LT. GOVERNOR GOP JOSHUA BLESSINGER
BRAD LITTLE
Age: 31 Occupation: Student, video production and editing, honorable discharge from Marines Years in Idaho: 31 Blog I read this week: Not usually, they are very left-leaning. Best government service used this month: Education, on a field trip with daughter’s class. Worst bureaucratic bungle this month: Nothing recent Teabags: 1
Age: 56 Occupation: Rancher Years in Idaho: No response Blog I read this week: No response Best government service used this month: No response Worst bureaucratic bungle this month: No response Teabags: 2
STEVE PANKEY Age: 58 Occupation: Real estate investor, owns properties Years in Idaho: 24 years Blog I read this week: None Best government service used this month: Going to the Post Office in Shoshone. Worst bureaucratic bungle this month: None Teabags: 2
BLESSINGER PANKEY
LITTLE
Would the lieutenant governor have the responsibility of appointing a much needed oversight committee for Idaho’s appellate public defenders office? Blessinger: To my knowledge and research, the responsibility to appoint such a committee would fall on the Governor’s Office or the state attorney general. The governor may delegate this authority to the lieutenant governor, at which time I would appoint a committee that would ensure that the rights of the accused and the rights of any applicable victims are upheld. I do agree with you that the office does need oversight, directly or indirectly. I was formerly a correctional officer at the Idaho Correctional Center and saw many inmate files that, under a competently overseen appellate public defender, should have been overturned. I also saw a great number of honest and good men who just made a big mistake, but still deserved the time they were serving given the nature of their crime. To put it short, If it is made my responsibility, I will do my best to put the right individuals in place to make the Appellate Public Defenders Office run as efficiently and correctly as possible.
Pankey: The lieutenant governor would most likely play a major role in creating the oversight committee, appointing qualified people, agenda and goals. An effective oversight committee is needed. The Idaho Judicial Counsel is an old-boy club that rubber-stamps arbitrary judicial decisions leading to taxpayer supported appeals. The Idaho State Bar rarely takes action against incompetent and/ or corrupt attorneys—also leading to taxpayer supported appeals. Idaho’s state courts are divided into two areas: civil and criminal. Idaho’s major routine civil litigant is Action Collection. Action Collection has undue influence in civil Magistrate Courts, District Courts, Idaho Court of Appeals, and the Idaho Supreme Court. Voters have the right to not retain biased magistrates, district judges, and Supreme Court judges. Your vote not to retain biased judges is the only current check and balance on the appellate process. If Idaho director of finance Gavin M. Gee had the guts to regulate Action Collection according to law, there would be more taxpayer resources to deal with problems in the Idaho appellate public defenders office. In short, appellate problems are multifaceted ...
ADA COUNTY COMMISSION 3
16 | MAY 19–25, 2010 | BOISEweekly
VERN BISTERFELDT
FRED TILMAN
Age: 71 Occupation: Retired Boise police captain Years in Idaho: 51 Blog I read this week: Boise Guardian, for the first time Best government service used this month: Boise City Council buying Hammer Flat. Worst bureaucratic bungle this month: Mixed feelings on F-35 and Boise streetcar. Teabags: 0
Age: 64 Occupation: Retired U.S. West management, Ada County commissioner Years in Idaho: 64 Blog I read this week: None Best government service used this month: Opening of the Detox Center Worst bureaucratic bungle this month: None Teabags: 1 WWW. B O I S E WE E KLY. C O M