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Item: County to pay $350K for firm to look at Comp Plan: Lack of ordinances is main problem with current document/Alecia Warren, CdA Press
More Info: This time, they want the job done right. And they’re willing to pay good money for it. To ensure the new Kootenai County Comprehensive Plan has more regulatory muscle than the current version, the county has already set aside $350,000 to hire a consulting firm to fashion new ordinances and regulations once the final plan is written.
Blast From Past (Jan. 2, 2008): (Cheri) Howell resigned as a senior planner in the Planning and Building Department Wednesday afternoon, leaving her $48,000 annual salary behind. Moments later, she was hired by the county as an independent contractor for $75,000 to finish the county’s Comprehensive Plan by May 31 — Coeur d’Alene Press. Complete story here.
Question: Izzit just me, or hasn’t the county been throwing time and money at the comprehensive plan for years?
D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.
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Fishwife on March 19 at 10:25 a.m.
$350 K? This is absurd. The commissioners obviously have ZERO confidence in the county legal department to perform even the simplest of tasks like drafting ordinances.
JamesBond on March 19 at 10:37 a.m.
I’ve seen a lot of comprehensive plans in Idaho, and I am comically amused by them. Most of them are boilerplate documents. The future zoning map is what really has the potential to have some teeth and meaning. The idea that it should cost this kind of money and take this kind of time to write some ordinances is just silly. Tell the city or county attorney to get off his butt. It’s not hard. But, again, I have a seen a lot of ordinances, and it is incredible how so many of them violate state law. Cities and counties routinely do things they want to do, regardless of state law, which is illegal. There are plenty of cases in Idaho where cities and counties have been slapped down. Alas, most people do not file lawsuits, because of the expense, and because they know that they will have to deal with the local government entity in the future for permits and other issues, so they are afraid of making an enemy. When you play with tax dollars, you often just are not motivated to do things the legally proper way. It’s not your money that’s on the line.
tjh on March 19 at 2:39 p.m.
This is a case of “you get what you pay for.” The County is ill-equipped to handle a sophisticated re-write of a complex law with it’s under-staffed legal department. Indeed, the lawyers are spending a huge amount of time dealing with the issues that are constantly coming up due to the current out-of-date codes.
GaryIngram on March 19 at 5:53 p.m.
I was a lawmaker for eight years. I wrote some pretty good laws. I’ll do it for half. In fact, I’ll enlist the aid of two other retired lawmakers at no extra cost, just to be sure it’s done right. Commissioners, you know how to reach me. Such a deal!