The City of Mountain Home, Idaho just released our fiscal year 2010 budget. It will cost almost $18 million dollars to provide all the services for our fair city. Assuming our population has remained around 12,000 residents, this mean each man, woman and child will have to pay an average of $1,500 during the next 12 months so we can maintain what we have come to expect from our city.

2010 Mountain Home Idaho Budget

Can you find any place to cut costs?

Give the “Incumbents” something to think about this year. Write in Tim Bondy for the Mountain Home, Idaho City Council.

Write in Vote for Tim Bondy City Councilman

November 3^rd, 2009 is an important date for the people of Mountain Home, Idaho. It is the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November or Election Day. This means we will be deciding who will be spending Your Money (tax dollars) as they see fit.

On the ballot this November you see two current members of the Mountain Home City Council and two write in positions. I’m thinking that the incumbents will be (re)elected. So as of today, I will step into the political arena. Please write my name in as your choice for Mountain Home City Council.

Why Vote for Tim Bondy?
The status quo is bad. There should never be an uncontested election in the US. If only I had known, I would have done what it takes to put my name on the ballot. In the coming months, I will be researching, digging for and publishing a lot of information. Local politics will be a large part of this information. Even so, I think I am ready to be a councilperson in Mountain Home.

Did You Know?
COMPOSITION OF CITY COUNCIL: There shall be a Mayor and four (4) City Council members, who shall be elected at the time and in the manner as provided by the State of Idaho1. (1990 Code)

ELECT PRESIDENT OF COUNCIL: At the time of taking office the Council shall elect one of its members President of the Council who shall preside at all meetings of the Council and perform all other duties of the Mayor in the absence of the Mayor; and, in the absence of the President the Council shall elect one of their members to occupy his place temporarily, who shall be styled Acting President of the Council, and the President and Acting President, when occupying the place of the Mayor2, shall have the same privileges as other members of the Council and all actions of the President and Acting President, while so acting, shall be binding upon the Council and upon the Municipality as if performed by the Mayor. (Revised Code 1958)

SALARIES, GENERAL: The city council persons shall receive the sum of eight hundred fifty dollars ($850.00) per month salary.

Offices of the WECRD in Mountain Home, Idaho

Nothing can excite the on-line residents of Mountain Home, Idaho more than talking about the Western Elmore County Recreation District’s (WECRD) plan to build a recreation center. For those of you who haven’t stepped into this mine field, you can cherry pick from a bunch of comments at the Mountain Home News website.

What’s the Problem?
During the November 2000 local elections 60% of “the people” of Mountain Home and Elmore County voted to be FAIRLY taxed so the organization called the Western Elmore County Recreation District (a.k.a. WECRD) could build a state-of-the-art recreation facility. The plans for this building were and may still be grand but “the people” still have nothing physical to show for the money except a 10 acre plot of land. But the local tax collector has been there for the last nine years expecting you to pay your fair share for this much delayed project.

Some of “The People” are Mad
There is now a serious movement in Mountain Home to have this whole project…at least the long planned recreation center killed completely. This small group of concerned citizens have been spending many hours of their time educating fellow citizens and asking them to sign a petition. I’m not sure exactly what they are trying to do with the petition but I suspect they are trying to kill the recreation center by putting the idea back on the ballot for the next election. I guess this is what happens when your government fails to live up to their end of a bargain.

"The People" are Speaking

My Thoughts
It seems to me the recreation facility project is psychologically bankrupt. When our local government collects taxes and doesn’t follow through, they need to be called out on the street. If the simple task of building a recreation center cannot be accomplished in 9 years, THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG. This is your money they are playing with and it appears they don’t understand this simple fact. The WECRD staff needs to be fired today. The Mountain Home City government and Elmore County government need to explain how this money will be returned to “the people”. Bankruptcy means wiping the slate clean and starting over again.

]]> http://bondyblogs.com/?feed=rss2&p=28 0