Commissioner's e-mail is a waste of taxpayer money

Canyon County Commissioner Steve Rule forwarded a joke e-mail he received comparing incoming First Lady Michelle Obama to a black widow spider because of a black dress she wore that had a red hourglass-shaped pattern on the front.
Rule’s forwarding of the e-mail has set off a firestorm of protests and even national media coverage. The e-mail also compares Obama to the black widow spider because she is black and has a “wide backside.”
There has been much debate over whether the e-mail is racist. Rule defenders claim the joke merely refers to the dress and not Obama’s race.
Personally, I think it’s pretty ridiculous to suggest the e-mail has nothing to do with race. At worst, it’s a viciously racist e-mail. At its best, it’s a stupid joke on the level of perhaps a high school sophomore.
However, I think there is a larger issue that merits much more concern and debate. Rule sent this e-mail using his county computer.
I have to tell you, like most computer users with an e-mail account, I receive many joke e-mails and conspiracy e-mails and fake rumor e-mails. Usually, if someone sends me one of these e-mails, I automatically dump it into my junk or spam folder. If someone sends me something inappropriate, I’ll respond to that person, asking him or her not to send me any more e-mails.
I give little or no time at all to these e-mails. Here’s why: I work for myself. As a small-business owner, my time is my own. The more time I spend looking at stupid e-mails, the less time I’m spending making money. I simply can’t afford to waste my time with this garbage.
Usually, when I receive such e-mails from friends or former co-workers, I usually think to myself that they’re wasting their employers’ money and time by doing this at work. In fact, my former employer had a strict policy of using company computers and e-mail accounts solely for company business. Eventually, my employer began monitoring e-mail accounts because of abuse.
Turns out Canyon County has a similar policy limiting e-mail use to county business, but it applies only to employees and not elected officials.
But Canyon County taxpayers should be incensed.
Commissioner Rule works for you, the taxpayer. Fiscally conservative voters who favor small government should take great offense at Commissioner Rule using your tax money to send out sophomoric e-mails.
Whether you think the e-mail is racist or not, it’s kind of beside the point. The bigger issue, for me, is what makes Commissioner Rule think it’s OK to send out joke e-mails on the taxpayer dime?

Now is not the time to bury our heads in the sand

Kuna City Council member Lisa Bachman last month brought up the need for Kuna to get involved in Ada County Highway District’s Transportation Land Use Integration Plan. ACHD’s Transportation and Land Use Integration Plan, or TLIP, is “an attempt to better link land-use and transportation planning,” according to their web site.
“The plan will feature policy decisions — such as which roads will become higher-volume, higher speed ‘mobility corridors’ and which will remain smaller, lower-volume facilities — that are expected to generate great public interest,” according to ACHD.
Kuna city officials, perhaps justifiably so, are skeptical of ACHD’s motives. Some have suggested that ACHD is trying to get into the land use business, which is the purview of cities. They fear ACHD will run roughshod over municipal decisions regarding subdivisions and commercial centers, using TLIP as justification for opposing a project.
But sticking your head in the sand and saying you’re not going to cooperate or participate is not the right answer. Look at Idaho Power’s plan to put a 230,000-volt transmission line through the middle of downtown Kuna. Kuna didn’t participate in the planning, so folks from Meridian and Eagle and Boise drew a line on a map that puts a series of 120-foot metal poles through Kuna. They must still be laughing at the little fast one they pulled on Kuna.
So Bachman’s admonition to participate in ACHD’s TLIP is a wise one that Kuna would do well to heed.

Kuna mayor's endorsement of Langhorst an interesting twist

This week, Kuna Mayor Scott Dowdy announced his endorsement of Democrat David Langhorst in his bid to unseat incumbent Republican Rick Yzaguirre for the Ada County Commission. Certainly, Mr. Yzaguirre gained no fans among Kuna city officials last month when he approved Vista, the massive, 1,048-acre, 3,000-house planned community just outside Kuna's borders. Kuna city officials, including Dowdy himself, testified before the county commissioners against the proposal, which is being shepherded by Rose Law Group Borton, a Boise law firm headed by former Meridian City Council member Joe Borton, no stranger to squabbles with Kuna city officials. Mr. Yzaguirre, along with fellow commission member and chairman Fred Tilman showed little respect for Kuna's Planning Director Steve Hasson, when Hasson enumerated his reasons for opposing Vista. Kuna City Engineer Gordon Law also presented some sound reasons against approving Vista. All, however, were set aside when the commissioners unanimously approved Vista. But I think what really got Dowdy's goat came a couple of weeks later, when Rose Law Group Borton hosted a fundraiser breakfast meet and greet for none other than Rick Yzaguirre. As I wrote in an Editor's Notebook in the Kuna Melba News a couple of weeks ago, Kuna city officials must feel like the ugly girl sitting on the bleachers at the dance. Well, the ugly girl just got up to dance with someone else.

Kuna is a hotbed for corn mazes

Don't let the press releases fool you — the two corn mazes in this area are in Kuna. The Idaho Corn MAiZE, on Meridian Road between Hubbard and Columbia is actually in unincorporated Ada County. True, it has a Meridian mailing address, but for all intents and purposes, it's in Kuna. It's within the Kuna school district, and several parcels of property to the north have already been annexed into the city of Kuna, most notably the Anchor Baptist Church on the northeast corner of Columbia and Meridian roads. And the corn maze at Linder Farms, on Linder Road, between Columbia and Lake Hazel, actually has been officially annexed into the city of Kuna. We should be proud that we have two fantastic corn mazes right here in Kuna.

Ted Mason's Walnut Creek event was a family fun day

We just got back from the Family Fun Day at Walnut Creek, a new mid-range subdivision off Ten Mile Road near Hubbard being built by Ted Mason Signature Homes. It was a great turnout. We estimated 75 to 100 people made their way through over the course of a couple of hours. Ted Mason himself was on hand for the festivities, which included hot dogs and apple pie, live music by the Dan Sevy Band, cheerleaders, jumphouses for the kids, games, and of course, tours of the houses. He has two houses built currently, with 56 more coming. The houses will range from $280,000 to $350,000. The houses are clearly very well-built with high-quality materials and built-ins. There is a definite, Americana, old-fashioned country theme going on. The street going into the subdivision is called Heartland, and Mason had a huge American flag raised by crane with the National Anthem to kick off the event. Nicola, as chamber president, Kerri Avery, as chamber vice president, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Ted Mason and Steven Schrader, as City Council member Rich Cardoza was kind enough to do the honors. Of course, a lot of folks showed up out of curiosity, but I noticed there were definitely some serious buyers. It was a packed work-related day, as we started the day at the final day of the Kuna Farmers Market for Oktoberfest and a meet the candidates session. Then we headed over to Advanced Family Medicine, where they had a ribbon-cutting ceremony for their expansion, adding a new doctor, Molly Armijo, and adding 800 square feet of additional office space. Good things happening in Kuna.

The real reason behind Kuna's expansion

Dave Taysom, who lives up off Meridian Road south of Lake Hazel Road, testified at last night's Kuna City Council meeting at which council members voted to extend the city's planning boundaries north to Amity Road. The extended boundaries also include the 3,400 acres recently annexed in as part of the Osprey Ridge development as well as thousands of other acres to the east of Kuna. Mr. Taysom said it would be impossible for Kuna to actually serve all that land, so it just didn't make sense why Kuna would be seeking to include all of that land in its comp plan. "Then I figured it out," he said conspiratorially. "You want to get big enough so the feds will bail you out."

Statesman condescends to Kuna: Here we go again

Here we go again. That's the first line of the Idaho Statesman's editorial today telling Kuna to think about what it's doing. That should also be the first line when talking about the Statesman's position on anything to do with Kuna. It's not so much that Kuna covets a strip of land between Lake Hazel and Amity roads. A couple of landowners representing 180 acres of land are seeking annexation into the city of Kuna. There are more out there, too, who have an interest in being a part of Kuna. Here's one reason: Meridian wants low-density for that area, something like one house per three acres. How's that jibe with the Statesman's Vision for the Valley? As far as Kuna not taking its time? Read my story that originally appeared in the Kuna Melba News on Aug. 27. It documents in painful detail (I know, I was at every meeting; the Statesman was not) all of the meetings and hearings and rehearings on the matter. Perhaps that's part of the problem; the Statesman only reads the Statesman. Finally, the bottom line is that this is a private property rights issue. If a landowner doesn't want to be a part of Kuna, the answer is simple: Don't annex your land into Kuna. If your neighbor wants to be a part of Kuna, what gives you the right to tell your neighbor that he or she can't do that?

An idea to bring Kuna and Meridian together

Today was Luke's first day of hockey practice. His dad grew up playing hockey, and I have to say, I always love that first day back in an ice rink. The cold, dry air, the smell of the Zamboni exhaust, the sound of sticks slapping the ice. Of course, the closest rink is Idaho IceWorld, a very nice, double-rink facility run by the Boise Parks and Rec Department. It's about a half-hour drive, which, really, isn't that bad. But it does give one time to think about the possibilities. I'm certain Kuna wouldn't be able to come up with a rink of its own, and I'm sure Meridian wouldn't mind having some help building a rink for its constituents. Plus, the school districts could use such a facility not only for organized hockey teams but also for phys ed instruction. How about a joint project among the cities of Kuna and Meridian and the school districts to build a small but usable pragmatic ice rink, let's say, somewhere in the disputed region between Lake Hazel and Amity roads? Wouldn't that be a great, feel-good project that would bring our two cities together? What do you think?

Would a Meridian City Council member want anything to do with the city of Kuna?

I guess it should be no surprise that Vista wants nothing to do with the city of Kuna. After all, the lead developer is Joe Borton, who is a former Meridian City Council member. As many people know, the relationship between the cities of Kuna and Meridian has been contentious, to be polite, and downright hostile, to be frank. Vista has resisted all attempts to be annexed. Kuna and Meridian have fought for years, and continue to fight, as we'll see on Tuesday night, over annexing land, and expanding areas of impact. Just before Ada County Commissioners approved Borton's Vista as a planned community under the auspices of Ada County, Commissioner Rick Yzaguirre said Vista would eventually become a part of Kuna, as the city of Kuna is "annexing like wildfire," which drew a lot of laughter. Borton responded, "I have no comment on wildfire annexations."

Denali Heights holds ribbon cutting for clubhouse, pool

I was invited to the Denali Heights ribbon-cutting ceremony and barbecue Monday night for the subdivision's new clubhouse and pool. I guess the clubhouse has been open for a while, and the pool opened recently. When I got there at 6:30, there were a couple of dozen residents there hanging out, having a good time. It's a nice group of people in a very nice higher-end subdivision in Kuna, something Kuna needs more of. Resident Kayla Rich gave me a tour of the clubhouse and pool. It's very nice, with a full kitchen, a great room with a couple of leather sofas and a fireplace, an office, and couple of bathrooms off a hallway leading to the pool, which is small but definitely usable. It makes me excited for our own clubhouse and pool here in Crimson Point, which is coming along slowly but surely but looks like it will be very nice when it opens. Congrats to Denali Heights residents on a nice facility in a very nice subdivision.