Press Releases

Published in the Valley Times and the Boise Guardian - September 8, 2008

Citizens should be disheartened that the ACHD budget process was not transparent. It is impossible to make the transition from the FY 2008 actual numbers to the proposed numbers presented for the FY2009 budget and be able to compare the two. As Abraham Lincoln said, “that government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth.” Quite frankly, if the people cannot read and follow government documents easily, then Lincoln’s statement is meaningless and we are no longer government of, by or for the people.

But there are some conclusions one can make nonetheless.

First, while it is laudable that ACHD Commissioners are allowing positions to go unfilled and they plan to add no new positions in this economic downturn, the cost for labor is still very high. If ACHD’s proposed revenues are down 5%, it would seem prudent to reduce this portion of the budget by a corresponding 5%, at the very least. Personnel is becoming an increasing share of the budget going from 21.1% of expenses in 2007 to 24.4% two short years later. While the cost of labor in the 2009 budget is down .9%, the labor budget will increase a whopping 13.5% over the actual costs of labor just 2 years ago.

ACHD’s CIP budget is down and yet they are devoting over 11% of that to legal fees associated with the Maple Grove Extension. Would it not make more fiscal sense for ACHD to try to come to an amicable settlement with Settler’s Canal? At the end of this project ACHD will have spent around $8 million to build the road and almost half again that amount to sue another government agency using taxpayer dollars for both sides of the litigation.

While it is true that the costs of materials, such as liquid tar, is climbing, it makes no sense to then cut the budget for materials which ACHD is proposing to do by 9%. If the cost of materials is rising and the budget is shrinking, the maintenance of the taxpayers’ assets will suffer. Again, if the personnel costs are cut, particularly in administration, AHCD could fund more maintenance. If ACHD doesn’t deal with maintenance in a timely manner, they are just setting up major costs for we the taxpayers down the road.

Operational overhead is increasing by 6%. While it makes sense to anticipate higher utility costs, agency support (whatever this is) is proposed to increase over 31% from two years ago and advertising is proposed to go up 37%. It is hard to believe that the costs for these items have escalated this much. It is more likely they are being overestimated.

An examination of the annual reports shows that ACHD’s cost per lane mile has increased 74.4% over the10 years from 1997 to 2007. While this might seem reasonable, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has increased 19.97% during that same period. ACHD’s cost per lane mile has thus exceeded the CPI four fold. This cost per lane mile does not include any of the capital projects, which might reflect increases in steel, concrete, etc.

ACHD’s budget should be much more conservative particularly since the average resident of Ada County has to tighten their spending. Every tax dollar entrusted to ACHD must be spent carefully and with a clear recognition that it is not ACHD’s dollar – it is the taxpayer’s. It’s unfortunate that ACHD did not keep that in mind while putting the FY2009 budget together.

For more information see SaraBakerforACHD.com or call Sara at 377-2416.

Published in the Valley Times - August 11, 2008

My name is Sara Baker and I am running for the District 5 seat of the Ada County Highway District. Now, no one ever starts out in life thinking, “Boy, when I grow up, I want to be an ACHD Commissioner!” President of the United States – yes, Governor of whatever state? – perhaps – but ACHD Commissioner? You have to be out of your mind.

That’s similar to the responses I’ve been getting. “Why would you ever want to run for ACHD?”

Well let me tell you why. It’s true, after I served 16 years on the Boise City Council in the 1980s and 1990s, I thought my days of public service were over.

But then, in the last few years I realized driving around Ada County, traffic is horrible. And I wondered why that is so.

Listening to the powers that be at ACHD, it would appear that our roads are the way they are because of a lack of money.

At the ACHD meeting on July 23, 2008, commissioners mentioned that ACHD has a $441 Million backlog of roadway projects. Yes that’s correct, $441 Million just for Ada County alone.

Now seriously, what kind of leadership is there at ACHD that looks at $441 Million and doesn’t say we need to do something different, something innovative. Perhaps, the current leadership thinks we should wait until we reach $600 Million in backlog to do something innovative or perhaps they want to wait until we hit an even $1 Billion.

We can’t afford business as usual out of ACHD anymore. We have to look at new ways of doing things. We can’t afford to spend $20 million on widening two miles of roadway as they did on Ustick Rd. We can’t afford ACHD’s spending over $2 million to sue Settler’s Canal or spend $1 million on PR (public relations) per year.

I have a plan to move traffic in Ada County using the roadways we already have. It’s not rocket science, it pretty much is just plain old common sense.

We need to enhance our intersections because that is where the backups occur. Every signaled intersection should have a right-hand turn lane and most every one should have a left turn permissive green. Currently ACHD is building brand new intersections that do not have right-hand turn lanes – that’s just crazy!

We also need to time our traffic signals to make them smart signals. This is done all over the country; we should do it here in Ada County.

What are the benefits of moving traffic in the ways I’ve proposed? Drivers will save money on gasoline. Every minute spent idling at a traffic signal is a minute that car is getting zero miles to the gallon.

There will be less pollution generated from idling cars. This will enhance the environment for bicyclists, pedestrians and children waiting for school busses.

There will be less reliance on pie-in-the-sky projects that may or may not (mostly not) be funded and more reliance on using the infrastructure we have already purchased with our hard earned tax dollars.

ACHD needs leadership who will provide reform and innovation. I can provide that leadership. I ask that you help me with your vote.

Please go to SaraBakerforACHD.com for more information on my proposals. Contact me either at sara@sarabakerforachd.com or call me at 377-2416.

Together, we can get Ada County moving.

July 6, 2008

Former Boise Councilwoman Sara Baker Runs for ACHD District 5 Seat

Boise – Sara Baker, former Boise City Councilwoman and local business owner, has filed for the District 5 seat on the Ada County Highway District Commission in the November 2008 election.

Baker’s 2008 ACHD platform is a common sense plan to save money for drivers and taxpayers, preserve our neighborhoods and communities and not create gridlock by poor timing decisions on construction projects and unsynchronized traffic signals.

Said Baker, “we know we have a problem with air pollution in Ada County and we know that idling cars produce more pollution than those that are moving. Yet all too often, drivers sit at red lights at intersections and waste expensive gasoline and time. We need to get Ada County traffic moving.”

For more information see Baker’s website at SaraBakerForACHD.com or call the candidate at (208) 377-2416.