I had a chance to speak with Idaho Falls Mayor Jared Fuhriman this morning. I have met with him a couple times previously, but did not want to make a big deal about it, and definitely do not want to imply he endorses IdahoFallz.com or anything like that. Usually a mayor would not have any reason to bother with a blogger, however Mayor Fuhriman recognizes the unique subject of this blog is the city which he leads. He invited me in for questions since he can address many topics discussed on IdahoFallz.com.
This is not so much verbatim but rather the gist of what we discussed, especially with Mayor Fuhriman’s responses.
What’s going on with anti-graffiti efforts in Idaho Falls?
Mayor Fuhriman had a meeting involving many folks from many departments. They have a central person for everyone to report graffiti, and that person follows up with a few departments to get it cleaned up. If the graffiti is on private property, they will notify the owners. If the private property owners don’t have the means to clean up, the city will likely get volunteers to do it. For instance, some juveniles locked up in 3B detention will have the opportunity to do graffiti cleanup. They may do a big push over a day or week to clean the city up, thus making the individual spot treatments easier afterwards.
Has the city responded to the Larry Lyon tort claim yet?
The matter was turned over to the city’s insurance/attorneys who handle that, and no response yet.
Has it been awkward or difficult working with Councilman Lyon since the tort claim was filed?
Larry has attended meetings and done his job, and the topic has not come up. Everyone seems to understand the tort claim will be handled in one specific arena, and it does not need to be discussed anywhere else.
After the Minnesota bridge collapse last week, is there more urgency to replace Pancheri overpass?
Pancheri is already scheduled to be replaced in five years (2012). It will be done with state funding, so we have to wait for that. Idaho Falls will only be responsible for the overpass bases. The great news is plans are to expand Pancheri to five lanes.
What about the railroad crossings?
Idaho Falls really has no control over that, and the city has significant frustrations. Those deals are between the state and the railroad, and they work on their own timetable.
It is frustrating that I follow public-interaction laws as a private property owner (such as not being able to plant trees on a corner), but the railroad seems to completely disregard the public’s interaction with their property.
There just is not much the city can do against the railroad. For example, the railroad is supposed to clear weeds along their tracks, but they do not. The city finally cleared the railroad’s weeds along Yellowstone near Sunnyside because they were so overgrown, and billed the railroad for the work.
Did the railroad pay the bill?
No, they did not pay the bill. The city may withhold lease payments for some parking spots as leverage.
Is the Utah coal plant deal finished, and does the city have contingency plans?
There could be some litigation involved. It is not such a big deal that Los Angeles pulled out of the deal. The problem is that L.A. environmentalists want to muscle their desires into the project that they are not involved in anymore. The deal may or may not still go through, it could go either way at this point. Idaho Falls is looking at purchasing power credits in the first and second phases (already completed) of that project as contingencies. The city is also still looking at other options like wind power and conservation efforts.
What kind of business(es) would you like to see in Idaho Falls? Either specifically one you’ve seen in another city, or a general business type (for instance a water park)?
Generally want businesses offering significant job quantities with good pay and good benefits. Idaho Falls does not have an unemployment problem, but certainly has an underemployment problem. Folks have to work two or three jobs to make ends meet.
One thing holding Idaho Falls back from attracting those kinds of businesses is a lack of open city property. That was why Idaho Falls lost the Imogen plant. Businesses love city services like our fiber optic ring and low water rates, but we don’t have a lot of space right now that that large businesses need. Idaho Falls will probably have to annex more open property to meet this goal.
As far as recreation, we cannot have enough recreational activities and businesses. Privately-run businesses are preferable to public bond debts. A rec center is still desired, as is a splash park near Memorial Boulevard that can also provide winter ice skating.
What is going on with the new law enforcement building plans, and could an older “big box” building be renovated for use?
Everything is still on the table right now, no plans have been finalized for the bond. The city has looked at some local big box properties like the old Ernst and Albertson’s buildings. The city also considered the white bank building on Broadway and Shoup. Architects tell the city that upgrade costs for those old buildings would be more than a new building. The roofs on those old buildings are especially a cost factor, as is asbestos removal. Some folks want the police department to remain downtown, but nothing has been decided.
What are some things that Idaho Falls residents can do to help the city?
The biggest way residents can help the city is to just take care of your own business. Clear your property of junk and weeds, perform upkeep, make sure you have no code violations.
Residents can also help the city by becoming more aware of your surroundings, getting to know your neighbors, and watching for suspicious things. Be the eyes and ears of your community.
Finally, give the city input for improvements. One thing Mayor Fuhriman likes about IdahoFallz.com is when folks talk about improving Idaho Falls.
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What do you think about what Mayor Fuhriman had to say? Is there anything else you would have liked to ask him?
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Gato got runned over by Marcus many moons ago. Be ye daft, 2486? 
Let's have a new poll, alright, Joe?
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{ 89 comments… read them below or add one }
I like that Pancheri will be expanded to five lanes. I hope they remember to add wide sidewalks for pedestrians on both sides, and some kind of buffer between the pedestrians and the traffic would also be nice.
He reminds me a lot of Bill Clinton. He’s a great listener, nods at the appropriate time, pats you on the back for great ideas, and does very little towards any of the stuff he promises.
I don’t regret voting for him (yet) but when the other choice was Shurtleff there really wasn’t much of a choice.
There’s a home on the corner of Evans and Coachman that should take care of their own business. The lawn hasn’t been mowed or watered all year so it’s a huge weed field. The trailer and deck look really banged up. The chain link fence is buckled and pushed almost down in some areas. They have weeds growing all over their sidewalk cracks. They have broken bottle glass all over one section. They have trash all over their yard. There is a razor blade in the sidewalk near their driveway (I kicked it into their driveway). I wonder if the city can do anything to force them to clean up? I bet if Health and Welfare went in there the house is probably a pigsty for the kids.
Call planning and zoning. They have a couple of zoning enforcement officers that handle this type of thing.
I am interested to know how the town is cooperating with INL to lure upper echelon scientists and engineers. Since INL is the town’s top source of high-wage jobs, I would think that the success of INL would be a big priority.
Does the INL make all of it’s security violations, inspections, where they dump their waste, etc etc. public knowledge?? I mean after all this is a nuclear facility we’re talking about and the wealfare of our community is at stake here. If something were to happen at the INL, all of SE Idaho would be wiped out. It’s kind of scary if you think about it. Another Chernobyl could happen at anytime. And the only house I know with a longterm fallout shelter is that guy in Driggs who’s had his house on the market now for quite some time. (I think it’s Driggs…it may be Rigby now that I think about it)
I just think the INL should post their safety records, etc. in the Post Register just like the health code violations are posted there each week. Being only 50-60 miles away, we’re right in the extreme danger zone if anything were to go wrong there. Especially the way the winds blow around SE Idaho, we’d be in bad shape.
That’s a good question, and at least a periodic safety summary would be helpful to publish.
Speaking just from the experience of living here for a few decades, they seemed very public and cautious the few times there has been even a minor incident.
About fifteen years ago my girlfriend’s mom was in a building that had contaminated ashes blow over it, and they decontaminated everyone, tested everything, sent them home for the day while they did more checks.
You have a good point. A quarterly summary of the INL’s safety inspections could be a good feature story for the Post Register. I think the INL does a lot of good things that people do not know about. I think the INL and the local cops are not that good at touting the good things they do do.
Joe said “do do” (snicker).
Working at INL, I know that if there’s one thing they are crazy about, it’s safety. You cannot work on anything unless you’ve identified and mitigated every single hazard that could possibly arise. I think you guys are right – the lab needs to advertise its safety record, as well as all the great things it does for the area (major sponsor of Alive after 5 comes to mind, personally). Check out this site for information: http://www.inl.gov/community/index.shtml
You know if the railroads punk Idaho Falls this much, they probably punk out other Idaho cities.
I don’t think we can count on our legislature to do anything to help us on this matter.
I wonder if some Idaho cities with common complaints against the railroads could file a joint lawsuit to force them to be better neighbors?
So who is this graffiti person and what came out of this meeting, mister mayor? Sounds like a kid’s clubhouse rules. What is actually happening? good ideas and a little chat?
Melissa Smith is the central contact person. I didn’t think it was a big deal to identify her before, sorry. Maybe I was not clear enough. What came out of the meeting was that city employees would report graffiti to Melissa Smith, who then tasks out cleanup to a couple departments depending on where the graffiti is located. If private property is involved, they inform the owner and encourage cleanup. If the owner is clearly unable to do it, they will try to get a volunteer to paint over the graffiti part.
I’ve already seen a good bit of graffiti getting painted over around town. There is still much to do, but a good start is a good start.
I wonder if Skyline High School knows about Pancheri being widen to 5 lanes. They just spent many $1000’s of dontate dollars and 1000’s more in donated labor and supplies to build new baseball fields. From the looks of things one of the lanes will run right thru homeplate.
As I understand it, the five lanes end at the Skyline Avenue intersection. That would be an incredibly disappointing scenario you imagined! But I don’t think the five lanes will go that far (yet at least).
Does anyone give any thought to how the INL is run, both by money, politics and managements? Inefficiency abounds!
Great civilizations last about 200 years and the reasons for their demise are:
They go From bondage to spiritual faith.
From spiritual faith to great courage.
From great courage to liberty.
From liberty to abundance.
From abundance to complacency.
From complacency to apathy.
From apathy to government dependence.
From government dependency to bondage.
Indeed, life is a circle and most do their part to keep the cycle alive.
Do you think we are in a period of abundance, complacency, apathy, or government dependence?
I imagine answers could be all over these, so maybe it is best to consider what periods the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70, 80, and 90s might have been?
Joe,
I believe we are in the transition of apathy to government dependence. Government grows, yet people complain, but do little to put in place a stop. Thus, we can expect dependency on the government for the intrusions that come and remain.
I believe the final stage of government dependency to bondage will happen after you and I have died.
Join me, Joe, in not having to bear witness to that.
Nice Website.
Keep up the great work.
Join him Joe!!!
Wow, what a tangent that went on… maybe someone should call to make sure Taxpayer didn’t hang himself?
Seriously, I don’t think the situation is truly THAT bad. Complacent, maybe, but not apathetic. But isn’t this forum’s topic “conversation with Fuhriman,” not “State of the Nation?”
I will be the first to agree that INL is poorly managed, but we lowly workers still get good work done despite constantly conflicting management. Sometimes the trick is to get the tail to wag the dog.
That being said – I’d like to see more up-scale apartments in IF. High tech jobs are stagnating without anything in town to attract young, urban professionals.
Ideas:
Studio apartments in the upper rooms downtown.
A NICE bar that’s open until 1 or 2
East-west corridor mass transit system
The wider you build the roads, the more housing developments will be built in that area until the road becomes choked. The only answer is bike-lanes, electric trains, and buses!
Those are good ideas.
I think our area also needs a good nightclub. The local bars are local bars, not nightclubs.
I keep hearing from folks about a developer buying up those low-income homes south of the library, along the east bank of the river.
Someone told me the developer wanted to do more commercial there, like a previous article here advocated, but the residential zoning will not get changed. The plan is rumored to be some high-end residentials facing the river.
This town desperately needs a nightclub and a good sports bar. Both would do really well here. Especially if they stayed open past 1am.
Another great idea would be a non-alcoholic pool hall. I think that would do really well here also. There was this awesome pool hall in Florida that was a non-alcoholic bar during the day until after 9pm when it was 18 & over and then they only served beer & wine. They had 28 pool tables, a few dart boards and a couple of air hockey tables a great juke box. They would hold pool & dart tournaments every other weekend. During the day and up to 9pm it was open to all ages. After 9 you had to be 18 or older to get in. It was a great place for high school kids to hang out and shoot some pool during the day & early evening, and after 9pm it was like a regular bar. That place was always busy and I think something like that would do great here.
Even a Dave & Busters would be nice, if any of you have been to a D & B’s. It’s an adult themed game room/restaraunt/sports bar.
When I moved here I just couldn’t believe how limited the night life was for adults. I’ve been to Vino Rosso and Frosty Gator and DBs, but none of them are anything to brag about. I’ve spoken to a number of people in all three places and they’ve all agreed that a nightclub is desperately needed in this town, or even just a decent sports bar that’s got more than 2 pool tables.
I just can’t imagine why an investor has capitalized on this. It’s such a great opportunity with absolutely no competition. If only I had the money…….
Does anyone know why the bars close so early in this town? Is it state law or city law or what? I mean 1 am is just way too early.
Any reason why you left Florida? It’s all you talk about. How hard it must be for you to live here.
Nope, not hard at all. Just like to share experiences and cool places, restaraunts, etc that would do well here. I actually love it here and am quite happy I moved. After 30 years down there it was time for a change. I got tired of the rat race.
Too much traffic, too many rude people, the cost of living etc etc. Sure I miss some things, which I’m sure alot of people do when they’ve lived somewhere else most of their lives. There were alot of great places and fun things to do down there, but I’m very happy I moved here. I actually wish I would made the move 5-10 years ago, but hey, better late than never.
Things I love most about Idaho are:
The friendly people. Folks are much nicer up here and people aren’t walking around with a bad attitude all the time.
No traffic — no road rage
The cost of living
All the great camping & hiking
Great scenery, I love the mtns.
SNOW!! & winter sports
did I mention cost of living??
No hurricanes
No humidity
Nope… as a matter of fact, it’s quite easy living here and I’m very happy. I’ve actually lived in four other states but Florida for the longest. I’ve travelled extensivly all over the country and have had the opportunity to visit a number of cities in every state. Before moving it was a toss up between Flagstaff Arizona or here. A number of factors came into play in my decision to move but Idaho Falls won out in the end.
Sorry if talking about my past experiences bothers you. I don’t mean to offend.
Have you lived here all your life Guest?
I was not offended, It just seemed like you missed it, and I felt sorry for you! (just teasing) I have lived here for about 18 yrs. and have lived other places too. Like you, I do like the slower pace and the people. I’m happy to know you do like it here and am glad you are here.
LOL…nope, I don’t miss too much. I do miss the beach and the fresh seafood, but that’s pretty much it. Yeah I too enjoy the slower paced life here in Idaho. I definately don’t miss the stress that’s for sure! My blood pressure has been this low in years.
Thanks though…I’m glad I’m here too. Actually….I can’t wait for winter again!
We get some of that back and forth here. On hand we don’t like to hear “outsiders” tell us how we should make our area like where they used to live.
On the other hand, I think it is important to listen to the “transplants”. They come from places that experienced successes and failures with their growth.
As Idaho Falls grows, I think it can be valuable to hear about those successes and failures so we might be able to repeat the successes and avoid the failures.
I think it’s easier to plan a clean slate future than to clean up mistakes from the past, if that makes any sense.
I guess I’d like to ask why the mayor needs to have a personal stash of drugs and paraphernalia in his house for he claimed was “training purposes.” And why such a stash was left in a place where his adult son could get into it and then take it a friends house to smoke weed before getting caught and arrested by the police.
Kudo’s to the IFPD for not giving special favors to the mayors son.
Boo to the mayor for the very questionable decision to even have this stuff at his house and double boo for leaving it somewhere that his son could get into it. I wonder if the IFPD is checking to see what other kinds of evidence Fuhriman might have kept for training purposes. Crossing my fingers this isn’t another Kimball Mason type of fiasco.
This all happened over the weekend and is public record. Since his son has not been convicted yet I’ll leave out his name. But the son is 18 and shares the same last name and address as our mayor so it shouldn’t be too hard to find for anyone wanting to find it.
Huh?
Maybe it was too much Mitt Rootbeer that got to the boy?
Post #26 asks some good questions. Doesn’t state code forbid anyone from possessing paraphernalia? Should the Attorney Generals Office be called to investigate and determine if charges should be filed. Furihman left the PD some time ago and has no reason to be teaching drug classes, that should be left to the active officers in the IFPD. One of the problems that is frequently spoke about is the fact that the majority of attention on misconduct has been with the City of Idaho Falls. We all pay County and State Taxes. Maybe this forum should be opened up to workers in these areas. There is an equal amount of problems that the public needs to be aware of in State and County Government, however lately there has been a focus on the City. It would be helpful to the public to see how much each one of these agencies pays out in liability settlements due to improper conduct. It would be helpful to hear from the whistleblowers in these other agencies. Just a thought, thanks to post 26 for bringing it to the attention of the public.
Posts #26 & #29 – HUH??? Either I missed a story or we have some disgruntled City employees….
Help me out – this is a big accusation – I hope you have some facts to back it up…
Or we just have a city employee with inside information. Perhaps disgruntled as well but that doesn’t mean its not true. Our local media is extremely fallible and miss so many big stories especially in the criminal arena where they pretty much only find things out if the police are nice enough to tell them. Something like this I doubt they’d tell.
Comment 29: absolutely! I tried titling it differently a few months ago to include county workers also, but there was not much response. If you work for any local government agency in southeast Idaho, and you feel there is something unethical or inappropriate going on and you do not feel you are getting resolution through your existing channels, absolutely feel free to comment it anonymously here.
Comment 26: My viewpoint is the more sensational the allegation, the less likely it is to be true. This is a great example of IFz serving as both a rumor generation and squashing platform.
Please cite a date or time, what drugs are allegedly involved, a case number or arresting officer, a few more details than what you posted. Most of us don’t have time to go chase these things down at the police station.
Else we have to write it off as a far-out rumor. Hence the rumor squashing function of IFz 8^)
RE: the comments about a night club. It has been a dream(dream because of lack of ever having the capital to do it) of mine for sometime to run a “chill lounge”. Basically a night club type place where kids can go in the day and convert to adults only at night. Serve GOOD beer and wine, Provide lots of comfy seating, Play relaxing music (Jazz, dub, ambient), Provide hangout type things to do (darts, pool, card tables, whatever), and most importantly have a transportation service so people can go without worry of not being able to drive home.
I’m right there with ya Slats. If only I had the cashflow! You know it would be a great business here in IF and a much needed place for both young adults and the older crowd as well. Never stop dreaming…..it could come true someday. And hopefully I’ll be around to buy the first beer!
The young lad was arraigned monday, its public record, check it out.
Yup. I asked a certain relative of mine who would certainly know. He confirmed that the story is more or less true as told. My relative only knows the story third hand however.
It just seems really strange that not even one single local news outlet has not reported this alleged arrest, or that the mayor would not have proactively made an announcement. Still sounds like a rumor…
Well…if anybody could keep an incident like this out of the news, it would be the Mayor. Dontcha think?
Maybe it should be leaked to a national news source. And THEN, maybe it would appear on our local channels or in the PR.
Even Al Gore couldn’t keep his son’s arrest out of the news. But he sure as heck had the spin doctors hard at work on it doing their best at damage control.
Doesn’t seem strange to me at all that the news is in the dark. The media is essentially incompetent at discovering stories. They only know things if people tell them. Obviously no one told them about this. I can think of a number of HUGE HUGE HUGE stories I’ve been told about my police officer family member that missed the news just this year.
Like the guy who got arrested here in Idaho Falls just this year for distribution and possession of child pornography. He and an adult female accomplice filmed the guy molesting with three young Idaho Falls children all under age 10. They then distributed these videos onto the internet where eventually a watchdog group found them and led IF police to the guy. A story like this would be headlines for a long time but there was never even a snippet that I saw. Simply because the police didn’t advertise it and the media doesn’t pay enough attention to court proceedings to catch anything unless someone tips them off or they are already following someone. BTW, those videos are sadly still all over the internet since once it goes online its there forever and the creeps who have copies will just keep redistributing it.
Or how about the recent event that just was talked about again in a recent paper about the guy who broke into his nieces house, wrapped her up in duct tape, and was going to rape her. It took the media over a week to pick up on that story. I heard about it the night it happened and kept waiting and waiting to see it on the news. I’d nearly forgotten about it by the time they found out.
Someone asked why I didn’t start a new discussion thread about Mayor Fuhriman holding a couple boxes of marijuana paraphernalia in his home, and his son allegedly taking one to smoke marijuana with.
Really, I don’t think Fuhriman having the boxes nor his son using pot are really big stories. They are newsworthy because it is the mayor’s son and because the mayor realized he had forgotten the boxes. Otherwise, it’s almost completely certain that the boxes were there legitimately, and the son smoking pot is a personal family matter.
I think the real stories, and the big focus of discussion, should be on A) further evidence of our Idaho Falls police department keeping poor records and B) why didn’t our local news media report the mayor’s son’s arrest?
As for A), why didn’t the police keep records of where the boxes were? How many other items have been checked out for “educational use” and never returned? How many more embarrassing incidents will it take for our police department to get their house in order?
As for B), the arrest happened two weekends ago, the son was apparently arraigned a week ago Monday, someone mentioned it in the chatbox say Wednesday or Thursday, and yet no local news outlet reported it until the Mayor himself held a press conference.
Someone in our local media surely knew before yesterday. Why did they fail to report it? What else have our local media failed to report to the public? Can we trust our local media to do their job anymore?
I think those two issues are the real stories in this episode. What do you think?
All the more reason for this medium, Joe. This is not the first such story that was tossed around your site before the local media felt pressured into reporting it.
Hail, hail anonymity and to the insiders who aren’t afraid to speak up about the inconsistencies in our local government.
It seems to me that the fourth estate should be delving into such matters as:
Why is the property room under no apparent supervision as to what items are deemed removeable and by whom? And why are there no follow-ups as to the status of those items?
Is a hand receipt used and signed by the individual removing property from the evidence room? If not, why not?
How much pot was removed by Fuhriman along with the two boxes of periphernalia?
Are there no accounting records by which one might get some answers to the mess at the city jail property room?
C’mon local media, the ball is in your court.
Aren’t we beating a dead horse to death here? The IFPD has admitted that their records for the property room were “poor”. This was brought out in the Mason trial. Supposedly new controls have been put in place. All of the drug paraphenalia was supposedly taken out for educational purposes prior to the new safeguards.
Are you saying that these guys could take pot, guns and paraphernalia out at will before the new age of accountability was instigated? I would kinda liked to have been an insider to that shindig. Party on.
It looks like everyone who took pot, guns and paraphernalia before the new safeguards and controls went into effect were somehow grandfathered in to where they could still keep the stuff. The Kimball Mason thing came to light about a year and a half ago. Is it still being used as an excuse every time there is a problem regarding property or evidence?
Garth, you have made a good point. I’m not excusing the people who have this illegal contraband or whatever you want to call it, I’m just saying that a problem was recognized and they are supposedly trying to rectify it. I wouldn’t be suprised to see more things come to light in the future. I would hope that if anyone has any of the property room evidence in their possession that they would turn it in on their own, but this apparently isn’t the case. It was a dumb thing that Fuhrimann did, but I don’t think it can be blamed on the IFPD. In my opinion, the Administration should have recognized they had a problem long before they did, but not the entire IFPD. After all, the buck stops at Livsey’s door.
“What do you think about what Mayor Fuhriman had to say? Is there anything else you would have liked to ask him?” Yes. “Do you have anything illegal in your house and why?”
Once again we are dealing with too much trust, sad but true.
Does anyone remember all the guns Kimball Mason forgot were at his home?
Couldn’t this paraphernalia be considered stolen property?
I know there are a lot of cops on this site, would it really be that easy to forget this stuff being at your home? That just doesn’t make much sense to me.
Its different than the guns and its just silly to say its the same.
It was legal for Kimball to take the guns from evidence. Where he broke the law was that he was then required to either destroy the guns or sell them and return the money to the police.
The paraphernalia that Fuhriman took was marked to be destroyed – something people would know if they actually bothered to read the news stories. There is no resale value so its different from Kimball. And its perfectly acceptable for drug or K-9 cops to take stuff like this that is set to be destroyed and use it for training purposes instead. Do you think they use drug substitutes to train drug dogs with? Likewise, if your trying to show parents / kids what paraphernalia looks like is it better to use real stuff or pictures? And since bongs come in all kinds of shapes and sizes its natural Fuhriman would have lots.
There really are only three issues here. Everything else is utter nonsense by people with axes to grind:
1) Why did it take the media so long to report it? I said before and will say again its because the media was clueless this happened til it got reported here and then they were too incompetent to quickly follow the bread crumbs the source here left for them.
2) Is Peyton going to be treated the same, no better no worse, than anyone else? So far other than the press coverage it appears he is getting the same treatment.
3) Why did Fuhriman still have the paraphernalia. The issue isn’t why he had in the first place as thats perfectly reasonable. The issue is why did he still have it and why was he careless enough to leave it in an accessible place. The only people who actually think the mayor was smoking pot are people with axes to grind. Rational people realize he was just stupid in keeping the stuff.
It is,guest. Sometimes after a tough beat you just fall asleep and the next day a little evidence makes it way into your home. Sometimes, I don’t even notice. Little by little as it builds up, you toss it in a box. This is all to be destroyed someday. Returned as evidence, you see? We just keep it for a little bit so it doesn’t all pile up at the evidence room. Then after it’s forgotten some dumbass unearths it and all hell breaks loose. Give the guy a break. He’s innocent until proven guilty and that is how it is for all Americans. And I must agree, Disturbing thoughts: The Mayor would never, ever smoke pot.
Who has an axe to grind? I have never heard anyone here say they didn’t like the Mayor? I also don’t think any actually believes he was smoking anything?
Sorry I’m not following you?
IFSaviour,
Thanks for the info but who is the dumb ass who unearths it?
to Distubing Thoughts:
You said the news media are clueless and incompetent. Suppose they did read the rumors posted here. I did, and I still didn’t know what they were talking about. They can’t report rumors and innuendo. I believe that some people, probably news media, were asking a lot of questions and that is why the Mayor decided to come forward with a press conference.
There are different burdens of proof for a news organization and a blog. And different levels of liability if something turns out to not be true. Just my two cents.
The items that Mayor Fuhriman had were paraphernalia, not drugs! They were checked out over 15 years ago for training purposes. 15 years ago, evidence was still on paper and not tracked by computer. For years now, all paraphernalia and drugs checked out for training is approved by the Prosecutor and tracked. The evidence procedure had holes in it that have been repaired and the entire system is being upgraded. Mayor Fuhriman made a mistake by not turning the paraphernalia back in when he was elected but he did not break any laws. The press does not report on every misdemeanor ticket the police hand out, and Mayor Fuhrimans ADULT son getting a citation was not a story until this site made it one. Sorry, no conspiracy here! I am guessing but because of “public perception” those classes we all enjoyed and learned so much from, will be a thing of the past. So, thank you.
When a person leaves the employment of the Police Department, it is common that the person makes a full accountabilty of his issued equipment, weapons, keys and other items. When the Mayor left the PD he knew that he still had these items in his house and they should have been turned back with his other equipment. I do not believe that anyone will try to claim that this reaches the level that the Mason incident did, however it was not long after the Mason incident came to light that similar questions were being raised. If you check with other officers who held similar positions for educating the public, the displays are left at the Police Department and then checked out when necessary and immediately returned. Some might want to consider the fact why Dane Watkins chose in such a short time not to make any criminal charges in the incident. Past experience has shown that he takes a long time to review the incidents when it involves public figures. We also need to look at a former American Falls Police Chief who forgot he had a bike which belonged to the City and was recently charged with a criminal offense. The public will always have concerns when things like this happen. History has shown in the past that Administration could have done a better job in making sure that these type of incidents would not occur by better training and supervision. These type of items should never have been taken home for any reason.
I know I’m a little late on this, but I would like to know what the Mayor thinks about the “no-confidence” in the IFPD Administration, and if his office has any plans to correct it. In following the “Chat Box” tonight, some suggestions were made as to possible ways to remedy this or at least get it out in the open. And the main thread seemed to be through the City Council and the Mayor.
Yeah, it was a good conversation in the chatbox on that subject. I hope the folks don’t mind if I paste some of it here (if so please email which line you want removed):
KF : I want those who sacrifice the most (front lines) to be compensated. Maybe Lyons had the best idea, but I”m not sure. I guess where I get really lost is the Mayor. I thought he’d do better by cops.
Guest_3478 : Mike — I see you are on. What do you think the average citizen can do about the “no confidence” in the IFPD Admin? You seem to have some good ideas.
Mike : I think the first thing that has to happen is to get the information out there to the general public and by writing letters to the PR. It would be good to attend a city council meeting and bring the issue up for the council to schedule a debate on it and ask the Chief to come explain his position.
Guest_3478 : I think the Mayor is afraid of rocking any boats.
Mike : The FOP should be jumping on this.
Mike : Yeah, Jared doesn’t like to rock the boat. That is why it is important for people to have this brought up and ask the Chief to explain what he thinks.
Mike : I hope Brad Landes will send out some press release with this information on it. Seems like the local media loves these releases….make s their job easier and they run with it.
Guest_3478 : I hear you. Hope Brad Landes hears you also. I know a lot of people who visit this site are connected somehow to the Police. Surely the word will get back.
Mike : We have to keep pressure on these guys in the leadership to make sure they are aware of the perception problems and make sure they announce a plan to exert some leadership to deal with it….and follow-up on it to hold them to their word.
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This no-confidence in the chief thing seems to be a constant undercurrent. Something needs to adjust.
Once again, this site and its readers have taken the word of the very few as gospel. Does the IFPD have its problems? I would think so! As does any workplace including my office. Somewhere along the line, the reason the police are wanting a union has been skewed from the way the city has treated its employees to “no confidence in the police admin”. The cutting of benefits and cost of living was the catalyst for the union vote, ask Brad Landes. I think the no confidence was aimed more at the city council and mayor.
Wages and benefits may have been the catalyst (catalyst being the key word here), but everything comes into play. If you had followed the whole thread of the conversation, a multitude of problems were listed. After discussion, it was generally agreed that maybe the one thing that we as citizens could do was to make the City Council, the Mayor, and the rest of the Administration aware of the fact that the Public was becoming aware that there were internal problems that we would like an answer to.
Nobody is saying that anything we think, perceive, or say is gospel. Wish things were that clear cut.
I would like to comment on the trash all over Idaho Falls. I have had 2 friends visit from other states and both commented on the trash all over. One of them asked why we dont have people in prison or jails or juvy halls out cleaning up the town. He said in his town thats how they earn T.V. and other privileges and the town is always clean. What a great idea. Its embarrasing to have out of towners comment on how trashy our town looks.
There are usually people out that go around and pick up trash, but you have to remember we just recently had all the snow around town melt and with the heavy winds we’ve been having almost daily, it’s bound to happen. It’s definately not the norm, but I do agree we could get the prisoners from county outside to pickup all this trash a little more often.
You’re right here, we took relatives up I-15 the other day and I was appalled to see the amount of litter on the highway and around all the fences and exits. I haven’t been that way in some time, we go through town or the back county roads. Time to get the inmates to work! What happened to all the groups who “adopt” a highway for cleanup problems? The ISU Idaho Falls campus group has a real bad part of the highway to clean up. We all need to do our part. Several new homes under construction in our area also don’t think to clean up as much as they should, their stuff blows away easily too. Can’t they get juvenile detention students to chip in too?
I’m not sure if there’s a better thread for this comment, but following the previous posts, maybe a program along the line of what Sheriff Joe Arpaio has in Maricopa County, Arizona, would work here. http://www.mcso.org is the link I found. (I haven’t read enough about his program to either say it’s good or bad.) I’m not even saying roadside cleanup is inmate responsibility. I do like chocolate chip cookies, that I’m sure of, by golly!
Good idea Find Humor. Sheriff Joe is a no nonsense kind of guy that runs a tight ship and I think more jails & prisons in this country need to be run the way he runs his. I saw a 2 hour expose’ of this sheriff one time and all I can say is I applaud this man and the work he does. He believes prison should not be like summer camp and he puts his inmates to work and I’m talking hard physical labor. I believe we would see alot less repeat offenders if more prisons where run this way. But we already have too many human rights folks out there crying for the prisoners rights, so it would be hard to pass nationwide. In my mind, these prisoners lost all their rights when they decided to commit these heinous crimes. Bring back the chain gangs again and get them out there cleaning up our highways and interstates. Put them to work instead of letting them sit around watching tv all day.
Just do what I do: I get my kids, a few trash bags, and instead of complaining about it on some blog, we pick the trash up.
than whatcha doing online! Get out there!
j/k!
Well, it’s a point well taken. Why not just go pick up some trash. I have a $10 litter picker from Walgreen’s and I use a 3 gallon plastic pickle bucket. Twice a week I patrol my neighborhood and pick up everything i see. I routinely get 2-3 buckets full of stuff. Most of it is “alkie” stuff and “kid” stuff. The alkies throw out their beer and liquor containers and the kids throw out gum wrappers, fast food joint stuff. In a weird sort of way, It’s kinda fun watching the different types and quantities of litter by time of year and day of week. You’d be pretty danged amazed at the quantity of stuff people toss out their car windows. After years of doing this sort of thing it really doesn’t bother me any more. I pick up the trash and litter simply because I don’t want to look at it. I don’t have any high moral purpose or nothing, it’s just something I do to keep my own neighborhood looking nice. I’m just doing it for me, mostly, but I reckon other people might like it. I don’t care much about that–it’s just I don’t like looking at it. We could all do that in our neighborhoods and it would be a nice thing to do. But whatever, most people don’t give a damn and that’s the way it is these day. It’s just society. Culture. Kids. Alkies. Whatever.
Monte, would ya move to my area please?
Excellent Johnny! I also pick up litter and debris thats been blowing around my neighborhood just about on a weekly basis. I think if everyone did this around their blocks we would have a much cleaner city. And then let the “adopt a highway” folks do their part on the highways. Or like others have suggested, get the folks sitting in county jail out there to pick up trash. I’m sure they would be all to happy to help pick up trash and litter along our roads and highways, if only to be able to get out of their cells a few hours each day.
I agree, we all can help clean up, some of us more than we are doing already. I really dislike the litter and since we live in a wind tunnel we just end up with garbage all over on a regular basis.
Sometimes when we’ve picked up windborne litter, we have found other people’s discarded bank statements, paystubs, and other personal documents. Luckily for those people, their documents didn’t fall into unscrupulous hands. I’ll bet those inmates also see the same sort of stuff, as do the rest of you.
I immediately went out and bought a paper shredder for our own stuff. (Aww, Fire Dept. won’t let us have a burn barrel anymore.)
Whatever happened in the Furhiman paraphernalia crime? Under the carpet quietly? Since he appoints the Cheif’s job, I’d guess yes? Just how easy did everyone get off in that one? Business as usual? Come back, Mr. Kimball!
His son was convicted. Sorry to bust your consipracy theory.
Glad to hear it. We can suppose the possession of paraphernalia in Furhiman’s house was ignored, though. The law is the law unless… So what was the kid convicted of and just how rough was the “judge” on him? She’s just asking some questions, here. After reading about your Kimball Mason character, it’s a curiosity as to what else is going on in your town.
http://www.idcourts.us
Peyton Furhriman was sentenced to 90 days in jail, all suspended, and fined almost $400. This is a very typical sentence for the offense so its clear he did not receive special treatment nor did he receive special punishment. Kudo’s to the court system for geting it right.
i just wanted to make a comment about the fact that our mayor will attend anything that has to do with mellaluca but he doesnt have the time to personally show at a ribbon cerimony where a new school is oppening. Our children always seem to come second to big buisness and thats sad.
What school? Was it a city school or a county school?
I hope there are spelling teachers at your new school.
it was in district 91 and no im not a teacher there i have someone that goes to the school and sorry for my spelling i was at work and didnt check my spelling
what new school? I wasn’t aware of any new schools in District 91. What’s the name and where is it located?
There are no new public schools in District 91. Possibly there could be a new private school but the only one I’ve heard of recently was a charter school in Ammon and thats District 93.
yes it was taylors crossing charter school and everyone was told that the mayor would be there but instead he sent someone from his office and i want to thank everyone who responded this was my first time making a comment on this site and its nice to see that people care
Your upset that Mayor Skeletor didn’t attend a school opening in another city? Ammon is another city and Fuhriman has no obligation to it or its residents. Given he can’t be two places at once I’m glad he prioritized so that Idaho Falls came first.
I guess I don’t know where the Taylor’s Crossing Charter School is. From its name, I was guessing that it was at Taylor Crossing. Can someone enlighten me please?
I don’t know what the big deal is here. The mans busy, he missed a school opening, whooptydoo. At least he had the common courtesy to send someone in his place. Evidently that’s not good enough for some people. Get your priorities straight man, its not the end of the world.
Maybe he was getting his hair did.
The mayor has great hair.
I feel that three noise issues MUST be addressed and mitigated. Barking dogs, booming sound systems, and un-muffled cycles. Theses sorces of disturbances are an assult on the tranquility of life in Idaho Falls that reslult from people who are worse than indifferent to the rights of others, – they gain nothing from the disturbance while imposing discomfort on others.
youve never lived in a big city have you philip