animal control.

ONE READER SENDS: The BOCC claims they can't keep drawing their huge salaries without laying off employees. Look how much the county could save if the BOCC gave back their salaries and just worked for benefits. Here's another helpful suggestion. Since we doubt the BOCC will give up one cent, at least they can lay off the county spokesperson and talk for themselves. How many of our jobs would have been saved if the BOCC had not purchased off sight buildings spending over a million. Now we lose our jobs. Something sure stinks.

COMMENTS: From your post, CCW assumes more cuts must be coming. We wished the last cuts would be all that is necessary. CCW hasn't heard about more cuts. Can you send more information?

ONE READER ASKS: WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP POURING MONEY DOWN A RAT'S HOLE AND LITIGATING AGAINST COUNTY GOVERNMENT? HISTORY SHOWS THAT ACTION IS FUTILE. A GOOD EXAMPLE IS RIGHT NOW WITH SEVERAL COUNTY CITIZENS SUING CANYON CO. ABOUT THE JAIL GOING OUT WEST OF CALDWELL. WHAT A MISSION IN FUTILITY? THE NEW JAIL IS GOING TO BE BUILT THERE AND NOBODY CAN CHANGE THAT FACT.

COMMENTS: Some feel the Idaho State Constitution is an important document and should be upheld. If, in fact, the courts do not uphold the Constitution, they they really have no restrictions which determine the validity of their decisions. You easily could be right, that the jail will be built on 20/26. Citizens don't seem to be having a whole lot of luck getting a decision in their lawsuit. But, no matter what, agreeing with the steps taken by the county to built a facility costing over $48 million dollars, says those in charge of spending that money are doing so outside the legal requirements of the Constitution. It also says county officials who sign off to spend money on a new jail, at the 20/26 location, do not appreciate nor think it is important to follow the state Constitution. It doesn't matter whether a bond is passed to build a jail or not. The Constitution has already been ignored. If Constitutional requirements do not control local government long term spending, then county officials can purchase land next to you and do whatever they want. Constitutional restrictions are in place to protect everyone. It is pretty scary when the courts look the other way.

ONE READER ASKS: I GUESS THE ONLY GOOD THING ABOUT A RECESSION IS THAT GOVERNMENT HAS TO CUT BACK ON THEIR MASSIVE SPENDING. ON ANOTHER SITE, I READ THAT CANYON CO. DOESN'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO PUT SEWER AND WATER OUT TO THE NEW JAIL LOCATION. I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW MUCH IT COST THE COUNTY TO BUILD THAT NEW ANIMAL SHELTER AND HOW MUCH IT COST TO GET THE SEWER AND WATER TO THAT FACILITY WHEN IT WAS BUILT. I SEE MORE AND MORE HOMELESS PEOPLE IN THIS AREA AND IT REALLY BURNS ME UP TO SEE SO MUCH MONEY SPENT TO TAKE CARE OF CATS AND DOGS. WHERE I GREW UP, WE TOOK CARE OF CATS AND DOGS WITHOUT GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE.

COMMENTS: The animal shelter actually, is not new any more and has been around 8 or 9 years, we believe. The animal shelter was only built after the people in this county voted and a bond was passed. That's the way facilities are supposed to be built. So far, a bond has not been passed for a new jail. CCW know of no way to find information about sewer and water going to the animal shelter when it was new. We think, since it is located in Caldwell City Limits, that water and sewer was already at that site. That facility was built after the job service which is just across the street from the animals shelter so sewer and water were most certainly available. The only cost would have been the hook up fees, which would not add up to anywhere near as much as installing lines to a new facility.

CCW thinks your comments about homeless people comparing them to possibly unwanted animals, is like comparing apples and oranges. Even if laws did not require a safe and clean way to take care of animals, most people want to know our pets will be treated well if the need arises. Most people want a facility which allows others to purchase unwanted animals to help eliminate so many living animals being terminated. CCW does not think whether or not animals have a nice facility really has anything to do with whether or not government provides enough help to homeless people. In this country, we work to hopefully, address both issues.

If you are complaining about the Canyon Co facility being a rather new facility, you should go check out where the previous facility was located. It was very small and not equipped to keep animals comfortable. Do you want to go to an animal shelter and view animals starving and either freezing or having heat strokes? If we as a people allow that kind of treatment of animals, CCW thinks our treatment of the poor would also suffer. Being kind to animals is a part of this nations fabric and an important part.

ONE READER ASKS: NINE OR TEN PEOPLE LAST YEAR SUED THE COUNTY FOR BUYING MORE GROUND FOR A JAIL AFTER THE JEROME LOCATION FELL THROUGH. WHERE CAN WE READ THE OPINION AND DOES THE COUNTY NEED TO SELL THAT LAND LIKE THEY DID THE JEROME LAND? I SAW A SIGN ON THE JEROME PROPERTY THAT A NEW CAR WASH WOULD SOON BE BUILT THERE. HAVE YOU HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT IT?

COMMENT: CCW cannot inform you where to read that opinion, because there has not been one issued as far as we know. Anyone interested can go to the courthouse and read the file which will allow you to read any steps taken so far. The litigation you refer to mainly is an attempt to stop county decision makers from breaking the Constitution. Purchasing that land and paying over a million dollars for construction design and other planning documents, broke the Idaho Constitution. Either a Constitution is backed up by law, or all taxpayers are in real trouble. When we read all the recent attempts gov. uses to get around the Constitutional requirement about long term debt, the validity of the Idaho Constitution is at stake. That is quite significant.

CCW does not know what will be done with the 20/26 property since the county, by law, is not allowed to hold property for speculation purposes. There are many in our county who would rather fewer people be in jail, than pay more taxes to build and operate a new facility. People are losing their home right and left and don't much want to dig up money for crooks to have a nice jail. You cannot blame people for feeling that way. CCW has heard over and over that our county should not get a new jail, since they didn't take care of the one they now have. Hopefully, the problems because of lack of maintenance, are now being addressed. CCW has learned that "cleaning and sanitizing" a facility while prisoners actually inhabit that same facility, is a real tricky issue. And of course, we can't forget that women inmates are complaining that they are always left until last while the areas which hold male inmates are cleaned up first.

ONE READER SENDS: I'VE BEEN GOING THROUGH THE ARCHIVES WITH THIS BLOG LOOKING FOR POSTS MONTHS AGO ABOUT CO. COMMISSIONER FERDINAND GIVING WORK TO HIS FRIEND. I CAN REMEMBER SOME OF THE CONTRACTS WERE FOR LARGE AMOUNTS. DID THE COUNTY EVER GET THAT MONEY REIMBURSED TO THE COUNTY COFFERS? I READ A STORY YESTERDAY BY ANOTHER COMMISSIONER AND THEY CLAIMED THERE WERE QUESTRIONABLE CONTRACTS NOBODY LIKED BUT DIDN'T SAY IF THOSE CONTRACTS WERE FOUND ILLEGAL OR WHETHER THE COUNTY GOT THEIR MONEY BACK. READING THE ARTICLE YESTERDAY MADE ME THINK THIS COMMISSIONER WASN'T GOING TO TAKE ANY STEPS TO COMMENT ANY FURTHER SINCE SHE TOLD THE PAPER SHE DIDN'T WANT TO BE SPECIFIC. ACTUALLY, SHE CLAIMED ALL PROBLEMS THAT HAD BEEN IMPORTANT TO HER,WERE SOLVED BECAUSE THE COUNTY RAN OUT OF MONEY.

COMMENTS: Well, you cannot tell from someone not wanting to be specific whether or not they are working to expose to the public the problems with some contracts. There's a chance a formal complaint has been registered with the prosecutor's office, resulting in an ongoing investigation, and nothing can be made public yet. The contracts in question were between one of Ferdinand's old business partners and the county for work done on the acquiring and installation of some software which would allow some of the county home inspector's to do work from their vehicles, without returning to the courthouse. there were signs at the time, that this friend of Ferdinand's also attempted, with Ferdinand's help, to install their people in the county IT Department, hoping to remove the long time county director. You should be able to locate archived posts exposing this trickery but we know Ferdinand's friend has changed his company name at least once and possibly more. This kind of activity, changing of company names, makes it harder to follow the expenditures.

CCW hadn't thought about the fact that if these contracts were illegal, the money should be returned to the county budget. CCW will check on this during the week and let readers know. A question always arises about if the contracts were found illegal, WHO is responsible for repayment? Is it the person who received the money or should a set of county commissioners approving the contracts be responsible for the repayment of tax dollars? County commissioners are bonded and possibly those bonds would be attached if the contracts were illegal. Some of us thought that exposing these contracts, would assure that this practice was nipped in the bud. A really troubling thing which has happened, is even after there was publicity about these contracts, Comm. Ferdinand helped get another contract signed for his friend just prior to a new prosecutor and new commissioner taking office!!!

If, indeed, our county commissioners claim they were given poor legal advice, they can always go to outside attorneys for legal advice. There is a good chance that county commissioners should be held responsible for repayment of that money to the county budget. Getting that step to take place may be a real hardship. If it is not repaid, once again, the people lose. Many times CCW has heard commissioners claim they didn't need to look to the public for input on their actions, because, they had been elected to make those decisions. If that is true, they should wind up holding the bag when their decisions cost taxpayers after illegal contracts were issued.

CCW will follow up on your question and get some more information. One thing for certain. The reason for those contracts, has evaporated. It is certainly not a problem now if county employees must return to the courthouse to do their work. The list in the newspaper about how many homes are being built each week show rarely less than five homes are under construction any given week.

ONE READER SENDS: Women are treated like dogs by deputies working in the jail. Why do women have to wait to have their section cleaned up and stainless steel added? When I was in jail, you could almost see the mold growing before your eyes. Who gets the first cleaning? Not women prisoners.

COMMENTS: CCW has talked with some who had previously been lodged in the county jail. They certainly have a lot of complaints. Hopefully the work being done presently will help ease those complaints.

ONE READER SENDS: I thank the ACLU for helping us that's been in jail. I didn't do nothing and had to stay there several times. I say yea to the ACLU.

COMMENTS: If readers do not understand this post, the ACLU has filed a revised lawsuit against the county concerning the jail. This revised suit, filed on Wednesday, has hundreds of complaints from prisoners. Oh well!!! The county will just raise our taxes to pay for their reckless decisions. About as smart as building $30,00.00 for tables for the new jail, when no building is built to put them in so they all get stolen. Readers would think we were making this up but we are not. The crime about the tables being stolen was in the paper.

ONE READER SENDS: The basic rights of prisoners must be provided. Other than that I say "Shut up and turn down the volume on the cable TV . I want peace and quiet while I pay my taxes.

COMMENTS: What more is there to say? One hand is always reaching for more tax dollars.

ONE READER SENDS: Did you know the county is being sued once again? The ACLU revised their original suit and filed another suit about the county jail. Taxes will go to pay one more time. I'm sick of these jail birds getting cable tv and three squares and still suing for more. I'd put them in a tent and build a real high fence.

COMMENTS: CCW learned this suit has signed complaints from prisoners. Probably the same kind of deal as the requirement that a Tort Claim must be filed before a suit could be brought against a public entity. Once more tax dollars will be used to pay for stupid decisions by county commissioners. Few are aware of the fact that keeping that jail clean and in good condition is the legal responsibility of county commissioners.

ONE READER SENDS: I want to ask a question about how they get to amounts on our taxes. I'm not for paying extra for recycling bins and I don't want to pay any more for helping animals. Everybody can just
take care of their own animals. Why should I have to spend my money for other peoples pet? I am having trouble putting food on our table and don't have money for animals.

COMMENTS: We don't have a choice about paying taxes to be used to maintain our animal shelter. If you pay property taxes you will contribute a portion of that taxation to operate an animal shelter which is required by law. If you do not own property in Canyon Co. you only pay for services you use at the animal
shelter. An example would be if you had a pet that ran away and animal control picked up your animal and took it to the animal shelter. If you go to the animal shelter to claim your pet, there could be some fees you are asked to pay. There are several services available at the animal shelter and each service has an adopted fee. The fees then are deposited to the correct county fund and used to operate and maintain
the animal shelter and pay the staff who work at the shelter. We just don't get enough money from fees to fully operate the animal shelter.

CCW does not know how long laws have been in effect in Idaho, demanding that counties operate animal shelters. We know when people are having a hard time feeding their own family, providing money for an animal shelter is probably at the bottom of the list. But, countries are measured by various standards and in the US we decided a long time ago that humane and kind treatment of animals is important to the majority of our people and laws followed to make sure our animals in America were treated well and cared for. States relegated this requirement to local governments and animal shelters were built to help meet this requirement.

So, the answer to your post is that laws demand we pay money to operate animal shelters, if property is owned in the county. That cost is contained in your property tax bill and fees for services. If you do not
own property in the county, the only money you would pay is for using services at the animal shelter.

Just last week, our dogs ran away and were returned to us because of a call made to the Kindness to Animal clinic. The animal shelter personnel offered several helpful ideas to help us get our animals back.



The problem which has drawn attention to the animal shelter recently, is because county commissioners
had a public meeting with Caldwell to get Caldwell to pay more money to the county to help off set expenses at the animal shelter. Only county commissioners can appropriate funds in the budget to operate the animal shelter. Evidently, the commissioners did not budget enough money to meet this years expenses and they wanted Caldwell to pay an additional $80,000.00, over and above what property owners in Caldwell had paid, when they paid their property taxes.

ONE READER SENDS: When I was reading about the county animal shelter in the Press Tribune last week, I think having a animal shelter is a big rip off. Everybody should take care of their own pets. When we have to pay for that care with taxes, it is not at all fair to those of us who do not and will not have pets. Why should we pay for other people's pets? It's really bad when us in Caldwell have to pay $80,000.00 above what we get ripped off on our tax bill for an animal shelter. I agree with Nampa mayor the co. commissioners are ripping us off and taxing us double when we have to pay more. Why does Caldwell have to pay more and Nampa doesn't have to pay more? What kind of deal it that? When I read in the paper that us in Caldwell had to pay more than other cities, I was ticked off but good. Somebody outta be using their brains here.

COMMENTS: First of all, the county is required by law to operate some kind of facility to take care of unwanted or out of control animals within the county limits. Well over 10 years ago, the county started requiring that cities pay more than city property owners were paying on property taxes. However, several years ago, the amount billed to Nampa went over $200,000.00 and they decided to purchase their own trucks, hire their own animal patrol personnel and pick up animals needing attention within the city boundaries, rather than accepting double taxation for their city dwellers With the required county payments moving upward each year, Nampa could see they could do the job for less money and deliver the animals to the county shelter since the law requires the county shelter to take all animals inside the Conny limits no matter who or how the animals are delivered to the shelter. Caldwell could have followed Nampa's path, but they did not take that step paying sometimes and not paying other times.

CCW wants to go on record as follows. We do not think it is legal for the county to require additional payment over and above the property tax available to operate an animal shelter. We strongly believe the county authorities are guilty of double taxation without people voting whether or not they are willing to pay more than they are required to pay in property taxes. Even though there seems to be a kind of grey area in state statutes concerning the operation of animal shelters, CCW feels when there is a grey area, our elected officials should always take the road leading to less taxation and if they truly need more money, they should go to the state legislature and get some laws on the books which remove any grey area ,concerning animal shelters, and get laws passed which allow for additional taxation. But in times like now, of great monetary loss for so many people, county officials should not be adding taxes for any reason. In such bad economic times, taxes should only go down to prevent those who control county taxation (the county officials) from becoming a predatory taxing agent, harming those they are indeed supposed to serve.

Actually, information from commissioners, read in the recent article in the paper, seemed to deliberately withhold important facts about related costs of the animal shelter and how the county gets tax dollars to operate the animal shelter. Just last week, in the same meeting when Caldwell agreed to more taxation for city dwellers, ($80,000.00) the county commissioners agreed to allow Caldwell to keep all money paid when some one is required to pay a fine as the result of problems with animals. This clearly demonstrates the county wants to exert power, even if those same actions are in direct conflict with what the county is claiming. ONE HAND GIVETH AND THE OTHER TAKETH AWAY. Why would a government agency get a city mayor in a meeting to insist they pay $80,000.00 additional dollars claiming Caldwell was not doing their fair share and later in the same meeting demonstrate to Caldwell who REALLY has the power and control by allowing Caldwell to keep all their fines assessed because of animal violations? What is this??? If you do what we say Caldwell, we'll throw you some crumbs and treat you nice? Nampa won't play the county's game. It has been a very long time since the county was allowed to keep money from fines issued inside the city limits of Nampa. If fairness is the issue, the county should give Caldwell all previous money from fines for as long as Nampa has kept that money.

When Nampa can hire their own patrol officials and purchase and operate their own trucks for less than the county is trying to force them to pay, the county needs to step back and see where they can indeed save taxes, not increase them. Perhaps the county should purchase trucks for each city and only hire enough officers to patrol the county area. There are many different ways the county could achieve control of animals inside Canyon Co. With so much increased growth in the cities, it is time for the county to allow elected officials for cities to make the decisions which apply to those people living within the city limits.

Commissioners are not elected of make decisions for city dwellers other than taxation of peoples property. The people have decided long ago, they wanted to elect local leaders such as mayors, and city councils, so they are represented by leaders with common interest and needs. Because of this, mayors are required to live inside city limits, near those they serve. The old argument that commissioners are trying to tax those who specifically use the services so others are not required to pay for services we do not use. What hog wash that is!!! Property taxes are many times paid for services a tax payer does not use. Everybody paying taxes does not have children in school. The same is true for many taxes.l

Cities are growing larger and the county area is shirking. Can you picture that? Counties smaller, cities larger!!! The county must allow their control of cities to shrink. The article in the paper your post refers to, leads a reader to glimpse more of a power struggle than a pondering of methods which would be most beneficial to county residents.

The county also struggles to keep control of land use decisions in areas which greatly affect cities, such as use of impact areas. County commissioners need to forget about control and strive toward less government, making sure they are making good, sound decisions about land for which they are responsible. Just recently, CCW read FCO's which indicated county commissioners permitted a developer to change land use, placing over 100 homes on 300 acres with each home allowed to have a domestic well and SEPTIC DRAIN FIELDS One hundred drain systems!!! That decision will be with us for a very long time and is now irreversible. Was the public protected? NO. Commissioners let the attorney for the developers say they would use new, advanced septic systems, but didn't see any reason to put that requirement IN WRITING. When we see much of this kind of governing, we are not too surprised to read about problems and unfair treatment concerning the animals shelter.

CCW greatly dislikes unfunded mandates from any level of government. How many times has CCW heard our elected local leaders rant and rave against unfunded mandates placed upon the county from either state or federal levels of government.

Now look at what our county commissioners are doing to local, taxpayers. Here's the entire picture. See if you agree our commissioners are placing an unfunded mandate on local taxpayer after we voted NO on the bond issue for a new jail.

Since that NO vote, the county is going right ahead and spending millions of dollars in preparation for a new jail. After the NO vote they spent over $2 million on land. After the NO vote, they spent over 2 million in design plans and misc. costs, and now are planning to spend more millions extending sewer and water to the site on 20/26. The Dept. of Transportation claims the county will have to spend millions to
meet requirements for access and paved roads in the prison complex.

After the NO response to the jail bond, the county just went right ahead spending millions. Has this spending of millions indebted us as taxpayers to go ahead and complete the jail at the 20-26 location? How does the public say no after so much public money has been spent after the vote of NO on the initial bond election. What good is a bond election if public officials just ignore the outcome and act as though the public said YES on the bond issue. What is the public supposed to do..just walk away from the 20/26 site after millions have been spent?

ONE READER SENDS: Help me win a bet. I put a $10 spot up and bet my friend all the elected dept. heads at the county courthouse are paid more than $80 Thou. a month. My friend says they none of them are paid more than $60 Thou. a month. Who's right?

COMMENTS: Your both incorrect. Recent documents I received from the county, show all elected officials are paid more than Seventy thousand dollars each year. Then, of course, benefits add on value of another $20,000.00. CCW will report the exact amounts when we post next time.

CCW WANTS TO EXAMINE WHAT IT MEANS WHEN CANDIDATES FOR COUNY OFFICE CAMPAIGN OVER AND OVER CLAIMING THEY WANT TO MAKE SURE OUR GOVERNMENT IS TRANSPARENT OR THEY WANT YOU TO VOTE FOR THEM TO BRING ADDED TRANSPARENCY TO OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENT. CCW HAS RECENTLY HAD REASON TO THINK ABOUT WHAT TRANSPARENCY MEANS. JUST GO TO WEBSTER:

TRANSPARENT: BOTH SIDES MAY BE DISTINCTLY SEEN....APPARENT...CLEARCUT...UNDERSTANDABLE...
WITHOUT GUILE OR CONCEALMENT...OPEN-FRANK-CANDID

SO...IF THIS SIMPLE CAMPAIGN PROMISE IS REALIZED, IT WOULD, BY ITSELF CLEAN UP GOVERNMENT AND ONCE AGAIN WE WOULD HAVE A GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE AND FOR THE PEOPLE.

OPEN, HONEST GOVERNMENT CAN ONLY EXIST WHEN LOCAL GOVERNMENT IS GUIDED BY TRANSPARENCY. SHINING LIGHT ON GOVERNMENT BRINGS TRANSPARENCY. HOW SIMPLE.

ONE READERS SENDS:Leaders at the county need to be cleaned out. I wish we could interview and hire leaders to manage our county. Every time I attend a meeting, I leave shaking my head at the incompetence of our county commissioners and the way they knock the city leaders and act like they are so much better than our city mayors. Where I'm from in Texas, we had a county manager and he was beholding to the people who paid him. If he screwed up, he was down the road. Has Idaho used count managers or have they always used elected office holders?

COMMENTS: CCW does not know of any county in Idaho who has a manager form of government. We are not absolutely certain though and will check that out. It has been talked about here and having five commissioners along with a county manager has been purposed as a possible idea.

CCW has been pretty hard on the county leaders and for the most part our complaints have been justified but when we observe change for the better, we must eat some crow and give credit where credit is due. CCW has been listening to several hearings and meetings administered by the county commissioners. It is noticeable that our board chairman, Comm. Ferdinand, is doing a much better job when conducting county meetings. We were pleasantly surprised when listening. He seemed determined to be fair to each department as far as budget cuts and did a pretty good job running a long meeting dealing with changes of zoning ordinances. We were impressed.

Of course, CCW looks forward to our newest commissioner and know she will do a good job and be open to the public. Now that we can public record request recorded copies of meetings, it will be easier for disabled people to keep up with what is going on at the county courthouse. We must give credit when improvement is clear.

ONE READERS SENDS: If the BOCC wants to save some money, they got to cut jobs at that courthouse. I've been up there and seen people sitting around doing nothing or four or five standing around gossiping. I bet they could get by with 1/2 the employees they have.

COMMENT: CCW knows it sounds like a lot of people when you hear that over 800 people work for the county. However, when you split that number up among the numerous departments, it looks a lot different. It is possible employees will be laid off in these bad economic times, but it will be because of lack of money, not poor work habits. Of course there are always some who take advantage and don't work too hard, but CCW has observed and dealt with most of the departments at the county courthouse and we have found the employees to be responsible, professional and helpful. It takes a lot of people to run the court system. It takes a lot of people to run the sheriff''s department. Some departments, like the assessor's office and the treasurer's office rarely add employees to their staff. They have done their job with approximately the same number of employees for years. The prosecutor's office has huge case loads
assigned to each and every attorney in that office. That office cannot function without a solid support staff. Where can cuts be made without affecting services required by law?

Probably in DSD, jobs will go unfilled. That office has seen a dramatic decrease in their work load caused by a lack of building. That department's revenue stream has almost dried up. A lot of revenue from other departments have also decreased dramatically. That's the way public service goes. There's good times and bad times. Some will choose to retire. So, your comments about getting by with 1/2 CCW does not agree with but if the economy continues to dwindle, so will the size of the county workforce.

ONE READER SENDS: Reading this blog I had to laugh. Your county didn't learn a thing from the Young issues. Right now, your sheriff's daughter is working for her dad right in the same courthouse with him. If anybody learned anything at all that would not be going on. It's not what you know but who you know and it always has been. What's the difference, a prosecutor's kid or the sheriff's kid? One gets fired the other gets to keep working.

COMMENTS: Oh boy. You certainly do not have the correct information. First of all, Marcus Young worked in our IT Dept. That department worked daily with our prosecutor's office which of course, is where Dave Young was prosecutor and in charge of that office. So, we had Marcus working, at times, directly with his own father and taking direction from his own father. Dave Young bragged openly, claiming he "got" his son hired. CCW has a letter signed by Dave Young, asking commissioners to give his son a $10,000.00 raise. Even worse, he got that raise. Laws prohibits an employee in public service from working directly for a relative and their are also other laws concerning nepotism.

Our sheriff's daughter does work for the county but she is not working in any department supervised by her father. He doesn't have any kind of influence in the DSD department. His daughter was hired and has always worked in DSD. That is completely legal. CCW hears she is quite a good employee, dealing with land use issues. So, please, where ever you are getting your information, clear it up . Children of elected officials can legally be employed by the county as long as they are not supervised by an elected official relative. The only elected officials who cannot have family members hired is the county commissioners. However, if someone related to a county commissioner is already an employee of the county prior to a county commissioner being elected, they can continue to work for the county but cannot be directly supervised by the commissiioners. CCW does not think this happens very often.

ONE READER SENDS: Here's a splendid tale for your readers. A member of my family was arrested and put in the CC Jail. Money talks, so when we were able to round up some, we bonded him out. Getting him out necessitated us meeting with jailers and believe me, we don't ever want to do that again. Our son went from a young man who made a mistake to scum, anyway that is how he was treated both when we were present and when we were not present. I thought it was up to a judge to pass judgement. Some of those jailers need some training. The section of the jail we saw was not too dirty, but our son complained about filth, especially in the bathrooms. Keep this jail clean or don't get a new one. We can't afford a new jail and I can't afford more taxes.

COMMENTS: CCW is sorry your family had a bad experience. We get a lot of feedback about most county departments and since Smith has been sheriff, 90% of the information about our Canyon Co. deputies is favorable. Over the years we've had numerous favorable comments sent to CCW about our patrol deputies, investigators, and jailers. CCW has pushed for better salaries for law enforcement and one of the reasons was because we get such favorable comments from people about our deputies. Another reason for higher pay, is because all deputies put their lives on the line daily when they put on that badge and can be identified by nuts who generally dislike all law enforcement. Of course, it's a large department and your son must have run up against some who fall in the 10% who get complaints.

Money for a new jail is problematic that's for sure. With a new jail captain, we are sure the jail will get cleaned up and kept clean. There's really no other possibility. Filth breeds disease and cannot be condoned in a public building. CCW does not know why the jail has deteriorated to the state it is in now, called "deplorable" by our county commissioners but we have been told that when the county lost the previous supply deputy, Dep. Couch, the jail started going down hill. Word is she organized cleaning continuously.

Just today we read about more and more people losing jobs not just from large companies, but small companies, even the Statesman in Boise is going to lay off more emplolyees. The sum of all the lost jobs and lost money in the stock market, is not an environment suitable to ask the public to build anything. There are many economists who believe the worst is yet to come. If that's the case, cuts in public spending at the local levels will continue.

ONE READER SENDS: Does the county know that Canyon Co. is the laughing stock of the state on the Dave Young fiasco? Here's my question. Who was giving legal advice about county decisions after the county fired Young's son? wasn't the prosecutor giving legal advise to the very people who fired his son?
I attended a meeting last week and saw a "spoof" about Young and his son. The whole mess is just hard to believe.

COMMENTS: Hopefully, those laughable days are over. Our new prosecutor is all business and knowledgeable and professional. The laughing has stopped. It will be a while before we live down the Young years, but it really was a freak thing. Most people who hold the high office of county prosecutor would not dream of getting their kid a job and seeking raises for their child. We could do a survey of all the counties and I don't think we would find the mess we had in Canyon Co. anywhere else in this state. Whether or not he was giving legal advice to our commissioners, we do not know. They easily could have retained outside legal advice.

CCW does think most of the fault lies with Young concerning the fact that his son worked and was paid a high salary while holding that job. But CCW has a letter sent to us prior to Comm. Lakey leaving county employment. CCW had sent a letter to the commissioners asking for Marcus Young's credentials and why he was working in a job so closely tied to his father's job. Chairman Lakey replied to our questions and went on and on about Marcus Young's credentials. So, there you have it. CCW could only come to the conclusion that the hiring of Young was a political favor since all our elected officials were and are the same political party.

ONE READER SENDS: A neighbor of mine got money from the commissioners to pay for her daughters surgery and bragged about her windfall every time I see her. I didn't know the county was in the welfare business. Who can get money for medical bills?

COMMENTS: This is how CCW understands county "welfare". We do have a welfare department at the courthouse. State law requires the county to pay certain indigent costs for a person who can prove they are indigent. The county can take a lien against certain property owned by the claimed indigent person, but if they do not own anything, of course, no lien if filed. If a lien is filed, the county could sell that property unless the indigent pays back the amount of money awarded. If no private property is involved, and a person proves they are indigent, the county pays up to $10,000.00. If the costs are more than $10,000.00 the state can be asked to pay more. This is a pretty simple explanation, but you can call the welfare department at the county if you have more questions. The money does not come from commissioners, but from tax dollars. The commissioners decide if a indigent application can be paid or not.

COMMENTS: County department heads are being asked to cut, cut, cut from their expenditures in these bad economic times. How then does Comm. Ferdinand explain signing another contract with his old business partner and friend, Rohm? The county paid the following to Mr. Rohm for a contract which was never put out for bid. Maybe county commissioners need to make the first and deepest cuts in their own projects with their friends. CCW understands the county has bought and paid for the software Rohm claims to administrate. Since the plan is for reporting of building inspectors and there is no building to report, this whole NEW contact for $48,000.00 smells.

Since Nov. 2008 Mr Rohm has been paid the following:

11/25/08---$12,000.00
12/10/08---$24,000.00
1/9/09---$10,000.00
1/26/09---$12,000.00

CCW is ticked off over something happening at the courthouse. We are mad as (^&^ and we just aren't going to take it anymore!!!! The public was assured prior to the primary election in 2008 that when the contract awarded to Mr. Rod Rohm was completed, he would not be hired again, without going through a bidding process. Ferdinand admitted he was a friend and former financial business associate. Rule said he would not sign another contract employing that company. Guess what. Some information we have received shows Rohm is receiving sometimes over $12,000.00 a month, while overseeing software not even needed in a county department nearly shut down due to the economy going under. But, prior to a new prosecutor, and a new commissioner, another contract was signed and we are still paying Ferdinand's friend.

Records show thousands and thousands paid out to Rohm since Oct. 2008 each month and is still being paid monthly. Exact amounts will be made available soon.

Here's the kicker. Several departments, including our sheriff's department are being asked to cut everything possible from their budgets, while such crap like this is going on with a commissioner's buddy. We could use that money for our public safety or in the strapped court system which is growing faster than we can keep up with.

ONE READER ASKED: Do the same three county commissioners running the courthouse, supervise the highway district offices? Reading today's newspaper my husband and I noticed a bad report after an audit was done on the little highway districts around the county. Could some of the money going to highway district's be used to build a new jail since it is apparent that money if not being spent to the best advantage of taxpayers?

COMMENTS: Some short answers to your question follow. No, county commissioners do not have access to highway district dollars. They highway districts operate under a levy and are given the appropriate amount of money from our property taxes to keep the roads in their district up to par. Your second answer is no. County commissioners cannot take money from highway districts and use that money for the justice fund. That's a no-no.

Just last year, commissioners spent money from the general fund to get the new jail rolling and the yearly audit hauled them up short telling them how to pay that money back to the general fund. We'll know soon if they listened to the auditors. Wanna bet on that? Who wants to bet in the affirmative, that the commissioners do what the auditor's told them to do? Not CCW! Not taking that bet.

The elected highway district officials around the county would surely disagree that they are not spending their money in the best possible fashion. Would we be better with one state operated highway department so what is going on is monitored for some sort of coordination? When one looks at the problems at the Ada Co. Highway District, it is hard to know if one big district would be best.

ONE READER SENDS: Why don't we just shut the doors at Dale Hale and turn all the criminals loose? You guys against a new jail seem to feel freeing criminals is better than spending a few tax dollars for a new jail to hold as many criminals as possible. I just don't get that kind of thinking. You'll be flooded with criminals.

COMMENTS: Sounds like, unless county commissioners get the Dale Hale institution cleaned up, we will indeed be pushing crooks in one door and crooks out the back door. However, the amount asked for to build a new jail is several times what it costs to build a new school. Good schools turn out citizens who are more likely not to become criminals. CCW bets on schools being more successful than jails. Now, we have a jail to hold the vicious criminals in Canyon co. We don't get too many vicious criminals. Go to the county web site and click on jail roster. Click on current arrests. You can easily understand who is vicious and who is perfectly able to be placed in some other kind of detention which allows productivity.

The most often offense noted is probation violation. Then we find immigration hold, failure to purchase insurance, (now we are really afraid of violator of that offense) Paraphanalia with intent to deliver, driving without privileges, malicious property, disorderly conduct, failure to appear, frequenting place drugs are used, no license for concealed weapon.

CCW attended the first meeting at the courthouse when the initial bond for building a new jail was discussed. Since we had a new sheriff, CCW attended and stated publicallly we would fully support the sheriff in his journey for a new jail, if he promised to incorporate programs which would allow for schooling and teaching prisoners a trade. We kept our promise for over three years. So absolutely nothing from us in the papers, lips were sealed.

The events which followed that initial meeting are simply indescribable and extremely hard to believe. Meetings were held. Some deputies involved in getting out the information about the jail have found it necessary to move on away from Canyon Co. One week we heard one plan and soon Comm. Beebe had added some more demands to his "justice Center". Land was purchased and sold to save commissioners butts because of illegal steps taken when purchasing the land, with the help of the Idaho Assoc. of Counties. Then the stacked deck started with Comm. Ferdinand and his famous "citizen's committee".
Who knows what theses citizens were told, but one thing is for sure, they were used and commissioners came out smelling like a rose, instead of a skunk. More land was purchased.

Still, even with a failed bond, county money is being spent piece meal a few millions here a few million there for a new jail. If commissioners can get the county in deep enough, it is hoping they can call on citizens to save them since so much public money has already been spent. Actually, they don't even hide their plan. Sewer and water is next. When that step is complete, the massive road building which will required for legal access, will begin. Millions more spent. All left will be the actual structure of the jail.

Then of course, the asked but unanswered question about how much it will cost the county to run a new jail along with the old jail? (At last count they women got the old jail) Now that jail is quite dirty and as our commissioners claim, "in deplorable condition." Commissioners cannot come up with a figure about how much it will cost us on a yearly basis to run the old and the new. They say, "trust us."

CCW has no hard feelings toward the sheriff's department for wanting a new jail and showing the public what we do have right now for locking up those who break the law. It is the sheriff's job to let us know what is what and if he feels a new jail is needed, then he should tell us. He has told us. No one can spend money in the county without the approval of county commissioners. NO ONE. So, once again, after three years of keeping quiet, CCW will put our trust in new schools and hopefully a large rehab center which will help keep our jail population down. We cannot trust the counties ability to build a jail we can afford to run. We are being asked to trust two commissioners who have bankrupted themselves personally, one of them can't even save an email. No thanks...no trust!!! Bring on the new schools Canyon County!!!!!

CCW must disagree with this reader. Keeping violent prisoners off our streets can be accomplished with the jail we have now. That has been clearly demonstrated.

ONE READER SENDS: I recently read a comment prior to the general elections which has stayed with me since it seemed to pinpoint a problem with newly elected people in local government who after elected seem to want to be buddies with their party loyals, and already installed elected officials, over and above serving the voters. In one of the local papers I read a comment I agreed with and it has stuck with me. "I wish we could count on a majority of elected officials who were knowledgeable and competent, not just likable."

I'm from Kuna and we are kind of in that no man's land on the Canyon Ada Co. line, so need to watch the
goings on in both areas. I'm a reader of the Kuna- Melba News, and some recent information in my paper bothers me.

It was reported the paper had sent a freedom of information request to Canyon. C. Comm. asking for a copy of an email belittling our nations new first land, Michelle Obama, which had been sent out by Comm. Steven Rule, to as he claimed 26 or his friends and elected officials." Rule admitted using his official county email to send the email but said he had destroyed the email and did not save already sent emails. When the paper decided that county emails might be automatically purged every thirty days, the paper sent another request asking for the same information from a different department.

I was surprised when I learned both denials had been sent from that counties legal departments, and signed by a deputy prosecutor. One of my favorites of my computer is that all emails are saved when sent. If I need to access that information, it is simple. Why would a government entity not merely as a protective measure, save all email responses from officials? It seems like the blame for not saving official emails could raise an ugly head at a lot of different times.

Another conversation with our Kuna paper allowed me to know my thinking was not isolated on this subject and they too, thought they had been denied a perfectly legal freedom of information request.

We've heard that Mr. Rule is quite a likable fellow and has a flashing smile with snapping blue eyes. Does he really believe one person reading his explanation of "not saving" is meaningful or truthful? This takes me back to my original thesis. Can we please get some elected officials who are competent and knowledgeable not just likable?"

What is the process for getting freedom of information from Canyon or Ada Co?

COMMENTS: CCW used to subscribe to that paper. Looks like we better renew our subscription. We are being asked to believe it is lawful for Rule to deny a request for information he produced and released publicly, because he failed to save it on his computer!!!!! Your request was timely. You have 180 days to ask for that information and if not filled to your requirements, you have a legal right to take the matter to District Court. 180 DAYS! Rule has been at the county several years, and was in public service for the city of Middleton prior to coming to Canyon Co. He knows the rules. He knows the laws. He thinks he has found a sure fire way to break the law. He lets his loose lips run and then dumps the results on our county prosecutor's office to save his back side.

How can any commissioner in office throughout the Marcus Young fiasco claim the information is gone because they did not "SAVE" it? MARCUS YOUNG sure wishes right now the county computers he used had not SAVED all the emails he had been getting showing explicitly sexual pictures of young ladies. Young's own father, our then prosecutor, Dave Young, actually destroyed his own county issued computer, the same night Marcus, his son was arrested. The public was asked to believe there was no officials record of the computer issued to Dave Young which has disappeared. RIGHT!!! Makes one wonder if Marcus regularly sent colorful information to his father? There was only one way to know and it disappeared.

Oh, Rule's comments are easily obtained but he is refusing to release them to our prosecutor's office, claiming he didn't save them. You're stuck unless you file with the district court within 180 days. That is the law. It stands to reason that if you are given 180 under the law, to protest a failed records request, that the official document must be saved for at least 180 days.

Rule has figured out that most people do not have the money or time or knowledge to take him to court to force the production of that email. He is playing the odds, one more time. He does not want you, any newspaper, or anybody else to know who he sent those emails to, because he claims they were his friends. Maybe there were people receiving those emails who wished they had not received them and wouldn't cover for him. Who knows, but he sure doesn't want to give up copies that email. He made it all the way to the national news, worst person in the world, with that frivolous statement and he is not going to produce that email unless under the threat of jail from a court. That's the sad fact of the matter.

CCW has great success with public records requests. Here's the process. Get a county form or make your own form with at least as much information on it as is found on the county form. Send your request to the department involved. Policy set my elected officials running their departments are known by employees and followed. You may receive small requests by mail or pick them up at the courthouse. Some times there is a small fee, but usually not unless the request goes over 100 pages. The employees we deal with in public offices at the courthouse are knowledgeable, pleasant and if left to their own devices, our courthouse would run efficiently and swiftly. It's when a profoundly insecure elected official screws up the process that problems occur. Then, of course, you have 180 days to take him to court.

So..what's new. Our county commissioners can't comment about WHY the jail is in deplorable condition (their words, not mine). Apparently commissioners have been closely advised as to the numerous problems in the jail. The ACLU should take our sheriff's name off their suit. The sheriff does not control the part of the county budget used to maintain the jail premises. It takes money to keep any public facility clean and repaired. I have questions about WHY the maintenance crew STOPPED taking care of the maintenance requirements of the jail. It's fine to say make the prisoners keep their own facility clean, but someone must supervise prisoners activities and the problems at our jail will cost a considerable amount of money to bring back to meet jail standards.

Many time over the past couple of year, darts have been thrown toward some of us who have opinions about building a new jail or taking care of our old jail. A loud clear message has been delivered to us telling us we "Don't know what we are talking about because we aren't using those facilities." That may be true, but taking care of a public facility is ALWAYS something taxpayers expect. When three commissioners make a decision to not spend the necessary money to keep a public facility, used 24/07 in prime condition, we do know what we are talking about.

CCW knows just having a woman commissioner, better decisions will be made at all levels. Most women would never allow such dirty conditions to exist. IT TAKES MONEY FOLKS. Cough it up and clean it up.

Not everyone in that jail is a hardened criminal. I know many people who have had family members, in jail for various reasons. They deserve a clean facility.

Now, about the ACLU. None of this should have happened. Our county commissioners knew months ago what should be done in the jail to clean it up. They ignored it until a letter was sent to "freshen their minds". Still, stonewalled and no money coughed up !!! Then we got sued. One more time. So, this is a huge liability overshadowing our county along with the Megan Young suit at the federal level.

Here's a word of caution to our elected county commissioner, Ferdinand, Rule and recently retired, Beebe. When you get sued, win or lose, it costs taxpayers. But, the county will not win either of these suits. We will lose. When Megan Young became impregnated with her third child, an abuse case filed to protect her, was lying on the desk of one of our criminal prosecutors and it received no attention because this particular female prosecutor did not like dealing with cases involving children. Well too bad! Now it will cost us millions and possibly there would be only two children involved if the county had done their job in a timely manner.

A word to the wise....take care of the mess you've created at the county courthouse. Quit trying to point fingers at others or draw others into your mess. It's too late and the public is offended by your lack of action and responsibility.

CCW was informed that Marcus Young is now serving his sentence in Northern Idaho. Pros. Dave Young recently took a trip to Denver Colorado, and we paid for it. He didn't go alone. His secretary and two prosecutors traveled with him. Of course, two people from IT were supposed to go with him also , but their tickets went unused even though taxes paid for them. Now CCW is informed that Young plans to go to Colorado to live and has family there. If he leaves before Jan. 12th, we will probably be forced to pay for his moving costs.

Here's a question many are asking. Did Marcus Young travel to Colorado with Pros. Young? Did the county pick up the tab for one last fling for Marcus Young before he went to jail? Hmmmm. What is going on here? Why would the county spend money allowing Young to travel when he was just days from leaving county employment? It appears that Young budgeted for one situation, but used tax payers funds for a completely different reason. These guys throw tax dollars around like it is growing on trees.

ONE READER SENDS: Am I remembering wrong or didn't Marcus Young get sent to jail for using his county computer in an unacceptable, illegal manner? So, why is Steve Rule still free? He admitted using his county computer to send out information most believe was an attempt to distribute racist material using public funds. Why isn't he in jail?

COMMENT: That's funny. If you don't believe there is a class system in this county think again. But rest assured,,, using his county computer to send racist material is way down the list of things Mr. Rule has done. The fact that he is an elected official with his background is a sad, sad situation for Canyon County.

ONE READER SENDS: Several years back, when Mr. Rule first ran for office, I didn't know him at all but when Mr. Yamamoto spoke so highly of him, I decided I couldn't go wrong and voted for Mr. Rule. Now I hear that Mr. Yamamoto is working for the county to help create maps to deal with the chance our county could flood someday. To me, flooding here doesn't seem too likely. Seems like everybody is getting government money and sometimes the reason for the job makes one think the job was created especially for a friend. When does this all end? Neither Mr. Rule nor Mr. Yamamoto have my respect any longer. S.H.

COMMENT: It's possible you have been given some wrong information about the recent job mentioned in the paper concerning flooding in this valley. CCW will check out your comments and get back to you. I think the job dealing with flooding was about the city of Caldwell and involved some plans they have for uncovering more of the Indian Creek channel running through the town. Mr. Yamamoto was campaign chairman for Steve Rule and eventually went to the same high school with Steve Rule which really isn't the best barometer to use when testing for a solid public servant. We are all responsible for our own vote. Many times we learn when it is too late that we should do some research about candidates who run for local government. CCW did not vote for Steve Rule and all our fears have been justified. Here's what is important to Rule. Steve Rule is spending other people's money and he is loving it. He's building up a grand retirement fund with this four year term following his first term of two years. (After five years working, he will be vested in state retirement) Five high salary years just prior to retirement will boost his Social Security retirement significantly. CCW is sure Rule prides himself on doing a great job for Canyon Co. He can't learn and he sure cannot change. His ego rules.

So, if anyone reading CCW thinks for a minute any of the negative press lately bothers Mr. Steve Rule, you are very sadly mistaken. Rule thinks a statesman is a local newspaper. He has no idea about any other definition related to that word. CCW has know him since we helped defeat some power plants another egotistical county commissioner wanted to build on her land. He's exactly the same now as he was then and that's not good for our county.

CCW received an email today claiming the county passed a resolution agreeing to pay another company ten grand so they can tell us what a new jail will cost. Didn't we already pay a couple million for that assessment? Will this ever end?

ONE READER SENDS: What is the old saying? "If one lays with dogs, you'll surely get flees." Seems like only one of the 26 people who received Steve Rule's email about "black widow Michelle" has denounced his activity. There's another old saying. "If you're not against him, you are with him." The "Big R Machine" is so controlling in Idaho, racist views are acceptable as long as they are aimed at democrats.

COMMENTS: Whoa!! Many people delete emails they don't recognize because they are concerned about falling victim to computer virus. We don't really know who actually read the email Rule thought was so interesting he took time to send it to his "trusted friends and employees." CCW has many republican friends and it is wrong for us to lump all republicans with dogs and flees. CCW has no doubt more will come forward with other opinions about the "black widow" communication from Comm. Rule.

CCW thought the coverage in the local paper about this email Rule forwarded was easy to understand and fair. CCW would like to point out some more facts about Comm. Rule we have observed since Rule became a county commissioner. Since he has been elected as commissioner, Rule has taken part in some troubling activities. One fair way to rate a public official is to list activities he has either sponsored or supported while serving as an elected official. Let's make a list.

1. If you take the time to count how many times Rule voted in opposition to any development, you will find it is "rare" he votes to deny any development in our county. CCW can only remember three times noted in county minutes showing that Rule voted to deny an application for development in our county. When voting consistently for development when an applicant has applied for a CUP, Rule is refusing to abide by the land use laws in Idaho Code. Zoning is set by law. Spot zoning is illegal and skirting that law using the CUP process is simply skirting the law. If Rule and the other commissioners want to ignore the zoning laws, they should go to the legislature and get those laws changed, not simply do as they please.

Rule claims farmers are coming to him, wanting to quit farming and sell their farm ground to the highest bidder, which of course, involves developers. Rule claims farmers have the "property right" to sell their land for the most money they possibly can get to enhance their retirement. That is true. Any land owner can ask any amount for land they own. No law controls what we try to sell our private property for per acre or per inch.

However, there are zoning laws which control what people can do ON their land. So if our county commissioners want to permit any activity for any farmer appearing before them, why aren't our county commissioners, including Rule, working to get the zoning laws removed from state code? Zoning laws state clearly that farm land is to be considered already "developed". Under the law, what those selling farm land can do while staying within the law, is inform developers they will sell to them for what ever amount per acre they want and leave it to the developer to get the applications approved by county deciders. The way it is done now is that developers go to farmers and offer great amounts per acre with one requirement....the farmer MUST take all applications through the county process and get the approval to remove their land from farming. You see....this sets up a situation where a long time farmer goes to their elected official seeking permission for a CUP. The farmer knows if he doesn't get a favorable decision, he will not get the high offer per acre.

Therefore, the way the county has allowed the CUP to be used, has set up a phantom perceived right for farmers wanting to sell high to a developer. I don't know one farmer who would not rather get paid outrageous amounts per acre, while leaving that ground as farm ground and not turning it into cement. Farmers love the ground they till. But farmers have been caught in a vicious circle, caused by county commissioners who want to skirt the law, instead of working to change the zoning laws. CCW wants every farmer to receive the highest possible price for their land. It is not the fault of farmers what has happened in this county involving the CUP.

As developers and county commissioners have created the CUP phenomena this county is now spot zoned and possibly even worse, littered with individual septic systems and wells many right on top of hard pan. Entire developments can have hundreds of individual septic systems in developments as large as some of our small municipalities which are regulated and forced to install public sewer systems. These huge developments are not regulated, except that SWDH has to approve the initial septic system. Again, if we demand public septic systems with huge development, the developer refuses to pay the farmer the huge amount per acre and our farmers, ready to retire, are harmed by the land use laws which were set in motion to protect the farmer. There is no doubt we already have water and health issues resulting from huge development using the CUP.

2. Comm. Rule lied to the Vallivue School Board about the counties intentions concerning the old job service building. He told Vallivue the law demanded that the county could not pay any more than the appraised price, so if Vallivue would bid more than the appraised price, they would get that building. After announcing that to Vallivue, the county proceeded to get a new appraisal, but Rule decided not to tell Vallivue that small change of plans!!! When his deception did not go over well, Rule decided to offer Vallivue a "real deal." He offered to rent Vallivue property near the animal shelter, for $1.00 a year and allow the school district to pull in temporary buildings for the alternative school!!! If Vallivue wanted to purchase trailers for a temporary school, they already had land they could have used. The fact is, to cover up his lies, Rule concocted more lies.

3. Rule has taken bribes from applicants and delivered favorable decisions for those applicants after taking the bribes.. Rule's approval for the developer will permit over 300 homes to be built each installing an individual septic system, on a hill side, with notable hard pan.

4. Rule refused to disclose conflicts of interest prior to a land use appeal hearing. When asked three times if he had any financial conflict concerning an applicant appearing before him, Rule ignored the county prosecutor's questions and refused to disclose a clear conflict of accepting money from the applicant and the applicant's real estate agent.

5. When Rule declared bankruptcy, just prior to getting elected county commissioner, he managed to cheat many businesses out of money clearly owed to them, leaving all of us to pay higher prices because of his bankruptcy. Now Rule acts like he is some kind of expert on purchasing land for a jail and we are supposed to trust his judgement.

6. Comm. Rule is right now trying to arrange for the county to purchase land from Rule's friend for some additional expansion the county is planning.

7. When interviewed prior to the last primary election, Rule adamately claimed there would be no more contracts for a company whose owner was a friend of another commissioner but was denounced by several other elected officials. Sadly, Rule just recently signed another contract keeping that same company working for the county indefinitely for huge amounts of money. NO BIDS TAKEN!!!!

8. While Rule demands a new jail should be built, he has refused to see to it that the old jail is kept clean and maintained and sanitized, thereby keeping the danger of transmitting communicable diseases to employees and also to prisoners. When Rule signs documents which clearly list specific disease present in the jail in an on going basis, he places the county at risk for costly litigation.

9. More added to list as facts become available.

ONE READERS SENDS: Did you hear that Co. Commissioner Matt Beebe will be appointed to the senate seat which will become vacant after Senator Brad Little is appointed to take Jim Risch's vacant position?
We're hearing the fix is in and since Beebe was beaten by Thayn, his friends at the State Capital have promised to appoint him to the Senate so he can lick his wounds among friends. My husband and family and myself, are just sick over this kind of in your face politics. He was beaten fair and square by a better man, Thayn. The people spoke. Now he will get a public office with no vote taken. Sickening!

COMMENTS: CCW does not know where you are getting your information, but it sure doesn't jibe with the scuttle we are hearing about the successor to Sen. Brad Little. We have heard that Little will be given Lt. Gov. but several others are being considered for that senate seat and in our opinion, Beebe is way down that list especially after the way he answered some questions and explained his racist viewpoint when bragging that his new house had been built by all white construction workers. There are other reasons Beebe should not get that job. It's a problem going from the position as county commissioner and trying to then go into the legislature. Many times, a county commissioner like Beebe, has left quite a troubling record which is a hindrance to getting elected to some other office. It is much easier to get elected to the legislature if you do not have such an extensive record behind you due to holding local office prior to seeking a seat on the legislature. Guess we will find out next month who is correct.

If readers have not heard about Comm. Rule using his county email account to send an email which by many would be called racist, go to www.idahopress.com and click on blog and then click on editor's blog. You will find that our county commissioner Rule is ,once again, participating in activity unbecoming an elected official.

It is late at night and CCW should not make any kind of comment about a Canyon Co. Commissioner when tired!!!

CCW has a few questions.....if the email sent out by Comm. Steve Rule was so innocent and so funny...why was it only sent to a select few people Rule claims to trust. Hmmm...26 people Rule trusts. In a courthouse of over 600 employees. Why didn't Rule just send the email out to all employees so everybody could have a good laugh? (if you laugh over that kind of comment) Since he only picked a few "TRUSTED" folks to send the email, it implies Rule clearly knew that email was racist and crude and he only sent it to people he thought would agree with him and the content of that email. Since all emails on public accounts are public record, according to a recent court finding concerning county emails involving the prosecutor in Lewiston, Idaho, we will soon all know who Steve Rule's 26 "trusted" friends are. One thing we do know is that at least one of those trusted friends was insulted when receiving that email and therefore, contacted the press.

What should we think about the silence of the other 25 recipients? Something tells me that silence will soon be broken and Rule's small circle of trusted friends is about to shrink to possibly -0-!!!

It is the opinion of CCW that Co. Commissioner Steve Rule sent that ignorant email using his county public account simply because he could. One of the biggest problems we find living n a decidedly one party state is that politicians think they can do anything they want knowing they have all kinds of protection. One thing Rule should have thought about is that these same party politicians will ALWAYS protect themselves and will turn on him big time when something like this becomes public.

Mr. Rule, you might have thought your actions were funny, humorous, laughable...but tomorrow your actions will probably give you an ulcer attack. And a much deserved ulcer attack that will be.

ONE READER SENDS: It is very hard to trust the BOCC. I have a neighbor who pay some attention to county spending and he's still hot under the collar since the Board put an article in the paper claiming they knew move about building a jail than anybody else and all the rest of the people should just shut up and go away. My neighbor was on some committee set up to look at sites for a new jail and told me they were railroaded into doing just what the county wanted and could not get straight answers from any county people and felt they were lied to by the prosecutor's office. He sure didn't have any respect for the BOCC or the Prosecutor's office after being on that committee.

My neighbor ranted about the lack of maintenance of the jail used now. From what he told me it is a real dirty mess, that could have serious health problems from lack of maintenance. It made me think of a time while going to college and we were broke. We rented a dump because that was all we could afford. Before moving our babies into that dump, we worked and scrubbed and painted the whole apartment, so we could at least know it was clean for us. There is no excuse for failure to maintain a public building, with so many people out of work. Both my neighbor and I think the BOCC are not making wise decisions and
should not have control of large construction projects like a new jail.

COMMENTS;

CCW just last week received a PRR which included about fifty pictures of jail maintenance problem. Let's put it this way. I don't eat a meal with those pictures close by. And the first question which came to mind when I saw the deplorable conditions of the table used in the jail was why did our so "brilliant" commissioners pay over $30,000.00 building new tables for a new jail, which now have been stolen? Why didn't they use those tables in the jail we use now until they get a new jail built, if ever? They sure wouldn't have been stolen if they were in the jail instead stored somewhere with no security. This whole situation sounds like an inside job to CCW. Have we found the thieves?????

This specific set of county commissioners have proven to be extremely wasteful with tax dollars. Their track record, clear back to the initial purchase of the Jerome property is laughable or would be laughable if they were spending their own money and not ours. You are correct. With so many people out of work, a team of two or three people could be hired to work on maintenance issues at the jail, all the time. Not to have full time maintenance in a facility open 365 days a year causes just what we see now. A whole lot of maintenance problems allowed to deteriorate to the point that disease is an issue. There is nothing too smart about what the commissioners have done with the jail.

ONE READER SENDS: Does Canyon co. use electronic bracelets for sentencing of prisoners? I''m from California and we couldn't build jails fast enough to hold law breakers without that program. It keeps problem people in their homes or they must report their location to law enforcement. For jail over crowding, electronic bracelets are good alternative.

COMMENTS: I waited to put your post on until I could check with the sheriff's department about your question. No, Canyon Co. does not use electronic bracelets. It has been discussed but never purchased for use.

CCW is still shaking the head after reading the Sunday article in the paper written by Rule, Ferdinand, Beebe and Smith. These folks love their highly visible "job" each month when they cash their pay checks, but turn into sniveling, childish cry babies if the public or an editorial board sets forth their opinion or suggestion about public policy. After 10 years of observing county activity, I thought I had seen it all, but now and again, some of these elected officials can still surprise me.

First of all, their temper tantrum claims that two previous commissioners built the Dale Hale Jail and did a rather poor job when doing it. This claim is not true and commissioners should get their facts straight before lashing out with false information!!! Two commissioners did initiate the building of that jail, but left office before that job was even near completion. Actually, when Walter Opp was elected to the commission, he did not agree with the direction the professional builders and consultants had taken and fired them all. What you see in the Dale Hale Jail is what you get, complements of Commissioner Walter Opp. So, since CCW is sure the four cry babies responsible for that ignorant article, are superhuman and can commune with the dead, they should take their complaints about the jail to past commissioner, Walter Opp, who, I'm sure thought he was doing a real good job at the time and had no idea his work would be degraded by professional degraders, after he was long in his grave!

If money gets too tight and you cry babies at the courthouse can't afford Kleenex, let CCW know. We'll get you some to wipe your sniveling noses!

ONE READER SENDS: I'm sure the new jail captain, Hanson, liked having the BOCC put in the paper that his jail was in such bad shape that his staff is required to come to work " everyday to deplorable conditions." I can tell you when Stormy was here our jail was crisp clean and there wasn't a bunch of
black crap crawling all over the place. It's called Clorox and paint fellas.

COMMENTS: Most of the pictures shown of the jail lately, have looked clean. Only the one shown of the shower showed some failure to maintain and clean. If we don't clean our showers at home, some of the same black slime will show up. You are correct. Scrub with bleach in your water and get the right kind of paint and prisoners will have no complaints.

It seems like those wanting a new jail just keep adding more and more to the claimed problems with the jail used now. What's next? A snakes den with constrictors coming out at night?

Last week an article ran in the Statesman reporting some comments made by the ACLU when questions were asked of them. When asked what the county could do to avoid litigation by the ACLU. The ACLU claimed the county could avoid such litigation by hiring more staff!!! Not a mention of the jail being over crowded. Nothing! They were concerned about the ratio of staff to prisoners and a pregnant inmate sleeping on the floor. Did anyone ever think that the pregnant inmate made that decision rather than sleeping in bunk beds? Actually, what is a pregnant woman doing in jail? Unless she has killed someone, get her out of that jail. Was she turned loose when 17 prisoners were released? CCW will find out.
Don't tell us they are keeping her until she has her baby so they can claim one more prisoner causing their jail to be too crowded.

CCW is getting a bit uneasy about all the claims that Canyon Co. must have a new jail. CCW has an official transcript of a hearing which took place prior to the building of the work release center. In the commissioner's article in the paper on Sunday, they stated they have planned the new jail after meeting with several public officials about the need for locating the new jail several miles away from Dale Hale Jail. The following is the testimony of a previous chief of police for the city of Caldwell just prior to the work release center being built. He is testifying at the Caldwell hearing held just before the tent jail was approved by the city of Caldwell. (They must not have wanted to talk to Chief Sobba, when they were talking to police chiefs.)

Robert Sobba: ( There was an entire page of testimony from Robert Sobba about crime statistics prior to the portion of his testimony about where any jail or addition to the jail should be located. If readers want the entire testimony, just contact CCW and we'll see you get it) " I don't know what all the issues are here, but I have been around for a while I guess I can guess some of them, so I'll take a wild guess. One of them is location you know, you've got to look there that we got the jail there, we got juvenile detention there, we got courts there. That's where any other kind of expansion of the jail needs to be. Any time you have an agency that has to move prisoners and just go over to Ada County or for 30 years or more that they've had to take prisoners from the jail downtown and still do even though they have a new court, that takes a lot of time and taxpayers' money. Wouldn't it be better to spend that money on more policemen instead of people driving prisoners back and forth, to wherever someone thinks we should be? That's where it needs to be, it will have least impact on people.

CCW further has sworn testimony by Comm. Beebe at the Caldwell hearing when the county wanted to erect the work release center. When reading this testimony, remember Comm. Beebe now claims he is right when he claims the best option for the county is to build some warehouse jail several miles away from the Dale Hale Jail.

"The location critically important to Canyon county as has been testified by those who have gone before me. It just does not make sense to have a detention type facility at any location other than adjacent to our courtrooms and our kitchen and our laundry facilities."

When are we supposed to believe these people running this county? Were they telling the truth then or now?

ONE READER SENDS: Can you find out which jail the BOCC was talking about that only lasted three years? I couldn't figure out what they were talking about in the paper when they said a jail had only lasted three years. Do we have disappearing jails now?

COMMENTS: Rule, Beebe, Ferdinand and Smith were only attempting to be cute and slam people who have previously served in an elected capacity. They were claiming the Dale Hale Jail had only been adequate for use for three years. Of course, that was a dumb claim, since we are still using that jail.

They had better step back and realize that a good many people in this county do not want to build a five star hotel for prisoners. And...since the Dale Hale Jail is a public building, these elected officials are expected to keep that jail in repair and spotless clean for sanitary reasons. Any building can be kept clean.
If the employees working in the jail refuse to keep the jail spotless, they should find some other line of work. They can use inmate assistance, but "deplorable" conditions set directly on the shoulders of those hired to take care of the jail. Painting and scrubbing must happen each and every day.

CCW reports that Comm. Rule is being required to answer questions by an investigator from the Attorney Generals Office regarding the complaint filed against him by constituents near Middleton. So, why would anyone take the time to make such a complaint?

Here's some very good reasons. First of all, Comm. Rule took an oath when he was sworn in as county commissioner to uphold the law. He accepted two campaign contributions prior to appointing a treasure for his campaign. On Jan. 24, 08, Rule accepted two campaign contributions...one from a developer, J.A.P.S. and one from his realtor, Alan Mills. Even though the law requires that Rule appoint a treasure before he accepts or spends any funds, Rule did not appoint a treasure until Jan. 30, 08 as clearly shown in county election records.

One might ask why this is important. There are several reasons. If neighbors to a planned development do not want the county to approve that development, they are required to pay the county $2.008. to have a hearing before the Board of County Commissioners. Now, if you pay that kind of money, you at least should get a fair, unbiased hearing. How would readers like to pay that kind of money and then learn that the developer and the realtor have given money to the county commissioner deciding the matter. in the form of a campaign contribution just days prior to the hearing? To rub salt in the wound, on the last day of the hearing, after it had concluded, one person who had paid the money for the appeal had to return to the commissioners office, right after the hearing. While waiting in the front office for help, Comm. Beebe was heard bragging to a staff member saying, "I guess we showed them today." Commissioners being rude and disrespectful to those bringing the appeal was not enough. Comm. Beebe had to brag about denying the appeal.

Now, the only thing unlawful about the campaign contribution, was the fact that it was accepted prior to the appointment of a treasure. If Comm. Rule wants to play with the big boys, he better learn the laws the big boys play by. Other than the date discrepancy, the campaign contribution was not the problem.

But there are state statutes and county ordinances about DISCLOSING any conflict of interest an elected officials might have especially when that conflict pertains to money. Three times during the public hearing, a county attorney asked Comm. Rule if he had any monetary or economic dealings he needed to disclose. Each time Rule answered NO. Right now, in Alaska, a senator is going to jail because he did not disclose receiving campaign contributions from a business who did specific favors for the senator. He has been sentenced to jail.

If you had paid $2008 for a hearing, would you go quietly into the night knowing you had been HAD???? CCW does not think the applicants for this appeal are going to be HAD. The law is in their court!!! The county needs to return that money and Comm. Rule needs to resign for his dishonest actions. The people cannot trust him again. Comm. Beebe needs to apologize publically for his rude comments. We are not asking him to resign, because he's already a goner but he did accept campaign contributions from several representatives of the developer just after the hearing was completed. Was it payment for a job well done??????

ONE READER SENDS: Gov. always has their hand out for more. Why do we have to pay for public records from the county? We have already given enough money to gov. but they always want more and more. I think public records oughta be free to people that live inside the county boundaries. Just to get records dealing with my own property, I had to pay over $20 just for copies. Then they wouldn't take a check so I had to go get cash. I pay taxes to so many places now it is ridiculous.

COMMENTS: CCW fully agrees. Local governments should not begin charging for records unless a request goes over $25.00 and it should not cost more than 1 cent per page then. When CCCFRG first organized, the county was charging 25 cents per page!!! We worked for several years and finally the county dropped the cost to 5 cents per page. That cost is more than the paper costs and with the new machines for copying, the time if mininmal.

CCW does want to commend some departments at the county who do not charge for public records unless your request is over 100 copies.

ONE READERS SENDS: Why'd we lock up prisoners for the federal system if we don't have enough room for this county's ne'r do wells? Does that make any sense? In Washington we had a program that used ankle bracelets on prisoners to keep our jail from being too full. Do prisoners here ever get a bracelet on their ankle and sent home?

COMMENT: That is a very good question about fed. inmates. It would be very interesting to see how many fed. inmates we have at any given time to see how much they are raising our prison population. CCW does know the county had put out some information in the local paper about the kind of monitoring available with electronic bracelets. Haven't heard another word for over a year about that program. CCW will check to see what has transpired with that kind of program.

One thing is for absolutely certain. People in Canyon Co. are hurting bad with unemployment levels out of control and economic losses in the stock market along with home foreclosures. It will be interesting to see how how much a bond will cost in property taxes. That is the first thing people will want to know. How much a jail will cost and how much it will add to our property taxes.

ONE READER SENDS: Say. Shouldn't our county money be used to provide shelter for the homeless and hungery people in our county before we raise our taxes for a new and fancy jail for people who willingly break laws? When I read claims made by our looney commissioners today in the news, I'm still shaking my head. They claim they know taxes should not be raised now. That's right. When people are loosing their jobs and their homes at a ridiculous rate, raising taxes is not too smart. But raising them for new digs for prisoners. Good grief...my son was incarcerated in that county jail three different times. He had no complaints!!!! But, our commissioners want a new jail. If we as parents have no complaints when family members are in jail, there is nothing wrong with that jail. I understand a new jail capitan is running the jail now. I suppose he thinks he needs a new jail. Thanks for this blog where I can vent.

COMMENTS: First of all, CCW has not met the new jail captian. There are many people in this county don't really care what the county commissioners do about trying to get a bond for a new jail. They will vote no, when ever they get the chance. Commissioners in power right now, have very little, if any respect and voters just will not turn additional money over to those commissioners seated now.

Your comments about feeding the homeless and providing shelter are noted. CCW does not think the county gets tax dollars for that purpose, except for indigent applicants, but we must tell readers, we have observed so much money wasted in Canyon Co. it is a shame those in need could't have had that wasted money. The fact is, millions have been wasted leading up to building of a new jail.

All the tax dollars spent towards a new jail started years ago, with the purchase of Jerome property. We could have built a great drug rehab center with all the money spent on building plans and consultations. This is on the heads of our county commissioners. If they wanted a jail, they should have kept the Jerome property and worked for a bond until it finally passed. From the time they were "found out" concerning the way they purchased the Jerome property based on an appraisal a million dollars higher than allowed by law, they have been throwing tax dollars down the drain. We could certainly have used this wasted money for the good of some county residents crying out for help, by constructing a drug rehab facility!

ONE READER SENDS: What the hell is happening with the county board of commissioners? They want a new jail while their constituents are losing their homes and retirements? Are they smoking something up there?

COMMENT: It sure makes you wonder, doesn't it?

ONE READER SENDS: Watch your back side. The hyena's are out and howling at the moon. It's a good thing candidates can't hear what goes on at the courthouse before an election. The fear could be cut with a knife. One thing for sure, just because some body works at the courthouse does not mean they would be a good commissioner. Things are bad enough here, don't make that mistake. We need Estella to stay right where she is and translate for the courts. There's a big difference in running a county and speaking spanish in a courtroom. Sorry Estella but ya can't cut it.

COMMENTS: CCW is pretty sure that Estella does a lot more than speak Spanish all day long. We have heard she is indispensable arranging for translators for the courts and can have one available at the snap of a finger. CCW agrees that Kathy Alder is the best choice for Commissioner, but the county wouldn't even need commissioners without the loyal, professional employees who work for the county.

ONE READER SENDS: County Prosecutor, Dave Young, is going to work for Indian Tribes!!! Can you believe that? Aren't we supposed to let the Indians live peaceful on their reservations, if they so please? Don't they have their own lawyers? When I heard Young was going to a reservation, I thought he was going to a spa or something. But legal work for the Indians. He only survived as a prosector because he could hire some "real" attorney workers!!! Now, if Young gets a mohawk, God Save The Indians. Who got him that job? Miss Maria Pocahontas?

COMMENTS: Well, there is a possibility Young will go live with the Indians, in a teepee!!!!. We have already been mean enough to them. But, there is somebody at the county who has a significant other who claims to do legal work for Indians. Perhaps he is trying to be the savior for Young telling him he will get him work with the Indians. Stay tuned for the rest of this story. Hope there's no uprising.

ONE READER SENDS: I'm paying real close attention to my property taxes on my home and some rental houses I have. My property taxes the last two years have gone so high I don't make enough money on my rentals to pay my taxes. After I take care of repairs, there's no profit anymore. Then I raise rent and my renters can't afford to pay so they leave. I can't sell my property, I can't rent my property, I can't afford the taxes on my property, It doesn't take long to manage to not like government very much. How has this happened that government is our master instead of our servant? Can't government or shouldn't government cut back on what they try to do and let us off the hook? I won't vote for this county to bond for anything, A new jail my aching back. They can do just fine with the jail they got now. We can't afford the fancy, dancy jail these clowns want to build and we can't afford any more building with the rest of us in such bad shape.

COMMENTS: Many feel the same way you do. If CCW reads tax law correctly, all our assessments should go down this year since our property values have taken a dive. They go up in good times, down in bad times. I certainly hope people like you who own property for income, get relief when this years assessments come out. Vote for Kathy Alder for commissioner. She is frugal in her own life and will guard your tax dollars every single day. She thinks you can spend your own money better than the government can spend it, Weve got some big spenders in control of our tax dollars right now. We need Alder to balance the scale for taxpayers.

ONE READER SENDS: Your blog speaks out of both sides of your mouth. You are involved in suing the county and that costs a lot of money we could use on other things. How do you explain that when you want to keep taxes low? Isn't there a lawsuit right now against the county that you are involved in?

COMMENTS: You are correct Crams are involved in litigation right now asking the courts to make a decision to clarify some issues, regarding the way the county commissioners, with legal assistance from Pros. Dave Young, have gone about purchasing land, for a new jail or any other project they come up with. The reason Crams were willing to help pay for such litigation, was because these guys seem to be unable to learn from their own mistakes, and just go their merry way, breaking laws right and left. Here's a brief time line for the litigation. Remember, we have never asked for money. This is not about money. It does not cost the county money because we already pay our prosecutors for a day's work.

1. When the comm. purchased the Jerome property, they had been turned down on a bond.
2. They got an appraisal on the property as the law demands, before purchasing any land.
(The law demands a public agency can only pay the appraised value, no more.)
3. The Jerome family said no, they would not sell for that appraised amount.
4. Comm. told Jeromes to get their own appraisal and the county would pay their amount.
5. To tie the land up, the county signed a yearly lease agreement with the Jeromes.
6. The Jerome appraisal came back about a million dollars higher than the county appraisal.
7 By now, people were starting to pay attention, wondering why the county was buying property after the bond failed and buying it for more than the appraised amount.
8. To be able to tie that land up once more, even though the county had the land leased for a very long lease time, they weren't satisfied and purchase was what they had to have.
9. Since people were watching and the county wanted to purchase the land, they wrote a check for $500,000.00 (1/2 million) to the Idaho Assoc. of Counties. Then the IAC purchased the land with the agreement in the land agreement that the Idaho Assoc of Counties would relinquish that land to the county upon demand. After all, it was county money which paid for the land, it had only been disguised to look like the IAC purchased the land. All these transactions took place in Exec. Sessions and the county simply forgot to make all the decisions involved in open meeting. And there were several decisions made.
10. Several tax payers were alert and watching because this kind of action after a bond failed, was puzzling.
11. As yearly lease costs were paid by the county, citizens could see this matter had gotten out of hand and the county was leasing the same ground they had purchased. The county was paying a monthly rent to Bob Jerome, for a small parking lot on land they had already leased and purchased. At that point it looked like the County was throwing money away just to show those watching they could do as they pleased. Who do you know who would pay a lease and purchase property and then rent the same?
12. A law suit was filed asking the court to decide if the steps taken by the county had been legal. This was a Constitutional question.
13. A district judge told the people we had no standing to sue.
14. The people decided to take that issue to the Supreme Court. Two questions were asked of the court. Could the court protect our rights under the constitution and did we have standing.
15. The county sent our attorney a letter saying the county would pay our attorney fees if we would agree not to go to the Supreme Court with this case. That signaled us to continue on with the suit.
16. During arguments at the Supreme Court, the county attorney lied to the Supreme Court claiming the Constitutional questions was moot because the land had sold and the county, of course, claimed we had no standing.
17. Because county lied, the Supreme court found that the Constitutional question was moot. However, the Supreme Court found we did have standing to sue, on certain issues. It was a great win for the people. Even though the county lied and said the land was sold. (Over a year later the land finally sold)
18. Now...this is a very important question. If the county intended to still build a jail, with or without a bond..why did they not build it on the Jerome land? We will never understand how the county got to the decision to sell the Jerome property and purchase different property and you guessed it!!! They did it the very same way!!! No bond, purchased the land from extra "tax" money they should never have had in their coffers if they were obeying the law. The Jerome property had sewer and water, perfect access for Nampa, who have a lot of business with the county jail.
19. While the people watched, these commissioners purchased land on the west side of Caldwell, far away from the largest city in our county. We now have no sewer and water, no access, mink poop all over the place which must be moved, we'll have to build a long frontage road because of access problems. Now gas is outrageously high, and we'll be hauling prisoners all day every day,
20. Because the commissioners tried to use a citizen's committee without including anyone on the committee who knew about the counties first decision to purchase land, the county manipulated that citizens committee and if they think the members of that committee didn't know exactly what was going on,the county was very blind. The people on that citizens group were our friends and neighbors. They know what the county tried and we know what the county tried.
21. So back to your original question about why did the county get sued!!!!! There was no other course left for the people. But, again, we all paid our own way and the county used attorneys from the prosecutor's office who were already paid by US. So I get pretty touchy when somebody tries to claim our lawsuits cost the county, It was us it cost...twice!
22. CCW expects a decision before too long on the suit before the justice system now.

ONE READER SENDS: Last week to see Marc Young finally get what's coming to him, was a day I thought would never arrive. After previously working for the county, I really thought no one could ever bring him down where he belongs. Maybe prison will get Marc's attention and he will realize he is not better than others around him. My blood used to boil when he would cruise into work about 10 and leave about 3. He rubbed our face in it everyday that he could do what he pleased and nobody could touch him. I noticed by the number of votes his father got in the recent primary that people have figured him out too. Dave Young should be in jail with his son. Dave, Marc and George Nourse should be rooming together at the state pen.

COMMENTS: CCW agrees that Marc must have some kind of intervention and jail seems to be the only way he will get help. It is still kind of sad to see a young man 32 years old with 2 wonderful kids, wasted and broken like Marc is. CCW thought Marc might turn State's evidence and turn in some others from the county, to save himself. He knows plenty that's for sure.

Even though the issue with Marc seems to be coming to an end there are more problems at the courthouse which need addressed. Apparently, some very serious problems. CCW is going to trust that those in charge will take care of business. Good bye Dave Young. CCW would not go to Dave Young with a legal problem under any circumstances. He has proven he was a place holder for another elected official and nothing else.

ONE READER SENDS: Eight more days until election day. I just want to urge everybody to go vote. Isn't it wonderful that we do not have to have armed guards protecting us as we vote? One local race is very important to me as a dairyman. I urge everybody to vote for Kathy Alder. All of us can live and work together in Canyon Co. if we have someone at the helm who understands the issues for all business owners, not just developers. We all have a right to have our private property protected so we can develop our business to the highest possible level. Kathy will treat everyone with respect and dignity. Get out and vote for Alder next Tuesday.

COMMENTS: CCW agrees with every word in your post. Kathy knows this county and the issues this county faces. In these bad economic times, we need a reasonable, smart commissioner to work with the already seated board.

ONE READER SENDS: Having just read the post concerning write-in's who have not registered (as write-in candidates). I'm hoping what I wrote before about writing in Jim Rice to replace Rule, doesn't ruin too many people's votes. I had hoped that since Jim had run in the primary race in May, his name would be a viable candidate for the election next week. Hope someone can let us know. As we've already sent in our
absentee ballot, it's too late for us but maybe not for others who haven't sent their ballots in.

COMMENTS: CCW has talked with the elections office about this write-in issue. For a write-in vote to be counted, the person you are writing-in must have signed up with the county elections office indicating they will be running as a write-in candidate by Oct. 21, 2008. If the candidate did not certify that they were running as a write-in, but someone writes in their name, such as Jim Rice, the vote simply will not be counted.

It does not mean your entire ballot is destroyed. Just the write-in vote will not count. All the rest of your ballot is counted just fine. CCW does not consider your write-in vote for Rice as a problem. We can see from your post you probably would not vote for Rule under any conditions. Not voting for Rule, could mean you simply left that space blank. You went a bit further and registered your desire to have some other candidate in place of Rule. Even though your vote does not count for Rice, it does register a written record, on your ballot, that your refused to cast your vote for Rule. I'm certain there will be many names written in as others denote they refuse to vote for Steve Rule. In the opinion of CCW...Rule bought his seat on the Board of County Commissioners. His donations from developers and those who work with developers were huge donations for a local race in this part of the state. Construction knew Rule was for sale. They knew it and took advantage of it.

If you do not believe me, look at Rule's votes for the past two years. Actually, Rule's record since he has been on the Board clearly shows that developers and construction folks already owned Rule. They could have saved their contribution money. They already had him in the bag.

So, don't worry about your vote or your earlier post. There are many voters who will refuse to vote for Rule. If they write in another name, their vote won't count but they will have participated in the process and registered a protest vote. CCW agrees with you. Writing in Donald Duck would give us more of a chance of fair representation that we will ever get from Rule.

Idaho Code: 18:1302 RECEIPT OF BRIBERY BY OFFICIAL:

"Every judicial officer, juror, referee, arbitrator, or umpire and every person authorized by law to hear or determine any question or controversy, who ask, receives, or agrees to receive any bribe, upon any agreement or understanding that his voice, opinion, or decisions shall be influenced thereby, is guilty of a felony."

DEFINITION OF A BRIBE: "An act implying money or gift given that alters the behavior of the recipient in discharging of public duty."

Was Comm. Rule discharging a public duty when he favorably voted for J.A.P.S. GRANTING their conditional use permit? YES

Could Comm. Rule have avoided this entire issue if he had truthfully disclosed the fact that he had taken money from the applicant prior to the hearing and prior to declaring a treasurer?

Yes, he could have avoided the largest part of this issue. Comm. Rule could have made full disclosure at the beginning of the public hearing when those in opposition asked him to recuse himself from hearing the case. He could have immediately disclosed that he had been given $350 from the applicant and the applicant's real estate agent, thereby allowing his fellow commissioners to decide if he should recuse from hearing the case. Again, the first point of order in the hearing, from those in opposition, was to ask that Comm. Rule recuse himself, but for a different reason. In a previous meeting, Comm. Rule had chided those in opposition telling them they should not waste their money and claiming that development was coming and there was nothing they could do about it. Of course, opposition wanted Rule to relmove himself from making any decision since he had declared in his own words he had already made up his mind.

Comm. Rule had the opportunnity to speak the truth about the $350 in the very beginning of the public hearing. He deliberately chose to say "NO" he had no conflict of interest. He can only blame himself for people asking him to resign at this point. He cannot even use the excuse that he forgot. He was asked to recuse and given an opportunity to declare any conflicts he might have had. He refused that opening and proved he will deliberately speak falsly under oath. He took the oath when sworn into office.

Citizens speaking to CCW want this matter investigated and Comm. Rule to resign for taking bribes. He brought every bit of this problem on himself.

The question about Comm. Rule taking money from donors prior to having a political treasurer is a misdemeaner and will need to be decided separately.


Are there people reading the paper and reading blogs saying, " Oh, Rule only made a little mistake. We should let him go this time if he promises not to do it again." CCW is absolutely certain those people are out there. But we are just as certain that more people are wanting Rule prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Does $350.00 given to Rule by an applicant and his representative measure up to a felony?

This law does not state an amount of money but election law does clearly state anything over $50 must designate who contributed the money. But is $350 the only money considered in this issue. Let's take
a look at the amount of money involved when an applicant gets approved for 103 individual lots where they can then build homes for sell. When one thinks in those terms, all the sudden $350 dwarfs in comparison. We also see and hear of politicians being given lots for their homes or building and remodeling of homes donated to politicians. Usually things like this happen after people's attention has gone to some thing else. If one figures the cost of one lot with a home at $200,00.00 the figure changes dramatically. Since this applicant was given 103 lots on farm ground, he could conceivably enrich himself by $20,600,000.00. THAT'S MILLIONS FOLKS!!! We all know most of those lots with homes can probably be sold for far more than $200,000.00 The profit will make this applicant a millionaire many times over. All of the sudden a $350 enticement blossoms into something far more sinister.

HOW COULD A JUDGE DECIDE IF RULE IS GUILTY OF A FELONY?

Quite simple. Just ask four questions.

QUESTION #1: Mr. Rule...Did you accept $350 from the applicant J.A.P.S. and real estate agent, Alan Mills, before you designated a treasurer for your campaign and just days prior to sitting as a judge during a public hearing when J.A.P.S. and Alan Mills would testify in front of you asking to be granted a Conditional Use Permit for 103 home/lots????

QUESTIONS #2: Mr. Rule..Did J.A.P.S. and real estate agent, Alan Mills give you $350 before you had a treasurer and before the public hearing on their application because they wanted you NOT to be influenced and to vote NO on their application?????

OR

QUESTION #3: Mr. Rule...Did J.A.P.S. and Alan Mills give you $350 before you had a treasurer and before the public hearing on their application because they wanted to impart favor and to influence you to APPROVE their application?????

QUESTION #4: Mr. Rule...Did you refuse to disclose the fact that you had taken $350 from the applicant and his representative prior to a public hearing because you honor the oath you took when sworn in as county commisisoner????

The answers to these four questions solves this matter. Should Comm. Rule resign his office as county commissioner because he did take a bribe? Which is it Comm. Rule?

An individual cannot have a felony record and hold the elected office of a county commissioner. It stands to reason that people would not want someone convicted of a felony handling and making decisions about millions of tax dollars.

YOU CANNOT ACCEPT A BRIBE

Idaho Code: 18-1302 RECEIPT OF BRIBERY BY OFFICIAL

"Every judicial officer, juror, referee, arbitrator or umpire and every person authorized by law to hear or determine any question or controversy, who ask, receives, or agrees to receive any bribe, upon any agreement or understanding that his vote, opinion, or decisions, shall be influenced thereby, is guilty of a felony."

YOU CANNOT GIVE A BRIBE

Idaho Code: 18:1309 BRIBERY OF MUNICIPAL OR COUNTY OFFICER - PENALTIES

"Each person who gives or offers a bribe to any member of any common council, board of commissioners, or board of trustees, of any county, or corporation, with intent to corrupt influence such member in his action on any matter or subject, pending before a body of which he is a member of either of the bodies mentioned in this section who receives or offers to receive any such bribe and every person who gives or offers a bribe to a sheriff, policeman, constable, pros. attorney, or other officer charged with enforcement of the laws, of this state to receive or secure immunity from arrest, prosecution, or punishment for a violation or contemplated violation of the laws of this state or if any such officer who receives or offers to receive any such bribe is punishable by imprisonment in that state prison for a term of not less than one nor more than fourteen years."

SO....If a public official takes a bribe you're in trouble....If someone gives a bribe to a public official, you're in trouble!!!!!!!!!!!

There has been some discussion on this site about simply writing-in a name instead of voting for Comm. Rule. Some new information has come to light. It is true anyone can write in any name at the time you vote. However, and this is a big however....your vote will not count unless the person you wrote in has gone to the elections office and declared themselves a write-in candidate. The deadline to declare for a write-in was Oct. 21, 2008. It's too late to sign up for a write-in now. So....you can still write in the name of someone else, but it will be a show non-support. Your vote will not count. It stands to reason. If people could write in any name and that name had to be counted as a serious candidate, it could take days and days to total all the votes coming in from so many precinct voting places.

The exception to that write-in law is a list of names of write-in candidates for President of the United States, which comes to election offices from the Secretary of State's office. If a name is on that list and a voter writes in one of those names, those votes are counted on Nov. 4th and 5th. This list would certainly be of interest to people. CCW will call the Sec. of States office to find out what names are on that list. Could be Ron Paul or Ralph Nader. Interesting.......

Another piece of important information is that the numbers of votes we get from our TV on election night are not necessarily the certified, official vote. County Commissioners canvas all votes from all precincts within a few days of the election and that is when we learned the certified number of votes from our county.

Hope people were not too misled by the post about write-in votes. You can write-in a name, for instance in protest to a candidate who has no opponent, but your vote will not count unless the person's name you write-in has signed up as a candidate by Oct. 21st.

County commissioners take an oath of office and swear to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the land. Has Commissioner Rule been in office long enough to know how campaign finances were to be handled to stay within the law and how he was responsible for disclosing any conflict of interest to anyone appearing before him during land use hearings? Did he know having a financial relationship of any kind with an applicant or that applicants representatives, was grounds for "the people" to demand he recuse himself from hearing a case?

Rule had been in office since Jan. 2006. Prior to that Rule had been on the Middleton city council and a great many land use issues came before him. He had plenty of time to know that taking money from an applicant just 2 1/2 weeks before that same applicant appeared before Rule for a land use issue, was a serious conflict of interest which demanded full disclosure and recusal. Even when the county deputy prosecutor asked Rule if he needed to disclose anything Rule said "NO" he had nothing to disclose!!! Now that action was deliberate and false.

Another important matter is the fact that Comm. Ferdinand, who sits on the same board as Rule, is very careful and discloses during hearings if Ferdinand even has a friend sitting in the audience. Ferdinand discloses everything and Rule has sat in the same hearings and heard Ferdinand be very careful about any conflict of interest. Should the people in opposition just go on their merry way now that they know Rule received $350 prior to a public hearing for which the people had paid the $2,008. which was demanded by the county? If it were your money, would you remain quiet?

If people are asked to "over look" such breaking of the law, why have land use laws or ethic laws in the first case? Again, CCW does not agree to assist people with county issues unless we know our time can bring about positive changes for everyone in the county. Any land use issue affects all of us. Right now there are thousands of individual septic systems all over this county. No one knows if or when some of them fail, or even where some of the systems are located. Spot zoning like we have had in our county can result in very serious health issues. Toxin's can slowly build up and effect everyone. Breaking laws is important. Trying to cover up a crime is very serious. Those working to promote keeping Rule as a county commissioner also know the laws. They should be giving him council, right now, to make sure the decision rendered for J.A.P.S. is rescinded and "the people's" money returned to them immediately.

Here's the second law Rule violated:

Idaho Code: 67: 6506...."Any actual or perceived interest in any proceeding shall be disclosed at or before any meeting at which the action is being heard or considered. No member with a conflict of interest shall participate in any aspect of the decision making process, concerning a matter involving the conflict of interest."

Our legislators worked tirelessly to enact land use laws which would be fair to all concerned. Breaking this law is not acceptable and we want Rule brought before the courts on this issue and we want $2.008.00 returned to "the people"!!!!!

CCW has received numerous calls about the latest newspaper articles about campaign contributions from developers and lawyers to our county commissioners. Several express their questions about whether or not any laws have been broken. Now..we have been watch dogging the county commissioners and county prosecutor for over 9 years. We've been through all the finger shaking and all the whispers about our local politicians. For the record...CCW does not agree to help people unless we are certain we will be able to bring about some positive change. Time passes too quickly for anything else.

First..we want the county to reduce the fee for appeal to the county commissioners from $2,008.00 to a
reasonable fee which will cover costs only...but nothing over $200. Every minute it takes to prepare for an appeal has already been paid for once by the public...anything else is highway robbery, and even $200 is double taxation. If people appeal who do not live in Canyon County, then the $200 would be fair. Iother words...IT'S YOUR JOB TO PREPARE FOR HEARINGS. WE HAVE ALREADY PAID ONCE!!!!

Now..have laws been broken? Oh, yes they have. First, the law requires that a candidate file papers with the elections office clearly showing who has been appointed as treasurer for a campaign. NO money is to be received or expenditures made until that treasurer is appointed.

FIRST LAW BROKEN: Comm. Rule accepted money from an applicant and the applicants representative before he had a treasurer appointed. Therefore, the money he accepted was not a legal campaign contribution. Calling it a campaign contribution is attempting to ignore election laws and breaks the law.

If Rule did not have a treasurer, the money was given directly to Rule. You cannot give money to someone who does not exist, not and claim to follow election laws. (Most people want to give their money directly to the candidate. They want their support known. When a decision is pending, they really want their support known.) So...for those who doubt that laws were broken...here's the first law Comm. Rule broke. Idaho Code 21: 3012 and Idaho Code 67:6603: "No contributions shall be received or expenditures made by or on behalf of a candidate or political committee until the candidate or pollitical committee appoints a political treasurer and certifies the name and address of the treasurer to the County Clerk."

Comm. Rule received money for J.A.P.S. and from Alan Mills, their Real Estate man on Jan. 24, 2008. Rule did not file his official documents showing who his treasurer was until Jan. 30. 2008. Rule turned in his petition for his own candidacy several weeks later. Even if Rule had followed the laws and filed his treasurer report on time, l a very serious ethics question still stands when a commissioner takes money from an applicant who is going to appear before him hoping for a favorable decision.

People can go to the county elections office and vote now. It is much easier for a handicapped person to go to the elections office than it is to wait and go to an individual precinct where one can encounter lines and parking problems. If you do go vote at the county elections office here's some tips you need to know.

You can vote at the county elections office through Nov. 3, 2008. On Nov. 4th, you must go to your precinct polling location to vote. You CANNOT VOTE at the elections office on Nov. 4th unless it is your designated precinct polling location. You CAN turn in Absentee ballots at the county elections office on Nov. 4th . DO NOT TAKE ABSENTEE BALLOTS TO YOUR POLLING PRECINCT LOCATION. Absentee Ballots will not be accepted at a precinct polling location and you will be told to take your absentee ballot to the county elections office.

The county elections office will suspend issuing Passports beginning Wed. Oct 29th through Thursday Nov. 7th.

ONE READER SENDS: I was glad to read we can write-in somebody so we don't have to vote for Steve Rule. I guess I've seen the spot where we could write-in when voting but didn't give it much thought. I'm going to write in Jim Rice too. I voted for Jim in the primary, but, of course, Mr. Rule bad mouthed Jim and I guess Rule's friends listened to him. I so wish I could have informed people about the Rule I know before he was elected county commissioner. He can be rude and crude and has yelled at us many times just because he owns some land near our property. It used to be peaceful and calm here by the river, but since Rule has showed his face that is all gone. You should check with the highway district over here by Wilder and find out how a man who was going bankrupt happened to be able to afford quite a wonderful piece of land by the river. Sure raised some eyebrows over here, when he is out in the middle of the road screaming at us, and claiming he owns the property. I'll be happy to cast my vote for Jim Rice.

Thanks for giving us a way to express our thoughts without worrying about reprisal from the county. Please, everybody get out and vote.

COMMENTS: CCW doesn't know anything about property by Wilder owned by Comm. Rule. We do know it is interesting Rule owns such a lovely home in Middleton and was not forced to sell it to pay the bills he had ran up, instead of writing them off due to a bankruptcy, leaving the rest of us to pay higher bills because of him. He also had a court judgement against him for $400,000,00 and he could have sold his home to help satisfy that judgement. If readers have heard something different from Rule, just go to the courthouse and read his court documents concerning the judgment and then go to Fed. court and read his bankruptcy. Several lawyers were left holding the bag. Credit Unions also were cheated by Rule. Did readers know it does not take much of a loss to put a credit union out of business. They run their business real close to the line and one or two bankruptcies that leave them with significant loss can close their doors. It seems like Rule was once again a winner...or was he?

If readers decide they want to do a write-in vote, be sure you do it very carefully. It must
be written clearly and the name should be spelled correctly. Probably printing the name is a real good idea.

ONE READER SENDS: I for one am fed up with the current Canyon County Commissioners. When my husband and I voted absentee last week, we wrote in Jim Rice to replace Steve Rule on the Commissioner's Board. It's really quite simply. Don't like the person who is in and running to keep his position. REPLACE HIM!

We actually called Glen Kock to remind us who had run against Steve Rule in the primary race in May and he told us Jim Rice. Please people, don't vote for someone just because their name is the only one in the ballet space.

COMMENTS: Thanks for this hint so close to the election. People can go to the elections office near the coiunty courthouse and vote absentee. That office is open each day. I think I read it would close a couple of days prior to the election so employees can prepare and set up equipment used election night for counting the votes in our next election. However, now they are there everyday and if it is easier to vote at the elections office instead of waiting to vote in your community, it's an added service the clerk's office provides to accomodate the people.

By the way. My husband and I voted the other day and appreciate the help we received from the county employees in the elections office. If you have questions, ask the employees there. They are all very nice and professional county employees.

ONE READER SENDS: Unlike some who live in Ada Co. I pay a good deal of attention to the political goings on of our neighbor, Canyon Co. The article about political ethics violations, pointing toward at least two of the Canyon Co. Board of Commissioners, in the local paper today caught my attention. Prior to retiring, I did some construction work in Canyon Co. so know somewhat how the system over there works, or perhaps I should say doesn't work. Reading the final paragraph of this article brought back not so fond memories of times I had to go before the most dysfunctional Board I've ever seen...that being the Board of Canyon County Commissioners.

Comm. Beebe's comments in today's paper remind me of how his mind works. He mixes up being elected to serve the people with his apparent belief in his own omnipotence . He claims in the paper that it's "my impression this is their last sideswipe at our decision. The allegations are unfounded in my opinion." When public policy demands that a person pay such a huge sum of money, $2008.00 just to be heard by their elected officials, when attempting to protect their own private property, it's obscene.
To have a "public servant" make such an asinine comment as "last sideswipe" as though the folks had nothing better to do with their time, and money, I personally thank God Beebe soon will be a has been, stripped of the power he used so carelessly to the determent of the people he was supposed to serve. Even though I have moved from Canyon co. it cannot be soon enough for me and I think many others feel the same.

This blog helps expose some politicians who in my eyes are an abomination to our political process in America. Never let those who would scorn you, stop your good work. Not many people can stand up
to the blight of some of Idaho's worst politicians. W.S.

COMMENTS: Readers, the comments mentioned above were published in today's Statesman. A good article was in the Statesman today, along with the one in the Press Tribune. Just the fact that these county commissioners decided to force people to pay $2,008.00 says a great deal about them. You know how much money that is???? More than many pay for a house payment and other large commitments people must take care of in their daily responsibilities. What nerve it took to raise that fee to such a large sum of money.

We already pay for everything in that courthouse, including the salaries of the commissioners who are solely responsible for forcing people to pay so much. But if one disagrees with a decision made by our supposed representatives, and want to avail ourselves of our rights to protect our selves and our homes, you are going to cough up 2 grand. I've talked with people who have been forced to pay that fee and they can hardly speak they are so outraged.

What recourse have we? Well, we can step forward and participate in the government process locally, if we enjoy being treated rudely and insulted by those on our Board. No wonder so many people wash their hands of the political mess in Canyon County. You participate in Canyon County at your own risk. Plain and simple.

Thank you for your post and encouragement. CCW won't quit but their insults do get very tiresome. Canyon County is at a threshold and with good people working together, we could accomplish a lot for our county. However, the political attmosphere in this county is one of political manuvering every second of every day. There is always something going on in secret and then continuous hush, hush to keep their secrets. When politicians claim we are only negative, and "against everything" the fact is, that statement might be true sometimes!!! It is annoying to stumble onto the truth about some county activity when you realize you have been deliberately mislead. Makes me negative sometimes.

That is how messed up it has become over here with politicians in complete control who do business secretly. CCW knows some construction businesses who absolutely refuse to build or do business in Canyon Co. because of the unprofessional politicians we have in our commissioners office. When will it end?

ONE READER SENDS: I think the wrong question is being asked in this hearing situation. If everything is so fine and dandy with these fancy lawyers, why aren't they ALWAYS DISCLOSING all money THEY give to elected commissioners sitting as judges to decide an issue? Especially when the issue involves your client! If these attorneys are so holy and great, why not tell any conflict and avoid any problems later? We all know full well why they don't tell. They have created the very conflict of interest prohibited by law. And they have law degrees. Dumb.

ONE READER SENDS : Rule is "extremely disappointed" when those folks told the paper about him getting money at the same time he is the comm. making a decision about a case. $2,008. is a ton of money to pay for a meeting and I would be "extremely angry" that Rule didn't get himself off that comm. and admiit what had happened. I don't know about all that other stuff but I know what it is when someone takes money when they are being like a judge. You should put him in that jail he wants to rebuild then he can look it over up close and personal.

ONE READER SENDS:  Why have hearings for land changes if them commissioners take money before the hearing and it is A OK?  That is the description of taken bribes if I ever saw one.  That one attorney in the paper today says he gives money to politicians all the time.  Sounds like he knows not to speak up during a hearing and tell anybody about it.  If it is OK why not just speak right up and tell everybody.  Why keep it so quiet.  We all have known for ages that money talks and it talks real loud. 

ONE READER SENDS: So your given up and posting jail activity. I hadn't heard that the captain had been demoted but it is long over due.  That new guy running the sheriff office is slowly clening out the crap and i sepport him all the way. Lady prisoners are treated like slime in C.C. I now some of them. I hope  the whole story will come out.

COMMENTS: CCW has not checked to see if the jail captain was demoted or fired or what. Don't know if demotion only has to do with pay grade or change of designation of job title. Haven't had time to check this out but will real soon.

ONE READER SENDS: It is apparent to me that I have to keep sending this site news about what is happening at the jail and see if you will finally put the facts out. I think this site deliberately covers up bad stuff going on at the jail cause you back the sheriff. It's not right and I have sent info before that was just ignored. This probably won't get posted either but I got to try again.

Recently Capt. Muncey out of the jail got bumped off and Hansen put in as jail commander. Everybody is just stunned. Even Muncey got his car taken away from him and now he's got to drive his own car and pay for his own gas. Information I got is that some deputies were fired over a year ago for raping lady inmates while doing night duty. I know at least two got fired. Nothing else was done. No one gots prosecuted. One of the deputies fired is real scary.

Why doesn't any of this get reported?

COMMENTS: This website has not received any emails from you about jail problems. I wander if you sent them to some other site. CCW has been receiving some anonymous letters about perceived problems at the jail. So, are you saying Jail Capt. Muncey is no longer the head person at the jail? Our promise to you is that CCW will continue to check out some accusations which have been made about unhealthy activity at the jail involving men deputies and female prisoners. When we are more comfortable and feel we have the truth, we'll put that information on this site.

On Oct. 22, 2008, citizens from Middleton filed a complaint with the Canyon Co. Prosecutor's office.

The nature of the complaint was ethics violations, failure to disclose Financial gain which could influence vote of elected officials...perception of taking a bribe for affirmative vote by elected officials and continuing failure to disclose financial transfer of money between elected officials and applicant's representatives appearing before elected officials for decisions on a Conditional Use Permit for a local developer.

There are many laws which apply to elected officials receiving money as campaign contributions. Of course, county commissioners receive campaign contributions from developers. If they didn't they would have to pay for their own campaign, since just about the only contributions they get are from developers. However, if a developer is appearing in front of the Board, seeking a favorable decision from commissioners, they better be real careful how they take care of that business. Perception and the law is everything. If money does go from a developer to a commissioner while they are appearing before that commissioner, they darn well better disclose those activities. FULL DISCLOSURE! Would that make the transfer of money legal???? There is a real fine line when it comes to bribes. BUT full disclosure would, at least, open the door for the public to demand a commissioner recuse himself so they could be more inclined to believe they had a fair hearing and at least a fair shot at a favorable decision after those same citizens were required to pay $2,008.00 to even have a hearing on the matter.

In this case the citizens who filed the appeal asked for the fee of $2,008.00 to be waived since that huge amount would cause a hardship. When that was refused, the citizens asked for a reduction of the fee amount. That request was denied.

Since state law demands that public agencies cannot charge any more for a hearing that it costs to have the hearing, (such as clerk's time and printing materials, and etc), the citizens did a PRR asking for
documents which showed how much the county had actually spent leading up to the hearing. The county refused to provide that information to those requesting it. Citizens were required to pay the full $2,008.00 for the appeal hearing, while at the same time one commissioner was accepting money from the applicant and the applicant's representatives!!! Why does this stick so sharply in one's throat??? Citizens are forced to pay for a hearing while one seated commissioner knows the hearing is coming but takes money from the applicant and his representatives!!! Are readers starting to get the message here?

Both sides of such an issue can be in trouble. Receipt of bribery by official: 18-1302--Every judicial officer,
juror, referee, arbitrator or umpire and every person authorized by law to hear or determine any question or controversy, who asks, receives, or agrees to receive any bribe, upon any agreement or understanding
that his vote, opinion, or decisions, shall be influenced thereby, is guilty of a felony.

An elected official cannot stay in office if they are convicted of a felony and they cannot run for office if in the past they have been convicted of a felony. Did Commissioner Steve Rule commit a felony when he refused to disclose that he had been given money from an applicant and that applicant's real estate agent and the applicant's attorneys while an appeal hearing was proceeding through all its phases. In Alaska, right now, a public servant is being dragged through a court hearing for that exact type of iissue and failure to disclose the receiving of donations.

What are the phases pertaining to a land use issue? 1st. application is made to DSD 2nd after DSD receives all required documents from the applicant, a hearing is set before the county planning and zoning commissioners or the county hearing officer. 3rd. If the applicant or those in opposition to the application do not like the ruling of the Planning and Zoning officials, either party can appeal that decision to the Board of County Commissioners. 4th. The official time for filing documents with the office of county commissioners starts, when an appeal notice is filed. 5th A request for waiving the appeal fees can be filed or a request for lowering appeal fees can be filed. Other requests can be filed with the Board. 6th. A hearing date for the appeal will be noticed up 7th. An appeal hearing will take place. 8th After all Appeal issues are heard in a hearing, after the passing of 30 days, a legal document called Facts and Findings will be issued. 9th. While the Facts and Finding are being prepared, either side can file documents asking for the record to be opened to take further testimony or submit more information. The county commissioners may then open the record and rule on the additional information 10th. After Facts and Findings are filed and signed, either party can file with the district court for a Judicial Review of the decision. 11. Weeks and months pass as the Judicial Review works it's way through the court system. Until that process is complete, the application is not considered final.

So, what if Comm. Rule began receiving "campaign contributions" from a developer within four or five weeks prior to that same developer appearing before Comm. Rule seeking a favorable decision from Comm. Rule on his application. So, what if other people, such as the developer's real estate representative for that application also gives Comm. Rule money as a "campaign contribution" just weeks before appearing before Comm. Rule for a ruling on that application. So, what if just 1-3 days after the signing of the Facts and Findings both attorneys representing the applicant give "campaign contributions" to Comm. Rule? So, what if the real estate agent gives "campaign donations" four or five weeks prior to appearing before commissioners AND gives another donation the day after the Facts and Findings are signed. Yes...the real estate agent gave two contributions, one before the hearing and one after.

Is Comm. Rule that only culprit here or are their legal consequences which pertain to people who give money to a public official expecting a favorable decision for their application. 18:1309 Bribery of municipal or county officer: Every person who gives or offers a bribe to any member of any common council, board of county commissioners........on any matter or subject pending before a body .......is punishable by imprisonment in a state prison for a term of not less than one or more than fourteen years. So, bribes work both ways. There are also ethical standards brought into question for both sides. Attorneys have rules pertaining to the way they deal with public agencies or actually which govern how they deal with everybody. So, there is blame going both ways.

This post is to introduce readers to the case. Next post will be to continue on and give more specifics on this matter. I've been watch dogging this county for 10 years and I know when we have a good case, including adequate evidence. This is a good case. And if Comm. Rule thinks he can wiggle out of this, there are many other records we can obtain which prove our assertions. The documents needed in this matter are public documents.

Remember, this would be a different matter if disclosures had been made by Rule and Beebe and by the applicant and his representatives. Instead, not a word. Appearances are that these folks think they can do anything they please and ignore conflict after conflict. Not true. Sooner or later bribery catches up to those who indulge and it is not a pretty picture. But it is a well deserved picture.

This website will be up and going real soon well ahead of the Nov. election. This weekend we are having some additional protection loaded on the computer to protect us from any virus coming along, or being sent on purpose. This last virus was a doozy and we have had problems getting the archives back up so people could access them. All archives are now up and running.

Please keep checking back. We at CCW have not been idol and several new articles will be posted soon. Once again CCW will release breaking news about Canyon County. You will not want to miss the rest of this story!!! What do they say about the calm before the storm??? Has it been calm at the Canyon County Courthouse?

The CCW computer got a virus last night and will be down until a computer
master gets it fixed. It was hit hard and lost about everything I had. Soo
you'll hear from CCW soon.

Caldwell and Nampa are no longer rural towns. There's proof in the numbers.

August 2008 - Data from our Canyon County Sheriff's Office for the month of Aug. 2008 clearly shows our rural status is long gone.

Aug. 2008 - Total Calls Taken---7,544

Aug. 2008 - Total Reports Taken---328

Aug. 2008 - Total Bookings---1,121

Aug. 2008 - Total Cases Closed---450

Aug. 2008 - Closed with arrest---159

Aug. 2008 - Total Citations Issued----511

Aug. 2008 - Total Warrants Served---286


Source...Canyon County Sheriff's Newsletter

ONE READER SENDS: I'd heard the board was buying the old job service building by the animal shelter so they could free up some room in the courthouse for courtrooms. It's been a long time since I heard anymore about that. Have they already purchased that building? Do you know what county departments will be moved to that building if they have bought it?

COMMENT: The budget for 2009 has money projected to purchase that building in 2009. The last CCW heard was that the county DSD department and the license plate department would be moved into that building after it was remodled to county commissioners requirements. Since Mr. Cram managed that office for many years, CCW knows it is in good shape. However, moving those two departments won't open up enough space for the needs of the court system in District III. It is our opinion that the county should build more courtroom space and office space for the courts, by adding on to the existing courthouse, perhaps in the middle courtyard already available. The courts need a LOT of space. They have been over crowded for years and just a small addition will not remedy their needs. But, even two more courtrooms would help a lot.

ONE REAER SENDS: Can you please tell me what happened to a young man who ran for sheriff not last time but the time before. His name was Albert Erickson and I voted for him and thought so highly of him and the way he conducted himself during that election race. Does he still live in the area?

COMMENT: CCW thinks Mr. Erickson is police chief in Parma ir Payette now. Soon after the sheriff's election in which he participated, he became the police chief for Wilder. I'm pretty sure he is now working as police chief in Parma. He was a nice man and it's great we still have him working in law enforcement and in our immediate area.

One thing CCW also heard was that Mr. Erickson did at least one tour of duty in Iraq after he had ran for sheriff. So he is a soldier and also a police officer.

ONE READER SENDS: I didn't know the county had a website, until I read the recent newspaper articles which led me to your website. How long has the county had a site and I'm having trouble getting the county minutes to open. Is there a trick involved with opening the minutes?

COMMENT Glad you found the site. CCW has received at least four other messages about just finding the county website since the Statesman did the article about county blogs. We will answer all questions from those messages in this post. Again, for readers the county site is www.canyonco.org
Sometimes it is hard to get the minutes to open. You should be able to access them by a name or date. If you continue to have trouble, call the IT department at 454-7300 or use that same number and ask for Angie Sillonis, the commissioners spokesperson. She should be able to help you.

DO NOT, however, expect to get up-to-date county minutes. They are always at least 2 months late and sometimes more than that. We have never been able to find out why county minutes are not governed by the Public Records Act which would require them to be made available within 10 days, but in Canyon Co. that Act seems to not apply. The public cannot access minutes until they are adopted and signed by commissioners and they do not get minutes signed for months.

CCW must give credit where credit is due. Comm. Beebe and Comm. Ferdinand (prior to comm, Rule) have made access to minutes more timely and less costly, in that the public only has to wait two months to access minutes now. Commissioners prior to them, specifically Galvin and Lakey, forced the public to wait sometimes 5 months before minutes were available. And then we were charged 25 cents a page for hard copy. Even though minutes are still up to 2 months late, we can get them on the web without having to pay 25 cents a page. When CCCFRG first organized, all public records cost the public 25 cents a page. Work by CCCFRG finally caused the commissioners to lower the cost per page to 5 cents per page.
So, sometimes things get better, it just takes a long, vigilant time.

CCW has been receiving calls all day. Callers are serviing up a big dose of pity for CCW. Everybody feels sorry for CCW because they think it is pitiful that the Chief Deputy for the Sheriiff's Office has labeled CCW "CAVE" PEOPLE . CCW all day has informed people that no offense has been taken by CCW because CCW knows the real truth and the rest of that story. It's true. We are "CAVE" people and CAVE means....
"CAMPAIGN AGAINST VINDICTIVE ELECTED"

or is it........... "CITIZENS AGAINST VENGEFUL ELECTED"

or is it........... "CITIZENS ATTEMPT VAPORIZING ELECTED"

Readers can get the message here. If an individual or group decides to venture into the world of politics, they better have a well established, positive self concept, because these politicians will turn on you and try to rip your heart out unless you fall at their feet and worship them. When a group or individual decides to actually set forth in written word what these local politicians are up too, you better have a well established, positive, self concept and a shield of iron to defray the barbs hurled in your direction.

But calling CCW "CAVE PEOPLE" did not come from a politician. CCW has learned over the last few years that our Canyon County Chief Deputy Sheriff is NOT a politican. No offense taken at the CAVE comment. As a matter of fact, CCW had a good laugh, since he has called us that right to our face, several months ago in discussions about the pro and con of a new jail.

FOR CONTIUOUS ACCESS TO OUR BLOG USE THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS:

www.canyoncountywatch.org

TO ACCESS ALL ARTICLES ON THIS SITE, CLICK ON... DOCUMENTS ARCHIVE VIEWED-SHOWS 30-90-DAYS AND ALL POSTS.

THANK YOU FOR READING CANYON COUNTY WATCH.

ONE READER SENDS: Dad gets so angry at what the county board does, I wanted to be able to give him some positive county news. How many other elected positions are there at the county and what is the name of other elected county employees? Surely all those elected can't be as scary as the county board.

COMMENTS: We do have some good people elected to office at the county. You should have your Dad give me a call. I can talk to him about the county commissioners. Be real glad to!!!

Gene Kuehn is our county assessor and is a very nice person. He works hard in a thankless job we all moan and groan about but he follows the laws the way they are on the books. If we want something different to happen with our property taxes, we must get some laws changed. The assessor's office has a very helpful staff who are very professional. They too have a thankless job.

Our county clerk, Mr. Hurst, has been a friend of the public from day one of his service to the public. He made the right call hiring people with the kind of training needed to run such a large county department. Of course, he also had the wisdom to keep Chris Harris. Between Mr. Hurst and Chris, the budget actually decreased this year, in the face of such a bad economic scene. I was shocked when the county budget went down this year. CCW deals with county clerks a lot and they are always professional and helpful. Even though CCW moans and groans about the county commissioners, we do not include the clerks working in that office in our complaints. Those clerks know their jobs and can save people a lot of time when asked for help. They are trustworthy. We get questions answered all the time, in a very professional manner from county staff working for the courts, or the clerk's office or recorders office or the auditor's office . Mr. Hurst supervises a huge number of county employees and always has his eye on what is best for the public.

Our county treasurer, Tracy Lloyd, has come a long way and she keeps county money invested to bring in the most possible money from those investments. Tracy's staff mostly have worked for the county for a long time. Their jobs too, can be a thankless . The staff in that office is always professional and friendly.

Vickie DeGeus-Morris is the county coroner. As an elected official she has come up through the trenches. She so deserves to have the new morgue and new offices for her staff. The people working in the coroner's office have the worst hours known to man. No one knows when they will be called out in the middle of the night for who knows what. CCW hears many positive comments about our coroner's office and her staff.

Last but not least, Sheriff Chris Smith. CCW is proud of him and the people he has in his administration. It's a big county and they have a big job. Smith has proven he can work with other law enforcement agencies and that is so important since we are all close together in the Treasurer Valley. Smith too, came up through the trenches, working in many different divisions of law enforcement. His administrative staff has changed the entire face of our sheriff's office and brought more professionalism to the sheriff's office. Our deputies work in a more dangerous county every day and they deserve to be paid at the top of any pay scale in this state. This is the second largest and populated county in the state. Their jobs will grow more and more dangerous. The county needs to pay up for these deputies. How many of us would want to work in the Canyon County jail? It is a hard, thankless job. We need to compensate these deputies who have to work with some (not all) undesirable people. What do you pay someone who learns they have been taking care of someone with TB? Do we want to be in that job? CCW is glad more attention has been brought to the salaries paid to law enforcement. We need to do more. If someone wants to gripe about their salaries, think about doing their job for awhile. No one knows what will greet them when they stop a car. Will it be a sawed off shotgun? The more support we give the sheriff's department, the better that department will be.

So, you see, we do have some top quality people who have been elected to serve the public. Perhaps we spend too much time watching the county commissioners and prosecutor's office. What is nice to see is that four elected officials who seem to have gone off the deep end, our county commissioners and prosecutor, have not tainted the other elected officials. And that's the rest of the story for your father about elected officials in Canyon County.

It is kind if sad and not right that the employees working in the prosecutor's office all get lumped in with the dastardly deeds of their boss. CCW is certain there are some great people in the prosecutor's office doing their work day in and day out. We are certain there are some top attorneys working in that department. CCW tries to be careful not to besmirch any employees in the prosecutor's office just because we have worked a long time to replace Prosecutor Dave Young. Any employee who has been able to work under Young and keep their sanity, deserves a gold metal without even going to China.

ONE READERS SENDS: I had some questions about how it is somebody can go to the courthouse and talk with our elected county commissioners. I was in at the courthouse recently and commissioners were in a meeting I couldn't go in. They called it executive meeting not for the public. I thought they couldn't have a secret meeting. Do you know if there is a time people can go to the courthouse and be assured our commissioners will meet with us? Is there a day each week or 1/2 a day each week they are available to us? Do they have regular meetings held just to talk with us? I'd be real glad to have some answers to these questions. It is troubling to drive all the way to the courthouse and get there and not be able to talk with someone we have elected. My trip was a complete waste of gas money.

COMMENTS: Well, executive sessions are done in secret, but are usually legal. There are several laws which determine a legal executive session. The answer to your other question is no, no, no. Our county commissioners do not set a specific time each week when they will be in the courthouse available to the public if there are questions. There is not a day or a 1/2 day set aside for commissioners to be available to the public. As a matter of fact, the only time the county commissioners want to hear from you is if you vote for them or give them campaign contributions. Other than that....they couldn't care less. It's too bad, but I make that statement in all sincerity, after observing the county for 10 years.

Back to the Executive Session question. Here's what Idaho Code states:

67:2343: If an executive session only will be held, a 24 hour meeting and agenda notice shall be given according to the notice provisions of law authorizing the executive session.

{This means an executive session which is held without being called during another meeting. It is a stand alone session.}

67:2344: Minutes of executive sessions shall be limited to a specific reference to the statutory sub-section authorizing the executive session and sufficient detail to convey the general subject matter but shall not contain information to compromise the purpose of going into an executive session.

67:2341: Executive session means any meeting or part of a meeting of a government body which is closed to any persons for deliberation of certain matters.


One section of law 67:2344- our county commissioners, with the aid of our county prosecutor's office, abuse this law almost daily. One will note in county minutes, there is no specific reference to the statutory subsection. This county lists all sub-sections instead of one specific sub-section while they attempt to make executive sessions even more secret. It is such a long drawn out and expensive process to take them to court to stop this abuse, they aren't very worried about being caught. They list all the sub-sections and any other thing they can think of to confuse anyone interested. If someone complains, they get worse just to show that no one has any control over county commissioners, not even the law.

Missed my first budget hearing in a long time. My husband has hurt his back and I wanted
to stay home with him. I did have many questions about our county
budget, but will get them answered another way. It is quite apparent that the final budget
hearing held by county commissioners is decided long before the public has any input. Oh well, the
budget went down this year. Didn't think I would live to see that happen. CCW would rather have good economic times than a lower budget. Guess we are never satisfied!!!

ONE READER SENDS: Everybody is talking about what will happen to D. Young when he is put out of office in Jan. '09. He's been taking in over $100,000.00 every month and that kind of salary is only paid to Executives in this state. With the record following Young, where will he get that kind of money?

COMMENTS: CCW cannot begin to find any public agency which continues to operate with such an incompetent prosecutor. Young's days of pulling the wool over people's eyes are over. We are quite certain, even the waitresses at Red Robin are hoping they don't see him or be forced to listen to his off -colored jokes about roosters (cocks). How embarrasing for Canyon County to have such a low life as our prosecutor. As far as CCW is conceerned, he should be in jail with his son. How ironic!!! Taxpayers are forced to pay Young's son while he is on administrative leave, now he goes to jail and we are forced to pay for him still. CCW votes for Marcus paying back the money he stole from taxpayers.

Also, please, somebody, wipe that smirk off that young man's face. Hmmmm....maybe when he looses his freedom, that smirk will go away. Won't be much to smirk about then. CCW does not usually appreciate a bad time for anybody, but the circumstances over the past few years, when Marcus abused the fact that his dad was the prosecutor, coming into work anytime he wanted and leaving any time he wanted, he deserves what is coming his way now and so does Mr. Dave Young and all those deputies prosecutors who have abused their power.

ONE READER SENDS: Budget time is here and I always begin to feel sorry for you folks at CCW as you try to figure out where taxes have been spent. The budget process is really not very complicated but you just don't seem to be able to figure it out. Maybe I can shed some light and give you a boost before the budget hearing this week. Start in each account on Oct. 1, with the amount set by levy. Use the reports published in the newspaper from the county treasurer. If you have each of these reports, it is relatively simple to do a broad-over-all observation of the yearly budget accounts. Then if you have questions at the budget hearing, it is easier to relate questions to a specific account. Hope this has helped and hope you all come out for the yearly budget hearing on the 13th.

COMMENTS: Thanks for trying to help. We do have a hard time following the various budget accounts. However, it seems we are not alone, since the county commissioners have kept spending and spending this year until they learned they had spent so much they didn't have money to pay bills in Oct. Nov. and Dec. Each year, we get better and better when it comes to understanding the budget, but CCW thinks the commissioners don't want the public to know what they are doing. If they were the least bit worried about following the law, concerning the budgeting process, they would budget public funds to be used for a new jail, into the Justice fund as the law requires. Levies are se by law and not even county commissioners get to change those facts. But they sure try.

Chairman of the Board, Dave Ferdinand, claims, in his own words, "he only wants to get his gun back." Go to the Idaho Press website and follow the links to listen and view the video of Comm. Ferdinand with his lawyer, claiming the city of Boise is being unreasonable for not dismissing the case against Ferdinand when he was caught taking his gun on a plane. He claims he took care of the federal case and can't understand why Boise doesn't give up the ghost and let him go!!!

Psst, Mr. Ferdinand. You paid the fine to the feds. Have you paid the fine to Boise or are you simply claiming you are not guilty because you didn't "remember" you had your gun with you? We will all be allowed to listen to the entire investigation when this matter is settled, along with the tape recording of Comm. Ferdinand when he was taken into custody at the airport.

After observing Comm. Ferdinand for a few years, as county commissioner, CCW thinks he probably talked too much, telling the officers he always carried his gun in that same bag!!! He carried it to the courthouse and inside the courthouse, "all the time." Now, if you do something "all the time" why would law enforcement believe you did not know where your gun was located? Did Ferdinand talks so much he buried his chances of having his case dismissed?

Comm. Ferdinand should have saved his money and checked out what the city of Boise has done previously when a passenger was caught with a gun inside the airport terminal. Not one case has been dismissed until a full admission was made and a fine paid. The same must now happen to Comm. Ferdinand or the public will cry out special treatment.

It's the price one pays when an elected official is "toten" a gun. Comm. Ferdinand, you are not Claude Dallis and you need to put your six shooter away permanently.

Readers must go to the Press Tribune website at www.idahopress.com and follow the links which will allow you to listen to the entire hearing last week for Marcus Young. A lot of interesting news is found on that site which supports and expands what we read in our daily newspaper. The color used on that site is amazing and shows how the news of the future will be available to us.

CCW will have more information on the Marc Young case soon. Needless to say, Marc is free with no bond in place. He is free until his sentencing. Is special consideration being used because Marc is the son of our Prosecutor? Who knows? Listening to the hearing, perhaps!!!

One thing for sure. Looking at porn pictures of young teenage girls could easily be viewed as the first step for the making of a sexual predator looking for teenage girls. NBC has presented many Dateline stories about such predators. It is a scary thing. Marcus now must pay a price for his stupidity and hopefully that price will change his habits.

CCW IS DOING SOME INTENSIVE RESEARCH RIGHT
NOW REGARDING SOME ISSUES WITH OUR COUNTY
AND OUR ELECTED LEADERS. THIS RESEARCH IS TAKING A
LOT OF TIME AND WIL BE RELEASED TO THE PUBLIC JUST AS
SOON AS WE ARE ABLE TO GET ALL OUR DUCKS IN A ROW.
DOING THIS RESEARCH HAS CAUSED CCW TO BE SLOW UPDATING
THE PUBLIC ABOUT OUR BUDGET AND OTHER ISSUES. CCW WILL
BE BACK REAL SOON WITH NEWS YOU WILL ONLY GET FROM
CCW AND WE PROMISE, THE WAIT WILL BE SOOOOO WORTH IT.

ONE READER SENDS: The BOCC are trying to play it cool but they are sweating this budget like I have never seen. They moan about getting sued and claim litigation has caused budget woes. But, don't outsiders deserve some of the blame for our budget crunch, since there would be no litigation were it not for them suing the county?

COMMENTS: The outsiders you mention are the bosses who pay the bills. So, if they want the court to take a closer look at the actions of commissioners and the prosecutors , rhey should. CCW only knows about litigation against commissioners that questions the illegal process commissioners used purchasing the Jerome property and litigation now because of the process used by them again purchasing and trying to build on the 20/26 property. If they are involved in costly litigation, we don't know about that litigation. To the knowledge of CCW litigation against the commissioners personally, which citizens have been involved in , hasn't cost the county a cent. Their prosecutor's are supposed to come to work everyday and they are supposed to work when they are at work. Litigation about the jails is about elected officials abiding by the laws of our state. If that litigation has caused their budget "crunch" I'd consider that a down right prize. Maybe commissioners will finally wake up.

When a county has commissioners promising a jail one week, even giving dates the jail will be ready, and then within a few days, they claim the county is too broke to continue on the jail, it is unbelievable and these commissioners look as though they are inept and that is being kind. Readers might ask, what part of Comm. Rule's 18 month Report was accurate? Not much, including his claims about IT. Sometimes a county has to step back and see if what IT was doing two years ago, was exactly what Canyon Co. could afford!!!! They were certainly doing a good job with the programs they were running. Enter big spender Ferdinand. Maybe Canyon Co. can't afford all the changes being made by this commissioner. Do the other two commissioners ever scrutinize Ferdinand's spending? No! They each have their departments they supervise and back each other blindly. Sure tons of programs are available to public agencies. If each new commissioner adds tons of toys, our budgets won't recover.

Private enterprise doesn't change their entire computer system every other year! They do what is profitable. And that is the shortfall of government. They never produce. They only absorb!!! They only suck money out of people and don't ever put it back. Maybe there is a word to fit that description, but I'm quite sure it could not be printed on CCW!

CCW SHOULD JUST LEAVE THIS SPACE BLANK. WHEN A COUNTY GETS IN THE FINANCIAL SHAPE WE ARE IN AT CANYON COUNTY, THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY OUT!! MORE AND MORE TAXES. OUR COMMISSIONERS ARE 100% REPUBLICANS OR THEY CLAIM TO BE. THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH THIS ENTIRE PICTURE.

ONE READER SENDS: Calling the board " the equalization board" when we have to go in and beg for relief from them while at the same time trying to illustrate how they are not leaving us enough money to raise our own families is an oxymoron. They should be called the "board of victimization" That fits for sure. How humiliating to be forced to beg for monetary relief from commissioners who have gone bankrupt and then along with going bankrupt and foisting his debts on others, one who couldn't hold his own family together. I'm a life long republican and I'm ashamed to be in the same room with those so called republicans. What can we do to turn things around and get representatives who work every year to lower our taxes?

COMMENTS: People need to pay more attention to decisions made by these commissioners and write letters to the paper so when the time comes for an election they can't buy their way into office. It doesn't work to get upset at tax time. More and more people are making their feelings know about these three county commissioners who are masquerading as fiscal conservative republicans. Our budget has grown by millions each year. Some growth in county services is understandable when growth was happening so rapidly, but that has stopped. Will we see a reduction in the cost of county government?

No! They have the nerve to take more money from us so they can build a nicer, newer place for the criminals. Dollars are taken from our families and given to better digs for those who break laws. This jail should go away until the economy turns around. We'll see if these commissioners have a clue of how the republican platform is supposed to work when we have a down turn in the economy? Don't hold your breath.

Relief in coming in Jan. Can we hold on that long?????

CCW wants all readers to go to www.canyonco.org and take a look at Mr. Hurst's new information being put out on the county website. We have never had that kind of info made so readily available. A big thank you to those in the clerk's office, the auditor's office, the court offices and the elections office. It is so nice to have an elected official who ready does serve the public. It is sure easy to get used to! When CCW has more time, I will check out other departments contributions. CCW already checked the county commissioners portion of the new website. We are going backwards with these three county commissioners. We used to be able to go into the commissioners outer office at the courthouse and have access to a computer that allowed us to read all signed contracts, resolutions, employee information, amounts paid to different vendors, in short, we could read about each days activities which took place with our county commissioners. That computer is gone and that same information has never been transferred to the www so we could get daily county information on our home computers. That amounts to going backwards!!! what do these county commissioners have to hide.

Another backwards step with our county website, is the information from the Prosecutor's office. If you click on information from that office, you only find information way back in May. I know those guys have conducted some business since May! Hmmmm. Have they came to a screeching halt, since Young lost the election? Come on!!! Wake up!!! Get the information from the PA office. The world must keep turning!!!

ONE READER SENDS: I'm repulsed when Comm. Rule tries to influence votes in the election coming in Nov. He wants my friend, Estella Z. to get elected and not Kathy Allder. Both Estella and I work in the court system and one thing we know. Comm. Rule's reasoning is faulty. He wants us to vote for
Estella because she has not sued the county. He fails to tell employees that the case Kathy Allder signed on to wasn't a case asking for monetary damages. We have the entire case and anyone can read it. If Comm. Rule can't influence employees with fear of lawsuits, he then tells us our jobs are not secure if "certain" people are elected and we should vote democrat. Oooh, we are so scared. The commissioners want us to campaign against Allder claiming we'll all lose our jobs if she is elected. I do not
believe in that kind of pressure. Why are the BOCC afraid?

COMMENTS: CCW knows Kathy will be entirely fair with employees. Employees do all the work in the county courthouse Without them the county comes to a standstill. Don't worry yourself for one
second. Once again, if Comm. Rule is the instigator of the campaign against his fellow republican, perhaps he should find another party that wants him. That should take enough time we would all be safer.

ONE READER SENDS: Currant activity at least in my department at C.C.C. is our prep talk from certain members of BOCC claiming we ought not vote for Mrs. Alder even though she is the only republican in
the race. My thought is they are trying to isolate her while giving money to stellla trying to help her win. It's pretty offensive to me to hear that kind of stuff going on when we should be about doing our work on the county dime and allowed to vote as we want when we aren't on county time. It's offensive.

COMMENTS: Republicans trying to get a democrat elected instead of a fellow republican is as low as a republican can sink. Why would we expect anything less of our county commissioners. CCW has heard some employees express their discomfort about county commissioners trying to influence employees votes. If those three county commissioners think they can influence people to vote a certain way what should we look to as their area of expertise? Why would anyone follow their advice? CCW is certain they could lead people into bankrupcy or casting a vote for ones self to gain advantage. Or, maybe they can influence us on how to wisely purchase property with solid resale value! Or, how to build a sturdy jail, we can afford.

Here's the deal. These three frightened commissioners think they could buffalo Estella, if they could get
her elected. All we know here at CCW is some people are blinded by their own faults, err I mean fears. Even though we solidly support Kathy Alder, Estella Zomora is no one's fool. She has worked at the county much longer than all three county commissioners combined. We don't think being pushed around appeals to long time employees.

ONE READER SENDS: I hate to be happy to see people suffer through hard times, but our taxes climbed substantially because a developer built high priced houses in our neighborhood. Now that developer is left holding several empty houses but he still has to pay taxes on them and pay for upkeep when no one lives in those houses. We begged him in our neighborhood meeting, not to build on beautiful farm ground but he wouldn't listen and now he is left holding the bag and his best crop seems to be weeds he is too lazy to pull. Over here in Ada Co. our county spokesman claims our taxes will be lower next year because the economy was not so bad in Jan. 08 when they supposedly did the tax assessments. They will come up with some lie next year so our taxes will climb again. It's time for a tax revolt.

COMMENT: When people mention a revolt, we wish they would form a group of people and organize others to do just that. Several years ago, when CCCFRG was helping a Middleton group fight having two power plants along the Boise river, right in their back yards, one of the most effective things we did was
march on Idaho Power carrying picket sighs. They hated that and the government would hate it too. It is easy to make signs and picket a courthouse and peacefully get your voice heard. Elected officials might try to act like it does not bother them, but they hate it! It is peaceful redress of your government. We can talk about wanting taxes to be lower all we want. Organizing like those families did in Middleton is the only way to make peaceful change. You don't see any power plants near Middleton, now do you? People can take steps to have their voices heard if their is a need to speak out about government. But, you must be willing to give a part of your soul and stick with it. Nothing comes easy and nothing comes cheap! That is, except holding signs and marching. That is quite cheap.

ONE REDER SENDS: My parents took steps to get a subdivision on part of their land over by Wilder. So much of the way, they were utterly confused and when asking questions of the county, received little help. Now, there is so many problems with a nearby feedlot, a subdivision seems out of the question. Who would want to live by such a stinky place as tht feedlot? My question is whether or not an attorney can represent people fighting that feedlot and also hire out to the owner of the feedlot? Doesn't seem like either side could trust tht attorney. This questionable situation is more puzzling since the attorney is a hwy. 4 commissioner at the present time. My husband is coming unglued over this situation and is trying to get to meet with somebody at the state level. All we get is our problem is a local problem and the state doesn't want to help us at all. Can you give us any guidance concering this conflict of interest?

COMMENTS: You have asked several questions but perhaps CCW can help some. First of all, we sure hope the attorney you speak of, is not working for both sides as the same time. If that is going on you need to contact the Idaho State Bar and file a complaint. If what you are saying is that the attorney first worked for one side...stopped working for them....and then was hired by the other side, it sure appears to be a conflict. If that is the case, that attorney would have access to important information they would not have just because that attorney worked for the other side. CCW has only seen this kind of thing happen once. About 4 years ago, an application for a gravel pit was on the agenda because an appeal of the P&Z denied the application. First of all, the applicant asking for a gravel pit had already appeared before the Board of commissioners, then one person on the Board abruptly resigned from the Board and immediatly went to work for the same gravel pit applicants the day after leaving the Board. It certainly seems like a serious conflict, but do not know if it is against the law. CCW will do some checking and post the information we locate.

ONE READER SENDS: I want to go get my property split into two lots, and sell one of those lots. I live in the county and not in the city impact area. I haven't started tracking down all the paper work I know I will be required to do. Can you give me any direction?

COMMENT: You will need to go to the Development Services Dept at the county courthouse in Caldwell. That is a starting point. Take proof with you if you have it available showing when you purchased your property. A deed is best. It saves time if you take your own documents to the first meeting so the employees don't have to spend their time tracking everything down. It is of utmost importance WHEN you purchased your property you want to split. Prior to 1979, different rules apply. There is actually a specific month in 1979 but I cannot remember that piece of information. If you purchases your land prior to that year, the rules are less restrictive. If you purchased your property in that year, then you can call the DSD office and ask them which month applies.

Once again, take all the documents with you concerning your property. ( Deeds, well logs, building permits, and anything which pertains to your property and if you or others have previously tried to split your property, take that paper work with you also. ) You will move along much quicker. There is a cost for each split of property, and all steps move through the system in a specific order. DSD can give you a complete break down of all the costs involved in splitting your ground. If you are going to do this in the near future, you will probably move through the system quicker, since building has come to a drastic stand still compared to a year ago, because of a down turned economy.

ONE READER SENDS: I saw your website advertised in the newspaper. Finally some one is willing to tell it like it is. I'll sure keep reading. I used to work at the courthouse and had to leave to save my own sanity. I can state with certainty that employees are not causing the waste of taxes, but some decisions made by the BOCC are so risky. These commissioners are completely out of their league and we will be paying until some good, smart people get elected. I celebrated Kathy Alder and John Bujak's wins. Thanks for posting the truth.

COMMENT: Glad someone is reading our advertisement. It will run for one month. CCW will continue with news, facts, opinions and actual documents when we can. This is a new CCW site and as we re-build our readership, we will be able to add more and more county news. Let us know what kind of information interests you or your friends.

ONE READER SENDS: This is a great message center. Only today
did I learn your address and have been reading during every
spare minute. Here's a question I have. I was recently at
a gathering and heard Co. Commissioner Rule make some
comments contrary to Republican beliefs. Didn't Comm. Rule run for
office as a Republican or is he a democrat? I'd like
to know more about Mr. Rule. Also, Helen McKinney
has not been present at several gatherings recently and I wondered
if she had moved away or relocated to a retirement home.
She is responsible for my interest in the
Republican party and I've not been able to reach her.

COMMENT: Glad you have found our blog. First of all, Mrs. McKinney has been
quite ill is my understanding. Her health has declined over the past few years.
She is the king pin of the C.C. Republican party but new people will have
to take up the slack if she is not able to give her support because of poor health.
Mr. McGee is the new leader of the Republican party in Canyon Co.
He could certainly give you more information about her health.

Steve Rule did run under the Republican umbrella. His track record, so far,
certainly would make one wonder if his is truly a republican or just a Rino
using the party's name to promote himself. He's a part of raising more taxes
in Canyon Co. and he sounds like he wants more and more tax funds to
build his jail, even though a bad economic curtain is bearing down on Idaho. But,
if our elected commissioners are too ignorant to know the signs about a
decline in our economy, it follows that they will keep on spending, spending
and then spending some more. You are correct. That is not the Republican way!

If you are a new comer to the Republican party, it is probably wise to align yourself
with members who have been around and active for a longer time than Steve
Rule. CCW does agree with comments made by others who claim that Rule
simply took up the Republican cause because it benefited him, not from any
burning desire to help the Republican party. CCW hopes we are wrong, but
the signs point to a Rino!!

CCW has received many complaints about the manner in which Rule treated his fellow
Republican primary opponent, Mr. Jim Rice. It makes CCW down right ticked off to have
an elected official acting like a spoiled brat trying to get his way, just as Rule has done
while running for office. CCW did ask Rule about his behavior and he made claims
that Mr. Rice did not have a college degree to practice law in the state of Idaho. Not
only did Mr. Rice gain his legal standing as a lawyer by passing the Bar in Idaho but he also passed it in California. The old saying about those who have small brains throwing stones at others who have superior intellect appears to fit in this instance. It never fails to amaze us at CCW when a politician who does not have a college degree, attempts to undermine a fellow Republican who has reached the pinnacle of higher education which allows him to be a lawyer.

CCW is hearing regularly that Rule is working against the Republican primary winner for a seat on the commission and is trying to get a democrat elected as county commissioner. In other words, Rule is
working to get Estella Zamora elected to the county commissioner seat even though a republican won over three opponents in the primary election. He would well keep that kind of activity quieter or even the Rino's will throw him out of their group! We are sorry, but Rule has few attributes which would align him with most Canyon Co. Republicans. (Don't misinterpret what is said on CCW. We have always liked
Estella Zamora. She's a good democrat who is not hiding behind a political party just to have the upper hand in a political race.)

Here at CCW, we aren't interested in running for office, but stay vigilant at all times, keeping a close eye on our county commissioners and county prosecutor. It is clear to CCW and appearances are, that Steve Rule is nothing more than a fraud, a nobody, who managed to receive enough votes to place him in a position of spending other people's money. He's already proven he cannot manage his own money by filing bankruptcy and leaving his bills, for us to pay. His masquerade is and will continue to be extremely costly for this county, but he does fit in well with his present, fellow commissioners.

Readers can use the feedback link to sent any information to this site or use feedback to ask questions.
CCW will try to answer all question, while dispensing up to date guidance and help. Members of Canyon County Citizens for Responsible Government, have been actively working, helping citizens deal with county government for over nine years. If you need help or gave information which needs to be made available to everybody, click on feed back and send an email, or send information to 11968 Orchard Ave. - Nampa, Idaho 83651. You can also contact us by phone at 465-5569.

ONE READER SENDS: WOULD SOMEONE TELL ME HOW WE ARE SUPPOSED TO GET DOCUMENTATION ON HOMES THAT HAVE SOLD IN OUR AREAS TO TAKE TO THE COUNTY TO PROVE OUR ASSESSED VALUES ARE TOO HIGH? I have two neighbors who have sold their home near me in the past year. From county records I can locate the names of the people who bought their houses, but they won't tell me how much they paid in either case. How can the county demand that kind of record, when they know we cannot legally get it?

COMMENTS: Sometimes a neighbor will tell if you tell them what is happening to your property tax bill. But, you are correct, there is no law in this state requiring disclosure of selling price. As long as that is true, and the law stays the same, the county cannot require those records as the only documentation you can show to reduce your assessments. In an earlier post, CCW explained that people need to get the addresses of their neighbors, of those houses closely resembling yours, and then call the assessor's office and ask them to tell you the assessed value of those addresses. If the homes are like your home, that should be adequate to get your assessment lowered, if there is a big difference. Simply by knowing your neighbors address, you can get that public information by calling the assessor's office. Call 454-7300 and ask for the assessor's office.

Readers should also know that each property owner in Canyon County has a file located in the assessor's office. You can go to the assessor's office and ask to see your own file or anybody else's file. Information in that file can be very helpful to tax payers. It shows what the county is using to assess your property. For instance, last year CCW was informed we had a finished basement. That was in our file. We had the assessor come out and look at our basement. Solid cement, rafter showing. Wallah! That was removed from our assessment. Your file is very interesting. Go look at it.

ONE READER SENDS: I sent a comment to canyoncountywatch.org several days ago with a question about property taxes. Since I haven't seen it I wondered if it didn't go through so I'm going to ask the same question again. My property tax assessment rose this year by 72% Now I must take off from work and go meet with the board to get it changed, I hope. How can my assessment go up when the economy is going down and is there information I need to take with me when I get go to my appointment to ask for my assessment to be lowered?

COMMENTS: CCW checked back through all comments and did not locate your previous post. Thanks for sending again. When you have your meeting with the county commissioners or the assessor's office, you need to have some documentation showing what property values are located near your home. First off, you can get information from the assessor's office directly about your neighbor's assessed values. Call the county at 454-7300 and ask for the assessor's office. Have handy addresses for your neighbor's property. You can learn how much your neighbor's property was assessed for this year and previous years. That information is all public record. Compare those figures to your assessed value. If you can get information about property near your home that has sold in the past year or two and if you can get information (pictures with addresses help) about property near you that has been up for sale but doesn't seem to be moving, that is helpful when you go to either the assessor's office or the Board of Equalization.

CCW wants readers to know that they could reach roadblocks asking people what their property sold for. It seems unrealistic to ask people to gather that information when our state legislature has passed laws which do not require that people inform anybody how much money they received from the sale of any property. There is fault with both the county government and the state government concerning the disaster we are encountering with property assessments. State laws need to be changed to insure that counties cannot skip your property assessment for 3 or 4 years and then hit you with a huge raise in assessment value, all in one year. After all, it is not the fault of property owners if assessments are not done yearly. Perhaps the assessor's office needs more employees to cover such a large county as Canyon County on a yearly basis.

The comments CCW is regularly receiving is questioning HOW assessments can go up when the economy is sharply going down? This is a fact which cannot be ignored, even by Canyon Co. and is reported widely across our nation. When the housing market collapses and thousands of houses stand empty, and many homes set on the auction block for sale for sometimes years, why are taxes not dropped to reflect that market? The county sure is quick to raise taxes during a good housing market, but the reverse is certainly not true. Something is wrong with this picture.

CCW has consistently held with the fact that the county budget is what drives tax assessments in this county and many other counties. County commissioners claim this is not true, but think about this...If the county sets a budget, how else can they get the money to drive that budget? They can raise some fees, but realistically, they cannot raise fees enough to fund probably more than 40% of the budget, if that. Of course, assessments are budget driven. When our county learns to run more efficiently, our assessments will be lower. And that's a fact.

CCW has learned that Commissioner Matt Beebe was stormy mad because he thought his new home had been assessed too high. He has built a new home over looking a beautiful river valley near Roswell and Parma. His new address is 25275 Stephen Lane - Parma, Idaho. His lovely, yellow home is on a ledge with one entire side facing the river. That side has a long, beautiful deck the entire length of the home. He purchased that property from Thron Von Komen, a Parma business man. It is unknown how Beebe learned about that specific property being for sale, since it is right smack dab in the middle of several hops fields. Hmmmm! Makes one wonder.

Beebe's house was originally assessed at $237,000.00. He was able to get that assessed value dropped to $229,080.00. Drive out to Roswell and take a look and see if you agree with that assessment. Maybe Beebe's new home wll look kind of like your home and you can get your assessed the same.

When property is sold, state law allows the owner to keep the sale price secret. With that in mind, read the small article in today's Press Tribune newspaper from the assessor's office:

{Chief Deputy Assessor, Joe Cox said that to be successful at an assessment appeal hearing, taxpayers need to bring documentation of other properties that have sold that are very similar to their property. The sales have to reflect a lower value than the current assessment. Preferably, the sale is in the same subdivision that is similar and involve a property the same age and the same square footage. "If you do find three or four sales, get hold of your appraiser and they can resolve it at the front counter." Cox added, "Ninety percent of everything get resolved once we can get the appraiser and taxpayer together talking and that's to everybody's best interest."}

Sure, if you find three or four sales, below your assessment, you have just done the work of the assessor's office. They cannot demand from the public documents which do not exist as public record. So, do your homework and get addresses of homes as nearly like yours as possible, as close to the same age and square footage as your, and close to your home in location, then call the assessor's office and get the assessed values from those addresses. If the county wants to ask us to get sale prices, then they need to get the laws changed so disclosure is required. It never hurts to ask someone what their sale price was, but in this world, be prepared to get a blank stare. When you go in for your meeting with the Boardof Equalization, it is wise to print off a map from the internet, (google earth) and take that map, showing the location of your home and each property you are using as a comparison. That is very helpful. Good luck.

ONE READER SENDS: As a result of raising our assessed value of both our home and lot, we have to trek into the courthouse and beg elected commish to drop our value down to a sensible amount. If that interupption in our lives isn't enough, now one commish, Ferdinand, in the paper today, threatens to have some of us come in on the 4th of July to beg them. We are both mad as hornets when government can force us to pay such huge amounts when we couldn't sell our home for anywhere near as much as we are now being assessed.

COMMENTS: CCW had to go our and get the paper to see what this post was talking about. Commissioner Ferdinand should realize that his first statement could easily take care of the large number of appointments needed to meet as the Board of Equalization. And I quote, "the county might ask the state for an extention of the due date." By due date, he must mean the number of days set by law, when the Board of Equalization can hear complaints. Those dates are from yesterday, June 24th through July 14th.
The board needs to take that step prior to making appointments late into the night. If the board finds out the "strict statutory requirements" cannot be extended, then other arrangements can be make.

Trying to make people think they could be required to meet on the Fourth of July is ignorant. Just the cost of paying employees over time would sky rocket, let alone the inconvenience it would cause people who have made plans for that day. Who knows why Ferdinand threw that into the picture!!

Ada county had over 2,800 complaints returned to their assessor's office and you don't hear them threatening people with inconvenence, such as meeting on the 4th of July.

ONE READER SENDS: Working with D. Ferdinand has been quite a learning curve in conceit. He is one of the most conceited people I've met in my lifetime. I'd been wondering what kind of job he will find after the next election when he will be out of here and today I know what he is qualified to do. He can work at the airport as a luggage handler. Am I nuts or does lifting a suitcase for an elderly woman THREE YEARS AGO, make D. Ferdinand an officer and a gentleman? If he does go to work at the airport, what will he do with his loaded gun? How did this guy wind up on the BOCC? He is the brunt of more jokes at the courthouse than anybody whose ever been on the BOCC.

COMMENTS: When the above comment came in earlier this morning, CCW couldn't understand what had happened. So, to understand this post, read the letters to the editor in the Press Tribune. There is a letter from an elderly woman claiming that Ferdinand had helped her several years ago, lift her suitcase off the airport luggage transport. She was 83 and worried she might not be able to lift her suitcase. Helping her was a nice thing to do, but what is Ferdinand doing? Running all over the place trying to get people to write letters praising him in an attempt to remedy how stupid he is for writing that letter to the paper prior to the primary election, claiming other elected officials were bought and paid for?

Look at Ferdinand's sunshine report from his last election!!!! If any one is bought and paid for, he has little room to speak. CCW has been confronted by several men who attended high school with Ferdinand. They claim he was conceited then as he is now. The only thing CCW has to say about that, is, WHY?

Several readers have complained they cannot open CCW when using Mozilla Foxfire. After some checking, CCW finds we cannot access either from Mozilla. Use other browzers to open CCW. We'll let you know when Mozilla will work.

ONE READER SENDS: Driving through Canyon County is heart wrenching. What are subdivisions doing down by Celebration Park? There are no facilities for emergency or anything else that far out. Who is planning for the future?

COMMENTS: Figures available state that from 1997 and 2002 Canyon Co. lost 26% of farm ground. Nothing has stopped that destructive advance. Only County Commissioners can permit such development. Comm. Rule brags that farmers used to come to him (on the MIddleton city council) asking him to stop subdivisions near their farm ground. Now, Rule claims, those same farmers are coming to him and asking him to allow them to subdivide their farms.

Does anybody realize what Rule is saying? Of course farmers are now asking to subdivide. When you surround farm ground with subdivisions, other farmers finally give up and throw in the towel. So, our county commissioners have been singularly responsible for forcing many farmers to go out of business.

We are paying over $4.00 per gallon for fuel. Food prices are going up, up, up! Corn once used for food, is now being sought for ethanol. We have invaded two countries and the only thing those countries have that we want is oil. They don't have the military available to fight back so, they are doing anything possible to harm us and drive us out. With oil prices raising, our fuel price balloons. Whether or not the ethanol experiment will be of any value, is yet to be seen.

Advice from CCW: Do not depend on county commissioners to wake up and make sound decisions. The good ole boy system is raging. If you have a garden spot, keep it and start growing food. If you have more garden space than you need, save it. The time may come you can rent it out to city dwellers who don't have that option. Think it can't happen to us? Is gas stopping at $4.00 per gallon. All the signs are go for some very serious problems in the US. Get your heads out of the sand and insist these politicians protect our county. This last primary election at least give some of us a little hope that some of this insanities can be stopped.

ONE READER SENDS: Why is it that we can access other blogs on our county computers, such as Caldwell Guardian and Boise Guardian but the IT has blocked your blog and none of us can read it while we are at the county courthouse working? You should file a complaint and force these guys who are so afraid of what you say, to unblock your blog so we can at least read it during our break or lunch time. These guys running the county will do anything they can to keep the truth from coming out on how they do stuff. Is there some place you can turn them in or what?

COMMENTS: I knew my old CCW was blocked, but thought maybe this new site had not been blocked. Can you tell me when it was blocked and if anything was said to employees about opening my site? CCW must not be blocked for the county commissioners to access, because I have several time received blasts from county commissioners about something they read on this site.

Just after the 2004 primary election, CCW received a quite ignorant message from a county commissioner who does not work at the county any longer. My manager could see that it was sent from a county computer. He could tell from some kind of number track he could follow. Of course, after this last primary election, CCW got to respond in kind. Loved it!

CCW neglected to point out that the DSD at the courthouse has a lot of information on their web site. Several other county departments are also keeping their websites up to date. Readers can go to www.canyonco.org to read county information on various sites.

To view contributions to elected officials go to www.canyonco.org Then click on Elections and follow the links to Sunshine contributions. Comm. Rule was just elected to four more years, and look at his contributions and who they are from. There is little doubt what is expected of him.

Citizens should thank our clerk, Mr. Hurst, for the time he has taken to provide us with as much information on line as possible. It is my understanding more more information will be provided to us on line. Our sheriff's department also provides a lot of info online. Our county commissioners could be providing all kinds of information on line but they don't want the citizens to know what's going on. All contract, and all kinds of information should be made available, online. Do you think they wanted anyone to read the contracts to Rodney Rohm? If you go to the county computer, located for the public in the commissioners office, you can read all contracts and all kinds of transactions, such as resolutions, and etc. But do they provide these documents online for our convenience? One of the reasons many are against having a spokes person is because one of the responsibilities announced for that job was to bring the county web site up to date and provide important information. That doesn't mean just putting out a press release once in a blue moon. It means catching up to the rest of the world and providing easy access to public records.
I like our county spokesperson. She has a great personality. But when you work for loony tunes, what can you do. Hopefully, if her job is cancelled, she can go to work in the IT office or somewhere else.
IS ANY BODY LISTENING? CCW STILL MUST SEND IN A PUBIC RECORDS REQUEST JUST TO GET THE NAMES OF EMPLOYEES AND SALARIES. ALL THAT INFORMATION SHOULD BE ON THE WEB. EACH EMPLOYEE'S NAME AND THE DEPARGMENT THEY WORK IN , HIRE DATE, AND SALARY SHOULD BE AVAILABLE.

WE HAVE TO DO REQUESTS AND WAIT! THAT INVOLVES TAKING UP EMPLOYEE TIME, EVEN A HIGH PAID DEPUTY PROSECUTING ATTORNEY IS PAID TO DO PUBLIC RECORDS REQUESTS, JUST BECAUSE OUR SNEAKY PROSECUTOR HAS TO KNOW WHAT THE PEOPLE ARE LEARNING TO TRY TO COVER HIS TRACKS. SAME IS TRUE OF OUR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. WHY WOULD THEY CONTINUE IN A PROCESS USING EMPLOYEE TIME AND DEPUTY PROSECUTOR TIME??? HOW STUPID! AND THEY WONDER WHY WE DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO GET THEM REMOVED FOR OFFICE!!!! IT'S JUST TIME FOR THE GLOVES TO COME OFF AND THE PEOPLE TO FIND OUT SOME OF THIS INFORMATION.

ONE READER SENDS: I've noted instances when I thought laws were broken by the commish. If they are breaking laws, why aren't they prosecuted like we would be?

COMMENTS: Good question. Did you know that elected officials are allowed to carry guns without having a concealed weapon permit? Did you know there are laws on the books which say elected officials, like the legislature, cannot be arrested for breaking the law while they are in session? People don't know how elected officers have passed laws to make themselves above the law. If a legislator gets drunk and hits someone and kills or injures them, while that same legislator is actively serving during a legislative session, what would the outcome be? CCW will do some research on this and let you know the rest of the story.

How long have our three county commissioners been in office? Is it long enough so accurate, good decisions are being made to protect Canyon Co. and taxpayers? We can only measure our commissioners by their past works and decisions. Let's look at some of those past decisions made since 2006.

1. Hired Rodney Rohm with several contracts to help the county with information technology and soft ware. He is a friend and previous financial partner of Ferdinand.

COSTLY BLUNDER

2. Just recently purchased a brand new 4x4 for county maintenance official when the county clerk is asking employees and other elected officials to cut costs to make up a 9 million dollar shortfall.

COSTLY BLUNDER

3. Recently signed a huge contract ( $168,000 ) with Ada Coroner to do work which has for years been done by our own elected coroner in our NEW crime lab thereby usurping another elected officials duties.

COSTLY BLUNDER

4. Purchased the Jerome property for over 2 million dollars for a new jail and justice center, and then changed their minds leaving taxpayers holding the proverbial bag and paying all costs involved

COSTLY - COSTLY BLUNDER

5. Purchased another piece of property on 20/26 claiming a new jail would now be located at that site, claiming a citizens committee choose that site OVER the Jerome property. CCW does not know what those citizens were informed, but knowing several on that committee, it is abundantly clear those citizens were not given the entire truth about what was available for a new jail. Commissioners claim a citizens group led our commissioners to purchase property with no infrastructure, what- so - ever, in place of property already owned by the county which had all infrastructure in place!!


COSTLY - COSTLY - COSTLY BLUNDER


6. Commissioners budgeted for the 2006 fiscal year. Commissioners budgeted for the 2007 fiscal year. Commissioners budgeted for the 2008 fiscal year. Commissioners failed to follow their own budget. Commissioners, with the concurrence of our county prosecutor, decided to make up their own laws and pay for new construction on" a pay as you go" plan resulting in expensive litigation!! Who needs state statutes? Isn't government better when they make up the rules, and laws as they go along? Is it that our commissioners and prosecutor are remedial readers and cannot read Idaho Code?

EXTREMELY COSTLY BLUNDER

7. Commissioners cannot understand the Levy system of government when property owners are taxed according to a specific levy. Commissioners, and the county prosecutor, are enhancing and minimizing budget levies by moving budgeted money from one levied fund to another. They are "bumping" up against certain levies right now and do not have a clue why that is important!!

STUPID COSTLY BLUNDER

8. Commissioners are requesting a budget for the 2009 fiscal year which requires higher assessments when our economy has taken a slump, dive, drop, otherwise known as bad economy! Commissioners don't have a clue how to cut expenditures, even though county revenue has gone in the proverbial toilet!!!!

IDIOTIC COSTLY BLUNDER

9. Commissioners are causing irreparable damage to taxpayers by raising taxes in bad economic times but they can't spell irreparable and don't have a clue what the word means.

COSTLY BLUNDER BY REMEDIAL READERS

10. Commissioners lied when informing State Land Board they have " on hand" enough money to purchase the old Job Service, thereby beating out Vallivue School District who wanted to purchase that building and land for an alternative school which would be available for all three of our county commissioners and prosecutor to attend that school and take remedial courses in word usage, spelling and connotations along with the meaning of the word truth.

11. County Commissioners refused to cooperate with the city of Caldwell who were willing to use some of their Urban Renewal dollars to designate a city block, declaring it blight, directly adjacent to the courthouse property, which would allow old homes to be purchased and torn down, freeing up enough land to add on to our jail. Caldwell also offered sell (possibly give) to the county, an elementary school, still being used by elementary students (who are far more important than jail birds) which could have been used as a drug rehab building or other county uses. Commissioners refused to even discuss with the public this remedy to our claimed jail problem. Some claimed Caldwell was just trying to push off on the county an old school with asbestos problems. Those problems would only be important if the building was torn down. But that isn't really a big problem, as the state has standards in place for hauling asbestos to landfills, after specific wrapping. If the school is safe enough for children, why is it not safe enough for jail birds? Caldwell would assist tearing down the blighted homes, and walla!!!!! An entire city block for jail requirements.

IDIOTIC, STUPID, IGNORANT, DUMB COSTLY BLUNDER

12. County Commissioners and Prosecutor have an ongoing challenge to see how many different ways to announce Executive Sessions held during work hours, 8 - 5!!!! A few years ago, the attorney general himself came and spent an entire afternoon, teaching anyone interested, the legal reasons for an Executive Session and the required method to announce an upcoming Executive Session. Within days of the lessons from the attorney general, commissioners and prosecutor demonstrated they had no intention of only holding Executive Sessions for legal reasons and our commissioners and prosecutor set out to show the public how many ways they could come up with to NOT follow the law concerning Executive Sessions. Expensive litigation ahead!!!

COSTLY BLUNDER

13. County Commissioners continue to set as the Board members for the county ambulance district while continuously turning a deaf ear and blind eye, concerning what is really going on behind the scenes involving our ambulance district director and his staff and the director and outlying county cities, suffering dangerous issues of timely carrying injured and/or dying patients to hospitals. Commissioners should demand the quickest, safest transport of patients and quite allowing medicare and medicaid billing to be more important than people's lives. Already Nampa demanded and obtained their own transport arrangements and supervise their own paramedics to insure safe, timely transport of people who find themselves in need of medical care.

An example: Approximately two years ago, a person collapsed in a Nampa medical facility, and had to call an ambulance to transport that person to Mercy Medial. Since Nampa has their own transport vehicles, they arrived first with the county ambulance people arriving second. Since Nampa had already begun to care for the patient, they continued that care when the county ambulance paramedics arrived. An argument ensued when the county demanded that Nampa stand down and allow them to take the patient. Nampa was working on the patient and ignored the county, finally taking the patient to the hospital. This incident has been discussed in several different meetings to illustrate the stupidity of the reasoning used by the county director of the ambulance district. WHY? Because, the county wants the medicare or medicaid dollars and will waste precious minutes for a dying person just to get their way.

COSTLY BLUNDER WHICH COULD TAKE A LIFE


14. County commissioners are requiring double taxation involving the transporting and care of animals inside the city limits of Canyon Co. cities. All county residents, including city dwellers, owning property, are required to pay the same tax for the operation of a county animal shelter. The county, in turn, forces cities to pay once again, quite high amounts of money or the county refuses to take care of animal matters for the cities. This has gotten so out of hand, and the fees so high, that Nampa found it cheaper to haul their own animals and meet the needs of Nampa residents, by purchasing their own transport units and hiring city staff to address this problem. Other cities are still taxed double for these services. iT IS ILLEGAL AND COSTLY.

COSTLY BLUNDER

15. Canyon County Commissioners claim during 2009 budget hearings that there is now a system in place, allowing the tracking of all county electronic equipment. The first step in trying to track the electronic equipment purchased for the county, was to have the IT Dept. purchase all equipment from their budget. This started about three years ago. Sounds good!!! During 2009 budget hearings commissioners claim an employee in IT, named Dan Anderson, keeps records which can locate any electronic item purchased . However, the reality is, no one can seem to locate computer (s) issued to our county prosecutor, Dave Young. Because of this failure, all kinds of electronic equipment could be taken by Young or others, for any reason, with no fear of being found out. Rumors have flown for years that county electronics, purchased with public funds, have been taken by elected officials and donated to any place they wanted to impress and donated as though the elected official had purchased those items with their own personal money. Who is to know the difference, if the county has no idea where electronic equipment goes? Proof of this blunder is when PRR's cannot be filled showing the location of electronics paid for by public funds.

16. Distrust galore abounds when the county commissioners are involved in examples like this:

There are dates, set by law, and those wanting to run for public office must sign up with the elections office, turning in the required documents, by a certain date. Prior to that date, which was in March of 2008, there is really no way to know who will run for office in any given election year, unless the people tell others personally, they intend to run. There has long been raised eyebrows when contributions are made to county commissioners, by persons who will soon be appearing before those commissioners asking for permission to make changes involving land use. How is it then, that certain developers, J.A.P.S. for example, made a sizable donation to Comm. Rule's recently completed run for office, before Mr. Rule had even signed-up to run for office? How did that developer know to give this donation, unless there was some ex parte conversations prior to the hearings about this development? And, guess what??? Right after the hearings concerning this development, the developer's attorney also donated money to Rule, once again, prior to his formal announcement of running for office? A closer look showed another contribution to Rule, long before he announced, from a planning business, working with J.A.P.S. This development had a good deal of opposition, but sailed right through, leaving no doubt that Comm. Rule is bought and paid for over and over again. So, this was not one contribution, not two contributions but three contribution to Rule linked to this one development, before he even announced his intention to run for office. Canyon County must have a lot of developers who can read minds. Heaven forbid, our commissioners are involved in ex parte conversations which are self serving. That kind of activity is what cost Galvin her job when she was county commissioner. This kind of activity can lead to costly litigation and already has cost tax payers who opposed this development! AND THIS COUNTY HAS OVER 6 THOUSAND HOMES SITTING EMPTY.

SNEAKY, COSTLY BLUNDER

Readers! This is but a few situations involving county commissioners and the prosecutor's office in the last two or three years. And our property taxes keep going up so commissioners can continue their costly blunders, never looking back. More blunders will be reported soon.

ONE READERS SENDS: There's something that strikes me as odd when I read comments on this website. If illegal activity by those elected to serve is known by the community and CCW, how do these people get re--elected time and time again.

COMMENTS: It is sad to say, but most of them get elected by putting an R in front of their name. However, that is not always the case. The recent election of Kathy Alder is a prime example. She took very few contributions, but still won by a big margin. She had a mandate people believed in and wanted her if office to be their representative to carry out that mandate. First and foremost, people are sick of being gouged by property taxes so unfairly. She had other mandates too and we have no doubt she will work to fulfill each one. So, if people get upset enough, sometimes, they throw out an incumbent. This happened with Matt Beebe. He has cost this county a bundle with his ignorant actions against the city of Caldwell. He thought he was getting away with it, but when the right information gets out near election time, sometimes they throw the bums out.

Considerable information was supplied to the Emmett area, simply documenting for those receiving it Matt Beebe's track record. A candidate cannot escape his record, but if no one knows his record, they sometimes get away with selfish motives for years. CCW had a dear friend in Emmett who distributed information after meetings and at other times, which we supplied for that purpose. One thing for sure. CCW knew Matt Beebe's track record. We have been ticked off every time we try to irrigate and someone in a new subdivision Beebe approved, takes our water!!! People never forget a wrong concerning irrigation water. I guess Matt Beebe, Pat Galvn and Todd Lakey just didn't know the ropes!!! Now, they are all gone.

ONE READERS SENDS: I've wondered what happened to the commissioner lady named Galivan who used to be at the courthouse and tried to get a power plant on her ground? Can you tell me what happened to her?

COMMENT: It is our understanding that Mrs. Galvin (correct spelling) is now on the parole and pardons board at the state pen. She would be deciding who gets out and who stays in! Is that not fitting or what?

It is no longer a question about whether people are willing to pay high property taxes...with the latest raises in assessments this year, some people can no longer afford to pay property taxes. If information received at CCW is correct, our county commissioners have received 1,700 complaints about their high assessments.

This set of county commissioners is plagued by poor judgement and lack of expert knowledge to lead a county the size of Canyon Co. The problems are piling up daily.

Here's a good question. Many people complain about the sizable new assessments in a one year period of time and what are they told? There are told they hadn't been appraised in a long time, therefore their taxes are high so the assessor's office can catch up!!! Who's fault is that??? Why doesn't the assessor's office hire more employees to get their job done in a timely manner as required by law? What does Idaho Code say about the failure to assess and keep taxes updated each year to show market value? Something is very wrong with the "oh, we didn't get you assessed for several years."

ONE READER SENDS: The nightly news showed David Ferdinand trying to get out of paying his fine for having a loaded gun on him at the airport. He won't let us get out of paying taxes so why should he get away with anything? He admitted to feds and paid a fine but is it because Boise city is run by democrats Ferdinand don't want to give them his fine money?

COMMENTS:

CCW hadn't thought about Boise leaders being democrats but that's probably not the answer. His lawyer is quibbling about whether or not Ferdinand KNEW he was carrying a gun. It's our opinion that Ferdinand needs to be quiet and pay his fine. He's his own worst enemy when all over the news the same day he was caught, he said many times on various news programs he carried his loaded gun everywhere, even inside the courthouse! So, now he didn't know he had a loaded gun when he went to the airport to fly to Washington DC!!! If he claims he carries it everywhere, how can the police believe he didn't know he had it? Did he have his gun today in the courtroom when he tried to persuade a judge not to put an injunction on the new jail? If Ferdinand is allowed to carry a gun inside the courthouse, who is to know if he has it on him anywhere inside the courthouse? The only metal detectors are in the hallway at the front door. Boise needs to hold Ferdinand to the same rules everyone else plays by,

Apparently Ferdinand pleaded guilty to the federal charges and paid that fine. This would all be over and forgotten if he had just paid his fine to the city in the beginning. Ferdinand is responsible for any public money spent on his case. He's the one dragging this case out. Pay one fine...pay them all.

ONE READER SENDS: Do you have any information about whether or not the rest of the BOCCs carry loaded guns at work in the courthouse? The thought of that makes me nervous.

COMMENTS: How do we know? I wouldn't be surprised at all but have not heard them admit it so we don't know.

Expect all individuals in government, including elected officials, to conduct themselves within the highest and strictest standards of personal conduct when carrying out their duties. The people of Idaho demand leaders who will uphold their oath of office and the constitution and are accountable to the people who elect them.

The most effective, responsible and responsive government is the government closest to the people. Government is best when citizens are actively involved and engaged in healthy debate on all issues that will increase citizens control pf government. The smallest government is the best government.
Government should should not do what private enterprise can do much better.

WHO SAID THAT? WHERE DID THESE POLICIES ORIGNIATE? Do you know? Probably not since most of CCW readers are from Canyon County and some of the past and some of the present elected officials in our government undoubtedly do not operate by these policies. Our assessor tries to follow these policies. Our Treasurer tries to follow these policies. Our Clerk tries to follow these policies. Our Coroner does follow these policies. But, at least two of our commissioners, Ferdinand and Beebe's actions show they have never even seen these policies and our prosecutor has gone so far astray, it is reasonable to suggest he has never seen any of these policies. CCW is, once more, going to give Comm. Rule another chance to do the right thing. Many people voted for him and once again, he deserves an opportunity to live up to the Republican platform. When a person runs as a Republican, they should at all times abide by their own parties platform. So, one more chance to be sensible when spending the money we have been required to pay will be extended to Comm. Rule.

These policies and statements are all paraphrased from the Republican platform. When a candidate runs as a member of a specific political party, then they should be known by their actions and their actions should adhere to their parties platform.

One reader sends: Vicki is always nice to everybody. Her comments today in the paper were true. Ferdinand and Young drummed up a plot and some claimed emergency to show Vicki they could do anything they wanted to her or her budget. They will get away with it and they know it. Wish she would sue them to get that money back from Ada Co.

COMMENTS: What right did the prosecutor or the commissioners have to think they could enter into contracts which were not negotiated by the coroner? She should be angry. Ferdinand claims in today's paper he is always looking for ways to save tax dollars. But he and Young conjure up a contract giving money to Ada county, when everybody has paid for a new crime lab so we could do that work here. There is more story to that contract signing than's coming out. It has crossed some of our minds that certain deputy prosecutor's are going to be looking for jobs and maybe used the issuing of that give away contract to to barter hitting Ada Co. up for jobs. I will keep track of where some of our deputies get jobs.

I can think of a couple of people who will definitely be leaving that office who deserve to be hired by the Ada county coroner working in his office. I understand things are pretty well cut and dried in that office and they wouldn't need to make many decisions.

One reader send: Don't people think it's hard on employees to see the waste happening at the courthouse? We all pay taxes too and whistle blowers would not only be fired, but blackballed all over this state. There is a record in IT which shows all equipment purchased by the county and who that equipment was delivered to. You're getting lied to about Young's computer. An IT employee whose initials are DA knows which computer was issued to Young. Send a request to him and see if he is afraid of Young. Hundreds are glad Young is almost gone.

COMMENTS: Thanks. I'll check my salary names to learn which IT employee has those initials. Anonymous tips help a lot.

What does a county do if they don't have enough money to pay their bill, salaries, and all expenses? For whatever reason, whether their decisions have been so poor and whether they have been negligent with tax dollars, public agencies operated mostly on tax dollars, can issue tax anticipation notes or in plain terms, they will have to borrow money to pay their bills. This would be the political end for several Canyon Co. politicians who have not already met their political end. This is serious folks!

There is a price to pay for politicians who abuse their trust. It surely seems like this isn't true but rarely do politicians get away with abuse. The end comes in many different forms, but it does come. Remember, there are politicans who are true public servants. They understand what it means to serve the public. When they conclude their political and/or public service careers, they don't have to look back and feel anything but pride. My husband's creed as a public servant was ...Don't do anything as a public servant you wouldn't be happy to read in the next day's paper!

Those in charge of making decisions which affect the public have serious jobs ahead of them. It is not going to work to try to ram your way through this big mess and get a jail built or buy a job service building.
Clean up your mess.

CCW is going to keep posting county information and observations we have about county business. We've been out of town, but are back and ready to start posting more about the Canyon Co. Budget process. I guess we all know where that money comes from! Keep checking and sending comments and questions. We'll get answers as quickly as possible.

CCW notes that after an election, winners oft times claim they have received a mandate. A mandate for what? Winners claim they have received a mandate to follow through with claims about certain issues and
any promises made during their runs for office,

What is a mandate? ...It's a verb or action word...it can be an authorization to act...an authoritative command.

Look at the finial numbers in some races.

Rice - 5,966
Rule - 8,303

TOTAL DIFFERENCE - 2,347

***************************

Combs - 3,954
Alder - 5,869

TOTAL DIFFERENCE - 1,915

****************************
Did Rule get a mandate to continue his full frontal attack on
farm ground in Canyon County? Since property taxes have
risen sharply since Rule took office, was his vote a mandate
for Rule to continue to set such a high budget requiring property
taxes to explode again and again? His new term is a four year term. If
his election was a mandate for higher taxes, many will be put out
of their homes by the time Rule is up for election again. Did
voters believe Rule would follow through with promises he
made claiming he would make sure taxpayers received the most
BANG for their buck. Does Rule believe voters elected him as
CEO of our county thereby allowing him to make nearly all decisions without
further input from his constituents?

When a person is a CEO for a company...do they work tirelessly and make
decisions constantly that benefits the bottom line, making money for that
company instead of losing money for the company? If a CEO wants
maximum benefits for a company, does he continuously study what is going on
with that company and make changes when needed to assure lasting profits
for his share holders?

Did Steve Rule receive a mandate from the people to stay the course?


Did Kathy Alder get a mandate from voters to work tirelessly to bring about change
to local government...lowering property taxes, squeezing the most she can out of
any budget set for the county? What did voters for Alder say she should do as
CEO for our county? Are voters mandating less property taxes and consistent
decisions concerning land use decisions. Are voters for Alder calling for the
necessary infrastructure to be built prior to more and more houses outside city
impact areas?

DID THE SAME PEOPLE VOTE FOR KATHY ALDER AS VOTED FOR STEVE RULE?

We must be careful what we ask for when electing leaders in local government. A
collision course could result.

OR

Is the mandate to all those elected a demand, that laws be followed and never
bent for special interests? If the existing laws are followed will mandates for
both candidates be successful?

CCW thinks, come Jan. 2009. voters will begin to understand just how much our
county can benefit from having leaders who chose to follow the law and also from
having leaders who consistently report to the public how their vote followed the law and
exactly what the law (s) requires from local government.

Two different districts for commissioners have spoken. Is the difference really all that
great or seemingly impossible to compare? What one mandate applies to all?

Did 8,302 voters tell Steve Rule to obey the law when making decisions for our
county? Did 5,869 voters tell Kathy Alder to obey the laws when making
decisions for our county?

Is their mandate, indeed the same mandate for our new prosecutor and our
sheriff? Is their mandate to simply obey the law?

IF NO ONE CAN FIND ONE COMPUTER USED BY YOUNG. WHAT ELSE HAS HE TAKEN?

ONE READER SENDS: Beebe beat by Thayne. Unbelievable. Bet Beebe is glad he didn't leave his paying job. I just wish I wasn't the one paying. Of all the defeats last night, Beebe getting beat made my day. He has lived off taxes long enough..Kathy Alder is great.

COMMENTS: Many of us went to bed last night thinking Mr. Beebe had won. What a surprise this morning to learn that Mr. Thayne had retained his position. Many people really like Thayne and he needs another term to get his message out.

THIS IS A MESSAGE TO SOMEONE WHO WILL QUICKLY UNDERSTAND. TONIGHT, GOOD WON OVER EVIL. GOOD ALWAYS ENDURES NO MATTER WHAT THE OBSTACES OR THE AMOUNT OF TIME IT TAKES. THIS IS A FACT.

ONE READER SENDS: Did anybody else see the people in the paper endorsing Young for Prosecutor? Two county commissioners, Beebe and Ferdinand signed up to endorse him. Don't seem like they should have done that with all the money he has cost the county. I personally spoke with Ferdinand about Young and he said to me, "like father like son." Now he supports the father.

COMMENTS: After receiving this post, I had to go find the paper. Don't ask CCW wht they endorsed him. Maybe he has something against them he can hold over their heads.

CCW thinks Bob Schaeffer is one representative who looks out for our tax dollars. Just because something has been done one way forever, does not mean there is not a better way to do things. He is for completely doing away with property taxes. We agree. Property taxes requires that only those owning property pay for the lions share of county projects. Renters have no taxes to pay, even for their children's schools. They do get hit with taxes on gas and groceries, but they skate free at the local level. That is not right. That means retired people are forced to subsidise schools long after their children are out of school. There are other programs to tax everybody, not just property owners.

Read the questionaire in today's paper from Matt Beebe. When asked about what he would do to improve roads, he said...raise gas tax...raise fees.....add new taxes and set up toll roads!!! Enough said!

Some of the claims made by Rule when he claims he wants to save tax dollars are bogus! He claims he is saving money in P & Z --county remodels--construction projects -- and changed personnel Manuel so an employee like Marc Young, wouldn't be able to be paid for a year while not working.

P & Z level. - If Rule wants to save money at the P & Z level he needs to meet and train P&Z so the decision makes are on the same page interpreting county ordinances and state land use law. The fees involved with appeals are over $2,000 just because Rule and his fellow board members can't interpret ordinances. Make no mistake, P&Z follow the ordinances much closer than the board.

Rules complete ignorance of planning laws and county ordinances became apparent when during his interview with the media. Rule claimis it is OK for the board to hear a completely different appeal than what the P&Z heard. Rule claimed there had been so many overturned decisions, because the applicant changes his application AFTER the P&Z denies so the applicant has fixed everything that was wrong when that same applicant appears before the Board during an appeal.

When someone pays $2,000. to have their appeal to a P&Z decision heard, that appeal, by law, must be about the same information presented in the under lying hearing. If major changes are made, then it must be returned to the planning and zoning with an amended application heard or the applicant wanting to make major changes could be required to start all over again through the process.

Some times, even when P&Z approves an application, they impose conditions on the application.
All the time now, in Canon County, the developers are appealing to the board to have certain conditions removed. CCW has observed in minutes, that the Board 95% of the time, removes those conditions.

So Rule. You are the problem costing the county hundreds of thousands.

Construction projects - Good grief. How can Rule make a claim that he has saved the county on construction projects? The unbelievable costly decisions surrounding this jail construction have and will cost us millions. We don't need a commissioner who fires a company after the county has already coughed up a cool million. We need a commissioner who is smart enough to make the correct decision in the first place. The Jerome property should have been sold prior to anything being done on a new jail. But even more important. When the county spends money on land for a specific reason, such as the Jerome, they should go for the bond prior to spending millions. If that process isn't followed, and the county does purchase land, (Jerome) build what ever you are going to build on that land. Don't go out and buy more land without city services. Rule...you are costing us millions and CCW hopes Jim Rice kicks you out of office.

Last but not least...Rule claims he is saving the county money because of the changed personnel policy. That is just more smoke and screens. Don't believe us? Go to the new personnel policy and see what the wording is as far as paid administrative leave is concerned. The county has inserted that these kinds of decisions are ultimately up to the discretion of the board. So, just like before, the Board left themselves wiggle room in every pp;icy change they made.

People are just getting too smart to be lied to by politicians. Wake up Rule and tell the truth.

Do Canyon Co. employees think their personell records and their work related activities will be kept confidential, as required by law? The county kept everything about Marcus Young's activities quiet. (Of course, the rest of us have been pretty vocal, but his personnel records and the job he did for the county was protected by law.)

Since Dave Ferdinand was put in as commissioner, county employees have no protection. Why? Because Ferdinand has never been in a position of power prior to becoming a commissioner. You may not know what you have, until a person is put in a position of power. CCW thought it was very strange when Rule and Ferdinand both discussed so much openly about the bad job they claimed was being done in our IT department. The newspaper was not the correct place to denegrate employees from that department. It's a good thing several of them are witnesses against Marc Young, or we have no doubt they would be gone. Judges would view in a very dim light, the firing of employees with a continuing court case proceeding through the courts. Still, the county commissioners trashed that office in the paper and we have heard Rule trash that office during forums.

CCW was still surprised to have Ferdinand, once more, trash an employee of the county. CCW had reported incorrectly that Mr. Hurst, had worked for the county on a contract when Hurst worked to try to do a report after Mr. Showalter became so sick and no one at the county could desipher Mr. Showalter's bookeeping records. Mr. Hurst was hired as a temporary employee working both for Chris Smith and George Nourse.

So, employees, don't think for a minute that anything you do for the county is confidential. With someone like Ferdinand as commissioner, who knows what wiill happen next??

Can anybody find Prosecutor Dave Young's computer? CCW has sent another request.

The following is the letter I received since my last request made on May 21st. Imagine the prosecutor's letterhead on the letter and call me for a copy if you want to hold the response in your hand.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

May 22, 2008

DAVID L. YOUNG
Canyon County Prosecuting Attorney
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Virginia Bond Chuck L. Saari
Chief Criminal Deputy Chief Civil Deputy



Deloris Cram
11968 Orchard Ave.
Nampa, Idaho 83651

RE: Public Records Request

Dear Ms. Cram:

This letter acknowledges receipt of your public records request to IT, which was received in this office on May 21, 2008, requesting:

A COPY OF ALL LISTS OF ONLY COMPUTERS DELIVERED TO THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE SINCE 2006 FROM YOUR INVENTORY CONTROL FILE. A COPY OF ALL SERIAL NUMBERS TAGGED ON THESE SAME COMPUTERS SINCE 2006. A COPY OF DOCUMENTS WHICH SHOW WHO IN IT CHECKED OUT THESE SAME COMPUTERS TO PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE INCE 2006. THE INVENTORY & MATCHING SERIAL NUMBER OF COMPUTERS ISSUED FOR USE OF DAVE YOUNG AND ANY REPAIRS LIST IF YOUNG'S COMPUTER WAS SERVICED SINCE 2006.

Please be advised that we will require a longer period than three (4) working days to respond to your request. Pursuant to Idaho Code 9-339, we will make every effort to respond to your request within ten (10) working days of the date your request was received by our office. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this delay may cause.



Sincerely,

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney

SBL: II

cc: Rod Astleford, Chief Technology Officer, Information Technologies



_____________________________________________________________________________________

So now we wait, once more. If I don't get exactly what I've asked for I'm going to call the cops!!!

ONE READER SENDS: My husband is daring me to send this to your blog so here goes. If you're going to develop in Canyon county, it's a one stop shop. I read Mr. D Ferdinans article and thought what nerve he showed. He got his job from a developer now he approves everything for developers. Gotta build a road? Another guy Talyer, hyway commish claims he can and does approves any road he wants cause his fellow commish is same church and supports his vote always. Closed doors and back doors mean nothing. If you develop by Star Talyers wife runs the p and z for Star. If you develop by Parma Talyer runs that p ans z. Words out new hyway commish soon and new director/developer will take the riens an Talyer runs it all. Talyer ran p and z for county and joins with developers he knows to grease the skids for all. The county is the training ground. Got any available jobs over there for a Protestants? We were going to develop our ground but sold it not to work with these ^8%%$$.

COMMENTS: Sorry if this post is a bit hard to read. CCW had to leave out some words not fit for man or beast. Also removed a couple of names since they are private businessmen and not elected officials. I'm the first to admit I am surprised to hear all this about a guy who I consider a friend and who I learned a lot from wile he worked for the county. He sure didn't like it when he was treated poorly by one of the developers you spoke of. I'm surprised.

Hear yea...Here yea Court will be in session on June 4th to begin the long journey AGAIN. Why can't we elect some commissioners who are quick learners? I taught sixth graders who caught on much quicker. We have been assigned to the Honorable Judge Hoff's courtroom.

Folks, how many of our constitutional rights should we give up without a fight? If no one carries this through the courts, government will continue to push more of our rights out of the way with their claims
that waiting will cost more money in the long run. Take the purposed warehouse temporary jail as an example. The money trail leading up to this metal warehouse is not only astounding, but represents a bunch of politicians stumbling and bumbling all over the place with other peoples money.


Admittedly, the jail is not a cozy place to be. My biggest reason for going to the very first meeting when the first bond was discussed was because I had tried to understand what it must be like for the jail staff, who hadn't done anything wrong, to work in that place day and night. Actually, my concerns for the prisoners was way down the list of importance. Since I was one of the only people speaking out on our county government, I went to that meeting to let the sheriff know, my mouth was staying shut. And I did just that.

When I would hear people complain they didn't know what was going on I would find out the next city the sheriff deputies would visit. and I'd tell them, go to that meeting and ask questions. The paper always published the locations but many times few attended. The sheriff's department carried through to get out there and inform.

But, the plan for the jail got lost in a huge plan to build a justice center. I still kept quiet because I thought if the people support this large bond, I will too. The land was purchased...good central location...but asking Canyon Conservatives for such a large bond wouldn't get through the first time. I waited. I expected the bond to be scaled back and the land used just for a jail. Didn't happen.

I was pretty sure our sheriff would be satisfied with just a jail or maybe a jail with enough space for all courtrooms... but when county commissioners began messing around things started happening that were questionable. Now, we had no money and a fine piece of property. First, commissioners took out a lease/option on the land...that seemed odd to me. Then, a drivers license office was leased in a close strip mall and the county began renting and graveled a parking lot way back behind the license office and no one knew it was available. I can't remember the rent for that parking lot but it was like $3,000. a month and the county was already leasing the ground where the parking lot was located.

I was still holding out hope for the new jail, but weird is the only word that fits county actions. I see by records the county had paid for an appraisal. I knew government was bound to an appraisal price since my husband had been involved in locating various government buildings over his 36 year career with the state.

The county would not allow me to view the appraisal and I thought that was odd. I can't remember exactly how I finally managed to get an appraisal but after reading it, I knew I had not been given the county appraisal, but an appraisal prepared for the Jerome family. That seemed really odd. I tried and tried to get the Jess Payne appraisal with no luck.

I couldn't believe what I was reading in the Jerome Appraisal, so I made copies for people I work with and we all began to realize the slick hand of Commissioner Ferdinand (aka important CEO wanna-be) had lead this county into one of the most illegal propositions imaginable.

I realized the odd statements found in the Jerome appraisal were a successful, professional appraiser protecting his state license. I've since been told that there are regulations in place which prohibits one appraiser from following another very recent appraisal for the sole purpose of simply raising the appraised price. So, the final appraiser protected himself and revealed that he didn't know until he had started his appraisal that Jess Payne of Caldwell had already recently appraised the same property for the county. The appraiser stated that when he contacted Payne, that Payne offered to reveal his appraised price and that was refused. The appraisal for the Jerome's came back approximately one million higher and an explanation followed explaining the higher figure.

Here's one reason the whole Jerome property fiasco ultimately turned into a case that would find it's way to the highest court of the state. Enter county commissioner Dave Ferdinand. When the Jeromes refused to sell for the amount of the county appraisal, Comm. Ferdinand told the Jerome family to get their own appraisal and the county would pay that amount. The Jerome family was under no requirement to sell for the county appraised price. But, Ferdinand had now placed the county in a high risk situation.
Idaho Code does not allow a government agency to purchase land or buildings for any more money than the appraised price from a licensed appraisal commissioned by the government agency. It is a law adopted to protect public funds. Without that protection, the good old boy system could run amok for many reasons.

Remember, citizens were looking at this situation after the fact. It was like a scavenger hunt following the paper trails left by inept government officials. I start requesting documents to show what the county had paid for the land. In searching for dates, I came across the minutes of a meeting showing Clerk Noel Hales and his trusty side kick having a meeting with commissioners asking if the board had figured out how much money it was going to cost to run two county facilities? They registered their concern that the old courthouse would suffer greatly, when employees were snatched to go to work at the justice center.

We began seeing a chink in the county armour. Research showed it could double the cost of county government to build a justice center with county offices located in two places. That was even true if the county jail was kept open. Lots of people thought the Caldwell jail would be closed if a new jail was built. Even with the extra cost, I was still in favor of a jail on the Jerome property. Then it became clear that something had gone wrong. Now we had a lease/ option to buy which indebted people for long term debt, even though a bond had failed. Apparently the county only had one year to act on the terms of the sale price We could opt out of the lease if the county chose but then we heard that the Jerome family had been paid 1/2 million dollars earnest money. By then we knew the appraised price from the Jess Payne appraisal and we knew by law, the county could pay no more than that appraised price.

Searching county records showed no meetings between the county and the Association of Counties. How could we pay the IAC 1/2 million dollars without a decision made in open, agendized meeting. There was no meeting but the county records showed that the Idaho Assoc. of counties received from the county $500,000.00.

Now, we have open meeting violations...money transactions using a fund other than the justice fund to purchase land for a jail. That money should have been taken from the justice fund levied amount for use by the sheriff's office. The county commissioners were breaking the law not once, but several times.

We later read that the Jerome property had been purchased by the county. IAC assigned the contract for the Jerome property back to the county. Then, the county paid the higher appraisal. When
Beebe was asked why the county arranged to have the assoc. of counties purchase that land Beebe claimed it was to make sure the law was followed.

The law does not allow a county to purchase ground for higher than the appraised amount by simply giving public funds to another agency and having that other agency buy the land for the county. When IAC was confronted they explained they have combined their agency and a finance agency called Capitol Finance so they could purchase property for public agencies when It was necessary for a county to pay over the appraised price. That is not the intent of the law. IAC had us know right up front that they had handled sales of this nature before and there had no been a problem. That tells you they have done it for other county commissioner in other counties.


so, with all the laws that have been broken, the county purchases the Jerome property and immediately they begin looking for other property to place the jail. They bought it, so why not put on the Jerome property??? Because, they decided they could sell the Jerome property for a million more than they had paid. It didn't matter what promises the county had made to Jeromes. All that mattered, was county commissioners wanted to sell the Jerome family estate for profit.

Now, they have entered into a sales agreement for the Jerome property with a man who has a questionable credit background . A very questionable credit background. Did commissioners learn a thing from the Jerome fiasco> Not one thing. They did it all again and are just begging for another law suit. They are going to be very successful one that front.

Then we learn the county is transferring funds around between funds which have been set by levies. There was nothing to do but take them to court. Our case was used to prove standing. We won, and now the commissioners and the prosecutor have some questions to answer in front of some more judges. This time we do not need to fight the standing battle. And this next case will be huge. And that is the rest of the story.

ONE READER SENDS: I know Mr. Hogg running for office. He's really nice and friendly. I see him at school and my mom and dad and I really like him. ST

COMMENTS: CCW has not had the pleasure of meeting him, but he has stayed a gentleman during this race.

CCW has learned there is a massive COVER-UP at the courthouse involving CCW's PRR which attempted to track Dave Young's computer he was using when his son was arrested and had all his county computers confiscated. What is at stake here? If an organization, like CCW cannot get an adequate response to a simple PPR tracing the where abouts of one computer issued to our prosecutor, who does know where tax payer funded electronics are located? The two responses to 2 PRR I have received from the county deputy prosecutor are worthless. One response implies that specific computers cannot be tracked.

If that's the case, anyone could take home computers and keep them, especially lap-tops. CCW has never heard of a public agency that couldn't track electronic devices. Not only track them, but also keep a records of all repairs to specific computers. However, one response to a public records request claims Young didn't have his own, private computer, only one used by anyone in his office!!! Why release that kind of propaganda?

ccw now knows the IT has an employee who has a list of all electronics bought with county funds. We know the county has an inventory control clerk whose responsibility it is to keep records of all inventory.
If no one at the county knows where these supplies are located, what's to keep employees or elected officials from simply taking these devises home or selling them on eBay's. One sheriff's deputy was doing that and wound up in jail. Should we be taking a closer look at what kind of business our elected official liason, Dave Ferdinand, might have operating on the side? Maybe if he was doing an adequate job for the public he wouldn't have so much time to write ignorant letters to the paper.

CCW does not believe that the deputy prosecutor's filling PRR is going to be real happy to learn there is significant paper trails for all electronic. Canyon Co. needs to re-consider the PRR asking where is Young's computer.

ONE READER SENDS: Why are all the county commissioners acting so superior to Sheriff Nourse? I like him and he was our sheriff a long time. I think the horrid way they are treating him is surprising since he and Joy always helped us so much with the roundup and everything. It's not right.

COMMENTS: You are no more surprised than a lot of people. These Canyon county republicans sure don't keep their dirty laundry quiet. Leadership needs to put a plug in Ferdinand, Beebe and Rule. They will really sour people on the party. CCW is pretty sure the leadership of the party don't like Ferdinand being so negative right in the paper. As a matter of fact, CCW thinks the central committee cautioned candidates about using negativity during this election season. Our county commissioners are using their abusive mouths on fellow republicans who want to serve the public. Helen McKinney needs to caution some of her followers.

One reader sends: I would like to find out why Marcus Young has a telephone conference for his court date on May 20th? Are they too chicken to come to court house or is he out of thw state doing some more of the same? You don't allow other criminals to get away with telephone conferences in court cases. Everybody gets to see and here all the cases. This way no one will know what went on during this conference call and nothing will be released to the public. I would really like to know how a hearing can be
a telephone conference for a felony charge.

COMMENTS: I checked with the county and the phone conference was acutually today, May 21st at l:00pm. Evidentially phone conferences take place a lot especially when it is a scheduling conference and one or the other attorney lives out of town. ccw also thinks that having everything out in the open on Marcus young, is the only way to go.


After the way Marcus treated other employees and abused his status as a prosecutor's son, I want to see his puffy little face paraded past those same employees on his way up to the courtrooms and all the way back out. Maybe now he realises that he really had a good opportunity at the county, making a good salary, which he threw away. CCW hopes his father with his warped mind joins him soon.

Beware of our former sheriff, his deceitful approach!!!!! Really, who's deceitful in Ferdinand's letter to the paper? And unprofessional and rude??? Let's take a look at some of Ferdinand's rantings.

COMM. FERDINAND SAID: "The ex-sheriff wanted his CPA, Bill Hurst, as clerk."

COMMENTS: How absolutely incredible that Ferdinand, who went bankrupt and left US to pay off his bills, would condemn another elected officials who wanted a CPA, for our open seat for county clerk. Mr. Hurst just happens to have the qualifications needed for clerk, no matter who he knows or has done business with. But, also, Helen McKinney wanted Mr. Hurst to run for this open seat. Apparently, she thought Mr. Hurst was qualified.

COMM. FERDINAND SAID "Remember when we chose the Jerome property on the Blvd. it was the ex-sheriff who introduced us to Mr. Jerome and promised to help get the jail built there. (He even extracted a trade with Sheriff Smith to sell the community on the jail site if Smith would take a picture with and endorse the ex-sheriff's candidate for county clerk, Bill Hurst. He then campaigned against the jail bond. "

COMMENTS: This kind of reasoning makes no sense....When the sheriff asked Smith for a picture, Smith had not been elected to anything, yet. Sounds like a risk to me. What about that issue is Mr. Hurst's fault? Why does Mr. Hurst deserve your condemnation? Comm. Ferdinand should be thrown out of the republican party for his negative remarks about a fellow party member. He ignores the 11th commandment of the republican party. Shameful, shameful.

COMM. FERDINAND SAID: Before leaving office he ( sheriff Nourse) hired Hurst to audit the finances and paid his friend $20,000.00. Hurst is bought and paid for by the ex-sheriff "

COMMENTS: WRONG AGAIN! All sheriff's have an audit when they are leaving office. A CPA is a pretty good choice for an audit. Mr. Hurst did work for Canyon Co. when he did that audit for Nourse and Smith. Canyon county had hired Mr. Hurst to assemble and make sense of Mr. Showalter's record keeping after Showalter unexpected medical emergency which left him unable to work any longer. The figures I've seen don't begin to match Ferdinand's claim. What are you doing, Ferdinand, embellishing for negative impact? Being hired by the county to do a job for a public agency doesn't buy-off a person. THAT WAS AN EXTREMELY CARELESS STATMENT TO MAKE. But, speaking of buying someone off......How much money did Ferdinand's friend, Mr. Rohm, share with Ferdinand when he was paid over $130,000. for just one of many of Rohm's contracts with Canyon Co.? WHO IS BUYING INFLUENCE?

COMM. FERDINAND SAID: " Now he recruits Hurst's ex-CPA partner, Norm Hogg,as a candidate for county commissioner; this ties Hogg to the ex-sheriff and the clerk."

COMMENTS: If I were Mr. Ferdinand, I would start, about now, to watch what he is saying about a citizen of Canyon County, who has put himself out there choosing to run for office. You, Ferdinand, appear to be using the color of your office to attempt to harass a resident of this county who wants to serve. How do you know CCW didn't ask Mr. Hogg to serve? Your careless remarks could get you in big trouble. Is everyone supposed to pass some test administered by KING FERDINAND?

COMM. FERDINAND SAID: "Then the ex-sheriff recruits dime-store mouthpiece and commissioner-wanna-be, Jim Rice, to spread more of the deception --egad!"

COMMENTS: Now it's said that people can say just about anything about an elected official (that's because we are your boss) but the same is not true about what an elected official can say about private citizens. Ferdinand's comments about Mr. Rice seem deliberately designed to cause damage to Mr. Rice, who is an attorney, by profession. (Psss, Dave. That means he has many, many years of education beyond high school, unlike you who are a college-graduate-wannabe.) When a public official slanders a citizen in the newspaper which can damage a person's ability to earn monetary gain, that public official has opened our county up for a whopper of a lawsuit. And if I were Mr. Rice I would already have the ink to the paper. What makes Ferdinand think he can attack citizens who wish to run for political office? Is it just the size of Ferdinand's brain which causes him to attack his constituents?

COMM. FERDINAND SAID: "Hold on to the future of the our county."

COMMENTS: We are trying to do just that and hoping and praying our county can survive Mr. Ferdinand. You'll never imagine the group working to remove you next election. You, Ferdinand, are too mean and rude to other people who want to serve in public office.

COMM. FERDINAND SAID: ".....manpower from the real sheriff, Chris Smith, and the Stellar job of Commissioner Steve Rule, make it a must to return them to office with your vote."

COMMENTS: Hmmm. Ferdinand does not much like others who are acquaintances running for public office because he claims they have some dark secret to gang up together to "take over the county." He claims corrupt "trio's" are afoot. But, what do we have here??? FERDINAND, SMITH, RULE!!! A trio sanctioned by Ferdinand. What if that trio has so much power, they won't listen to the people, because they have the power to carry any vote? What's good for the goose is good for the gander! What if that trio indeed is corrupt?

Ferdinand's letter is a sad commentary of the mentality of our county commissioners.

During the next week, CCW will compare the choice we have between Mr. Rice and Mr. Rule. running for county commissioner. We have lots of information now to make that comparison and the vast difference in these two candidates needs to be analyzed closely.

There is no doubt as far as CCW is concerned who will make the best county commissioner. The interest of CCW was peaked when we learned that Rule had called Mr. Rice nasty names during some of the election activities. Rice would never even consider such rude, unprofessional behavior toward Rule. When a seated county commissioner gives themselves permission to point fingers and call another candidate a six bit attorney, CCW is alerted to take a very close look at everything Mr. Rule has represented as truth during this election time.

No doubt here. Mr. Rice is our man.

So, be sure come back for the rest of the story.

Thinking back on the election two years ago, I can't help but remember how CCW thought we had a firm handle on who would win local races and who didn't have a snowball's chance. I remember looking at all the names of people running for county clerk, an open seat since Noel Hales decided not to run for clerk again. I cannot remember how many people were running for that office, but there were four or five.

There was one name I was sure wouldn't win, since I had never heard of this candidate.
Guess I thought if I hadn't heard of this person, no one else had either!!! WRONG!!!!!
SHOWS HOW MUCH I KNEW!!!!

I hated to see Noel retire because I was comfortable going to him for information. Well, the long and short of it is, Mr. Bill Hurst was elected county clerk. Evidentially, just because I didn't know him was not such an earth shattering event. It seems he was well known in Caldwell and from my my viewpoint has turned out to be as easy to get to know and as helpful as Noel always was.

After the awful time I had just getting public records requests filled, t is very nice to have Mr. Hurst as clerk. He clearly understands the need for transparency in government. He and his staff have continuously helped me understand the budget process and have even been patient with some of my dumb questions.

Sooooo...as election time grows closer, don't sit back and think any of us have a clue how these races will turn out. What I have learned in politics is, the more you think you know, the real truth is we don't know much! I used to say. it's not over "till the fat lady sings," but don't much like that comparison any longer!

This information was sent to CCW by some neighbors near Middleton. (Isn't this the same people Rule is asking to vote for him so he can represent them for FOUR MORE YEARS?)

As taxpayers and voting citizens we were beyond dismay at the behavior of our count commissioners at the meeting we had with them a few months ago to discuss a possible reduction of fees. Even though they set the meeting time, and we all had to take time off work to be there, they left us setting there for 15 minutes prior to bothering to show up in the hearing room. (Dave Ferdinand was not present) We could see them in the backroom eating cake and socializing while we sat patiently waiting. Finally, we asked the clerk about the delay (thinking we got the time wrong) and she explained that the commissioners all were returning important phone calls. Even if this was true, which it was not, they already made a time commitment to us. When they finally entered the room their attitude and words said they had other things they wanted to do.

To make matters worse, after this treatment, immediately following the meeting, I went back to the commissioner's office area to request a copy of the minutes and found Mr. Beebe complaining loudly, (guess we showed them- Who do they think they are?) Because we choose to exercise our rights as set forth in Canyon Co. own code - the code they have all sworn to up hold, Beebe did this in a very public area where anyone could hear him. We were upset by this blatant disregard for our issues and the manner in which we were treated by our own elected officials. They seem to have forgotten who they serve.


COMMENTS: CCW gets calls all the time from people who attend hearings and meetings who feel they have been treated rudely and talked to in a condescending manner. One of the most common complaints from constituents is they are left with the impression that the decision hot already been made long before the commissioners hear from those involved (at least those involved on one side)

Another complaint which is growing louder and louder, is that the county commissioners are approving almost 100% of all appeals for who ever Mr. Todd Lakey ( a former commissioner) is representing. People complain when Ferdinand does not remove himself from any hearing when Lakey has a client before the board. There sure is a financial situation involved when Lakey goes before Ferdinand...Lakey gave Ferdinand his seat on the board and within days was back before the board in hearings (Look at gravel pit appeals) So far, CCW has found only 2 hearings when Lakey's client was denied their request. As a matter of fact, our records show these county commissioners have overturned 43 out of 46 appeals in the last 18 months. One side or the other of these appeals were represented by Lakey.

CCW has been present during hearings and observed such rude behavior from our county commissioner.
they think no one is picking up on their snide treatment of one side during an appeal. I'll tell you who understands what is going on immediately!! It's the people on the losing side!! You are fooling no one, but yourself and during election season is our chance to point out your poor trearment of those you now ask to vote for you.

Do you remember the hunt for Young's computer??? Well we are still hunting! The following was received yesterday, from a deputy prosecutor, who I'm certain would rather use his time some other way. Cough up the information I need and I'll go away!!!! Again, no names please. I feel sorry for these deputies who take their marching orders from Young.

May 13

Deloris Cram
11968 Orchard Ave.
Nampa, Idaho 83651

RE: PUBLIC RECORD REQUEST DATED MAY 9, 2008.

Dear Ms. Cram:

Please find attached a response to your public records request of May 9, 2008 for an inventory of equipment provided Prosecutor Young from 2007 - 2008.

The attached document was retrieved by the Canyon County Information Technologies Department. Please note that the equipment it describes was issued in Mr. Young's name as representative of this
office and was not issued to him personally. I understand this equipment is used throughout the Prosecuting Attorney's office by different employees.

If you feel that you have been improperly denied the record you requested, you have the right to institute proceedings in the district court of this county within 180 days from the date of the mailing of this letter to attempt to compel disclosure of that information.

Cordially,

COMMENTS:

THEIR WERE 40 ITEMS LISTED ON THE ATTACHMENT. ALL WE ARE LOOKING FOR IS ONE LONE COMPUTER, YOUNG IS ACCUSED OF DESTROYING ON THE SAME DAY MARC, HIS SON, WAS INDITED FOR HAVING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY ON HIS COUNTY COMPUTERS. APPPARENTLY, OTHER EMPLOYEES DID NOT USE THE COMPUTERS ASSIGNED TO MARCUS YOUNG BECAUSE LAW ENFORCEMENT ONLY WANTED MARCUS'S COMPUTERS!!! BUT, IN THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE NOTHING CAN BE TRACED BECAUSE EVERYONE IN THAT OFFICE USES POOR DAVE YOUNG'S COMPUTER!!! GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!
I GUESS IF YOUNG'S COMPUTER TURNS UP WITH PORN ON IT...WE'LL HAVE TO ARREST THE ENTIRE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE.

HOW MANY HAVE HEARD THE INFORMATION THAT LAW ENFORCEMENT WAS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING ELSE, MAYBE ELECTION FRAUD ON MARCUS YOUNG'S COMPUTER AND WHILE LOOKING THEY FOUND THOUSANDS OF PORNOGRAPHIC PICTURES OF YOUNG CHILDREN. OOPS.