Mayor Bieter announces new WinCo distribution center, details detox and neighborhood plans
Mayor David Bieter today announced that WinCo Foods, the Boise-based grocery retailer, will build a new regional distribution facility in Southeast Boise, bringing approximately 200 family-wage jobs to the Treasure Valley.
In his 2007 State of the City Address, hosted by the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce at the Boise Centre on the Grove, Mayor Bieter tallied the City of Boise’s many achievements over the past four years and outlined new efforts to combat graffiti and other threats to neighborhood vitality. The mayor proposed that the city and its partners join forces to complete funding for a new community detox facility. And Bieter detailed plans for an Oct. 16 transit summit, sponsored by city mayors statewide, to explore how Salt Lake City and other Western communities have addressed public transportation funding.
“The state of the city of Boise today is really the state of our city 10, 15, 20 years from now,” Mayor Bieter said. “The things we’ve accomplished during the past 12 months will ripple forward for years to come. And the decisions we make in the next 12 months will shape the lives of our children and their children, and all of the generations that follow.”
The mayor compared Boise’s status today to its situation at his first State of the City Address in September 2004, just eight months after he had taken office:
- Three years ago, Boise ranked last in library services among its peer cities, with no plan to address that deficit. Today the city has two new neighborhood libraries almost ready to open and two more that will be built within the next two years, with no tax increase.
- Three years ago, the city had no police headquarters and no prospects for getting one despite a need that had been identified almost 15 years earlier. Today, again without adding taxes, the city owns City Hall West free and clear in an area where 55 percent of Boise citizens live, allowing them to access city services without driving downtown.
- Three years ago, the Treasure Valley had no community college and no active effort to get one. Today the College of Western Idaho is preparing to open next year, bringing higher education to thousands of young people who otherwise never would have had such an opportunity.
- Three years ago, the City of Boise faced a multi-million-dollar budget deficit and was millions of dollars behind in essential repair and maintenance of city facilities. Today city government has a structurally balanced budget and links spending decisions to citizens’ service priorities.
“Three years ago, the people of Boise had lost confidence in city government; with the help of a great city council, we have turned that around,” the mayor said. “But it’s what comes next that’s important.”
Mayor Bieter outlined new initiatives and continued progress in several areas:
- Economic Development: The mayor announced that WinCo Foods will open a new, state-of-the-art, 700,000-square-foot regional distribution center in Southeast Boise, adjacent to city-owned property. It will employ approximately 200 workers upon opening, earning family-wage jobs. Founded in 1967, WinCo now operates more than 50 stores in five states with more than 9,200 employee owners. Mayor Bieter and city staff have been in discussions with company officials for several months regarding the plan. “This is truly great news,” Bieter said, “and it underscores once again what CEOs and citizens have told me again and again: Build a great city, and great companies and employees will follow.”
- Graffiti: The proliferation of graffiti, whether gang-related or simple vandalism, is “one of the primary indicators of a neighborhood in trouble,” the mayor said. He proposed that the city aggressively combat graffiti in three ways:
- By designating up to $50,000 in existing funds for a one-year pilot project to assist neighborhoods in getting rid of graffiti as quickly as possible.
- Through “TAG Day (Totally Abolish Graffiti),” a volunteer effort coordinated by the Boise Police Department, to identify and cover over graffiti citywide on an upcoming Saturday this fall.
- Using a citizen survey, via mail and the Web beginning this week, to gauge citizens’ concerns and needs regarding code enforcement and graffiti abatement programs.
- Detox:Mayor Bieter noted that the city is closer than ever to meeting the long-standing need for a community detoxification facility, thanks to contributions from the City of Boise, other cities, Ada County, United Way, social service agencies and the State of Idaho. Last week the detox project received $330,000 in startup funds from the Albertson Foundation at the Kraft Shoot-Out, leaving the project “just a nine-iron away” from ground-breaking. The mayor said he will ask the Boise City Council and the various table partners on the project to jointly contribute the final $350,000 to complete the funding package for construction of the detox facility, in hopes it will be open a year from now.
- Transit: The mayor detailed plans for “At the Crossroads: Transit Alternatives for Idaho,” a transit summit to be held Oct. 16 at Boise State University. Sponsored by city mayors statewide, BSU’s Department of Public Policy and Administration and the Coalition for Regional Public Transportation, the summit will bring together experts from other Western states along with local government officials from around Idaho, legislators, business leaders and others to explore the financing options that would garner broad-based support in our state. The half-day event is free and open to the public; no RSVP is necessary. Visit www.idahotransitsummit.org for more information.
Mayor Bieter also praised Ada County commissioners for their recent decision to get out of the urban planning business, and the Ada County Highway District for its willingness to submit itself to scrutiny by the Urban Land Institute. The mayor displayed a series of images illustrating the benefits of integrating land use and transportation planning. “The standard is simply this: Growth must enhance rather than diminish, and it must pay its own way,” he said.
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