posted 10/27/09 05:28 PM
Views: 39 | Comments : 5 |

Prior to voting for Nils Ribi consider the following

By Guest Columnist
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Dear Mr. Chase;

It has come to my attention that a recent letter circulated by the organization, “Sun Valley Citizens for Better Government” which provides an accurate account of the voting record and involvement in city government of Councilman Ribi has been attacked by Mr. Ribi as being inaccurate and scurrilous. 

As the designated treasurer of the organization in question and a participant in the writing of that letter as well as a frequent attendee at City council meetings, I can state without equivocation that Mr. Ribi’s voting record as stated therein is true and accurate. Any citizen can verify this by examining city records.  The only bias and opinion contained in that letter is the statement of our opposition to Mr. Ribi’s re-election and that any possibility that he could become Mayor is unacceptable. We also consider the overly chummy relationship between the Mayor and Councilman Ribi to be unacceptable as it marginalizes the other council members. You will recall that a recent edition of The Mountain Express contained an editorial opinion very critical of that relationship as well as the obvious favorable treatment accorded to Mr. Ribi by The Mayor.

As an add-on to the above I would take this opportunity to comment on an e-mail being circulated which attacks council candidate Milt Adam.  This e-mail charges that Mr. Adam is a proponent of consolidation and a protégé of Joan Lamb and Linda Thorson. This is a blatant lie.  Mr. Adam is a strong opponent of consolidation and, in fact, contributed $500.00 to the effort to defeat consolidation. In addition Ms. Lamb and Mrs. Thorson have absolutely no connection to Mr. Adam’s campaign. If Mr. Ribi is concerned about anonymity he should turn his attention to this scurrilous e-mail.

Politics is a rough business.  Witness the 8-year demonizing of Mr. Bush and the beginning of the same for Mr. Obama.  Mr. Thorson accepted criticism without whining and complaining, as has Mr. Willich.  You were subjected to it when you were publicly referred to as a “Benedict Arnold” because of your support for consolidation. Mr. Adam accepts it as part of participation in politics and Mr. Ribi had best get used to it.

Franz M. Suhadolnik

Subsequent to sending the letter below, we found further evidence of Mr. Ribi's left wing beliefs to wake up those conservatives who have believed he's one of our own.

  • Mr. Ribi's beaming picture with Al Gore
  • The group behind the garbage ordinance (the ERC) is personally funded by Mr. Ribi as can be seen on their donor list
  • Mr. Ribi has stated that he is a fan on Twitter of the following Al Gore, Rachel Maddow, Keith Roark (head of the Idaho Democrats), Live Earth, IdahoDems, Barack Obama, PhantomWolves. Is this a conservative? I think not.

Text of letter sent by Sun Valley Citizens for Better Government: 

Prior to voting for Nils Ribi consider the following.       

Mr. Ribi would have you believe he is looking out for you, this is hardly true; rather he is a tireless self promoter constantly working to further his own agenda.  During his four years on The City Council Ribi has consistently voted for one spending proposal after the other.  It is likely that Ribi has voted to give away more of your money than any council member past or present. Ribi consistently votes to give your money to his favorite special interests and charities.  This is your money and not his to give away. Ribi wants to become your mayor that would be a disaster! It is time to end Ribi’s political career. 

Among the groups and organizations to which Ribi has voted to give your money are WREP, ARCH, BCHA, ERC, KART, Sustain Blaine, 48 Straight, Ketchum Chamber of Commerce, Ketchum Parks and Recreation, and others too numerous to mention.

Ribi promoted and supported the following three proposed ordinances.  The public shouted down the first two and Idaho Courts threw out the third.  The legal fees incurred in drafting and defending these ordinances amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

1.      The garbage ordinance also known as “throw and pay” or the mandatory recycling ordinance.  This ordinance contained fines for non-compliance and would have increased your garbage costs threefold.  ERC, a group Ribi enthusiastically supports was deeply involved in framing this ordinance.

2.      The mass and scale ordinance, which would have allowed the city to dictate the size of house, you build.

3.      The workforce housing ordinance which assessed a fee on every add on, remodel, or new construction.  The money collected was to be used to build subsidized housing.  A local family challenged this ordinance in court and won. The city was compelled to pay their legal fees and return all monies previously collected.  This cost the city thousands of dollars. Contrary to the city attorney’s advice Ribi was the only council member to move to appeal the decision. This exhibited a complete disregard for managing the public’s money.

To have the city dictate to you the size of your house, extorting money from you to build subsidized housing, and to compel you to recycle by raising your garbage cost to onerous levels and threatening fines is clearly socialism.  Ribi’s support and enthusiasm for these ordinances clearly reveal that he is a social engineer who wants to dictate your life style.

Sun Valley is one of the very few cities in Idaho allowed to levy a local option tax.  This tax adds an additional 2% to your sales tax and raises in excess of a million dollars a year. The legislative intent of this tax was to provide property tax relief to residents of cities impacted by tourism.  The impact of large numbers of tourist’s results in wear and tear on roads and other infrastructure, additional emergency services added detention facilities and etc.  Several months ago a dozen streets and roads in Sun Valley were identified as needing repair.  Because the LOT has been used for the above the Mayor and Council urged on by Mr. Ribi are planning on asking you to vote an additional property tax levee. An additional tax on you is not necessary if the LOT was used for the intended purpose.

If you have voted absentee, it's not too late to change your vote if your mind has been changed. Stop by city hall anytime between now and election day to change your vote.

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The purpose of my comment is not to debate the points Franz has made, as he and Nils are more than capable of presenting their respective view points. Rather my comment is directed at the "Ad" posted by Linda Thorson on the Sun Valley Online Home page. From my chair, Linda's comments (Ad) come across as sour grapes. Perhaps because Nils did not cowtow to Jon Thorson and Linda Thorson's "Progressive" views? Or perhaps a carry over of bad feelings as a result of Jon's defeat as Sun Valley Mayor by Wayne Willich---or maybe Jon's loss as a Blaine County Commissioner. Regardless how one feels about Nils as a Sun Valley Council member, I find Linda's 'Ad' very petty. Lets stick to facts and avoid this return to name calling of our neighbors. Jim Bronson
Comment by Jim Bronson
10 months ago
( 0 votes )
Wait. The AD: says Nils is not left wing enough and the above letter says he is extremely left wing. Guess he must be doing something right. Can't wait for this election to be over.....
Comment by Hugh Moore
10 months ago
( 0 votes )
Or could it be that the conservatives are tricked into thinking a social engineer is actually a conservative? Most of the old coots voting over there are too busy drinking cocktails to follow the actual things going on. Does this Franz guy attend the council meetings? What's his motivation to go after Nils Ribi?
Comment by Mark Brownley
10 months ago
( 0 votes )
Yea, I don't know what to say about a guy who reads the Wall Street Journal and the NY Times....based on Linda's observations that makes one with those 'traits' a 'right wing socialist wacko'???? Hard to believe that this election seems to boil down to what cable TV program one watches. You will note that Linda has edited her AD. Last nite she was communicating private information from Nils "Twitter" account and commenting on his watching Rachell Madow on MSNBC, admiring Al Gore and at the same time claiming he was now a right winger in the pocket of the mayor. I guess Linda saw the error in her off base emotional comments, as she has tempered them....ever so slightly. I am not stumping for NIls; however the Thorson's personal attack reflects petty bitterness.
Comment by Jim Bronson
10 months ago
( 0 votes )
Twitter info isn't private. Anyone with a Twitter account can see who someone else follows.
Comment by Mark Brownley
10 months ago
( 0 votes )
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