Letters to the editor: Districts, pack goats, birth control and Rep. Mike Moyle

Districts

I was dumbstruck at a gathering of our District 18 legislators when two guys angrily insisted they vote for a bill requiring Boise to elect its city council by districts.

Apparently allowing the voices of Boise residents to be heard using the established signature-gathering and referendum process isn’t good enough. These guys distrust the votes of their own neighbors, you, to consider this change and accept or reject it. But these guys would trust people who don’t even live in Boise (the Legislature) to choose how we elect our city council.

I can’t understand how our liberty-loving Legislature would want to do this or why Boiseans would allow it. Do we really require “helicopter parenting” from non-resident legislators?

When did this become the Idaho Way?

Gary Hanes, Boise

Birth control

As a mom to a son and a daughter, and an Idaho resident, I am writing this letter to raise awareness of actions that our legislature is currently focusing on that are disturbing and narrow minded. SB 1275, 6 Months of Birth Control, died in the Senate earlier this week; this bill would have ensured Idahoans would have consistent access to birth control by requiring that insurance companies cover a six-month supply of birth control at a time. Birth control gives people the ability to control when and if they have children, giving them more career and education opportunities, and it makes people less likely to depend on government programs.

Instead of focusing on policy that would benefit the lives of Idahoans, our legislature is choosing to focus their attention on harmful and dangerous legislation, particularly aimed at demonizing transgender Idahoans and codifying hatred and discrimination against our transgender neighbors, siblings, and loved ones. I want to encourage my fellow Idahoans to look into these harmful bills, HB500, HB465, and HB509, and take immediate action to stop our legislature in their attempts to further demonize transgender Idahoans.

Jean McDaniel, Boise

Pack goats

Pack goats offer a useful way to explore Idaho’s backcountry, but their proponents cannot dismiss the disease risk goats pose to bighorn sheep. In its recent efforts to protect resident bighorn sheep from diseases carried by pack goats, the Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming cited a bighorn sheep die-off in the winter of 1995-96 in Hells Canyon that was traced by DNA fingerprinting to a domestic goat that had recently been released into the wild. The subsequent die-off resulted in the death of more than 260 bighorn sheep in an 8 week period. The disease spread more than 30 air miles and affected six bighorn sheep herds. Closer to the Treasure Valley, the BLM does not permit pack goat use in the Owyhee Canyonlands Wilderness Areas to ensure protection of the resident bighorn populations from disease transmission. At the end of the day, land managers need to make sure that Idaho’s bighorns are protected from the diseases carried by pack goats.

Craig Gehrke, Idaho Director, The Wilderness Society, Boise

Moyle

Mike Moyle is completely out of touch with his voters. After more than 20 years in the Idaho Legislature, he is clearly in the pockets of the lobbyists who laugh all the way to the bank while the corporations get all the property tax breaks. Homeowners get stuck with the bill. Oh, and do you hear the farmers complaining about exploding property taxes? No, they are silent because they are getting away scot-free. Mike Moyle is one of them, so it’s no surprise. Follow the money. Mike Moyle is Exhibit A in the case for term limits!

O. Ray Stokes, Star