Issues facing our community
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During the last few months, I have had alot of fun going out and knocking on doors, talking to voters about the issues that they face. I would like to take my door-knocking to the cyber-neighborhood that we all share here on this site.
I would like to hear from you, the people of Idaho Falls and Bonneville County. I know that for government to work there has to be a free flow of ideas and discussions. Your ideas and views are very important, especially if they don’t match mine. I feel that the biggest thing missing from politics in Idaho Falls and Bonneville County is that discussion. So let me start this discussion with some of my views.
I first believe it is time for a change in leadership. The one party system that we have had needs to have some opposition. I feel that this will in turn lead to more discussion and better solutions. When only one side has power the discussions are often about the ideas of that one party, and I say enough of that.
I believe that the education of our children must be a higher priority in receiving funding from the state. Idaho has one of the highest kids per classroom ratio with one of the lowest dollars per student ratio. I know that the citizens of Idaho Falls and Bonneville County value education, but I believe we can do more.
I want to raise the minimum wage so that it is a fair and livable wage. Raising the wage will only help so much, so I also want to cut the grocery tax in half. Either when your purchase, or at tax time when you file. Idaho is one of the few states left that taxes food, and that needs to change.
This is a good starting point, I will have this discussion up as along as allowed. So Idaho Falls, I am here and ready to talk to you, what are your concerns.
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Comments
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0 
0 I agree with ben. Spending more money on a state park is a bad call when our education is the worst in the country.
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0 0 1. Consolidate school districts. Idaho is very abnormal in that we have a bunch of small school districts instead of a few big ones. There is no reason we need District 91 and District 93 both serving the Idaho Falls metro area. You eliminate the excess districts and you can cut a lot of adminstration (i.e. non teaching) jobs and in doing so not only save a TON of money but in actuality spend more on students. We should be spending our money on teachers and students. Not on adminstrative jobs.
2. Its a lost cause for now but fight the gay marriage amendment. Once upon a time there were laws prohibiting interracial marriage because it was against gods laws. Now its gays instead of blacks. The bigotry is the same though. And future generations are going to be as ashamed of our actions as we are of past generations who enslaved blacks, forbid them to marry whites, and forced them to the back of the bus.
3. Stop giving tax welfare to the rich. I consider myself solidly middle class. I own my own home. Thanks to Governor Risch’s tax shift I’m going to paying much more in taxes this year than last. At the very least eliminate completely sales tax on food. Cutting it in half isn’t enough and is frankly insulting - how about cutting in half Risch’s welfare for the wealthy scheme instead?
4. Raise the minimum wage with an annual cost of living increase tied in.
5. Realistic crime solutions. We can’t lock up everyone. Our prisons are bursting at the seams and we’re sending more and more out of state. The state budget is close to imploding at prison costs already. Its time to think of alternative sentences for non violent offenders, particularly drug offenders. Bonneville county’s drug court has been a big success. Emulate that statewide. Of course there will be failures, no system will help everyone, and some people can’t be helped. But we should try to use the most cost effective solution that helps the most rather than the most expensive that helps few as we do now.
6. Judicial accountability to the voters. Its been an issue for a while now that most of the judges that preside in Bonneville county are from other counties and are only accountable to voters in those counties. Bonneville county residents should get a say come election time in regards to the judges that they use.
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0 0 I totaly agree. I would like to see the food tax removed. I wish we had more in common with Oregon taxes no sales tax is good. The key to having what we want. Is to have what we want run for office.
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0 0 Getting rid of the one-party mindset in this area will be as successful as a one-legged man at a butt-kicking contest. Good luck on that one. I agree, however, on the food/sales tax. But until such taxes come in lump billed amounts twice a year, no one is going to squeal about them much. What I think is even more unfair are the ludicrous taxes on alcohol and cigarettes — and I live in Sugar City, so guess which religion I belong to.
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0 0 Ben,
Taxing food is a crime, I think that a cut in half is better then no cut at all. There are those that see the tax on food as being a great way for non-residents to contribute to our tax base. These are areas where tourism is big business. I think that a cut in half and a larger tax credit many be one solution that everyone can get behind.
Guest,
A new state park also ties into local tourism. That tourism can bring more money into local economies. State parks also add to the quality of life for the whole state. While I don’t agree that our education is the worst in the country, I do agree that there could be more done for it.
Damaged,
1. Consolidation of school is a very good idea. One of the problems would be the idea of loss of local control. I believe that there are over 140 school districts and only 44 counties. Some of the smaller counties have two or more district that serve different parts of the counties, with great distances between communities. Those smaller communities, I’m sure would argue that they are losing control of their district. There are people right here in Idaho Falls that would hate this idea. I think it has merit, but the hard part becomes selling it state wide.
2. I oppose the Gay Marriage Amendment. Idaho has laws on the books that protect marriage.The way this amendment is written, it excludes some Heterosexual partnerships too. I see this as a “Karl Rove†whip the loyal Republican base up issue. Most people that I have talked to really don’t see gay marriage as a threat to them. They are more worried about tax breaks for special wealthy interests and what kind of quality education their children are going to receive in the future.
3. I agree whole hearted with you here. The Democrats had a plan that would have kept money for education, reduced homeowner taxes, and not raised the sales tax. This plan was not even allowed to be discussed. It was Risch’s way or the highway. I explained my ideas on the food tax above in response to Ben, but I don’t see cutting it in half as insulting, but a good place to start. Believe me when I say that, Risch’s tax scheme the first thing I want fixed when I get to Boise.
4. I agree and will do.
5&6. I believe that our Judicial system needs to be looked at in depth. The question of judges, prison population, and quality rehabilitation are some of the most pressing issues we will have to look at in the next Legislature. Now that funding for education will come from the general fund, there is nothing in Risch’s special interest tax law,that protects the current level of funding. It could go up, or it could go down, depending on what the needs of the state are. If we run into a question of more prisons or more school books, there is no guarantee that more prisons couldn’t win.
Brian Daivdson
Thanks for the words of encouragement. If I had a dollar for every time I have been told that, it might offset the increased sales tax that I will now be forced to pay. That is why I am running, we need Democrats in Boise. This state needs more than just one party. So again, thanks for the kind words.
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0 0 This is a great start, what else is concerning Idaho Falls and Bonneville County?
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0 0 Vote4change:: I wish property tax would also go down. And more money for schools. And a national park should be the last thing on the agenda. Educate our children should be #1. Create a program to get non violent offenders out of our jails and prisons. That would save tax money. Legalize marijuana in the state of Idaho. That would keep alot of people out of jail and prison. Most of the people in prison are there for drug related activities. Meth users should get treatment. Meth pushers should get life in prison. Or even deported from the country. I would like to see a guy in office that would crack down on the sex offenders. Lower taxes. Build on Idaho falls Economy. Attract new buisnesses to Idaho in general. Lower property taxes and industrial taxes.
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0 0 (posted as Damaged earlier, I like this name better)
I agree on legalizing marijuana. In terms of societal ills, alcohol causes a hundred times more problems than MJ. And I’m not advocating making alcohol illegal, don’t get me wrong.
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0 0 Guest,
Thank you for your comments. I think that by moving meth users from the prison system to long term treatment programs we are going to be getting more value for the money we have to spend on them.
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0 0 The real problem with meth and any drug is not what the person does while high. Its the consquences of the drugs being illegal that creates the problems which is why legalization is something people should consider.
Nearly 99% of all drug violence occurs in the buying / selling / collecting debts part of the drug industry. Yes, there are certainly instances where people get high and do something violent while high but those are the exception.
Nearly 99% of the crime associated with drugs are property crimes done so users can support their habit. Burglaries, car thefts, check fraud, etc. Drugs are the driving force behind them as people steal to get money to buy more drugs with.
The astrononomically rising prison costs in our state are due to more and more drug users being locked up for either possession or property crimes done to support their habit.
Here’s how legalization would help. Make drugs legal and you take away the black market. Regulate some drugs like hard alcohol is regulated in liquor stores. You’ve now taken away the market from drug dealers and you can say goodbye to the drug violence associated with the buying and selling of drugs. When prohibition ended so did the back alley alcohol sellers and so did the violence and mob control of the alcohol trade. It would be the same with drugs.
With drugs cheaper and available at liquor type stores you take away much of the need for people to commit property crimes to finance their habits as drugs will be cheaper and more readily available. Thus those go down as well.
CERTAINLY THERE WILL STILL BE PROBLEMS. Don’t get me wrong. There will still be drug addicts just as there are still alcoholics out there. That won’t change. But the other problems will go away. And by legalizing we can take all this money were wasting on an enforcement effort, that fails much more than it succeeds, and put it into prevention and treatment programs. It won’t be perfect, far from it, but it will be better than our current war on drugs.
When this country passed the prohibition act in the 20’s two major things happened: alcohol use WENT UP and so did crime. When prohibition was repealed alcohol use went down and so did crime. The war on drugs is creating a large part of the drug problem we have. Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. And we obviously didn’t learn.
Its time to start learning. Legalizing marijuana is a start. Its a harder argument on the worse drugs like meth but better to treat them then lock them up.
And one more thing on marijuana at the very least that should be considered. A cop once told me: He’s never had a guy high on pot attack him. He’s never seen a guy beat his wife because he smoked too much pot. He’s never seen a guy high on pot beat his kids because he smoked too much pot. He’s never had a guy on pot resist arrest - regale him with stoner talk and bad Jimmy Buffet impersonations yes - but resist arrest no. He’s rarely seen a guy wreck his car because he was high on pot. Hardly a day goes by that he doesn’t seen one or more of these things from guys drinking alcohol. (again I don’t support making alcohol illegal either)
And last but not least. I’ve never smoked marijuana in my life.
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0 0 Raven,
Your points are well argued and valid. I think that this kind of sweeping change would have to done on the federal level. The Supreme Court ruled last year that medical marijuana users can still be prosecuted even if the state allows it. I believe there was a amendment to prohibit prosecution of medical marijuana users in congress this year but it failed
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0 0 that figures. I was in Portland OR when george bush showed up to a Disturbed, mudvien,and slip knot concert. and told everyone he was going to get rid of medical marijuana. Some one screamed F that and threw a bottle at bush. and a riot started. It was so sad. We barely got out alive. His speech made people real mad. Maybee he is the real problem.
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0 0 Hey Raven,
How about you and Damaged running for city council, or even state political office? We could use some thinkers in there instead of the same old stale collection of stodgy “brethren” running the show.
With 50% or more of the inmates in our jail system because of drug crimes (crimes where there is no plaintiff), we now have to face the expense of exporting many of these prisoners out of state because of overcrowding in the prison system here in Idaho.
We must take a hard look at choices other than incarceration to relieve the situation.
I am all in favor of de-criminalizing or legalizing marijuana. It seems to be the most benign illegal substance out there, even more so than the legal drug, alcohol. Willie Nelson, Carl Sagan, Richard Feynman and Stephen J. Gould, to name a few, are (and were) some of my favorite pot heads.
I’m not so sure I could condone including, for decriminalization, meth, the most insidious, destructive and highly addictive drug yet invented. I still lean towards strict enforcement banning the substance and imprisonment for those who would peddle this filth.
But, in a truly libertarian approach, I suppose a restricted area could be set aside to allow meth, crack cocaine, heroin, and a multitude of other substances to be used freely and given out by the state for a nominal fee to anyone wanting to consume these substances to their hearts
content, after all in a “free country” a citizen should be able to consume any substance he or she desires. But what then would we do to prevent pregnancies by women addicted to said drugs? Would we consider sterilization as a pre-requisite to the use of these chemicals in order to relieve the tax payers the burden of raising their crack or meth babies? That has been suggested in other states but that opens up another can of worms. Oh well…..just a thought.
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0 0 This legalization issue is steering pretty far from what the original intent was, to identify issues facing our community. I recognize this was brought up as one of those issues.
I encourage one of you who’ve commented heavily on legalization to write an article just on that topic. I know I’ve heard many statistics and examples and whatnot over the years for and against, and a dedicated article would be perfect for commenting in all those things in response to it. I look forward to reading someone’s article on that subject.
What other issues are facing Idaho Falls?
Are we getting our fair share of money coming back from the state of what we put in?
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0 0 I love this topic. And everyone in it. you are all awsome and open minded.
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0 0 Meso,
I’m also torn on legalizing meth because meth is truly bad for you and does truly destroy you. But the war on meth is creating a lot of the problems associated with it. Its kind of a catch 22 with meth on what you do with it.
MJ though, legalize it completely. Regulate it in liquor stores, tax it, and make money while saving. That could be a local issue. The first step is to get the state to follow California’s lead and legalize medicinal marijuana. Once thats done then move on to full blown legalization.
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0 0 Raven,
Mary Jane legalization ain’t gonna win the vote here in River City. Too many conservative LDS Republicans who would rather deny an individual’s right to free agency. Apparently being their brother’s keeper means keeping said brother in prison for his errant choices; but hey, Joe’s right we need to steer this topic to another post. Why don’t you author one on legalization? It might prove to be very stimulating to this audience.
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0 0 Yes, I agree someone should write an article dedicated to the legalization topic, which should be a great intellectual debate cuz of all the statistics and figures and such that relate to that subject. Obviously it’s a topic many have expressed an interest in.
Looking forward to someone writing an article on that topic.
Going back to the original subject, what other issues are facing idaho falls?
Should groceries be tax-free? Or should only certain foods be tax-free (as in keep the tax on junk foods)?
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0 0 Joe,
Nice idea of just taxing “junk food”, I feel the problem there would be, what is “junk food”. I want no taxes on food, period. That allows individuals to decide for themselves, and their families what food they want.
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0 0 Yeah, the definition of junk food would be difficult.
Rather than excluding, it might be easier just to make the list of foods that would be included in a sales tax-exempt status.
Breads, dairies, meats from grocers?
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0 0 Joe,
You are right but, what about families that can’t make their kids eat that stuff?
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0 0 Good response vote4change. I always like to hear your views on family’s choices. I think you would be a good vote in my book. You already have my registered vote. I would like to see what you say about the food stamp topic. You should read it and get involved. I think you could explain the down falls of controlling families choices.
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0 0 Something to think about.
Its cheaper to eat junk than it is to eat good food. Go to any grocery store and compare the prices of the healthy organic varieties of food to the unhealthy junk versions.
Also, many poor people in this town live in small unfurnished apartments or trailers. They don’t have stoves. Some have rinky dink microwaves. Some only have hot plates. Thus they often have to resort to things out of a box that can be nuked in the microwave.
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0 0 I’ll bite on that one.
I live in a house without a stove (due to remodeling) and have for about a year and a half. I don’t live off of junk or fast food. I use a crock pot, rice cooker (moose curry is excellent & easy to cook), microwave, electric tea kettle and charcoal barbecue a lot. I can make a crock of pork chile verde stew for $25 and eat off of it for 3 to 4 days. A 25# bag of good rice is $6-7 at Sam’s. Cooking with a crock pot is pretty dang easy. Chop, chop stir and cook.
I will agree that junk/fast food is definitely “easier”, but I don’t spend near the money I did when I used to eat lunch out every day ($5-7/day, it adds up fast). Granted I do have a “good” really greasy, bad for you sandwich @ DB’s every now and then, but there are some things you just have to do. So, I’m not sure I buy into the whole junk food is cheaper than good food argument, but if dinner consists of a bag of Doritos and a 2-liter of shasta….. then maybe.
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0 0 -Q has a good point that ties back to what Paula mentioned about the simple cookbooks being given out with food donations.
Most of the battle is learning how to cook healthier foods correctly and easily. The ‘easy’ factor is most of junk food’s appeal.
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0 0 Q and Joe,
I think that this discussion has clearly shown that people support food stamps and assistance type programs. I think that a comprehensive review of benefits awarded, and that standards are being meet might not be a bad idea. There are people in our communities that need help, and if possible help should be provided. Those people, when able, should contribute to the services that are helping them.
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0 0 V4C,
I’d say that is a pretty good conclusion. People do need help that’s for sure, but it should be able to trickle down. We help the less fortunate, they help somebody less fortunate than them, etc. or at least give something back to try and keep the ball rolling.
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0 0 For those of you interested in defining junk food you might want to do a little research into Streamlined Sales Taxes (SST) which was recently passed into Utah law along with NUMEROUS other states. As an accountant, I attended training while living in Utah on this topic. Funny enough it became necessary to define junk food. At that time (2004, and I’m not sure what has changed since) a small marshmellow was defined as food while a large mashmellow was defined as candy.
Leave it to a group of politicians and accountants to draw a line between a large and small marshmellow.
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0 0 How about replacing that bridge thats crumbling away there off of Yellowstone? I believe it’s F street? I read in the PR today that a woman from Oregon was driving under it when a huge piece of concrete fell from it and smashed her windshield. And just last year the Railroad said this bridge was structually sound and perfectly safe. Stating it only needed light cosmetic maintenance! Unbelievable! What is it going to take for them to replace/repair this bridge? Will the whole thing need to fall down and seriously injure or kill somebody for them to do something? Here is a link to the story from Channel 6: http://www.kpvi.com/Global/story.asp?S=6740745
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0 0 Is this the same railroad that refuses to fix their horrible crossings on Broadway and Anderson?
I think the railroad are being bad citizens.
Yes, they’ve been here longer, however they are in the city now and I think our city should have some more leverage over how the railroad operates in city limits, especially in locations where city residents interact with railroad properties.
ORRRRR, a large group of citizens can go to the underpass and start chipping it away. Kind of help them along you know.
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0 0 I read the story in the Post Register and just now on the Channel 6 website. In both reports, the woman claims the chunk of concrete was 12 feet wide. I was sure it was a typo in the paper. But the KPVI website states the same.
12 feet wide? By “damaged my windshield” does she mean “smashed my car into smithereens”? Where is this enormous artifact now?
Even at 12 inches wide, the chunk of concrete would have shattered the entire windshield and embedded in the glass…or in the front seat, considering that it fell from 15 feet onto a moving vehicle.
It’s unlikely that it simply bounced off the windshield into the street. But if that did in fact happen, and this were my car, I would have stopped to pick up the object, so I could present the city and railroad officials with concrete evidence. (Pun intended, har har.)
But seriously, the railroad bridges are sketchy at best. The railroad seems to be trying to placate concerned citizens with assurances that it’s safe and has received passing grades from inspectors. It seems most of us aren’t buying it.
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0 0 Yeah, I’m thinking the same thing, that this woman’s claims are shady. A car is about 8′ wide, so a 12′ concrete chunk would have left concrete debris all over the road.
Has anyone noticed that much concrete debris in that underpass in the last month or so?
The woman is from Nyssa, Oregon. My theory is she was visiting someone here a month or two back when the PR reported on the bridges, and she cooked up the claim idea.
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0 0 I agree, 12 feet wide it a little much and like nevermind said, if it fell 15ft onto her moving vehicle, there’s just no way she would have walked or driven away uninjured. I’m thinking it was closer to 12 inches. Regardless, anyone that has driven under that bridge can tell you that this thing looks like it could come crashing down at any moment. And for the Railroad to say its purely “cosmetic”, well thats unacceptable.
As long as she has the piece of concrete that fell on her car, it wouldn’t be very difficult to see if it actually came from the bridge.
btw…I liked the “concrete evidence” bit! 
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0 0 I am for the marriage ammendment.
Our tax bill now has over 50% going toward schools. You want more money in the classrooms then cut off the beaurocracy at the top, the LAST thing we need to is to raise taxes for schools. I am for school choice.
Frankly, I find ALL politicians to be irresponsible with money. So we must put you on a budget not more but less.
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0 0 Raising the minimum wage…
Thoughts for discussion….
The creation of these jobs were entry level positions for teens to begin a life of being responsible in the safety net of home or while supporting themselves thru college.
Now are society has changed, why? What were the catalysts to this change?
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0 0 I agree about school choice. Dist 91 sucks over 6.8 million in supplemental levies out of tax payers every year. This amount continues to rise. Schools, just like politicians need to be on a budget. They can’t keep hitting the troph for more funding without some pretty major results to show for it. Dist 93 will soon be doing the same thing as they grow and gain more enrollment. Interestingly, I wonder if 93 will get more 91 students….and if 91 enrollment drops, will they keep asking for increased supplemental levies because they have gotten so spoiled with our money they don’t know how to do without?
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0 0 Actually I think district 91 enrollment has been dropping the past couple years hasn’t it?
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0 0 I do not believe that Idaho should tax the retirement pay of the military. We want to attract retired military into our community, but they choose Washington, Texas and Florida where their retirement is not taxed.
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0 0 I agree with “The Anonymous” from post 39. ( I sure wish all those who use Anonymous would add an “A” or “B” or something so those of us trying to respond make sure which of those who are Anonymous we are addressing (and not).
Last year both Districts #91 and #93 had an increased enrollment (check via an online search of a PR). D.91 wasn’t as overwhelming as 93’s, but something like 100 students more than planned.
As for the railroad, I appreciate the humor here. Clearly, the railroad has no intention of making a change and the city - well the city is the city.
I believe new ideas must be presented and hopefully some may considered.
I’m not sure how far north the railroad services businesses that are somewhat parallel with N. Holmes/N. Boulevard.
I think new tracks need to be laid down from about Sunnyside past the stockyard area. Perhaps further, I don’t know the RR. And in the process the two very dangerous underpasses need to be historical data.
New railroad tracks could offer more sound engineering for the safety of everyone, perhaps even better placement for the businesses that rely upon them most, and an opportunity to plan ahead for additional growth: tracks like TRAX in Utah that are commuter trains. I am aware there appears to be more east-west and vice versa traffic than north south; however, we have to start somewhere. And with new or expanding businesses in the industrial parks and who knows how much growth locally doing to companies working with CAES, it’s a start. If proven effective, additional light rail trains for east-west/west-east could be added in the future.
I am aware this is a expensive idea. And I have a proposal how to fund a lot of it. It’s called Hollywood (or Hollyweird), as the case may be.
“Scouts” are always searching for locations for series or movies. I know two underpasses that would look just great on the big screen being blown up as part of action flicks or natural disaster movie. Throw in the stockyard area to show the aftermath of whatever.
While many will laugh and tell me “yah, sure,” I say why not think about the idea? We have to think of new sources of money to improve some of our areas.
Grow Idaho Falls has been successful in marketing the area for certain type of businesses because they limited their types of businesses instead of shot gunning for any business who would consider moving. There are other reasons GIF has been successful, but what would it hurt for them to ponder the Hollywood factor helping us “clean up” undesirable areas, and helping offset or perhaps even pay for the costs of the improvements?
Think of how many explosions, tunnel closings, or bridges being blown up you see weekly in what you view. Wouldn’t some authentic overpasses that need to come down be refreshing as a new scene instead of the studio lots?
Hollywood does so much work in Vanceuver, B.C. because it’s so much cheaper as an area to portray the northwest. How do you think the costs in Idaho Falls would compare to those in B.C.?
How many people laughed at Dawn Wells when she started SpudFest telling her it would never go in eastern ID?
At least it’s a fresh idea of how to bring some different parties to the table to address issues that need addressed and offer at least one potential funding source.
What other ideas do you have of how to pay for those underpasses to be replaced and potentially Amtrak and/or Light Rail added as replacement railroad tracks are laid down?
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0 0 What a great idea, bring in hollywood. They always look for an inexpensive location. The way costs across the board in Idaho Falls have increased in the past two years, I’m not sure we would qualify as inexpensive.
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Taxing food is a crime in my opinion, and you just want to cut the tax by half? Eliminate the tax and cut spending to make up for lost revenue. Do we really need more state parks? New state parks is just one example of spending that could be cut.