Issues I Found Interesting
Golf Issues: The Golf Course Board was called up in front of the Council to discuss some things. The most contentious issue seemed to be the City's decision to look for a new golf course manager or Golf Pro. The “Board” felt they were not properly informed about this and a few other issues.
Mayor Rist spent a lot of time agreeing with the Board that communication between all parties hasn't been very good in the past. Overall, the Board thought the City wasn't supporting the Desert Canyon Golf Course like other Departments in the City. Mayor Rist and Councilman Schroeder tried to explain our local government had to do what's best for the entire City and not what's best just for the golf course.
Also discussed was an increase in fees for golfers. The Golf Course Board sent their recommended “fee increases” to the Mayor/Council earlier in the month for Council review and passage. After discussions to amend the board's recommendations it was decided to accept the new fees as written. Some fee increases will have to go to a public hearing before they can be officially approved.
My Opinion:
- “Communication is a 2 way street” as Councilwoman Isaac correctly pointed out to the Golf Course Board. These types of communication problems can easily be overcome with today's technology highlighted in my official platform.
- The Golf Course Board seemed to use the old “It's not fair” ploy for trying to get more City support for the course. But their “balance sheet” for the last few years (or likely the last 17 years) clearly shows our local government has to do everything in their power to control the financial bleeding. Enough is enough!
- Increased user fees to try to get the golf course closer to being self sufficient is great and the taxpayer should be happy...or should they. As Councilman Schroeder kind of pointed out, there is no hard data on golf course users so we have no way to calculate what the fee increases will do for the balance sheet of the golf course. Of course, gathering golf course user data would be a very useful starting point for future budgeting considerations. Hopefully someone on the Council will recommend this idea in the future. It’s part of my platform in any case.
Mountain Home Business License Issue: Paula Riggs, our Economic Development Director addressed the Council with the idea to “require” all businesses obtain a business license. This proposed “license” would be used to develop a database of all businesses in town. A “Business Directory” would then be created from this data for use by all interested parties. This idea received support from the Mayor and Council EXCEPT the required/mandatory part of the idea.
- Councilman Schroeder stated he is totally against any kind of mandatory business license as he thinks it’s a roadblock to doing business.
- Mayor Rist agreed with Councilman Schroeder for the most part.
It was finally decided that the City will begin collecting business data but it will not be mandatory. Notices will be placed on our City website and water bills to make sure word gets out.
- Councilwoman Isaac said something along the lines of “some businesses likely won’t be bothered to give the City this information unless it’s mandatory”.
My Opinion:
- This idea is part of my City Council Platform. I believe a mandatory business license is a NECESSITY.
- Without a complete and accurate picture of the businesses in Mountain Home, economic development and business education will be stifled…like it is right now.
- We already have at least 2 on-line business directories for Mountain Home on the Chamber of Commerce and Mountain Home News websites. These are “optional” business listings that are not comprehensive by any means.
- A “mandatory” $1.00 or $5.00 business license updated each year would pay for the database collection effort.
- My idea would be to waive the $1.00 or $5.00 fee after the 1st year if the business updates their license by the April 15th of each year. In short, a business that obtains a license and keeps the information updated on a yearly basis would incur $5.00 maximum fee over a lifetime.
- At least the Mountain Home City Council left the door open to make the business license mandatory in the future.
School Parking Lot Repair
The Streets Department asked permission to help our local school district re-gravel a parking lot between the football field and baseball fields. This non-funded project entails bringing in about $12,000 of gravel, the use of City equipment and employees. After some discussion, the Council decided to give the go-ahead for this project.
My Opinion:
First off, the $12,000 amount for the gravel is a “fair market value” only. The City already has this stuff sitting around so it really doesn’t mean the taxpayers are coughing up the full amount to repair this often used parking lot. And the employees and heavy equipment would likely be sitting idle during this part of the year. So, do I think this is a good project for the City to take on?
I have many reservations about using my tax money for projects like this…but:
- Working together and helping other local agencies on projects like this can pay dividends down the road.
- According to Councilman Rich Urquidi..., “this parking lot is used by many of our own citizens as well as many visitors to the City”. Making sure the people don’t have to tromp through mud puddles is valuable to the City.
- The most important issue I heard and saw that makes me think the Council made the right decision to repair this parking lot was that our own City employees appear to think this is a good idea. When the guys that are doing the extra work appear to think this is a worthy project then the Council and Mayor should listen closely. The City Council gets paid big bucks to make these types of decisions. I think they made the right call.
Got Any Comments?
I know there are a few of you out there that have an opinion on these issues. Keep them to yourself, or get it out of your system by commenting on this article.
-
2011-10-25 20:11:37 | Tim Bondy the Admin
Art: Thanks for your thoughts on this issue. Pretty straightforward opinion and no mincing words. I like that. I wish you would call me so we can discuss this idea at 208-598-0264. There are some issues I may not have considered.
Where the heck did you get the idea the government will shut down your business if you don't get a license or renew it for free? As far as the enforcement issue? How about if we just say the penalty would be "no business license, no entry on the City business directory".Thanks again for the comment Art. You made me think about this issue all over again.
Tim Bondy
-
2011-10-25 22:34:09 | Tim Bondy the Admin
Actually, I have to amend and revise my previous comment Art. My whole platform is based on better communication between all parties involved. And by communication this also includes access to accurate data. I certainly don't want anyone making decision "for me" based on bad data or worse still, no data.
Yep, the Economic Development office can send out one employee to beat the streets to gather accurate data. One person could actually cover the entire business community in 1 month. Then they can start all over the next day as new businesses open or close.
The business model of making decisions based on "I think" or gut feelings is a little outdated. Today's technology will lead to better decisions and an actual cost savings if data can be collected, analyzed and used.
"Politbureau's" around this country are utilizing information they "think they need" to aid in crime prevention and fire department response actions just to name a few.
Times are a changing and Mountain Home should be on the path of modernizing and gaining access to data they can use to conduct business in a more efficient manner.
Just take a look at the City of Jerome, Idaho. This town of 11,000 or so people has a Geographic Information System (GIS) Department. Are they using it to help businesses? Are they using it to entice new businesses to relocate in their town? Are they using it to keep their citizens informed? Are they using it to help in maintaining their streets? I don't know the answers to these questions. But that's what the normal City GIS Department is created for. And it all start with data collection.
In short, data in today's fast paced world is a commodity. If we don't start the collection and analysis process soon, business opportunities will pass by this community faster than the 4 million cars that speed by Mountain Home each year on Interstate 84.Sorry for the rant! But it is evident you are strongly against my idea of a business license. I also have strong feeling based on evidence, research and data to support my point of view. So why not put them out there for you to consider.
Thanks,
Tim Bondy
-
2011-10-26 14:03:38 | Art Nelson
Hey Tim,
IF it's mandatory then the penalty would have to be shutting down the business or its not mandatory, and the data is not collected. All government actions are at the point of a gun. Don't comply and the police will eventually show up and take you to jail at the point of a gun. Or you wont be allowed to do business.
Thats great that Jerome has a GIS department. Wonder if you asked the tax payers that have lost their homes there if they would rather have a GIS department or be able to decide what to do with their money what they would say.
Why is it the default position of government that the onus is on them to make a community grow? Can't the free market best take care of community growth? If there aren't business licenses or excessive taxes or unreasonable zoning laws, wont the government NOT being in the way foster growth?
Government at all levels is too big and far to cavalier about spending money and implementing fees. If the city thinks this data is so vital to their mission then let them work it into the existing budget. I want to see it be VERY hard for the Mayor and council members to make the decisions about what the tax dollars are spent on. I want their feet held to the fire and to see them sweat when they say that we're going to have a GIS department but the youth center wont be funded. What I DON'T want is for them to just add another fee that's a dolla this year and a thousand once they figure out that they need a 6 foot printer, a couple sat phones and Ipad2's to collect and collate their data. Just my opinion.
-
2011-10-26 17:22:05 | Tim Bondy the Admin
Art:
I understand where you are coming from now. Not a problem of where we go from here. We'll have to agree to disagree.I will say from what I have seen, Mayor Rist and the City Council have done a very fine job of holding spending in check. They have sweated over the budget for the last 2 years and taken some criticism for the job they did. While some folks don't have the time nor energy to attend a City Council meeting, I don't believe one person spoke up when the budget went into the public hearing phase. Now that's what I call the OPPOSITE of holding our elected official's feet to the fire. Not one person! And at the Chamber of Commerce/Elks Lodge political forum I asked to see a show of hands of the people who had seen a copy of the new 2012 City budget. My guess would be less than 10% of the audience indicated they had even seen the published budget.
As far as letting the free market determine what happens to Mountain Home??? Obviously at least a vocal minority in town want to see the business community grow and improve. I'm one of those folks. Letting the free market work its magic is great but isn't there room for some healthy advertising to entice business growth and relocations?In my opinion, a City has to come up with a plan for the future and work to reach those goals in a methodical and logical manner.
If the long range plan for Mountain Home is “let the cards fall where they may”, then at least there is a cheap and easy way to get there. And that would be exactly what you are proposing...a free market economy with zero government involvement. Unfortunately, places like Boise, Twin Falls and Jerome will buy their way into a strong and vibrant business community by way of their Economic Development Departments.
As far as Mountain Home creating a GIS Department and the associated cost? A $1.00 business license would buy a nice computer to handle the collection of data. Free software could easily be utilized to handle the collection and processing of extremely useful information. This assumes there are more than 400 businesses in town.
But I'm certainly not advocating the development of a GIS Department in Mountain Home at this time. I'm advocating the collection of data that can easily be used to help people make decisions. And this includes budget decisions. To me a free market economy doesn't mean going in blind.
Again, I'm still confused about your comment of the Government coming into your business with guns drawn to shut you down. I may be ignorant of the facts in Mountain Home or pretty much everywhere else I have lived but I haven't heard of this happening. Sure, poorly written ordinances can result in a business getting shut down. But to write the a penalty like I proposed for a Mountain Home business license shouldn't be too difficult. “You don't pay, you don't get included in the business directory”.Thanks,
Tim Bondy
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
I couldnt disagree more with the business licence idea. The idea that a business cannot do business unless they conform to what government think it needs, is flawed. Now we're going to shut a business down at the point if a gun if they dont register with the politbureau? Of course theres going to have to be a fee to pay for the database. That fee will never go down. Then there be some other genius that has another great idea and if there would only be another mandatory fee, this or that would be better. If the city wants the information so bad then they need to get off thier dead asses, and out of busnisses pockets, and go compile it.