Giving a “bad” choice and a “worse” choice is called “giving a false choice” because a “good” or “better” choice is intentionally left out. It’s something a bully would do. But it is also something a parent of a toddler might do (spinach or broccoli ). In any event, it is not something that elected leaders should ever do without substantial fact finding and community input.
Favorite line: "We are in this pickle entirely because KURA wants to do something that most people who live in Ketchum don’t want them to do. All they have to do is leave this as a parking lot, and the conundrum disappears. We keep the parking! The LID goes away! We don’t get a massive box in the commercial district! All is good!"
PUBLIC servants at the local, state and national levels are vested in outcomes. This is especially true in a restrictive state like Idaho. Local government is shaped and driven by laws that codify ways of thinking. With housing policy, it’s impossible to avoid the cross-pollination of commercial interests with political interests.
In that sense the framework for best practices of good governance’ is inherently corrupt. It boils down to laws and tax policy, it’s market driven and it informs the very atmosphere we depend on to exist as a species. Housing is right up there on Maslow’s hierarchy, so you have to work with first principles in a way that questions the validity and effectiveness of the laws.
Where the laws impinge on efficiency and a measurable ROI, social costs need to be quantified! Where the laws are counter-productive to the local economy, they need to be challenged, proven to be counter-productive, and changed. Data is key! Perry has skillfully laid the groundwork for a lot of the data required and he is just starting to rev up. Now’s the time. Take this thing to thee courts. Commit.
The "powers that be" would like nothing better than to see everybody get all frothed up and bothered for 18 months with civic assemblies, exhausted. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, policy makers continue to work with a market that defines them to a large extent. It's inevitable, which is precisely why the laws must to be examined. First Principles.
I think it was Bill McKibben who said that "with Climate Change, if you’re slowly making progress, you’re failing". Same with housing, and with protecting the trajectory of small mountain town life as it evolves in Ketchum, Idaho. The free market was not meant to define the quality of life, it was meant to support it as it organically emerges from the community's values. And it needs to incorporate a degree of shared equity to be sustainable.Regarding the quality of life in Idaho resort towns? The laws are failing because the economies are unique and they are more fragile for it, especially in terms of housing.
What it boils down to is challenging the way Idaho state laws impinge on the right of local governments to more closely control the STR market. Start there. Sure, start to rev up the civic assemblies. One is a War Room, the other a Socratic dialog. The clock is ticking. Destiny waits for nobody but it can be shaped by Realpolitik.
Stay angry people. Be bold. Find the money and take it to the Statehouse. There's a case to be made there.
..."For the time being, particularly under Trump, there is little that we in the US can do to constrain Musk except by boycotting Tesla and X. Canada and Britain and other European nations, meanwhile, should, at the very least:
-- Enact laws and regulations to prohibit non-citizens (like Musk, although he does have Canadian citizenship) from financing activities that could affect their elections.
-- Maintain, if not strengthen, laws and rules against hate speech, and ensure that they are applied to social media companies, such as Musk’s X.
-- Refuse to contract with Musk’s Space X and its Starlink satellite division, or with Musk’s other corporations (Tesla and the Boring Company).
-- Disengage from any joint ventures or technology transfers involving Musk, including xAI, his artificial intelligence company." ...
Ed, I have to say that clearly, you don't fully understand the meaning of "diatribe". That kind of remark is beneath you. You might have had a place at the table back in the day, but those days are gone. Maybe your conditioned way of thinking is a sign of the times, or too much Kool-Aid...or is it just a general sclerosis ?
Oh, my, listen to you! "Diatribe: a bitter and abusive speech or piece of writing. ....with most diatribes, the author thinks he's well informed and knows something the reader doesn't."
Thanks for your comments on Blaine County Sustainability. This is Andrew Mentzer--Blaine County's Sustainability Manager. A couple of things to note:
1. There is no such thing as the "Blaine County Sustainability Commission" or BCSC as you reference. There is the 5B Climate Action Network (5B CAN) and it is a group of 112 community members, elected leaders, businesses, NGOs and others, who actively coordinate on various sustainability initiatives across the region. We collectively work on programs and projects in four topic areas: land, water and habitat conservation; land use & transportation; solid waste & circularity; and clean energy & green building.
2. Much of the work being done regionally is being performed by non-profit partners, individual community members, businesses and local government. We don't have the ability to track return on investment for all NGO and municipal programming, however we do perform regular benchmarking on greenhouse gas emissions for the community, and are in the process of building out a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) dashboard in a program called ClearPath 2.0 that will allow us to better track program performance based on our KPIs. We have 25 identified KPIs by the way, across the four task force areas.
3. If you would like to sit down and discuss the GHG reductions or other enhancements associated with the projects and programming we are working on, we, as always, are more than happy to chat. Our door remains open for feedback and input, and we encourage the community to sign up for our monthly newsletter LINK BELOW if they would like to learn more about these projects and programs. https://www.co.blaine.id.us/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=670
4. Regarding your noted cost concerns, the vast majority of our current projected programming does, in fact, have a firm return/performance profile, which we are happy to share with any interested parties--these are also typically available on the public record when our Board reviews grant applications. Many of the projects we are pursuing will utilize federal funding under the Inflation Reduction Act as well, so we would ask that you respectfully don't suggest these projects are all being paid for exclusively by the local taxpayer.
5. Some performance metrics of possible interest:
a. Solid Waste Infrastructure For Recycling (SWIFR)—according to EPAs WARM tool, our proposed project (100% of which will be federal grant funded) will reduce CO2 emissions by 1,921.23 metric tons (equivalent) while expanding local economic opportunity and extending the life of the Milner Butte Landfill through an anticipated waste stream reduction of up to 16.5% for construction and demolition material diversion, and over 4% overall waste diversion (these align with explicit targets identified in our Climate Action Plan).
b. Ketchum Fire Solar—The anticipated avoided CO2 emissions for this project is around 14 metric tons annually (equating to approximately 20% of the fire station’s annual electricity use), with a payback period of 12.5 years.
c. Community Fueling Infrastructure (CFI)—another project that will be paid for through a combination of private investment and federal funds—this is anticipated to reduce GHG emissions for Blaine County by 295.7 short tons of (2,800 lbs CO2) based on moderate usage.
6. Regarding KSAC, that group will be publishing a new web page shortly for added transparency, which will include information about regular meetings. You can also reference the monthly newsletter for regional and KSAC updates, if you’d like more information about what the entire network is up to and why.
There are many, many more performance metrics that we are evaluating and reviewing based on the best science and practices available. Once our KPI dashboard goes live in March-April, we hope to expand our engagement and awareness across the community. Until then, please don’t hesitate to reach out for clarification or data—preferably ahead of posting about the program or its partners. Thank you.
Giving a “bad” choice and a “worse” choice is called “giving a false choice” because a “good” or “better” choice is intentionally left out. It’s something a bully would do. But it is also something a parent of a toddler might do (spinach or broccoli ). In any event, it is not something that elected leaders should ever do without substantial fact finding and community input.
100% Diane. It's a completely false choice.
Favorite line: "We are in this pickle entirely because KURA wants to do something that most people who live in Ketchum don’t want them to do. All they have to do is leave this as a parking lot, and the conundrum disappears. We keep the parking! The LID goes away! We don’t get a massive box in the commercial district! All is good!"
PUBLIC servants at the local, state and national levels are vested in outcomes. This is especially true in a restrictive state like Idaho. Local government is shaped and driven by laws that codify ways of thinking. With housing policy, it’s impossible to avoid the cross-pollination of commercial interests with political interests.
In that sense the framework for best practices of good governance’ is inherently corrupt. It boils down to laws and tax policy, it’s market driven and it informs the very atmosphere we depend on to exist as a species. Housing is right up there on Maslow’s hierarchy, so you have to work with first principles in a way that questions the validity and effectiveness of the laws.
Where the laws impinge on efficiency and a measurable ROI, social costs need to be quantified! Where the laws are counter-productive to the local economy, they need to be challenged, proven to be counter-productive, and changed. Data is key! Perry has skillfully laid the groundwork for a lot of the data required and he is just starting to rev up. Now’s the time. Take this thing to thee courts. Commit.
The "powers that be" would like nothing better than to see everybody get all frothed up and bothered for 18 months with civic assemblies, exhausted. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, policy makers continue to work with a market that defines them to a large extent. It's inevitable, which is precisely why the laws must to be examined. First Principles.
I think it was Bill McKibben who said that "with Climate Change, if you’re slowly making progress, you’re failing". Same with housing, and with protecting the trajectory of small mountain town life as it evolves in Ketchum, Idaho. The free market was not meant to define the quality of life, it was meant to support it as it organically emerges from the community's values. And it needs to incorporate a degree of shared equity to be sustainable.Regarding the quality of life in Idaho resort towns? The laws are failing because the economies are unique and they are more fragile for it, especially in terms of housing.
What it boils down to is challenging the way Idaho state laws impinge on the right of local governments to more closely control the STR market. Start there. Sure, start to rev up the civic assemblies. One is a War Room, the other a Socratic dialog. The clock is ticking. Destiny waits for nobody but it can be shaped by Realpolitik.
Stay angry people. Be bold. Find the money and take it to the Statehouse. There's a case to be made there.
Realpolitik. Robert Reich is focusing on laws and commercial contracts.
From: What should be done about Musk?
theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/08/elon-musk-political-influence-global
..."For the time being, particularly under Trump, there is little that we in the US can do to constrain Musk except by boycotting Tesla and X. Canada and Britain and other European nations, meanwhile, should, at the very least:
-- Enact laws and regulations to prohibit non-citizens (like Musk, although he does have Canadian citizenship) from financing activities that could affect their elections.
-- Maintain, if not strengthen, laws and rules against hate speech, and ensure that they are applied to social media companies, such as Musk’s X.
-- Refuse to contract with Musk’s Space X and its Starlink satellite division, or with Musk’s other corporations (Tesla and the Boring Company).
-- Disengage from any joint ventures or technology transfers involving Musk, including xAI, his artificial intelligence company." ...
Please take your political diatribes elsewhere. You are not even a resident in this area.
Ed, ignorance is as ignorance does. You don't know what your talking about. Try to avoid being a small-minded, provincial idiot.
Ed, I have to say that clearly, you don't fully understand the meaning of "diatribe". That kind of remark is beneath you. You might have had a place at the table back in the day, but those days are gone. Maybe your conditioned way of thinking is a sign of the times, or too much Kool-Aid...or is it just a general sclerosis ?
Andrew, we appreciate your personal insights. It is wonderful to glen information from all sides. We are turning over every stone we stumble upon.
We welcome everyones point of views such as 'laws against hate speech'. Even for you.
It is not necessary or productive to berate, belittle or personally attack another person on this platform or any platform.
Love you brother.
Oh, my, listen to you! "Diatribe: a bitter and abusive speech or piece of writing. ....with most diatribes, the author thinks he's well informed and knows something the reader doesn't."
Your arrogance is stunning!
Sorry Ed, I forget that you're an 'effing genius.
Hi Perry,
Thanks for your comments on Blaine County Sustainability. This is Andrew Mentzer--Blaine County's Sustainability Manager. A couple of things to note:
1. There is no such thing as the "Blaine County Sustainability Commission" or BCSC as you reference. There is the 5B Climate Action Network (5B CAN) and it is a group of 112 community members, elected leaders, businesses, NGOs and others, who actively coordinate on various sustainability initiatives across the region. We collectively work on programs and projects in four topic areas: land, water and habitat conservation; land use & transportation; solid waste & circularity; and clean energy & green building.
2. Much of the work being done regionally is being performed by non-profit partners, individual community members, businesses and local government. We don't have the ability to track return on investment for all NGO and municipal programming, however we do perform regular benchmarking on greenhouse gas emissions for the community, and are in the process of building out a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) dashboard in a program called ClearPath 2.0 that will allow us to better track program performance based on our KPIs. We have 25 identified KPIs by the way, across the four task force areas.
3. If you would like to sit down and discuss the GHG reductions or other enhancements associated with the projects and programming we are working on, we, as always, are more than happy to chat. Our door remains open for feedback and input, and we encourage the community to sign up for our monthly newsletter LINK BELOW if they would like to learn more about these projects and programs. https://www.co.blaine.id.us/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=670
4. Regarding your noted cost concerns, the vast majority of our current projected programming does, in fact, have a firm return/performance profile, which we are happy to share with any interested parties--these are also typically available on the public record when our Board reviews grant applications. Many of the projects we are pursuing will utilize federal funding under the Inflation Reduction Act as well, so we would ask that you respectfully don't suggest these projects are all being paid for exclusively by the local taxpayer.
5. Some performance metrics of possible interest:
a. Solid Waste Infrastructure For Recycling (SWIFR)—according to EPAs WARM tool, our proposed project (100% of which will be federal grant funded) will reduce CO2 emissions by 1,921.23 metric tons (equivalent) while expanding local economic opportunity and extending the life of the Milner Butte Landfill through an anticipated waste stream reduction of up to 16.5% for construction and demolition material diversion, and over 4% overall waste diversion (these align with explicit targets identified in our Climate Action Plan).
b. Ketchum Fire Solar—The anticipated avoided CO2 emissions for this project is around 14 metric tons annually (equating to approximately 20% of the fire station’s annual electricity use), with a payback period of 12.5 years.
c. Community Fueling Infrastructure (CFI)—another project that will be paid for through a combination of private investment and federal funds—this is anticipated to reduce GHG emissions for Blaine County by 295.7 short tons of (2,800 lbs CO2) based on moderate usage.
6. Regarding KSAC, that group will be publishing a new web page shortly for added transparency, which will include information about regular meetings. You can also reference the monthly newsletter for regional and KSAC updates, if you’d like more information about what the entire network is up to and why.
There are many, many more performance metrics that we are evaluating and reviewing based on the best science and practices available. Once our KPI dashboard goes live in March-April, we hope to expand our engagement and awareness across the community. Until then, please don’t hesitate to reach out for clarification or data—preferably ahead of posting about the program or its partners. Thank you.