Saundra McDavid

Phil Bandy recently accepted a position as the Associate Director for the National Geothermal Data System in the Geosciences Department of Boise State University. This is a long term paid position where he will be assisting with project management and using his bureaucratic experience in outreach to governmental agencies. He has been working at this position since January 12th, but as of February 11th he had not formally announced his second job to the city council or the citizens of Eagle, leaving Eagle residents wondering if the mayor is focused on the city of Eagle, or distracted by his new duties with BSU.

The timing of this comes at a critical time for a city which is continually reviewing cost cutting measures and some who would like to see the mayor’s position and salary cut back to part time. Bandy was a city councilman in 2007 when the Eagle city council voted to approve a dramatic increase in salary and a change from part time to full time for the mayor’s position. Shortly after that decision was made, Bandy announced he was running for mayor. During the campaign, when some of the mayoral candidates were claiming the mayor’s position was not about the salary and offered to decrease the amount, Bandy was justifying the salary claiming that the job required a full time person who would be putting in far more than 40 hours a week. After Bandy was elected, he stated that the job duties also required a full time assistant, who is now also on the city payroll. The yearly cost to Eagle taxpayers for the mayor and his full time assistant is now $146,732.

Now many are questioning how Eagle’s full time mayor, with a full time salary and a full time assistant, has time to work as an Associate Director at BSU. All of this while the city is experiencing staffing and budget cuts and is open only four days a week. Last year, amid these budget cuts, salary reductions and layoffs, the city council voted to decrease their salary by 50%. Mayor Bandy offered up a meager 2.5% cut for the mayor’s position while imposing a higher cut on the city staff salaries. Bandy’s new job leaves many people wondering if he is positioning himself for an exit from City Hall, at the expense of Eagle taxpayers. Moonlighting poses yet another ethical dilemma for Eagle’s mayor who will likely face increased scrutiny of the hours he dedicates to the city he is supposed to be running. He now owes the people of Eagle an explanation of how he intends to do two jobs at once, especially after he justified the increase in the mayor’s salary by stating the job required more than 40 hours a week. Are there safeguards that will assure the people that city hall property such as telephones, computers, copy machines and time are not being used for the mayor’s second job? There is a difference between having a full time job and having a full time commitment to a job. Can a moonlighting mayor claim he is committed full time to the citizens of Eagle?

Eagle residents have suggested that the city council revisit the decision to change the mayor’s position and compensation at the next budget cycle. Others have suggested that Eagle should not wait. The decision to lower the salary and revert the mayor’s position back to part time should occur now.

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Eagle Mayor Phil Bandy appeared to be infringing on our First Amendment rights recently, when he lost his temper and made inappropriate comments during the December 30^th and January 26^th Eagle City Council meetings.  The mayor repeatedly interrupted public testimony and left many questioning the appropriateness of Eagle’s city leader.  Add to this the Mayor’s personal attacks on a city council member during the budget discussions in 2008 and it is clear that an alarming pattern is emerging.

In response to testimony by Eagle resident Patricia Minkiewicz in December, Mayor Bandy stated “Ma’m you are not a citizen of the City of Eagle and I get very tired of you coming in here and scolding us for doing things when you don’t have the ability to vote, you are not a citizen, you live in the area of impact, that is for granted, but Pat it gets a little tiresome to get scolded by someone who does not have the position or standing to do so.”

The First Amendment to the Constitution gives all of us the freedom of speech and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances.   This right of petition allows all of us the ability to address our elected politicians on issues of misconduct, corruption, waste, incompetence, and generally the ability to vent our frustrations.

“A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.” Declaration of Independence, July 4^th, 1776

Is this tyrannical conduct by Eagle’s Mayor barreling out of control? If residents do not have the position or standing to admonish the mayor, then does the mayor believe that he is accountable to no one?

The only way to solve the problems our community is facing is by speaking openly about them, encouraging discourse and providing solutions.  Everyone has standing to address their concerns and should be encouraged to do so without having to face the wrath of a mayor who appears to have a problem with criticism.  Instead of resorting to ad hominem attacks and childish comments, Eagle’s Mayor needs to abandon the tyranny, step up and become a leader.   Perhaps the first step is an apology to the residents of Eagle’s area of impact.

The audio of the outbursts are:

Bandy_McDavid_01_26_10

Bandy_Minkiewicz_Dec09

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In response to my editorial on opposing a bond election and bailout for the Eagle city hall building, Mayor Bandy sent an e-mail to me (full text below) claiming he had nothing to do with the questionably legal lease for city hall.  In the e-mail he states that he was on the planning and zoning commission when the city hall building was built and the initial lease was entered, so he had nothing to do with the lease.   What he didn’t mention is that he was on the city council when the lease was amended in September of 2006.

Alarming is his view that to do nothing and allow something to happen affords him the right to deny responsibility. In four years as City Councilman and Mayor he has not made any noticeable effort to remedy this mess, until recently when it has become clear to everyone that there is overwhelming opposition to Eagle’s transgressions.  He ignored Councilman Shoushtarian’s requests to get an appraisal on the building and commence working on a solution to this problem that is “bleeding Eagle dry” as stated by Councilman Semanko.  He has sat day after day in Eagle’s multi-million dollar, gold lettered, palatial city hall and has approved the inflated rent checks to the landlord each year.

Most interesting is Mayor Bandy’s reaction to my public testimony Tuesday, when I mentioned that he was distancing himself from the decision.  This appears to be a hot button with him, as he broke from protocol, interrupted public testimony and was disrespectful to those who were making observations and providing suggestions.   Luckily the boy scouts who were observing the meeting had left before this outburst.  It truly was behavior unbecoming to a city leader.

Along those same lines, on Tuesday we heard Councilman Huffaker request that the public stop writing editorials when they have a concern about city affairs, along with a suggestion to the press to stop publishing the editorials.  According to Councilman Huffaker, public discourse is not helpful.  If you are reading this, it appears as if the First Amendment has prevailed.

We also heard Councilman Semanko claiming that a legitimate question on whether the mayor has the right to break a tie vote on an appointment was merely people playing politics.  This tactic is a logical fallacy called attacking the motive; where people choose to attack the motive of the person making the statement, instead of addressing the issue at hand.  Semanko claimed he did not run for office to be in politics; a surprising statement from the chairman of the Idaho Republican Party.  He clearly gave the impression that anyone questioning whether the city administration is acting legally is not acting in the best interest of the city.  These are interesting comments from someone who ran on a platform of transparency.

In spite of the attempts by some to thwart public testimony and subvert the first amendment the outcome of Tuesday’s meeting was a victory for all.   As a result of overwhelming opposition, the city conceded that mistakes had been made and remedied the situation.  The task force is moving ahead, now with ample resources to do the job.

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Mayor Bandy’s e-mail:

January 26, 2009

Ms. McDavid – as a follow up to your most recent article in the Valley times, provided below a brief timeline regarding my tenure with the City of Eagle vis-à-vis Eagle City Hall:

City Hall Timeline:

March through May 2000 – City Facilities Assessment Commission created and members appointed

January 2002 – I was appointed to the Planning and Zoning Commission.  I served as Planning and Zoning Commissioner through December 2005

February 2005 – Council approved Request for Proposal (RFP) for Building Construction

May 2005 – Interviews conducted with developers

May 2005 – City entered into the first basic lease agreement with Hawkins-Smith

January 2006 – I was sworn into office as City Councilman

January 2008 – I was sworn into office as Mayor

As such, contrary to your assertion that,

“Several years ago, using questionable legal reasoning to justify subverting the will of the people who three times voted “no” on a bond to purchase a new City Hall building, Phil Bandy, then City Council member, approved entering a one-year lease for a building which was constructed on land owned by the city; said lease to be renewable for fifty years in a row.”

“All options should be on the table to fix a problem created by Mayor Bandy and previous city leaders.”

I was not involved in the facilities assessment commission, as a Planning and Zoning Commissioner I was not involved in the development of the building construction RFP, I did not participate in interviews with potential developers, I did not participate in the decision to retain Hawkins-Smith, and, I had no part in the leasing decision.

Although I agree all options should be on the table and the issue needs to be addressed as soon as practicable, the problem at hand is not one of my creation.

Regards,

Phil

Phil Bandy, Mayor
City of Eagle, Idaho

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Sounds like everyone is jumping off the “city hall” ship.  Mayor Bandy is the last of the “old-guard” who was responsible for steering this ship into deep water.  From his statements it appears he too has jumped off.  So, who is left at the wheel?

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