Classic Sun Valley

Here’s a photo I took earlier this winter. It’s one of my favorite views: Sun Peak and the Red Barn.

Special Sun Valley City Council Meeting May 26, 2010

On Wednesday, May 26, 2010 at 10:00 am we have a Special City Council meeting.

The main purpose of this Special Council meeting is to begin the Fiscal Year 2011 budgeting process.

To begin the budgeting process, the Council will first work to establish its priorities for FY11. At this meeting we will also establish a calendar for the budgeting process, and consider any modifications to our financial and external contracts policies the Council feel are necessary.

As I do each year, I prepare my recommended Fiscal Year 2011 Strategic Project Priorities for the City of Sun Valley. I will be discussing these at the meeting on May 26th. You can click here to see my priorities.

To see the Agenda and Council packet for this meeting, click here for the Agenda, and click here for the Council Packet.

You can also listen to this or any other Council meeting live, or later on the internet at this link.

You can always see the full Council schedule and additional information at my website.

My 250th Blog Post

My last blog post on the May 20^th Sun Valley City Council meeting was the 250^th blog I’ve written since I began this interesting journey back in 2005.

Blogging has been a great way, as an Elected Official, to communicate with the citizens on a variety of issues. It has also been a tool to keep our community instantly informed, particularly in the early stages of the massive Castle Rock Fire of 2007. I have had a great time sharing many of my photos with you here, and it has been a way for long-lost friends to find me. I can’t think of abetter opportunity to involve technology in our democracy.

Great thanks to all of you who regularly read my blog posts, for your comments, and for your e-mails and phone calls! I look forward to continuing this journey with you here.

Here’s a photo I took a couple of weeks ago of Idaho’s beautiful Sawtooth Mountains from near Lower Stanley. Enjoy!

Sun Valley City Council Meeting May 20, 2010

On Thursday, May 20, 2010 at 4:00 pm we have our regular monthly City Council meeting.

Along with normal business and reports, the principal items of consideration this month include:

• Presentation by the Marketing Exploration Committee.
• Public Hearing on Plat Amendment request for 95 Elkhorn Road.
• Public Hearing on Back Pay Way Zoning Map Amendment.
• Public Hearing on Prospector Road Right-of-way Vacation.
• Public Hearing on Ordinance 428 Amendment to Hillside Development Regulations.
• Public Hearing on Rezoning certain SVEA lands to open space.
• Amendments to City Council Powers and Authorities, and Code of Ethics.

To see the full Agenda and Council Packet for the 5-20-10 meeting, click here.

You can also listen to this or any other Council meeting live, or later on the internet at this link.

You can always see the full Council schedule and additional information at my website.

Special Sun Valley City Council Meeting May 18, 2010

On Tuesday, May 18, 2010 at 5:30 pm we have a Special Sun Valley City Council meeting. This will be another joint meeting held together with the Ketchum City Council, this time in the Limelight Room at the Sun Valley Resort.

The purpose of this Special Council meeting is to hear the recommendations from the Marketing Exploration Committee.

On May 3, 2010 we heard that Committee’s progress report based on Councilman Bob Youngman’s research and analysis of Sun Valley’s historic Local Option Tax (LOT) revenue generation from tourism marketing relative to past performance, competing resorts, and non-resort economies. No action will be taken at this special meeting.

Update 5-16-10 – Councilman Youngman has just posted a very enlightening new report entitled ”Structural Economic Analysis of the Sun Valley Resort Area Economy” as a slideshow. I would encourage everyone to review it at this link or view it below.

To see the Agenda for this meeting, click here.

To see my earlier blog regarding Councilman Youngman’s work on this important matter, click here.

Unfortunately, you will not be able to listen to this Council meeting live either, since it will be held in the Limelight Room. I am hopeful a recording will be made of it and City staff will upload it to our Granicus system so you can listen to it later.

You can always see the full Council schedule and additional information at my website.

Special Sun Valley City Council Meeting May 11, 2010

On Tuesday, May 11, 2010 at 10:00 am we have a Special City Council meeting. The purpose of this special meeting is for the Council to visit all existing City facilities and two sites for possible facility expansion. These site visits are a continuation of our work on the development of  the City’s Capital Improvement Plan.

To see the Agenda for this meeting, click here.

You can also listen to this or any other Council meeting live, or later on the internet at this link.

You can always see the full Council schedule and additional information at my website.

Special Sun Valley City Council Meeting May 3, 2010

On Monday, May 3, 2010 at 8:00 pm we have a Special City Council meeting. This will be a joint meeting held together with the Ketchum City Council in their chambers at Ketchum City Hall.

The purpose of this Special Council meeting is to hear a report from the Marketing Exploration Committee. This Committee was formed as a result of Councilman Bob Youngman’s research and analysis of Sun Valley’s historic Local Option Tax (LOT) revenue generation from tourism marketing relative to past performance, competing resorts, and non-resort economies. No action will be taken at this special meeting.

To see the Agenda for this meeting, click here.

To see my earlier blog regarding Councilman Youngman’s work on this important matter, click here.

Unfortunately, you will not be able to listen to this Council meeting live, since it will be held at  Ketchum City Hall. I had encouraged the meeting be held in our City Hall so we could take advantage of our live broadcast and archive system, but was unsuccessful and apologize for this inconvenience.

You can always see the full Council schedule and additional information at my website.

Nils’ Response to Spurious Anonymous Letter

Scroll down four posts, or click here, to read my specific point by point factual answer, with specific references to Council meeting votes, which clarifies the errors and misrepresentations in the anonymous letter sent last week to Sun Valley voters by a person(s) calling him/herself “Sun Valley Citizens for Better Government.” I posted the detailed response on October 27, 2009.

Nils’ Response to Candidate Questionnaire – Sawtooth Board of Realtors

During this campaign I have been asked to fill out 3 different questionnaires. One by the Sawtooth Board of Realtors, one by the Idaho Mountain Express and one by the Editorial Department of the Twin Falls Times-News.

Each organization asked some excellent, probing questions and I was more than happy to let them know where I stand. Since you may not get a chance to see my responses to them elsewhere, I want to share them with you here. 

I’ll start off today with the questionnaire from the Sawtooth Board of Realtors:

SAWTOOTH BOARD OF REALTORS 

ELECTION SCORECARD QUESTIONS 

Response of Nils Ribi 

Please respond by email to Bob Crosby, Government Affairs Director, Sawtooth Board of Realtors, by 5:00 PM on Tuesday, October 13, 2009.  

I.                  Platform Overview:

Please provide a concise overview of the goals that you would strive to accomplish during your term, if you are elected. 

As a Councilman for the citizens of Sun Valley, I will continue to focus on three priority issues if re-elected:  

• Keep the City of Sun Valley the best resort community in America in which to live, by providing and maintaining the appropriate infrastructure and level of essential city services to support what citizens and visitors expect;
• Keep the City of Sun Valley independent and fiscally sound through careful financial management and support of a strong resort economy; and
• Keep an absolute commitment to open and transparent government, where government is responsive and accountable to its citizens. 

II.       Replacement Airport / Transportation:

How would you ensure that your city plays an ongoing role with the Blaine County Commissioners, the Blaine County Airport Advisory Committee, and the Freidman Memorial Airport Authority in planning for the proposed replacement airport? 

I support the effort currently underway by the Blaine County Commissioners to create a separate “Blaine County Airport Advisory Authority” whose purpose is to focus exclusively on building and operating the new airport. This new Authority will have representation from the Sun Valley/Ketchum area. 

As an elected official, would you support city funding of minimum revenue guarantees or other subsidies to airlines, if required, to ensure continuing air service to Freidman Memorial Airport and / or to the proposed replacement airport? 

I voted to include MRG funding in the current FY10 City budget at the request of the Fly Sun Valley Alliance in cooperation with the Sun Valley Resort. I did this because it will also assist our residents and second homeowners who rely heavily on consistent air service to the area. The legal authority to use public funds for this purpose still must be determined before any expenditure can be made. 

Would you support state legislative changes that would allow local government funding of public transportation and the underwriting of air service, if required? 

I have worked on these issues, particularly in regard to alternative funding for public transit, for the past three years as our City representative on the Legislative Committee of the Association of Idaho Cities. I intend to continue to pursue this option on behalf of the area and City if re-elected. 

III. Diversified Economy:

How would you ensure a balance between pursuing economic diversity as promoted by GoBlaine! and others, and the need to recognize and promote our existing tourist based assets? 

I have seen the success of GoBlaine! first hand as a member of its Board of Directors. Its success so far has been based on a solid public/private partnership that must continue into the implementation phase. The key written into the strategy is a valley wide economic development effort which diversifies the economy. In turn, this diversity will provide stability and growth to the tourism economy of Sun Valley. 

Do you support establishing a regional economic development entity that would be financially supported by all Blaine County governments, or do you believe that each municipality should be in charge of its own economic development?  If the latter, should there also be a regional entity, and how should economic development responsibilities and funding be divided between County municipalities and a regional entity? 

The entity to implement GoBlaine! must be valley-wide and have the representation and participation of all governments and the business community to be successful. See my response above. 

Provided you think it is necessary, what would you do to attract and retain younger visitors and younger permanent residents to the area? 

A government itself cannot attract and retain younger visitors and permanent residents, but it can encourage and support a strong resort economy and jobs through the focus of its funding of economic development and tourism marketing in general. 

What are your capital improvement priorities for your city and over what time frame? 

My capital improvement priorities focus on our needed core infrastructure: roads and paths, emergency services, and intra-city public transit. They will be implemented and financed according to a well thought out Capital Improvement Plan and Program. 

IV.     Regional versus Local Government:

How important do you deem regional issues to be (ex. transportation including air access, environmental issues, affordable and workforce housing, regional marketing) relative to issues specific to your city? 

There are several regional issues that are important to our City. Those which have a direct impact on our City’s ability to properly function and provide services to our citizens are the most important. 

In your opinion, what are the most pressing regional issues affecting Blaine County? 

Water, Economy, Transit, Airport, Redundant Power, Wildfire Mitigation. 

What role do you envision your city playing in regional issues? 

• Water – I have made sure the City of Sun Valley has participated in the USGS Wood River Valley ground water resources study for the past three years. We should continue with this cooperative study until it is completed in the next two years.
• Economy – See my GoBlaine! response above about participating to help our tourism economy.
• Transit – Sun Valley has participated in the Joint Powers Agreement with the rest of the Wood River Valley to make sure Mountain Rides is a successful transit agency for our City bus service for residents and tourists, as well as for transporting the workforce.
• Airport – See my response above about participating in the new airport authority.
• Redundant Power – At present, Sun Valley is serviced by a single power transmission line. We need to work with Ketchum and the County to obtain a second, redundant line to assure that in the event of a lengthy outage, our citizens are not put in danger and our economy is not crippled.
• Wildfire Mitigation – Sun Valley is in the process of working with FEMA and the Bureau of Homeland Security to develop plans to lessen the impact of the urban/wildland fire interface. We will also work with the USFS, BLM and the other fire agencies in the valley through cooperative mutual aid agreements to seek a higher level of protection to our valuable residential and tourist properties.

Would you support a regional council of governments where representatives of all Blaine County municipalities meet on a regular basis to discuss regional issues and potential efficiencies in government? 

A formal Council of Governments to work together on issues would serve many purposes, including finding efficiencies in how we operate, joint advocacy, and the sharing of timely information. It would also help build cooperative working relationships between the various governmental units. At the present time the Mayors meet on an occasional basis. A formal arrangement would be preferable. 

V.        Affordable Housing:

Would you support state legislative changes that would allow local government funding of affordable community housing? 

This is another area where I have worked as a member of the Legislative Committee of the Association of Idaho Cities to seek various tools to allow cities to create workforce housing without creating a burden on taxpayers or developers. The most practical workforce housing for the City of Sun Valley will be that which is built in partnership with others to provide housing for critical emergency services workers who should be located in the City. 

In your opinion, must workforce housing be located in the same municipality as the project being asked to develop the housing? 

This is not an issue for the City of Sun Valley, as we do not have such ordinances and currently have no plans for such ordinances. In those cities which do, housing should be built where it is most feasible, cost effective and close to transportation. 

Given the economic and social community benefits of housing working families in the Wood River Valley, should developers be required to pay the entire cost of affordable community or employee housing, or should the cost be balanced between the community and the developer?  If you support a balanced approach, how would you suggest that housing responsibilities be shared between developers and municipalities? 

As mentioned above, Sun Valley does not have, or currently plan to have, such ordinances. If any ordinances were ever considered, they would have to be based on incentives to the developer to be successful. 

If you believe that creation of affordable community housing should be a priority, what would you do to ensure that more units are either constructed or converted from market rate to deed restricted/equity sharing housing in the near term? 

The priority in the City of Sun Valley will be to establish a level of housing for some, not all, of our critical emergency services workers – those who are essential to live in the City, so we can provide a level of service our citizens and resort require. This housing should be built in partnership with private parties, federal agencies and financed through existing state and federal grant and loan programs. 

VI.     The Environment:

What environmental issues are priorities for your city? 

Our City can and is reducing its energy consumption by operating smarter. The benefit of this is financial savings to the taxpayers. It is important that we look at implementing environmental initiatives that actually save us money. A prime example is in the way we are rebuilding our streets and paths with the CRABS (Concrete Reinforced Asphalt Base System) where the existing asphalt is ground up in place, concrete is added and a strong base is created. The old asphalt does not have to be trucked away, and the new surface lasts much longer. The process is also less expensive than conventional repaving of streets. Our other environmental priorities should focus on making sure we have an adequate supply of clean water and the protection of our steep hillsides and open spaces. 

What, if anything, should your city do to develop alternative energy sources? 

We are looking into grants to see if we can establish a solar demonstration project at City Hall. 

Does maintaining the scenic corridor (property visible from Highway 75 north of Glendale Road) as it is now take precedence over the construction of alternative energy sources (wind turbines, solar panels, etc.) within it? 

Although this is a County issue and not a City of Sun Valley issue, it should be noted that the corridor you mention already has several tall power lines in it. Certainly solar panels would not be taller than the power lines along Highway 75. Given the small amount of reliable wind to power a wind turbine in this narrow valley corridor, I suspect they would mostly be a moot point. 

What leadership role should cities take in the environmental arena; should such a role be regional in cooperation with other municipalities or local, pertaining only to your city?  If you believe that there should be both regional and local roles, how would you balance those activities to ensure the most effective use of funding and effort? 

We should show leadership by example. Our City has taken numerous small steps which have not cost much money, but which have actually saved the taxpayers much. Those are the examples we can show all in the region. I gave a presentation to the Idaho Green Expo in Boise this summer on the numerous positive steps the City of Sun Valley has taken in the environmental leadership area, and in particular where it has saved us money. That is an excellent way to share ideas and efforts. 

Would you support your city switching to a four day work week?  If so, would a material saving first need to be proven in terms of a reduction of both the direct and indirect carbon footprint and in lower operating costs for city buildings?  How would you balance the potential environmental savings versus the loss of service to your constituency? 

Our City has already evaluated switching to a four day work week and it was determined there would be little or no savings. As important, service to our citizens, many of whom arrive on Fridays to spend the weekend, would be diminished. As a resort town, the City of Sun Valley needs to meet the demands of a larger population base which grows on weekends and holidays. Shortening the work week around the weekend makes little sense for a resort town. 

VII.     Sun Valley Specific Questions:

Would you encourage / support construction of the community connector (ex. gondola, fixed rail streetcar/trolley, enhanced bus service including alternative-energy powered busses) that would connect both downtown Ketchum and Sun Valley to Bald Mountain? 

A direct connection between the City of Sun Valley and Bald Mountain through Ketchum should be encouraged and supported. How it is done is another question altogether. A gondola or fixed rail system would be extremely expensive to build and very expensive to maintain and operate. On the surface it sounds exciting, but the cost issues must be fully explored and a funding formula determined and agreed to by all the partners long before any plans are set in stone. In the meantime, a simpler and more affordable “community connector” should be sought and in place before the new River Run development is finished. We must be careful that a gondola or fixed rail system does not come at the expense of eliminating our around town transit programs. 

Would you support utilizing Sun Valley funds for regional purposes such as air service initiatives, regional marketing, etc? 

Yes, see my responses above.

Specific Answers to Spurious Anonymous Charges

Last week I responded to an anonymous letter mailed to Sun Valley voters which mischaracterized the truth and my service on the City Council for the past four years. I have prepared the following specific point by point answer to address the factual errors, and clarify the misrepresentations and distortions in that letter. You can then decide about the vitriolic conclusions the anonymous writer makes about me based on his/her mischaracterizations of the truth.

The anonymous writer claims I have “voted to give your money” away to my following “favorite special interests and charities”:

1. “WREP” – WREP stands for Wood River Economic Partnership. On October 18, 2007 I, along with the rest of the Council, voted to enter into a Contract for Services with WREP to conduct specific economic development work for the City, with payments based on the progress of the work. They were unable to fulfill the contract and NO money was expended.
2. “ARCH” – ARCH stands for Advocates for Real Community Housing. I have NEVER voted to give ARCH any money or enter into any Contract for Services with ARCH. However, I learned through my own review of the City’s finances in early 2008 that former Mayor Thorson gave money to ARCH in 2007 and 2006 without seeking Council approval, a violation of the City’s Community Support Grant Policy. I brought this and other violations to the attention of the City and Council as soon as they were discovered.
3. “BCHA” – BCHA stands for Blaine County Housing Authority. The City of Sun Valley is a member of BCHA by virtue of a joint-powers agreement with the other cities in the valley and Blaine County. On November 11, 2006 I, along with the rest of the Council, voted to enter into a one-year contract with BCHA to manage and sell the workforce housing units created as a result of the Elkhorn Springs development and to conduct a needs assessment, along with the other joint-powers partners. Since then, I have not voted to continue that contract or any payments.
4. “ERC” – ERC stands for Environmental Resource Center. On June 18, 2008 I voted, with a majority of the other Council members, to enter into a Contract for Services with the ERC to conduct an energy consumption analysis of all Sun Valley municipal operations for a total of $1,600. That study was presented to the Council and Mayor on February 19, 2009 and is now being implemented to save the City money. In my early 2008 investigation of former Mayor Thorson’s use of the City’s Community Support Grant fund, I found he had also given money to the ERC in 2007 without seeking Council approval, another violation of the City’s Community Support Grant Policy.
5. “KART” – KART was the original name for the local bus service, now known as Mountain Rides. It also operates under a joint-powers agreement among the cities and Blaine County. The City of Sun Valley has funded the local bus service since its inception years ago with proceeds from the local option tax. I have voted to fund KART/Mountain Rides each year I have been on the City Council under a Contract for Service. Since I have been on the Council, I have worked each year to make that Contract for Service more accountable to the citizens of Sun Valley, which in turn makes the bus service better.
6. “Sustain Blaine” – Sustain Blaine (also known as “GoBlaine!”) is a cooperative partnership of all local governments, numerous businesses, including the Sun Valley Company, and other non-governmental agencies working to develop and implement an economic development strategy for all of Blaine County, including Sun Valley. On June 19, 2008 I voted to enter into a Contract for Service with Sustain Blaine, administered by Blaine County, and then on January 15, 2009, based on good progress, I voted, along with the rest of the Council, to fund our share of the Contract to finish the strategy.
7. “48 Straight” – 48 Straight is the name of the former “The Ski Tour” which was held on Dollar Mountain in 2007 and 2008. I NEVER voted to give The Ski Tour or 48 Straight any money. On December 13, 2006 I voted, along with the rest of the Council, to transfer money from the City’s contingency fund to the Police and Fire Departments to cover their anticipated costs associated with the event since this new event had not been anticipated during the normal budgeting process. On November 15, 2007 I voted, along with the rest of the Council, to enter into a Contract for Services with The Ski Tour to provide the same in-kind Police and Fire support for the 2008 event. It should be noted that the City of Sun Valley also provides the same in-kind Police and Fire support to events put on by the Sun Valley Company, the Special Olympics, and the like, all events which generate local option taxes.
8. “Ketchum Chamber of Commerce” – The “Ketchum Chamber of Commerce” does not exist. The City of Sun Valley has entered into a Contract for Service with the Sun Valley/Ketchum Chamber and Visitors Bureau (SV/KCVB) for around 30 years. When I was first elected to the Council, I noticed the City of Sun Valley automatically gave the SV/KCVB 25% of the local option tax it collected. I have insisted that this practice end and we now have accountability in a Contract that is based on specific deliverables that are related to tourism marketing which benefits the value of our City.
9. “Ketchum Parks and Recreation” – Ketchum Parks and Recreation is a Department of the City of Ketchum which primarily operates Atkinson’s Park and the children’s summer and winter recreation program located there. The City of Sun Valley has historically contracted with Ketchum Parks and Recreation for these municipal services, since we do not have a parks department. I have voted, along with the rest of the Council, for the past three years to enter into a Contract for Service with Ketchum Parks and Recreation to fund approximately 10% of the Recreation Program Fund, which matches the 10-12% program participation by Sun Valley children.

From my documented record above, it is clear I have not “voted to give your money” away to my “favorite special interests and charities” as the anonymous letter writer insists you must believe. Rather, I have voted with the majority of the Council only when it was appropriate to enter into written contracts for legitimate and accountable City purposes. The anonymous letter writer has no idea to which charities I write my personal checks.

The anonymous letter writer next claims I “promoted and supported” the following three ordinances:

1. “The garbage ordinance” – I did support better recycling options for Sun Valley residents. However, it became immediately clear to me that the Ordinance originally proposed by the former Mayor and former City Administrator was not acceptable as written. I listened to the public comments through numerous public meetings and made sure changes were made to the Ordinance throughout the process. I also worked tirelessly behind the scenes to try to convince the City administration to be more receptive and proactive in regard to the citizens concerns, mostly without success. They literally ridiculed me for attempting to try to find solutions. I worked to eliminate the “mandatory” requirements of recycling and make it optional, while still including recycling with the price of your garbage collection. We were able to change the fee structure to the one the public demanded before any impact was felt by the citizens, even though the majority of residents would have actually had lower rates under the originally proposed fee structure. On February 21, 2008 I voted for the current garbage ordinance and rate fee resolution.
2. “The mass and scale ordinance” – I voted to reject the recommendation of the Planning and Zoning Commission to adopt the proposed residential mass and scale ordinance at the October 26, 2006 City Council meeting. I did so because there was serious confusion about the intent of the proposed ordinance, due to the fact that the City administration did a poor job explaining it to the public. It should be noted that existing City ordinances since the inception of Planning and Zoning have dictated the size of a house that can be built. These ordinances exist to protect your property rights from a neighbor building, for instance, a ten story, lot-line-to-lot-line, box house on the property next to yours. The existing ordinances do need some updating.
3. “The workforce housing ordinance” – It should be noted that this ordinance was adopted by the City Council BEFORE I was elected to the Council. I objected to a significant change that City Council made to this ordinance from the recommendation they received from the Planning and Zoning Commission, on which I was serving at the time. The change made by that Council was responsible for significantly increasing the fees on small additions and remodels, and had an overall effect of raising other fees. Once I was a member of the Council, it became a priority of mine to correct that ordinance change, however I was unable to get support from a majority of the Council or the former Mayor.

Regarding my vote to appeal the District Court’s decision to the Supreme Court, the City had already invested considerable resources into the case, and the City Attorney advised the cost to appeal would be small. I made it clear in my vote that there were private individuals willing to fund the appeal and it would not have cost the City any money. Therefore, it was in no way a “disregard for managing the public’s money” as the anonymous letter writer put it, but rather a very prudent one.

You can judge for yourself if I am being a “social engineer who wants to dictate your life style” or a public servant looking out for what is best for the citizens.

In the last paragraph of the anonymous letter, the writer discusses the local option tax and makes several factually incorrect and irresponsible statements:

1. The writer of the anonymous letter incorrectly misleads the reads as to the legislative intent of our local option tax (LOT) when he/she says it is to “provide property tax relief to residents.” In fact, the voters of Sun Valley expressly approved 11 uses for the LOT when they adopted the latest version in 2007. The eleven specific intended uses in the law include: administrative and legal expenses; economic development; fire protection; hospital support; land acquisition; law enforcement; municipal transportation; parks, trails and recreation; property tax relief; public information and education; and roads, buildings and grounds. The fact is the City spends the majority of its LOT receipts on roads, police and fire, all of which are impacted by tourism. All proceeds of the LOT are used for their intended purposes in the law, as we are required to do by the law. For the anonymous letter writer to boldly state that the LOT was not used for the intended purpose, as he does in his/her letter, is misleading and reckless. It gives you an example of just how irresponsible the rest of the letter truly is.
2. As a footnote to point #1 above – the anonymous letter writer must not understand that by State law the only way LOT can be used for “property tax relief” is if the LOT proceeds are collected and not spent on any of the other 10 uses (Idaho Code 50-1045). That amount is then used to replace city property taxes in the ensuing fiscal year. Therefore the anonymous letter writer’s argument that the LOT should be used to “provide property tax relief” to residents would mean he/she would like the city not to spend the proceeds on things the voters approved it for, but instead give it back to him/her as a rebate on his/her property taxes.
3. The anonymous letter writer contradicts himself/herself when he/she also suggests that virtually all the LOT should be spent fixing all the streets and roads throughout the City. It is not possible to generate enough tourist LOT revenue to completely rebuild all our streets and roads as the anonymous letter writer suggests, let alone consider using some of it for other purposes like fire and police. The prudent approach for major street and road rebuilding is through a capital improvement program, one the City has historically funded by other means. The suggestion and “urging” for a “property tax levee” (sic) has come from the City’s bond underwriter who may or may not present an idea to the City Council once a revised Capital Improvement Plan is finished. The City’s only outstanding debt, a general obligation bond being repaid with a special property tax levy will be fully repaid in 2011. Numerous factors would play into any decision the full Council would have to consider before deciding to ask the citizens to vote on any property tax levy. When questioned about possible ways to fund a Capital Improvement Program, I have mentioned the possibility of bonding, among others. The truth is I have actually urged the Council to slow down any consideration of bonding until we have a better understanding of all the variables. That is hardly urging on the Mayor and Council.

The mischaracterization of the truth and my service on the Council for the past four years by this anonymous letter, written by someone who doesn’t have the decency to even put his or her own name on the letter, speaks for itself.

The distortions of the truth and taking matters completely out of context in the name of “Better Government” through mean spirited personal attacks is something for which I believe the voters of Sun Valley have no use. Clearly it is a disservice to the citizens of our fine City.

These anonymous cowards may continue to spread their vitriol and misinformation. I am proud to stand by my record of public service. It is available for all to see at anytime. I only ask that you examine the public record, not one made up by some anonymous person or persons.

2009 Sun Valley / Ketchum Wagon Days Parade

This past Labor Day Weekend produced another great Wagon Days Parade in Sun Valley. I was out with my camera and captured several images which I put into a slide show. Several friends asked that I post a link to it here on my blog. Here it is.

Click on the link below to view the slide show:

2009 Wagon Days Parade Slide Show 

Sun Valley City Council Passes Sound Budget for FY2010

Last night the Sun Valley City Council, with the help of the Mayor, passed a $6.1 million budget for Fiscal Year 2010 (October 1, 2009 through September 30, 2010).

I feel very good that we passed a sound budget that focuses first on the health, safety and welfare of our citizens and then works to ensure that our local economic output and tax base is kept strong to the benefit of all Sun Valley citizens. 

After listening to the public during the official Public Hearing, we adjusted the budget accordingly. Council Member Briscoe and I worked out a compromise to further reduce the total budget by lowering total staff salary increases, reduced the contract with Sustain Blaine, funded a stronger Fire Department and funded tourism marketing at last year’s level. Our amendment to the budget passed on a tie-breaking vote with Mayor Willich’s help. Following our amendment, the Mayor asked for further discussion on the budget, hearing none from the Council, he called for a vote and the overall budget passed 3-2 with Council Member Briscoe, me and Mayor Willich voting in favor. 

During the lengthy Council discussion following the Public Hearing, I presented an updated Unreserved Fund Balance Analysis. Based on the FY10 Budget, my analysis showed the projected financial condition of the City at the END of the next Fiscal Year (September 30, 2010). As you can see from the analysis below, we should retain a strong fund balance to get us through another tough year or so, if the economy continues to stay in the dumps. 

 

I pointed out during the Public Hearing that this has been the most transparent budget process I have seen or been involved with since I’ve been associated with the City. We began the FY10 budget process over 3 months ago and yesterday’s Hearing was the seventh budget meeting in that process. The actual detailed budget we considered last night had been before the public for 38 days. Every person who wished to have a say in the budget was given an opportunity to do so and they were heard. Thank you for your participation.