Women should be outraged by loss of reproductive rights. Blame GOP-dominated Legislature

Women unite

To the women of Idaho: Are you outraged and horrified at the loss of your reproductive rights? Blame the GOP-dominated Idaho Legislature, aided and abetted by the U.S. Supreme Court. And make no mistake — they are not done interfering with your reproductive rights. They are looking for ways to further restrict your access to various types of contraception. You might ask why the Idaho legislature did this to you, when the majority of Idahoans believe that such private decisions should be made without government interference. The GOP supermajority did it to you because they have grown arrogant in their power, and they don’t think they need to listen to you. If we want them to be more responsive to us, we need to break their supermajority. So, even if you have always voted for GOP candidates all down the line, this November it’s time to send them a wake-up call. Vote instead for the people with “DEM” after their names. We’ll get their attention and get a more responsive legislature.

Bonnie Shuster, Boise

Gold for ACHD

When you serve in a role for 12 years, you know what the job requires. I was proud to serve as an Ada County Highway District commissioner for three terms, and learned a lot in the process. It’s with that background I’m so proud to endorse Miranda Gold for ACHD Commissioner. Miranda Gold has consistently impressed me with her professionalism, knowledge and commitment to service, and I have every confidence she will make an excellent ACHD commissioner.

Her unique qualifications include experience as an Eagle City Council member, a member of the Eagle urban renewal district, a knowledge of Ada County governing boards and tireless volunteerism with groups that help our community.

Perhaps most importantly, Miranda’s depth of knowledge about land use and development requirements are absolutely critical in this moment of rapid growth. If you want to see the kind of transportation system we’ll be proud to leave to our kids and grandkids, I’d urge you to join me in electing Miranda Gold to ACHD District 3.

John S. Franden, Garden City

Terry Gilbert

The Idaho Constitution, Article 9, Section 1, states: “The stability of a republican form of government depending mainly upon the intelligence of the people, it shall be the duty of the legislature of Idaho, to establish and maintain a general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools.”

For decades, the Republican supermajority in the Idaho Legislature has failed to take this responsibility seriously. The legislature met this September and increased public education funding by $410 million. This is a step in the right direction, however the job is not done until that desperately needed money is spent efficiently and effectively.

We have severe shortages of qualified teachers and support staff. Poor wages and working conditions are major factors. Due to chronic inadequate maintenance and building funds, the Idaho Legislature’s January 2022 Office of Performance Evaluation reported that it will take $847 million to bring Idaho’s school buildings up to good condition.

Terry Gilbert is running for Idaho Superintendent of Public Schools. He will focus like a laser on seeing that every single tax dollar spent on education will go to our public schools and be used where it is most needed.

Vote for Terry Gilbert Tuesday, Nov. 8.

Karen Hansen, Viola

Sen. Crapo

I recently received a reply from Sen. Mike Crapo, about an email that I sent him, regarding the FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago. He began by saying that he was outraged by the “unprecedented raid on the home of our former President”! He apparently doesn’t care about the fact that Trump took classified documents from the White House. Now that was unprecedented! He doesn’t care that he claims that he, as president, could declassify any documents, even by just thinking about it! He doesn’t mention that Trump is being investigated by many different agencies and prosecutors. He doesn’t care that Trump and his allies tried to undermine our democracy and still claims to have won the 2020 election. Basically, all Crapo cares about is playing to his base and staying in power. Let’s vote him out! I voted for David Roth. Please do the same!

Michal Voloshen, Boise

Ali Rabe

With my decision to retire from the Idaho Senate, I couldn’t be happier that Ali Rabe is running for District 16’s Senate seat. She is pro-choice, and for privacy rights, personal freedom, property tax cuts, affordable housing and day care and strong schools. By contrast, her opponent, Dennis Mansfield, praised the Supreme Court for outlawing abortion, saying “Idaho has now declared abortion to be the crime we’ve always known it to be. Glory to God!” He also says that he wants to be in the Senate because “the struggle is far from over.”

When Ali and I were in the Senate together before her move to District 16, I saw her forcefully and courageously take on the Statehouse politicians who favor the rich, the powerful and the well-connected over regular Idahoans.

I strongly support Ali for the Senate and I hope you will join me in voting for her.

Grant Burgoyne, Boise

Boise zoning

You may have heard that Boise is rewriting its zoning code. While you may not find the topic interesting or think your input matters, it does! If you fail to get involved, these zoning code changes will likely come back to haunt you and all Boiseans.

Boise’s latest zoning code draft has new procedures for approving projects. Going forward many projects can be decided without public input. For example, in your neighborhood a café or halfway house could be greenlighted next door to you.

Most shocking is if the city believes there’s a public benefit, they can easily approve conditional uses such as large apartments, nursing homes, kennels, RV parks, cell towers, etc., regardless of their impacts on other properties. That high-density, six-story apartment complex that will likely create traffic, noise and appearance impacts in your neighborhood and degrade the enjoyment of your property, will be approved if the city says it’s a public benefit. The city determines what a public benefit is — so they could approve anything regardless of impacts to you and others.

Get involved. Give feedback. Make Boise get it right!

Go to https://www.cityofboise.org/zoning-code-rewrite to see the draft and attend a feedback session.

Gary D. Zimmerman, Boise