Thursday, March 25, 2010
Governor Butch Otter Explains it All—Sort Of
Posted by Josh Gross on Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 10:11 AM
Roughly 150 eager and bright-eyed members of the Boise Young Professionals, wearing smart looking suits and accessories by Blackberry crowded into the Garden Level West Wing at The Capitol yesterday evening. They were there for a meet and greet with Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter, where Otter was to explain why they, as young professionals, should stay in Idaho.
- Gov. Butch Otter could charter the Star Old Professionals group.
Otter then took several audience questions about what he felt the next growth industry would be for Idaho, what he was doing to attract it, why businesses should look to Idaho for an educated workforce when his Legislature kept cutting funds to education, why young people should want to live in Idaho as opposed to neighboring states that didn’t keep cutting funding to state parks and other services that improve quality of life, and if he felt the state’s liquor laws hindered the growth of the food and beverage industry.
Responses included pontification on the differences between a job and a career, pot shots at California’s budget troubles and the school system in Washington D.C., a series of talking points supporting The Idaho Health Freedom Act, and brief touches on technological advances in logging; all doused in party-line rhetoric about taxes.
He did say that he disagreed with the state’s liquor laws and felt they hampered growth, but didn’t feel that he as the governor had any power to do anything about it since it was already in the Constitution.
When the event moderator tried to reframe a jobs question for a more direct answer, Otter broke down the two things he felt entrepreneurs need: electrical infrastructure, and an educated workforce.
Then he explained how Idaho imports much of its power, and was unable to attract software giant Oracle because it couldn’t guarantee the required wattage, as well as grousing that rates would likely have to rise soon.
After that, he addressed education: “Are we ever going to be able to compete with colleges and universities in other states? I don’t think we can,” he said.
Of primary education, his opinion was that “for the most part, it’s what you make of it,” that so long as a student’s family was there to augment the classroom, students would be able to muddle through. “It’s still a mystery to me why we don’t have more students going to college,” he added.
So how did event attendees feel about his presentation?
“It was flat out embarrassing,” said Dave Quintana, a BYP member. “Everything was about old industry, without any mention of tech.” Quintana works three jobs in web development and education.
“He didn’t answer anyone’s questions about anything,” said BYP member Chryssa Rich.
Rich, who is chair of the Ada County Democrats, said that she hadn’t really expected Otter to win her over, but she’d never expected it to be that bad. “He was completely disconnected. He had no idea who he was talking to or why he was here.”
Despite the heavy political bent, frustration reached across the aisle.
“If anything, he gave me more of a reason to run,” said Caroline Pavlinik, a Republican member of BYP. “He offered no specifics, and circumvented every question with the past … I just kept thinking to myself, how many people in this room are involved in animal husbandry?”
Another BYP member who described herself as very conservative, said she is already looking for jobs out of state, because she wants to be in an environment of more motivated people, that Idaho is too full of regressionist mentalities like Gov. Otter's. Not wanting her firm to learn of her job-search, she declined to give her name.
After the event, BYP members met at Bardenay, networking and chatting about what their hopes had been for the event.
“I wanted to see what his vision for the future was. He didn’t have any vision, and that’s scary,” said Tim Basford, an Engineer at Micron.
“What he said about starting your own business; you can do that anywhere. The Idaho garages are the same as the Washington garages,” said Greg, who also declined to give his last name for fear of it coming back to him at work.
“Look, I don’t care about comparisons between now and when he was a kid,” said educational consultant Tucker Slosbrug. “He talked about Idaho being a good place to settle down. But this generation is more transient, we’re interested in jobs that you can come in, do for a few years and then move on. I wanted to know how he planned to make that happen.”
Still, despite the criticisms, BYP founder Ben Quintana (brother of Dave) felt the event was a structural success. “The goal was to give BYP members a chance to have a discussion with the governor. We did that. Everything else, what he said, is interpretive.”
Other BYP members agreed. “If this was a bigger state, like California, an event like this would be $500. It’s great that here in Idaho we had this opportunity,” said one BYP member. “But still, if the election were tomorrow, and this were a stump speech, it wouldn’t even matter who was running against him. He failed.”
Comments (8)
Showing 1-8 of 8
Butch has fought against education, educational television, cut benefits which INCREASED the already higher-than-average uninsured numbers in Idaho, tried to lie his way out of a DUI, refused to obey the EPA's wetlands rules, crassly chose Human Rights Day as an appropriate time to announce he was yanking funding for the Human Rights Commission, shared a story about a poor "underprivileged" kid getting to shoot an elk in a pen at a City Club Debate (which revolted both Republicans and Democrats, incidentally) and spent his Lieutenant Governor years distinguishing himself by entering tight-fitting jeans contests and yet people are SURPRISED that he's not a competent leader?????? What's next--a news flash that Fox News makes stuff up?
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Butch is is out of touch but will be re-elected by the old guard establishment of rural Idaho. Boise is a blue town in a red state and these young people will simply relocate and live their lives elsewhere as my own two older daughters are about to do.
It will take a generation for Idaho to move forward again ... Oddly the success and expansion of both public and private higher-education in Idaho may do more to drag this regressive state forward than all of the Governors in the world.
SLC is a progressive and international city. Idaho is a rut and being run by a cadre of regressive minded individuals. This Administration and Legislator will accomplish little and hopefully will pass into history before doing much more damage.
Are you kidding me? He doesn't think Idaho can compete with other states' colleges and universities - did that really come out of his mouth? And primary school students can "muddle through" - OUTRAGEOUS! And then he has the gall to wonder why we don't have more students going to college????? If we could get rid of that type of mentality, I think we could easily compete with colleges and universities in other states - EASILY - maybe even surpass them. I am absolutely appalled. THIS is our state's leadership? No question - I'd vote for Mickey Mouse, before I'd vote for this "dude". Even a cartoon character could probably make more progress. . . .
Are you kidding me? He doesn't think Idaho can compete with other states' colleges and universities - did that really come out of his mouth? And primary school students can "muddle through" - OUTRAGEOUS! And then he wonders why we don't have more students going to college????? If we could get rid of that type of mentality there is no question in my mind that Idaho could easily compete with colleges and universities in other states - maybe even surpass them. I am absolutely appalled. THIS is our state's leadership? This is beyond sad, and explains so much.
Not surprising at all. Has anyone mentioned the living situation he has arranged via a convenient Simplot donation, at the cost of Idaho tax payers?
The only hope we have for reform is more exploitation of the blatant ignorance. You can only sweep crap under a rug for so long...
Watch Capital Rap on Tuesdays at 9:30 pm on TVCTV Channel 11. It's a new political talk show. Host is Lance Thompson who interviews candidates for office. So far guests have been gubernatorial candidates Jana Kemp, Pro-Life, Pete Peterson and Sharon Ullman and candidate for Lt. Governor Joshua Blessinger. You can also watch it streamed live at 9:30 pm on Tuesdays at www.tvctvonline.org. Upcoming interviews already scheduled with Lee Chaney and Rex Rammell.
Remember to vote on May 25. Every vote counts.
Where is Keith Allred? Why is he not responding to the idiocy coming out of the governor's mouth?
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