Mar 31
Men’s Health Magazine has put up a ranking of the 100 top cities for social networking and Boise ranks 20th, beating out San Diego, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Chicago and New York. Also remarkable: Salt Lake City was 10th. Washington, DC was first. Boise is the smallest city in the top 20. Interesting figures, but what’s …
Sep 22
Last week, I had the displeasure of speaking with Dan Johns, supervisor of tax policy at the Idaho State Tax Commission. Like many citizens, I’m pretty upset to hear the Commission has been giving some politically well-connected taxpayers sweetheart deals, costing the state $75 million in revenue. I called the Tax Commission asking for an …
Mar 11
I attended a presentation last night sponsored by the United States Green Building Council, Idaho Chapter, where Snake River Alliance discussed energy policy. One of my clients is Alternate Energy Holdings Inc., which is seeking to build a nuclear plant in Elmore County, and the SRA vituperatively opposes the project. It’s clear most decision makers …
Feb 24
Update @2:50 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 25: The House Revenue and Taxation Committee voted 13 to 5 today to kill the proposed beer and wine tax. The Idaho Beer and Wine Distributors Association and The White Space have done an excellent job using social media for public policy, the first such use I am aware of …
Feb 06
I was fortunate to attend a Fettuccine Forum last night, where a leading urban policy analyst showed the “drive ’til you qualify” trend actually costs people more. Jacky Grimshaw, vice president for Policy, Transportation and Communications at Chicago’s Center for Neighborhood Technology, presented some fascinating studies showing that higher transportation costs more than eat up …
Feb 04
While I risk upsetting people in the building industry, I support recent legislation by Rep. John “Bert” Stevenson, R-Rupert, intended to charge new homes and businesses a fee for electrical system expansion. The development industry will likely oppose this measure, but it would be shortsighted of them to do so. Idaho Power is in a …
Jan 28
Yet in those past 15 years there’s been precious little progress toward enforcing transit-friendly development.
Social media this-and-that