The local political chatter around here and town sure seems quite. Aside from a few campaign signs here and there for the various city council races, you wouldn’t guess that an election is just around the corner.
In exactly two weeks, we have the opportunity to vote for who will represent our interests and values at the city level. These folks have a huge say in how a large portion of our property taxes are spent.
I for one am quite surprised that no one is really asking the tough questions. Furthermore, it seems no one is talking about the questionable and irresponsible spending habits of the Idaho Falls City Council.
For example, take the city’s purchase of the Farr Candy buildings downtown. Several weeks ago, the Idaho Falls City Council voted unanimously to purchase the Farr Candy Co. buildings on D Street for $745,000. Now granted, I know that it is not unusual for a city to purchase property to accommodate city needs and for expansion, however the manner in which this transaction played out is – or at least I hope – unusual.
The questionable:
The city purchased two buildings from a close friend of the Mayor and Council President Ida Hardcastle for above the assessed values.
The close friend was the Mayor’s campaign treasurer in 2005, and (if I recall correctly) was originally Ida Hardcastle’s campaign treasurer for the current election cycle before concern was expressed and then Sheila Olsen replaced Ida’s close friend as treasurer.
It was reported that the city purchased 52,000 square feet for the $745,000. However, unless I do not correctly understand math, it doesn’t add up.
Here’s how I figure -
Building 1:
+9,000 sq. ft. building (Main Floor 5,600 sq. ft., Basement 3,400 sq. ft.) Does not include the lot size 11,158 sq. ft.
Building 2:
+10,727 sq. ft. building (Main Floor 8,207 sq. ft., Second Floor 1,260 sq. ft., Basement 1, 260 sq. ft.) Does not include the lot size 9,730 sq. ft.
Therefore, according to my math and understanding of how you calculate the square footage of a building, the total should be closer to 19,727 sq. ft.
Here’s how I would suppose the city came up with their figure –
Building 1:
+21,478 sq. ft. (Main Floor 5,600 sq. ft., Basement 3,400 sq. ft., Lot size 11,158 sq. ft., Shed / Outbuilding One 672 sq. ft. [12 x 56], Shed / Outbuilding Two 648 sq. ft. [24 x 27] – I guess they chose not to include the 3,315 sq. ft. canopy that measures 39 x 85 ft.)
Building 2:
+20,457 sq. ft. (Main Floor 8,207 sq. ft., Second Floor 1,260 sq. ft., Basement 1, 260 sq. ft., Lot size 9,730 sq. ft.)
2nd Parcel:
+10,010 sq. ft. (Lot size 10,010 sq. ft.)
So, if you combine the lot sizes, outbuildings / sheds, and the actual office/building space, then you can come up with a total of 51,945 sq. ft. – that’s almost 52,000 sq. ft.
Now, wouldn’t you love to include those sheds in your back and side yards to increase the square footage of your home come resale time? Could you imagine if that was how you were to come up with your home’s square footage? Interesting.
The irresponsible:
Purchasing a property for $745,000 that was last appraised by the county in 2005 for $445,000 – a difference of $300,000.
According to an article by the PR, “The county last appraised the buildings in 2005 and was unable to conduct an in-person inspection. Instead, the assessor’s office relied on a computer model to peg the value at $445,000. The assessment could be way off because of that, said Lianne Christesen, an appraiser at the Bonneville County Assessor’s Office.”
According to the media, the city failed to conduct an independent appraisal to ensure that the taxpayers would be getting a fair deal. However, council members Ida Hardcastle and Karen Cornwell would argue that a private appraisal was conducted. Unfortunately, for the taxpayers, the seller of the properties conducted it. Now, would you take the word of seller’s appraiser as gospel, or would you question it and have it appraised yourself?
Furthermore, why didn’t the council make this appraisal available to the public or media? Where’s the transparency in that? Is it because the city agreed to purchase the properties at 10% or more above the assessed value? Yet, the council will try to redirect and argue that the $745,000 price tag was $150K below the asking price.
The square footage issue…
Why the inaccurate or misrepresented square footage? Would you not first know exactly what you are agreeing to purchase or at the least conduct an inspection and assessment to know the correct square footage and the amount of property you are to own?
In the current economy, few downtown properties are selling these days, could the city not have negotiated a better price? Instead, the city has wanted to expand their office space for quite some time, so an opportunity and made an impulse buy. Is that not part of the problem that lead to our current economic situation? Does that justify rushing in?
The Bottom Line:
There are too many questions and too many irresponsible actions by the council and city officials. I guess it is easier to spend someone else’s money.
That being said, why isn’t anything being done? Why has the media allowed this issue to die? Why aren’t we asking the candidates these questions and more?
For your information:
Alex CREEK is challenging incumbent Ida HARDCASTLE for Idaho Falls City Council, Seat 4.
Barbara EHARDT is challenging incumbent Karen CORNWELL for Idaho Falls City Council, Seat 6.
Reminder:
Election day is Tuesday, November 3, 2009!
Popularity: 1%
Related posts:
- Meet Alex Creek – Candidate for Idaho Falls City Council, seat 4
- Meet Ida Hardcastle – Candidate for Idaho Falls City Council, seat 4
- Meet Barbara Ehardt – Candidate for Idaho Falls City Council, seat 6
- What is important in 2007 Idaho Falls city council elections?
- Meet Thomas Hally, Idaho Falls 2007 City Council Candidate
It WAS all he had to say about it!
:@:)
Loading ...
{ 45 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey I have a grand idea for such a beauty of a place as Idaho Falls…Gee lets just have some more paths and forget about what needs to be done, to further the success of Idaho Falls. Success we have, but what is imperative is what we can become. Lets make stop walks more available or at least painted. Pedestrians have a hard time walking in IF. Bicycle riders have it just as hard if not more so. We need more bike paths, and challenged areas more successful for more of the handicapped areas. Only then can we all truly enjoy the Green Belt, and the beauty itself has to offer. That’s the kind of candidate I am greatly influenced by, and would have in mind for a possible vote.
Why bike paths when you can only bicycle in Idaho Falls for maybe 3 months out of the year. This town has plenty of parks, bike paths and walkways. What it needs is to repair the roads it does have so I’m not spending a fortune aligning the front end of my car each year.
Hey, Concerned Citizen and Guest,
Aren’t you guys missing the point here? This thread is about possible misconduct of the current city administration and the possibility that your tax dollars were doled out to a political crony and friend of the mayor in the purchase of property for hundreds of thousands of dollars more than it appears to be worth. And you want to talk about bike paths?
I’d like to hear more about this from someone in the know.
I first read about that purchase and thought it was odd to pay that much higher over appraised value, but then it is a prime location and the owner knows the city wants that spot. This happens in real estate all the time and that’s just capitalism baby.
But I don’t pay for the half dozen daily news stories that Roger Plothow tries to call a newspaper, so I didn’t see this report. (Cmon Roger, sell the actual meat and skip the filler).
The ties to both candidates are suspicious. The square footage issue could be a simple error, but is suspicious. The appraisal is really suspicious.
The mayor and councilpeople may not read these blogs daily but they keep up with them through the grapevine. They are aware of these accusations of impropriety, and they must respond quickly. There may be good answers to these questions, but they need to respond quickly before the election.
If we don’t hear a response by close of business Friday, I say protests at City Hall on Monday lunchtime.
I heard that they overpaid for this property to tear it down and create parking, is that true?
Almost $750 Million?? During times like these you would think that our city governments focus should be on jobs and businesses that are struggling. For that money, they could have done like the labor dept, and the health dept did and build on the outskirts of town, and likely would have been able to build on land they already own. A new building (if they really needed it so badly) would have yielded much more office and storage space, while at the same time keeping several local construction companies in work. They have to know this since Dist 91 will attempt to secure another bond ($84.5 Million) to remodel and build based on the reasoning that it is a good time to build since the market is down and prices are cheap. It seems like there are some who hold on to the ideas of manifest destiny, and just have to have the WHOLE block, despite more logical, economical and sensible options. I supose now they can bulldoze all the buildings on that block and build a multi story skyscaper with parking below. Its good to know that despite all the crumby sidewalks, potholes, and all the economical stresses placed on a city government they can still manage to save up in some secret account enough money to purchase overpriced buildings and finish their “block collection”.
Sorry I know its 750,000, I miss-typed. OOPS
After the forum yesterday, somebody approached Karen to ask her to name a time she had ever been a dissenting vote and why. She thought for quite some time, then explained that dissenting “no” votes such as those as former councilman Larry Lyon were just a waste of time when he knew he was going to lose. Karen said she was opposed to lowering the levy and spoke out against lower it; however, to avoid wasting time she voted yes. This is her best example of a dissenting vote? Does anybody question anything on the city council?
WOW,I’d like to see an article on that. Hopefully that story is credible and was recorded. That sounds like the teenager that went to a party and was offered drugs and said yes because it was easier to do than to explain why she didn’t want to. Does it take more time if a council member votes no? Do the others take time during the meeting to criticize the dissenter?
It is most certainly time to shake up the city council. It is time we get somebody pursuing our interests instead of their own. Hopefully with a city council change they will change directions on the green belt project that is an incredible waste of taxpayer money let alone a very poor location.
The purchase of this property is a classic case of a group that is too close to one another and has developed a little arrogance. The Mayor and the City Council are all friends of Ida Hardcastle. Ida is best friends with Kevin Call. Get the picture! This is a true scandel not necessarily of the dishonest kind but of the “good ole boy” kind. No independent appraisal of the property by the City….sloppy, stupid…or so what we’re friends!
Independent….
We must be living in different towns. The Greenbelt is one of the most heavily used public spaces year round, and has proven to be an excellent way to keep the millions of tourists who pass through I.F. here longer, and to spend their money here. Walmart, the most savvy retailer in the world, didn’t choose their second super store location in I.F. by chance… they placed it close to the greenbelt for those reasons.
Our fellow citizens love the greenbelt just as much as the tourists. The greenbelt is constantly in use by moms with walkers, joggers, families on an afternoon, bike riders, you name it. I think you might want to get out of the house sometime and check it out.
Consider the 4th of July fireworks. There is no better place to hold them, and the greenbelt allows room for the enormous crowd. There is no place in the city that comes close for that purpose.
Your comment as to a ‘very poor location’ leave me confused. The falls are the singular attraction this town has, and the greenbelt certainly made it better than the dirt trails through the sagebrush it replaced. Much of the money used for the improvements has come from the Rotary, a businessman’s club that sponsors the Duck Race and uses the proceeds for further improvement.
That the city actively participates in improvements there is nothing new. Before the Rotarians, Councils over the past 40 years have improved the riverfront area. It’s Idaho Falls’ crown jewel.
I’m truly sad that no one of note is running against Fuhriman.
He forgot to put in for stimulus money and then said “it didn’t matter.” But do we really know it didn’t matter?
He rigged it so he and his children could go on a trip to France from Areva.
There is the building in this post.
We are building yet another park. You can drive by most parks in this town on any summer day and find them pretty vacant so why do we need yet another?
Numerous studies to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars have been done to study the parking issue downtown. Why? There is a parking problem, we don’t need a study to tell us that.
He kept drug paraphernalia in his house where his son could get to it and use it.
Any decent candidate of note could have buried Fuhriman in this coming election given all his blunders. And no I wouldn’t be that person because I don’t have the time nor the butt kissing skills needed to be mayor.
Hardcastle and Cornwell are nothing but “yes men er women” to Fuhriman so at the very least they need to go in order to shake things up. Otherwise the council is going to be full of Fuhriman appointees (two of the current ones) and ones who merely do whatever he wants.
Oh yeah, lets not forget the tax payer funded retreat the mayor and council took to Island Park right after they told all the city departments to slash their budgets.
Ditto to the above comments regarding Furryman’s stimulous blunder. what a big rediculous irresponsible move that was. ” Stimulus deadline? OOPS. Oh well, it’s no big thing” sheesh. I punish my kids when they miss a homework deadline, and he mr mayor skates away without even a blink. wow.
And the Farr’s Ice Cream deal? The comment above that said ‘that’s just capitalism baby” is big freakin joke. capitalism is when a for profit business pays the asking price because the buyer believes it’s a smart business move, at whatever the price. This is not that deal This stinks to high heaven, and knowing the players involved in the transaction, it comes as no surprise at all. There isn’t a real estate transaction in the county that would even come close to these over inflated numbers for the past 2 years at least. GREED. its all about GREED. are these men involved in the religious community? apparently not.
You can only ride a bike 3 months out of the year? Get real. More like 8 months of the year.
What about the city employees’ benefit package? How many of you get free insurance for yourselves and your family, no matter how many dependents you have? And does anyone in the mainstream workforce get as many holidays as our city workers? It seems like our garbage collection is a day late a lot of the time. Then I remember, it must have been a holiday on Monday of that week. For somebody. Because it sure wasn’t for me. Then besides getting an extra 3-day weekend they get to come in on Saturday and get paid overtime too. I don’t like the way Alex Creek was endorsed by the local GOP but if he is for cutting the benefit package of city employees he has my vote. City employees work for me. Their benefits should not be any greater than mine.
Is there a website where we can go to find out more about these candidates? I know nothing about them and can’t find any information to help me make an informed decision!
Please help!
As to the benefit package poster #17 is upset about. The pay for many of the positions within the city is less than that of comparable cities. The rationale given by the city council for this is the benefit package – they pay less because of the benefits. For instance, the police department pays several dollars an hour less than comparable departments in Idaho and Utah (as shown in a wage study done just this year and yes those departments have take home cars too so don’t bother bringing it up).
And since we are on the topic of raises. Here is another thing the council, particularly Ida, should be held accountable for. For years the cost of insurance has gone up and the city repeatedly refused to look for competitive bids even though the employee representative groups were begging them too. “We don’t want to destroy our good relationship with Blue Shield” was the common quote from Ida, Craig Lords, and others. The rising cost of insurance was used as the excuse many years to give very small cost of living raises to the employees. Well in 2008 the employees finally convinced the city to put out the insurance to a competitive bid. Blue Cross came in and said they would rubber stamp the existing policy for the next two years to the tune of a $2,000,000 savings to the city with a guaranteed 0% increase over those two years. TWO MILLION. Yet Ida Hardcastle voted against the switch. I can’t recall how the rest voted but it ended in a 3-3 tie and Fuhriman, to his credit, broke the tie and went with the switch saving all this money for the city.
Because there was now no increase in insurance the city gave a 4% cost of living raise last year. The employees were expecting a similar raise this year since the leaders had promised that the savings the employees had created by pushing the switch would be used again this year for raises. Instead they got a 0% raise this year and all the savings were used for other things. Meanwhile the mayor’s salary though continues to rise this year due to the council two years giving him a raise that would take effect in steps over two years. When they say he wasn’t given a raise this year that is technically true since it was actually last year when he was given the raise for the coming two years. His salary has gone up over $25,000 since he took office.
Well I got a 0% raise last year and had to take two weeks off without pay. And my insurance premiums went up. I agree that the insurance package should not be 100% paid by taxpayers. At least people should pay something for their dependents’ insurance. Free company paid insurance went away in private business a long time ago. If the city employees think that’s not good enough, nothing’s stopping them from finding another job. That’s the free market system. Someone else would gladly take their job with no complaints. Just think of all the holidays they would get off. It would be a lot simpler if the city would just pay a fair wage and stop doing all these free insurance and free car deals so we taxpayers know the true costs.
I remember the vote on to increase the Mayor’s salary well. I was the only Councilmember to vote against it. Why? Because I believe you should only get a raise after you prove you deserve one. Jared himself said after the vote that he hoped he would prove deserving of the raise he had just recieved. Even he knew he had got something he hadn’t earned. In my opinion it was nothing more than a political gift.
You can get a recorded copy of the meeting down at City Hall. Oh wait… I just remembered; you actually can’t. I believe it has been destroyed. The electronic recordings of City Council meetings (the most accurate representation of what really takes place) are routinely destroyed. When I was on the Council I advocated that they should be preserved and archived on the city web site for future review by any interested citizen, or a copy should be donated to the Library. Ida and Karen were both opposed to this idea.
Maybe the City has changed its policy since I was on the Council. Just call down to City Hall and ask for recordings of City Council meetings as far back as you can get them and you will know how long the City keeps recordings of City Council Meetings before they destroy them.
The honorable thing for Fuhriman to do with the raise he got this year would be to donate the entirety of it to charity or a disability fund for city employees. If your going to subject your employees to a 0% raise then you shouldn’t, if you have integrity, accept the raise you were given (especially when the wages of your employees are already severely depressed relative the same positions in other cities). As was mentioned earlier he actually received this raise last year but it made to take effect in two steps the second of which was this year.
I disagree…my last employer, a small private business, paid my full benefits plus a 5% pension, profit sharing and 401k matching for about 7 years. It is still done..but just harder to come by. businesses just can’t afford it any more with all the increased taxes n such (cough minimum wage cough) that keep getting dumped on them.
oh and that was from early 2001 through 2008
Still looking for a website to find out about the candidates running for city council and mayor. bueler…bueler…anyone….anyone?
I’m not sure about Alex Creek, but I did find the following for Barbara Ehardt:
http://www.barbaraehardt.com
Her political signs around town say:
Text “BARB” to 91011
Barbara Ehardt and Ida Hardcastle both have campaign sites on Facebook.
What I hate about facebook is that you have to open a facebook account just to be able to look at other peoples facebook sites. Stupid.
Why is no one talking about 10 million the city is spending on a fish pond for kids? (1/4 mile from the Snake River) I know there is a grant but I believe its only for $100,000. I think an Events Center is a much better use of that money and a lot bigger boost to our local economy.
FYI, there are three new posts highlighting some of the candidates seeking public office for the Idaho Falls City Council.
Check out the three new posts this morning.
Three new postings this morning highlighting some of the candidates for the Idaho Falls City Council.
That’s my point, you may have gotten those perks with a small private business but taxpayers have no reason to have to pay for the insurance for some city employee’s wife and 10 kids.
Joe,
Great idea posting information on the candidate’s on this site. Thanks!
I guess I need to throw my two cents in here. I believe that the current city council members must think that thier constituents ar idiots. They cut the tax levy by .1% totalling pennies for the average house in Idaho Falls. I guess if the city kept the money I would not be able to upgrade to a king sized value meal at McDonalds during one visit. I would like them to keep my tax cut and give better roads or sidewalks. Heck I would even be willing to pay for all or the houses in my cul-de-sac if the home owners want to keep thier pennies. I doubt my neighbors will even notice, since the city utilites are going to raise about $3.00 per month, according to a recent article in the Post Register.
Oh, by the way, has anyone even thought about the 84.5 MILLION bond that Dist 91 is tryong to pass. I realize this post is not related to Dist 91, but I could not find another post about this issue.
The School Dist states it is planning for the future. I wonder if they were looking to the future just two years ago. Why am I curious about this you might ask? Isn’t it just two years ago that School Dist 91 closed two Elementary Schools due to numbers being down. (That same year Dist 93 was building two schools and now may need more classrooms. Maybe we could just combine the two school districts in Idaho Falls and save some money. After all several of the children that are in Dist 93 live in Idaho Falls proper, don’t they?) One of the Elementary Schools that was closed was turned into an alternative high school so that was not a big deal in my eyes, but they closed another one on the west side of town. I would like to know if they were “planning for the future” when closing Osgood school? What has been done with the building and the property. Is this just a big plan to make the well-to-do people that live on the south side of I.F. happy because they will get a new school?
Before you go off about how I against education I should inform you that I have voted for every bond when the school Dist has asked for money, but I would like for someone to explain this to me before I give them about $200.00 per year. That is a lot of food for my child that could be reduced if the closed school was reopened.
Good Point. You can allways count on a token levy reduction in an election yr. It’s one of the games they play. Once they are safely re-elected they can spend all they want without being held accountable until they are up for re-election and then you will get another token reduction.
Love2ride
I love love that you and Larry agree!! LOL
Ahh Larry calm down. It was all a conspiracy aim at YOU, didn’t you notice all those black helicopters hovering over your house as IFPD was pounding on your door?, I don’t think it was because of the domestic violence complaints on you maybe your love of animal in the wee hours of the morning in your backyard.
The sixty five cent tax cut, which for me was actually only about 45 cents, is insulting. The fact that they actually applauded themselves over it was even worse.
Not really…you said, “Free company paid insurance went away in private business a long time ago.” I was simply informing you that it still exists.
Not only was the City Counsel spending …the zoo was way way over budget
It’s hard to work with close friends. You don’t want to hurt each other’s feelings. Well, the City Council and the Mayor are all buddy buddy, but unfortunately the people whose interests that they should really be looking out for are getting stomped into the dirt. Does our City do Town Halls? They aren’t just for State and Federally elected officials. They are meant for City Councils. I certainly would like them to know what I think.
I agree with your comments about city town hall meetings. In spite of it’s claims to the contrary, the city government is not very transparent at all.
Some simple ideas that I advocated when I was on the Council were to:
1) Broadcast City Council meetings live on cable TV or stream them over the Internet.
2) Archive videos of City Council meetings on the City web site.
3) Archive City Council Meeting minutes on the City website for at least four years so an incumbants’ entire record for the last term they served is available for review when they run for re-election.
4) Incorporate a search engine into archived City Council meeting minutes on the city website so citizens can search by keyword for information on any subject or issue they may be interested in.
Jackson Hole, Wyoming and San Diego, California are examples of City websites that have this capability.
5) City Council meeting minutes should be posted in the city website the day after the meeting; not weeks later. I know they are not approved until the following city council meeting. Simply note they are “draft” or “unapproved” minutes and when they are approved delete the note.
Posting the minutes on the city web site the day after the meeting would also give citizens who have made comments at City Council meetings the chance to make sure their comments are represented accurately in the minutes.
6) Donate a copy of all audio/video of City Council Meetings to the Public Library.
These suggestions didn’t go anywhere in large part because Ida Hardcastle was opposed to all of them. If you ever want to see real transparancy in city government you have to have people on the Council who want real transparancy. Ida demonstrated to me many times while I was on the Council with her that she is opposed to real transparancy in city government.
I would like to have Ida or Karen repond to this and be honest with the people of Idaho falls about the Zoo budget.
Knowing how Ida and Karen love to spend “our” money to improve our “quality of life” it is easy to believe what you say.
When I was on the Council, taxpayers were subsidising the Zoo to the tune of about $500,000 a year.
Don’t get me wrong; I love the Zoo, but $500,000 just seems like a little over the top.