GARDEN CITY GREENBELT
Mayor’s record shows anti-bike sentiment
Garden City Mayor John Evans seems to be the point person to convince voters that allowing bike riding on the Riverside Village “Nature Path” would cost $1.1 million.
The facts are that this is the same John Evans who fought the state to keep bikes off the bike path in Riverside Village. He was the development manager of the Riverside Village subdivision for Idaho Forest Industries (IFI) and Evans Brothers Construction Co., which oversaw construction of the Riverside Village bike path beginning in 1985. He was involved in negotiations on behalf of IFI and Evans Brothers to settle the state’s 1994 lawsuit to fix the bike path. All the while, Mr. Evans was on the Garden City Planning and Zoning Commission (1991) and then the Garden City City Council (1995).
But wait, there is more. When he became mayor of Garden City in 2005, he proposed the ordinance closing the Greenbelt to bikes in 2005, and supported its enactment in 2007.
And did you hear that the Ada County Highway District recently announced it was going to pave a new 1.5-mile gravel section of the Greenbelt for roughly $80,000?
DUNCAN NIMS, Boise
A solution is on the way
I am not a Riverside Village resident, but I am a runner and frequently take advantage of the Garden City nature path for that purpose. And as a Garden City resident, I am very interested in the future of this path if Initiatives A and B should pass and bikes and other non-motorized vehicles are allowed on the trail.
However, the solution is already in place since Garden City has a paved, multi-use path from border to border on the south side of the river and with the $727,000 grant the city just received to construct the West Bridge, there will be a seamless connection from Lucky Peak to Eagle for cyclists.
I don’t think Garden City taxpayers need to pay over $1.1 million to improve the nature path when that connection will soon be completed at no increased cost to us. I’m voting no on Initiatives A and B to preserve the nature path for walkers and runners.
MARY JO NYBLAD, Garden City
Oppose the initiatives
The Committee to Preserve the Garden City Nature Path encourages Garden City residents to vote no on both Initiatives A and B on Nov. 6. There are three solid reasons for you to do so. They are:
1. It will cost you money. If the initiatives pass, it will cost Garden City taxpayers over $1.1 million to bring the path up to the standards required by the initiative language. This number is provided by Licensed Professional Engineers, unlike some of the attacks on this study which are based on emotion. This equates to a nearly 40 percent, one-year increase in your property taxes.
2. It’s not necessary. The new West Bridge will provide a continuous multi-use path from Lucky Peak to Eagle. It’s a waste of Garden City tax dollars to fund another shared use path.
3. It will destroy one of the top 10 nature walks in the Treasure Valley.
If the initiatives pass, this tranquil path will be converted to a 13-foot-wide paved commuter track that ends at the Glenwood Street bridge, which is difficult for experienced cyclists, and it is simply hazardous and ill advised for children and families.
Vote no on Initiatives A and B.
ROD BULCHER, Garden City
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Supporting Obama
While some readers prefer to call the president of the United States names and refer to him in pejorative terms. I think it is important to keep the civil discourse on a higher level. In doing this I would like to refer to a few of the positive things that our president has done:
1. Ending the war in Iraq, a war we never should have started.
2. An economic recovery program that has created nearly 3 million jobs.
3. Saving the auto industry.
4. Providing affordable health care for all Americans.
5. And, of course, Osama bin Laden is no longer with us.
For these reasons alone he should be reelected.
CHARLIE WALTHER, Boise
Supporting Romney
In response to Richard Mickey (Oct. 7 letter). I guess if we are making up names for Mitt Romney then I think in reply we respond with Barack “Obalmy,” as all of his policies seem exactly that, balmy and designed to run the U.S. into the ground. Mitt has paid all his taxes and given away millions of dollars for charity.
The American dream is to be successful, a goal to be praised rather than create jealousy. It’s typical of liberals to whine when conservatives are successful, but stay mute on liberal Hollywood millionaires who have just as many toys, but whose charity is lacking in comparison. There are more Democrat millionaires in Congress than Republican, but facts are not generally not high on liberal agendas. The tea party only tries to hold back rampant government spending, trying to reduce our debt and sustain freedom as averse to those who want to suck at the trough of government. It is the rich who pay for almost all the benefits of 50 percent of the population, if they are devastated, then who’s going to support Mr. Mickey?
BOB JILLINGS, Eagle
ELECTORAL COLLEGE
Founding Fathers took right course
I doubt he intended to, but Terry Nagel, in his letter to the editor “Electoral College shouldn't decide race” (Sept. 30) showed as clearily as anyone can why no right-thinking Idahoan would want to eliminate the Electoral College and go to direct election of the president and vice president of the United States. The founding fathers very consciously and pointedly refused to form a democracy as the system of government for the United States when framing the Constitution. They deliberately provided for a constitutional republic to protect us from what Madison referred to as the “tyranny of the majority.”
As Mr. Nagel illustrates, under direct presidential election, California, New York and the Northeast, Illinois and a few other major population centers could pretty much have control of who got elected president.
The Electoral College protects (as it was intended to) the small states like Idaho from complete hegemony by the large states and population centers when it comes to electing the president and vice president of the United States. The Founding Fathers knew what they were doing when they crafted the Constitution and it has already been altered too much for our own good.
JOHN HATCH, Boise
