Ultimately, democracy will prevail on BID
Democracy is likely on folks’ minds these days with the recent elections. So, perhaps it is a good time to bring up, again, the latest petition, one of the purest forms of democratic action, regarding the downtown Sandpoint Business Improvement District tax. This time around it was the lack of a header on each individual signature page that was sufficient to toss out the latest petition from the business community to the city of Sandpoint to end the BID tax.
Out of the 205 signatures submitted, 54 were submitted where the header, which explained the purpose of the petition, was stapled to multiple signature pages with four signatures per page. Apparently, these wouldn’t hold up in a court of law. “Virtually all petitions,” according to the city attorney, Will Harrington, need to be turned in with the header on the same page as the signature. OK, our mistake, but I thought the key word in that statement was “virtually.”
The approach of the mayor, city council and city attorney appears to be, “How can we confirm that the signers knew what they were signing”? Beyond the implied lack of integrity on behalf of the petitioners, I should think that calling those 54 people would have been quite simple to do, especially considering the fact that it took the city a little more than a month to verify the petitions that were submitted.
Nevertheless, despite the city’s intense scrutiny over every detail of the petition, the actual message did not sink in: We the people want to do away with the BID tax! And, we have a majority voice! According to Idaho statute, the City Council can vote to dissolve a BID without a petition, for whatever reason they want. There was a committee meeting a week prior to the regular public hearing where three City Council members were briefed on the details of the petition and why it was rejected.
During the meeting, it was difficult to ignore that one council woman was rolling her eyes at myself and Rich Curtis as we had our turn to speak. It was their job to determine if the move to dissolve the BID tax and its latest petition drive was worthy of a spot at the public hearing. Well, it wasn’t. At this time it appears that it’s back to business as usual now that that pesky majority petition has been dismissed on a technicality. Upon closer examination we found that the original petition that created the BID more than 10 years ago was not up to snuff either. However, the city attorney informs us that there is a seven-year statute of limitations that prevents our going after the original document. Strike two! So here we are: The majority voice of the business people being taxed by the BID is not being addressed or acknowledged.
It’s a ton of work to conduct a petition drive. It costs money and takes a lot of time; we have no paid staff, no regular spot on the radio or in the newspaper, no website and no newsletter. However, a new petition drive will soon be launched and new volunteers are eagerly stepping forward. The new petition is to be verified in advance by the city attorney. Anyone interested in volunteering, please contact myself, Cornel Rasor at Army Surplus or Rich Curtis of Exit Realty. Democratic action may take time and effort, especially when your going up against taxation favored by the powerful and influential, but ultimately it will prevail.
CHRIS PARK
Misty Mountain Furniture
Sandpoint