Pocatello’s Historic Preservation Commission is set to meet on Wednesday, December 1, at 6:00 p.m. The meeting will take place in the City Council Chambers, 911 N. 7th Avenue. The notice of public meeting states that, “In-person attendance remains limited. Due to COVID-19 guidelines, social distancing measures are still in place. Masks/Face Coverings are required.”
Items to be considered/addressed include providing feedback on 120 N. Arthur Avenue (the old U.S. Bank building), the Brady Chapel Centennial Campaign Plan, and Downtown Historic District engagement. A training session on Idaho’s open meeting laws is also scheduled.
Boise, Idaho – Governor Brad Little appointed Carrie Semmelroth of Boise to the District 17 Senate seat vacated by Senator Ali Rabe, who moved to a different district.
Semmelroth works in the College of Education at Boise State University. She earned her Ed.D. (Doctor of Education) with a focus on Special Education from Boise State University. She also holds a Master’s degree in Special Education and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, both from Boise State University.
Semmelroth is a Democrat who will serve out the remainder of Rabe’s term, which ends at the end of 2022. When a legislative seat is vacated midterm, the political party of the legislator who left the seat submits recommendations for replacements to the Governor for consideration.
The Idaho Freedom Coalition has published the following notice regarding the pending Rupp Family Trust lawsuit against the City of Pocatello & Mayor Brian Blad:
Dave Worley contacted me about ISJ’s article where his opponent called my donation a “red-flag” – what a shame that is because my family worked really hard for that money! I finally had the opportunity to show MAJ Worley I believed in him as much as he believed in me, and someone wants to drag it through the mud. I want to be clear – MAJ Worley’s empathetic and effective leadership inspired all of us. I served as a junior officer under his guidance and development for 8 years. His integrity, energy and enthusiasm for service to the country’s cause was so encouraging, that I know any town would be lucky to have him.
Additionally, I wanted to make sure he knew how much I appreciated him with as big a donation as my family could afford. Please do not degrade the Lynde family into some image of a faceless corporation or shadowy investor. And please don’t manipulate my family’s gift into something negative, shady, or sleezy – it was a heartfelt gesture from my family to his. I have no self-serving plan for your town; I would have given just as much money to my former mentor if he was from Kansas or Maine. I hope the people of Pocatello see it instead as an indication of just how much all of us at the Red Dragon Battalion miss MAJ Worley.
The Bannock County Prosecutor’s Office has determined that the officers involved in the shooting near McCammon on Oct. 13, 2021 were justified in their use of deadly force.
Prosecutor Steven Herzog reviewed the Critical Incident Task Force Memorandum on Nov. 10, after the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office concluded the investigation.
Below is a summary of Prosecutor Herzog’s review of the Critical Incident Task Force Memorandum, which can be viewed via public records request.
On Wednesday, Oct. 13 at about 3:24 p.m., a Caribou County sheriff’s deputy made contact with a man later identified as Buddy Byron McKenzie, 41, of Washington.
McKenzie was parked in his vehicle outside of a home on South 2nd East in Soda Springs when the deputy approached him. McKenzie provided the deputy with a false name before fleeing in his truck.
The deputy pursued McKenzie with his emergency lights flashing and siren blaring until they reached the side of the John Adams auto dealership. The deputy brought his patrol vehicle in the direct path of McKenzie’s truck, with the vehicles facing each other. McKenzie then fired at the deputy.
McKenzie then fled westbound on Highway 30 towards Bannock County with speeds ranging from 65 mph to over 100 mph. McKenzie drove recklessly into oncoming traffic, nearly causing several accidents putting multiple lives at risk.
Multiple marked and unmarked law enforcement vehicles chased McKenzie with emergency lights and audible sirens activated. Caribou County law enforcement requested assistance from the Bannock County Sheriff’s Office, who requested Idaho State Police to respond as well.
Idahospeaks.com, protecting Freedom of Speech for Conservatives in Idaho
McKenzie appeared to have fired on pursuing officers during the chase.
During the pursuit, McKenzie called 911 and was connected to the Caribou County Dispatch Center. McKenzie stated he was armed, had shot at police, and was going to attempt to cause a head-on collision and kill someone if police did not back off.
During the pursuit on Highway 30, an Idaho State Police trooper attempted two pursuit intervention techniques (or PIT maneuvers) and was finally able to stop McKenzie near E. Merrill Road in McCammon.
McKenzie’s truck stopped on the bridge where law enforcement vehicles from four different agencies surrounded his vehicle, attempting to communicate with him with their guns drawn. Law enforcement gave him orders to drop his firearm and gave him time to do so.
After a few moments of further communication, McKenzie pointed his weapon in the direction of an officer. Nine law enforcement officers then discharged their firearms at McKenzie.
McKenzie had a felony warrant for attempted first-degree murder, among other related charges, out of Yakima County for shooting a woman in a casino, although that information was not known to law enforcement at the time of the incident.
The investigation concluded that given the threat McKenzie posed to law enforcement and the public, use of deadly force was warranted under Idaho law.
Pocatello’s annual Christmas Lights Parade will take place this Friday, November 26, the day after Thanksgiving, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
As noted on visitpocatello.com, “Hundreds of floats will have candy and treats for the kids. The parade route will run from 3rd and East Center and traveling under the Center Street Underpass to The Yellowstone and turning to travel North on Main Street to the Downtown Pavilion.”
Pocatello Mayoral candidate David Worley will be on the nationally syndicated show, America First, with Dr. Sebastian Gorka, today, Wednesday, November 24 at 2:40 p.m.
The show is carried on KSEI News Talk, AM 930/FM 98.9, or listen online here:
I recently attended a local professional meeting for the first time to learn more about business dynamics in our community. Although I thoroughly enjoyed what I learned, I left this meeting shocked and dismayed when Mayor Blad volunteered to inform attendees (mostly local business leaders) that the City is attempting to hire a new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) now that the existing CFO has left. To paraphrase the Mayor—he is struggling to hire a new CFO “because of the Council.” Clearly implying that the current Pocatello City Council is hindering his ability to hire a new CFO.
Are attendees at these professional meetings gullible enough to believe such statements? I hope not. Please, Pocatello business community, do not believe everything you are told without investigating for yourselves.
In my opinion, the Mayor’s statement was completely inappropriate on several levels, especially because of his leadership position in our City. After 40 years in business, having attended hundreds of meetings, this blame-game is so inappropriate to me that it is impossible to believe anyone, let alone a Mayor, would think it permissible to state publicly—for what purpose? Especially since I have attended Pocatello City Council meetings for nearly two years and know there are many contributing factors and reasons why the Mayor is struggling to find, let alone hire, a new CFO.
First, things said in the heat of the moment are often regretted later. If you mistakenly still believe rumor and innuendo that “Council caused the CFO to leave” or that Council is making it difficult to hire a replacement, both are false. On June 16, 2021, in an on-line article in the “Pocatello/Chubbuck Observer,” the outgoing Pocatello CFO publicly clarified: “I have since had the opportunity to play back the recording of the meeting [when he resigned] and to talk with Council members Stevens and Bray and believe that the intentions of Council members Stevens, Bray and Ortega were not to impugn me or my work personally at that time or at any other time during my stay with the City of Pocatello;” he further stated “I now feel that the entire City Council at that time and before that time did not disregard my hard work and efforts on the budget. Additionally, I also feel that from the time I began working at Pocatello up to the time of the Thursday budget meeting that my efforts were appreciated by the entire City Council.”
Please hear the outgoing CFO comment about current City financial policies (need to be strengthened and add some accountability “teeth”) on the City website recording (see Agenda/Minutes Tab) of the 10/14/2021 Council Work Session at approx. 03:05:00.
Second, the Mayor stated at the meeting I attended that the City is “now” using a headhunter to fill the open CFO position. Not only should a serious search for a CFO have started in June, when our CFO first announced his resignation, but also it should have started with using headhunters and/or specialized online recruiters. Instead, according to the Mayor’s statements, standard City recruitment methods were used until now. This probably wasted valuable search time. NOTE: In my opinion, the City needs to target CFOs with specialized talents in resolving city financial issues. Yes, I believe Pocatello is facing financial difficulty despite the fact that current leadership is unwilling or unable to admit it.
In mid-January 2021, when the “then-incoming” CFO took over, please understand that this position had been unfilled for 3.5 months (since 10/01/2020). Unbelievable amounts of work needed to be caught-up, not to mention a crucial audit completed and a new budgeting cycle begun. Soon, the CFO began discovering a number of budgeting errors from the previous year requiring correction along with more errors discovered into June. In fact, according to the City, the FY2020 audit remains incomplete, likely due to those inherited issues. Add in the fact that the City had a sizeable FY2022 budget deficit—largely unaddressed and temporarily deferred by relying heavily upon one-time reserves—and you get a clearer picture of why many CFOs might not be up to dealing with the financial challenges facing Pocatello.
Third, mostly due to COVID, it is just not easy now to find qualified, experienced employees for many jobs. This isn’t the fault of City Council. It has been difficult to find experienced replacements for many jobs at the City. Why place blame on the Council, and for what purpose?
The Mayor basically and publicly “threw under the bus” the entire City Council for his own inability to recruit and hire a new CFO in a timely manner. I hope and believe local business leaders are wise enough to realize that “fault” is rarely found in a single reason. I have faith you will engage in critical thinking regarding such statements. Occasionally attending City Council meetings helps provide the bigger picture.
I believe strong leaders must be able to diffuse conflict, achieve compromise and/or build consensus within group settings—even difficult or contentious groups. Strong leaders take ownership and foresee the potential delays and pitfalls associated with replacing essential positions quickly. To me, the responsibility for Pocatello lacking a CFO right now (or even prospects for one) falls squarely on the Mayor’s inability to be proactive and think long-term. Not only did the Mayor fail to direct an immediate and aggressive search for a replacement CFO in June, he also failed to accept the generous offer of the outgoing CFO to remain in Pocatello until the end of November—an additional two weeks the City could have retained financial leadership. Based on these failures, the Mayor appears to me to prefer being a “victim of circumstance” rather than a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) managing a $130M+ municipal corporation.
This city “is” having financial difficulties and needs a qualified, very seasoned and experienced CFO sooner-than-later to get financial matters back on track. Mr. Mayor, you are the Pocatello CEO responsible for running the “business” of this City. The responsibility for ensuring that we have essential personnel, such as a CFO who is actively serving the needs of this City right now, is yours—not that of the City Council. Please take ownership of your responsibilities.
