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Mayor talks about future of Boise
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David Bieter outlines plans to improve the future of Boise in the 2007 State of the City Address Thursday morning.
Hundreds of people came to the Boise Center on the Grove at 7:30 a.m. to hear Bieter speak about changes in Boise over the last three years and his vision for Boise in the next 20 years.
His speech focused on issues of economic development, growth, graffiti, youth and public transit.
He also announced plans to open a WinCo distribution center here in Boise.
The morning began with Reverend Edwin Keener inviting the audience to pray with him to celebrate the diversity of our community here in Boise.
Fifth grader Aaron Madigan then said the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Address was presented by the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce. George Iliff welcomed everyone on behalf of the chamber. He introduced the members of the Boise City Council who sat at the head table on the stage and thanked other elected officials in the audience for attending.
A video was then shown, asking the audience to close their eyes and picture Boise in 20 years.
The video presented a variety of different Boise residents who gave their views on how they imagine Boise by 2027. Better air quality, a mass transit system, a vibrant downtown and more pedestrian access were areas that people would like to see improved in Boise.
Many of the people said they like how Boise is right now and would like to see it retain its unique character for the next 20 years. They don’t want to see Boise overbuilt or the foothills overly developed.
Three years ago Bieter gave his first address to the city of Boise. He highlighted how, at that time, Boise had the worst library services for a city of its size, poor police services, no community college, no community detox center and a budget
deficit.
Boise now has several library facilities with four new libraries opening soon in the area.
New public safety headquarters are housed at City Hall West, providing service to 55 percent of the population.
The College of Western Idaho is set to open next year to provide the opportunity of education to many more young people in the area.
A community detox center is now being planned and Bieter says they are only “a nine iron from finishing that effort.”
“[We have] plugged the hole in the budget,” Bieter said.
There is now a budget surplus.
Bieter finally showed a change that brought laughter from the crowd, his hair color has changed from black to gray.
“My hair may be grayer but the future of Boise has never been brighter,” Bieter said.
Bieter addressed the issue of growth in Boise and told the audience there is no way to stop it. He expressed the need to prepare for growth and have a commitment to excellence in the community.
According to Bieter, a policy needs to be formed for our future growth, which involves enhancing and integrating land and transportation.
“[We need to] move people better,” Bieter said.
Bieter thanked the Ada County commissioners and the Ada County Highway district for their recent contributions in dealing with growth in Boise.
“Growth must enhance rather than diminish, and it must pay its own way,” Bieter said.
Bieter also talked about improving youth services in Boise.
“We won’t settle for less than the best when it comes to our neighborhoods,” Bieter said.
Over the past two years all of Boise’s after school activities have been mapped and is featured online at www.After3Boise.com. This interactive Website helps parents to locate activities for their children around where they live and gives additional information about the events.
The process of mapping these services has also shown gaps where more services are needed.
This is part of Bieter’s effort to “make sure every young person has a safe and productive place to be in the out of school hours.”
Graffiti is something Bieter expressed a need to eradicate in Boise. He called upon the citizens of Boise to help attack graffiti in its early stages by taking part in TAG (Totally Abolish Graffiti) Saturday. The date of this will be announced soon.
Bieter addressed public transit and said he would like to see the Treasure Valley develop a light rail system.
He said people will not leave their cars at home to take a bus, but they would for a train.
“Rail is our past and rail is our future,” Bieter said.
He said that rail is preferable to bus systems as it will transport more people at a time.
An Idaho transit summit commences in mid October and mayors from all over Idaho will attend. Bieter encouraged as many people as possible to attend, as it is free to the public.
He also wants to see people bring their legislators because this will “make transit politically inevitable” and “get them on board.”
“If the people will lead, the leaders will follow,” Bieter said.
The final issue he addressed was economic development in Boise.
“Three quarters of economic development comes from existing businesses,” Bieter said.
Bieter talked about WinCo, a company founded in Boise which now has 50 stores in 5 states.
Bieter’s surprise news came right at the end of his address. He announced the plans to open a 700,000 square foot WinCo distribution center in Southeast Boise, which will create around 200 paying jobs.
“If we build a great city, great companies will invest in it,”
Bieter said.
He ended his speech by reviewing some great things Boise has achieved in the past such as expelling the Klu Klux Klan from Boise.
“[We need to] continue to push with all we can to keep this a great place,” Bieter said. “Let us invent our future by investing in our future.”
TABITHA KEILY
News Writer
