After my blog post, Statesman joins the action
Today I woke up to every man’s nightmare: I had been robbed. I walked out into the living room of my house, opened the front door, and there was the evidence right before me. Looking down at the rolled up Idaho Statesman sitting there on my porch I could see the headline, front-page above the fold: “MERIDIAN TAKES A SWING AT THE BOISE HAWKS.”
If you scroll down a bit, you’ll note that I posted on that very subject two days ago. The story stemmed from a public meeting of the Meridian Development Corporation where the Boise Hawks unveiled a survey showing huge public support for a new Hawks Stadium, in Meridian. So why would I allege being robbed by Joe Estrella if this is all public information?
At beer and blog a couple weeks ago, this subject came up between Jess Flynn and I. Jess Flynn represents the MDC and does a bang up job. She mentioned that Meridian and MDC were hoping to attract the Hawks there. I noted that the City of Boise in a design Charette almost three years ago had drawn Hawks Stadium into its 30th street Master Plan. I even pulled the plan up on my iPhone and showed it to Jess.
So - Jess and a couple other people were live tweeting that MDC meeting, and sent links to the Hawks presentation. Here’s one of them from Jess:
So - the 30th Street Master Plan never once came up at the MDC meeting - and Joe Estrella just happened to call the City of Boise about it? Not likely.
It’s especially not likely since according to my search of the Statesman archives, the Statesman has never once covered the 30th Street Master plan.
So I called Joe on it, and I copied his boss. Here’s his explanation:
Chris,
Just wanted you to know that the source for my story was somebody who knows Todd Rahr personally and had spoken to him about the situation.
The 30th Street Plan information came from my conversation with Boise officials who went into great detail, including mentioning that the stadium could be built at another site like the Boise Bench.
And as I’m sure you noticed, my story centered on Meridian’s request for an exclusive arrangement between the two parties in exchange for funding the feasibility study. The sources for that information were an MDC and city official.
I replied to Joe:
Joe: in my view that is a weak explanation for how the story came about. In the first place there is no reason for you to call Boise officials to talk about the Hawks since the Hawks reside on County property in the city of Garden City - you had to have been prompted to call John and ask him specifically about 30th street. Secondly, if you are unaware of the social media conversations that were swirling around this issue for two days that speaks as poorly for you as does the more likely case that you just simply borrowed my analysis and passed it off as your own.
Whatever the case, the Statesman has a long way to go in the social media/new media realm. Your organization simply treats the new social media channels as broadcast channels, and is the ONLY media outlet in the Valley that does so.
I remain unconvinced by Joe’s explanation; I have not yet heard from Vicki Gowler. I think the case is clear. This story emanated from my conversations with Jess Flynn (also recounted on her blog), appeared on my blog two days ago, then magically appeared on the front page of the Statesman.
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By Cynthia Sewell/Idaho Statesman, March 31, 2010 @ 6:01 pm
The baseball stadium at 30th Street topic has been around since at least 2006.
I first heard about it from fellow Idaho Statesman reporter Brad Hem, who referred to it in his March 9, 2006 article: “Bieter said … he has heard there is interest in putting a minor league baseball stadium at 30th.”
Most recently, I discussed it with Bieter’s staff (and then in the newsroom) in February while researching my Feb. 13 piece on a Boise city land sale.
By admin, April 6, 2010 @ 12:44 pm
Cynthia is correct. Brad Hem did write about this in 2006 - and I missed this in my first scan of the Statesman database. But does anyone think that Joe Estrella, who has never covered this beat before, knew that? Nope. And I was working for the City at the time when this story came out and spoke with Brad on at least a weekly basis. Here’s Brad Hem’s article:
Bieter says city could sell off land to pay for libraries
Idaho Statesman, The (Boise, ID) - Thursday, March 9, 2006
Author: Staff, Brad Hem
Private funds could also be used to help build branches
Brad Hem
Staff
Boise will consider selling as much as two-thirds of its hundreds of acres of unused land to help pay for branch libraries, Mayor Dave Bieter told The Idaho Statesman Wednesday.
Bieter said a sale could generate $12 million — about the cost of one library branch. Library proponents could raise another $12 million in private donations and grants, cutting the $37.8 million cost by about two-thirds , he said.
To sell any land, Bieter would need support from a majority of the City Council, and property would have to be sold at auction to the highest bidder.
Last month´s failed $37.8 million bond election would have built three branch libraries in the Northwest, Southeast and West parts of Boise. The measure got 57 percent support — enough to convince Bieter that residents want more libraries, but not enough to reach the two-thirds threshold required to pass bonds in Idaho.
The bond´s failure prompted city leaders and library proponents to reconsider what the city needs in library services and how to pay for them. Opening smaller storefront libraries with fewer services, expanding the main library Downtown and adding branches in other neighborhoods are all possibilities. The Library Board is scheduled to ask the City Council next week for money to hire a consultant to gauge what the demands for new libraries are.
Selling assets isn´t always a good idea, Bieter said, but it might be worth it if the city could get another asset, in this case a library, in return. The city is in the process of determining long-term needs before putting any city land up for sale, said Bieter aide Jade Riley.
“Nothing has been solidified,” Riley said.
City Council members said Wednesday Bieter hasn´t talked to them about his idea, but they expect debate about the wisdom of selling real estate in a city where land values are growing by double-digit percentages in recent years. Some residents think the city owns too much land and sometimes competes with private businesses, said Councilman Jim Tibbs, who heard from voters when he campaigned last year.
“Their school of thought was the city shouldn´t be in the land business,” he said.
Councilman Alan Shealy shares that view.
“The city is not an investment bank,” he said. “We´re not land speculators.”
Tibbs said the council needs to decide whether libraries are the city´s top priority or whether there are more important things that could be funded by selling assets.
“It may very well be the highest priority, but let´s talk about that,” Tibbs said. “There has to be some discussion about it.”
The city owns hundreds of pieces of property, including parks, fire stations and wastewater treatment plants. It owns about 150 parcels around the Boise Airport to accommodate airport expansion and to keep homes out of flight paths.
The city also owns 320 acres of sagebrush-dotted land across Interstate 84 from Micron Technology east of Boise with plans for an industrial park, but the site has no tenants now, several years after the city bought it.
Smaller properties at 25th and Fairview and 30th and Fairview — both purchased with the idea of putting a new police headquarters on them — also could be sold, Bieter said. The council declared 25th and Fairview as surplus property last year, paving they way to auction it off. Bieter said a community college has expressed interest in the site at 25th Street, and he has heard there is interest in putting a minor league baseball stadium at 30th.
Councilman Vern Bisterfeldt said he would need to know specifics before agreeing to sell any property, and it would have to bring a good price. He was irked Bieter hadn´t talked to council members about the idea.
“Nobody has ever mentioned that to me, and I have no idea what parcels he´s talking about,” said Bisterfeldt. “It depends on what we´re going to get for it.”
Bieter says Treasure Valley Community College serious about city-owned land near Downtown
Boise Mayor Dave Bieter says an Oregon-based community college is “very serious” about city-owned property for a Boise community college campus.
But Treasure Valley Community College said discussions with the city in January were only exploratory with no follow-up scheduled.
TVCC submitted an $18 million proposal to the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation to open a community college in the Boise-Meridian area. The foundation asked TVCC for a proposal in December. TVCC is one of three schools, including Boise State University and College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls, that have expressed interest in opening a two-year school in the Treasure Valley.
TVCC officials understood that the meeting between Boise and college officials was initiated by two developers, said Eric Ellis, a TVCC spokesman. The school has no arrangement with the developers, Ellis said.
The meeting came as TVCC was looking at several possible properties to locate a school.
“We have not looked at property in the last two or three weeks,” Ellis said.
Purchasing or leasing any property for a community college would be dependent on the Albertson Foundation approving funds for TVCC to start a school in the Boise-Meridian area.
TVCC´s discussion about city land comes as Bieter is striving to strengthen relations between City Hall and BSU — and amidst a heated public competition to meet the region´s unmet community college need.
But if TVCC provides community college courses in Boise, it could allow BSU to move professional-technical courses off its cramped campus, while serving a community need. TVCC´s “presence is going to get the thing done in some fashion,” Bieter said.
To offer story ideas or comments, contact reporter Brad Hem at bhemidahostatesman.com or 377-6402.
Dave Bieter
Jim Tibbs
Section: Main
Page: 01
Record Number: boi2006030914560069
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