Boise council to hold public hearing on confusing library/stadium scenario

BOISE, Idaho (CBS 2) — The Boise City Council will hold a public hearing on Tuesday regarding the much-debated proposed downtown library and sports stadium projects..

But it's not as simple as it sounds.

Tuesday's public hearing is not about the advantages or disadvantages of a new main library or a sports park.

With apologies to Hamlet, the question is to vote or not to vote.

"It's a pretty challenging scenario," said Boise city spokesman Mike Journee. "A vote to vote, a vote on whether or not you want to have a vote. That's what's before the council."

We know that a citizens group previously gathered the required signatures on petitions calling for city residents to have a say in the projects.

As written, the proposed ordinances detailed in the successful citizens initiative would require a vote in November on whether or not to vote in the future on the two projects if they hit specific public expenditures levels.

Or, the city council could skip that vote to vote step and simply adopt the ordinances to vote when and if that cost limit is triggered.

But time is of the essence.

"They (the city council) have a 30-day window from the time when the county clerk verified the signatures," Journee said. "That puts us at June 27, the public hearing is June 25."

Confused? Well, get ready for more.

Ada County Clerk Phil McGrane says its unclear if the City of Boise even has the legal authority to hold any vote on the projects in question, as he told the council recently.

"When any election comes up, we always look to what's the legal authority to conduct that election," McGrance told CBS 2 News. "There's a question right now is the city in addition just sayinbg we want to have an election, the follow up questiuon is what's the authority to hold this election."

The city's legal department is looking for answers.

"It's a grey area," said Journee. "Unprecedented with this petition..."

Well, one step at a time.

And that next step is Tuesday's public hearing: 6 p.m. at the city council chambers. People who sign up have three minutes to speak.