108PUC.docx

1 MOUNTAIN HOME, IDAHO, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1998, 7:00 P.M.
2
3
4 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Good evening, ladies and
5 gentlemen. It's time for the hearing to begin. My name is
6 Marsha Smith. I'm one of the three Commissioners. I'm
7 your State Public Utilities Commissioner, and I will Chair
8 tonight's hearing.
9 Upon my left is Commissioner Dennis Hansen,
10 who is the president of the Commission. On my right is
11 Commissioner Ralph Nelson. The three of us comprise the
12 entire Public Utilities Commission, and we are the ones who
13 will make the decision on the case that's before us
14 tonight, which is Case No. USW-T-97-6. It's in the matter
15 of the petition of Elmore County residents for an extended
16 service calling area. These are petitions that have been
17 filed with the Commission for toll-free calling between
18 Mountain Home and Boise, and between Glenns Ferry, Hammett,
19 King Hill, and Boise.
20 We're here tonight to take public testimony
21 in this matter. First, we want to take the appearances of
22 the formal parties to the case. We will start with Staff.
23 MS. COPSEY: My name is Cheri C. Copsey,
24 Deputy Attorney General for the State of Idaho. And I
25 represent the Commission Staff.
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1 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you.
2 U S WEST.
3 MS. DENISON: My name is Robin Denison. I'm
4 with the law office of Stoel, Rives, representing
5 U S WEST Communications. With me is John Souba, who is
6 regional manager of U S WEST.
7 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you very much. I
8 don't believe that we need any preliminary statements, so
9 what we will do is go directly to the taking of your
10 comments and testimony tonight. And we will let your
11 Senator Robbi King demonstrate how you do this.
12 Those of you who wish to make a statement
13 have signed a list. I will call your name in the order
14 that you have signed up, and you just come forward.
15 Commissioner Nelson will swear you in, and then
16 Ms. Copsey will ask you a couple of questions to get you
17 started.
18 The Commission has to base its decision on
19 the evidence that it receives. That is why we have a court
20 reporter who is taking down everything that is said
21 tonight. And so when you begin your statement, we will
22 need your full name, your mailing address, so we have you
23 properly identified.
24 Ms. Copsey.
25
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1 SENATOR ROBBI KING,
2 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
3 sworn, testified as follows:
4
5 EXAMINATION
6
7 BY MS. COPSEY:
8 Q With that in mind, Senator King, could you
9 please state your full name, and spell it for the record,
10 and give your address.
11 A State Senator Robbi, R-o-b-b-i, King,
12 K-i-n-g. I reside at Box 28, Glenns Ferry, Idaho, 83623.
13 Q You may begin with your statement.
14 A Thank you. I'll be very brief in my
15 comments. I appreciate the opportunity to testify before
16 the Commission tonight concerning the proposed extended
17 area service petition. As I was telling Commissioner Smith
18 earlier, it's usually the Commissioners that are testifying
19 before our legislative committees, so the shoe is on the
20 other foot this evening. This is the first time I have had
21 to testify in front of them.
22 As you're aware, the proposed expansion area
23 is, in reality, considered a rural area of Idaho. While
24 many services that we are able to obtain are local, there
25 are still many necessary services that require either
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1 travel to Boise or a long-distance phone call to the Boise
2 area. Those services range from health care and personal
3 financial management to the simple task of checking on our
4 families while some of us work in the Boise area. And
5 there are many people who reside in Mountain Home that work
6 in the Boise area.
7 The benefits of the expanded toll-free
8 calling area will, in my opinion, have a direct impact on
9 the economy of this area. The potential financial savings
10 to local businesses, public services, and families will
11 enhance the economic viability here in our own community.
12 To many businesses the dramatic reduction in monthly
13 telephone bills will mean direct benefits to employees as
14 well as consumers.
15 Throughout the public service sector, I
16 believe a substantial cost savings will be realized. There
17 will no longer be the necessary fees for having to maintain
18 a Boise telephone line, in some instances. Personally, to
19 me, this expansion will mean an approximate cost savings to
20 my family of between $100 and $150 a month.
21 And finally, as an elected official, this
22 will also allow me to save the taxpayers of the state some
23 money. When you contact me with a concern, as your elected
24 official, almost every piece of information I have to
25 obtain on your behalf is a long-distance phone call to
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1 Boise. I believe this is a beneficial proposal to the
2 people that I have been elected to represent and would
3 appreciate your favorable consideration. Again, thank you
4 for allowing me the opportunity to provide input here this
5 evening.
6 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you very much,
7 Senator King.
8 Now comes the hardest part. Does anyone have
9 questions?
10 MS. COPSEY: No questions.
11 COMMISSIONER SMITH: How about from the
12 Commission?
13 Thank you very much. We really appreciate
14 you coming here.
15 We also have State Representative
16 Jim Jones in the audience. And Representative Jones, would
17 you like to come forward and make a statement?
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1 REPRESENTATIVE JIM JONES,
2 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
3 sworn, testified as follows:
4
5 THE WITNESS: I'm Jim Jones representing
6 District 20. And that includes Elmore and Owyhee
7 Counties. I tell everybody it's east of Ada County, south
8 of Ada County, and west of Ada County. It's one of the
9 biggest counties in the state.
10 I moved to Mountain Home in 1970. At that
11 time we took about an hour and a half to drive to Boise.
12 And the last 30 years I was representing State Farm
13 Insurance, and we could call to Salem, Oregon less
14 expensive than we can call to Boise where our
15 alliance office was. It was an expensive operation to
16 make the local calls.
17 So I very much highly favor the idea seeing
18 the area toll free. That's the only thing I want to say.
19 Let's have a bigger area toll free and it will be good for
20 the economy and good for the citizens of the area where
21 this toll-free system goes into effect. And I will say, I
22 hope you expedite the idea.
23 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you,
24 Representative Jones.
25 Let's see if there are any questions.
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1 MS. COPSEY: The only question I have for the
2 record is, may we have your mailing address?
3 THE WITNESS: 1107 Maple Drive.
4 MS. COPSEY: Thank you.
5 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you very much.
6 THE WITNESS: Thank you folks for coming out
7 today.
8 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Next, we have George
9 Haynes.
10
11 GEORGE HAYNES,
12 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
13 sworn, testified as follows:
14
15 EXAMINATION
16
17 BY MS. COPSEY:
18 Q Mr. Haynes, would you state your full name
19 for the record, and spell it, and give us your address
20 also.
21 A My name is George Haynes, G-e-o-r-g-e,
22 H-a-y-n-e-s, 710 East 11th North.
23 Q You can go ahead and make your statement.
24 A I'm in favor of the statements that have been
25 made here presenting this to us. If you have any calls to
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1 make to Boise and pay toll, it's a little expensive. I'm
2 retired, and I now have to do all this --
3 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Excuse me. We're going
4 to take a short recess while the court reporter moves
5 closer, because we're having a lot of difficulty hearing.
6 The acoustics in here are not that good. There are still a
7 few empty chairs near the front.
8 (Brief interruption.)
9 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Now we're going to try
10 again. If you can, let's ask for your cooperation by
11 keeping it quiet. The acoustics seem to amplify the sound
12 and we're having difficulty hearing. We will go again,
13 Mr. Haynes.
14 THE WITNESS: At the present time the church
15 that I represent has many calls to other districts and it's
16 a little bit expensive. And I think it would be a benefit
17 for them, the church, and to the people who phone in, and
18 its representation. So with that, I'll just say that I'm
19 in favor of the thing as presented.
20 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Let's see if there are
21 any questions for you.
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1 EXAMINATION
2
3 BY MS. COPSEY:
4 Q I just have one or two real short questions.
5 You are aware that if the Commission approves this, that
6 your telephone basic local service will increase about $6 a
7 month, are you not?
8 A Yes, I'm aware of it.
9 Q And it still would be beneficial to you?
10 A That's right.
11 MS. COPSEY: Thank you very much.
12 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you for your
13 testimony.
14 Lou Berrio-Ochea.
15
16 LOU BERRIO-OCHOA,
17 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
18 sworn, testified as follows:
19
20 EXAMINATION
21
22 BY MS. COPSEY:
23 Q Mr. Berrio-Ochoa, do you want to actually say
24 your name very slowly so the court reporter can get it, and
25 spell it.
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1 A My name is Lou, L-o-u, Berrio-Ochoa,
2 B-e-r-r-i-o - O-c-h-o-a.
3 Q Could you tell us your address?
4 A P.O. Box 561.
5 Q Thank you. Go ahead with your statement.
6 A Well, I have ten relatives who live in
7 Boise. I'll save money myself by this new plan, so I'm for
8 it.
9 Q You do live in Mountain Home?
10 A Yes, for the last 60 years.
11 MS. COPSEY: Thank you.
12 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Any other questions?
13 MS. DENNISON: No questions.
14 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you very much,
15 sir.
16 Fred Prouty.
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1 FRED PROUTY,
2 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
3 sworn, testified as follows:
4
5 EXAMINATION
6
7 BY MS. COPSEY:
8 Q Mr. Prouty, would you state your full name,
9 and spell it for the record, and then give us your
10 address.
11 A Fred Prouty, P-r-o-u-t-y, 410 North 8th East,
12 Mountain Home. Post Office Box 505 is what I usually use.
13 Q You can go ahead with your statement.
14 A Thank you. First of all, thank you folks for
15 coming over here. I know that it's a treacherous journey
16 to come all the way to Mountain Home. We do it to Boise
17 and think nothing of it, but we realize that you have to
18 come across the desert, and it's painful at times.
19 I just want to tell you some of my
20 background, only because I want you to understand the
21 different angles I come from. I'm on the City Council.
22 I'm a school administrator. I also own a business
23 downtown. So I have some interest in telephone bills as
24 you can well see. And I'm here to speak in favor of
25 joining the region for Mountain Home.
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1 I realize there will be a definite economic
2 savings for businesses, mine included. But for the schools
3 and for the county and for the city would be a tremendous
4 savings. They're on the phone constantly to the valley,
5 especially the schools, and with sports. It's just
6 tremendous.
7 But that's not the main reason I'm for this.
8 I also have two daughters that go to BSU. I have a brother
9 and I have a couple nephews over there and numerous
10 friends, and it's going to be a savings for me. I'll tell
11 you right now, I'm going to save money due to this increase
12 you're talking about.
13 But that's still not the main reason I want
14 to go along with this. The main reason is real simple. I
15 actually stop and think before I call Boise right now to
16 contact my daughters or my brother, because it all costs.
17 And I would love to be able to pick up the phone and just
18 call my family anytime I want and not worry about it. I'll
19 take that increase, and I appreciate you supporting it.
20 That's all. Thank you.
21 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Let's see if we have any
22 questions.
23 MS. COPSEY: I don't have any questions.
24 MS. DENNISON: No questions.
25 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Commissioner Nelson.
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1 EXAMINATION
2
3 BY COMMISSIONER NELSON:
4 Q Sir, how much do you think your fee will
5 increase if this petition is approved?
6 A Right now my wife calls the one daughter
7 every day in the morning. Well, that's what I'm talking
8 about. I call my daughter at least two or three times a
9 week. That will quadruple. I'll call my daughters every
10 day just to say, "Good morning." It's that kind of thing.
11 COMMISSIONER NELSON: Okay. Thank you.
12 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you very much for
13 your testimony.
14 Next, we have Tom Rist.
15
16 TOM RIST,
17 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
18 sworn, testified as follows:
19
20 THE WITNESS: For the record, my name is Tom
21 Rist, R-i-s-t. I reside at 1298 North 10th East, city of
22 Mountain Home. I would like to also thank the Commission
23 for coming over to Mountain Home and giving the citizens an
24 opportunity to voice their opinion on this.
25 I'm a city councilman in Mountain Home, as is
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1 Councilman Prouty that spoke previous to me. I have an
2 interest from a personal standpoint, and I have family that
3 lives in Boise and our calls up there average at least
4 three a day. We think that we would probably save, between
5 my wife and I, in the neighborhood of $65, $70 per month in
6 calling.
7 From my tours and trips where I've talked to
8 people around the community in the past week or so, and
9 when it's become known we were going to have this hearing,
10 the response was overwhelming. The community is really
11 behind getting this call service from Mountain Home.
12 And I, from a personal standpoint, do support this and
13 certainly hope that this does become a reality. Again, I
14 would like to thank you Commissioners.
15 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Let's see if there are
16 any questions.
17 MS. COPSEY: No questions.
18 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you very much for
19 your statement.
20 Next, we have Janet -- is it E-l-v-i-n --
21 Erwin. 1015 South 5th West.
22 MS. ERWIN: I decline to speak.
23 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Donna Hardeman.
24 MS. HARDEMAN: I think they have already
25 expressed my opinions.
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1 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Ralph Kramer.
2
3 RALPH KRAMER,
4 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
5 sworn, testified as follows:
6
7 EXAMINATION
8
9 BY MS. COPSEY:
10 Q Mr. Kramer, could you state your full name
11 for the record, and spell it, and also give us your
12 address.
13 A My name is Ralph Kramer, R-a-l-p-h,
14 K-r-a-m-e-r, 240 West 23rd North.
15 Q Could you state your address again?
16 A 240 West 23rd North.
17 Q That's Mountain Home?
18 A That's Mountain Home.
19 Q Go ahead and give your statement.
20 A Two things here on behalf of my wife and
21 myself. First off, we work in Boise but live in Mountain
22 Home. And we have teenagers. And sometimes there are
23 times that she's gone and I'm gone at the same time, and we
24 like to call home to check on our teenagers. That runs us
25 approximately $30 a month in long-distance calls just to
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Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 check on the kids. I know there are a lot of other parents
2 out there the same way that call home from Boise to check
3 on their kids.
4 The other thing, on the business side of it,
5 my wife is in the process of starting a business, and her
6 monthly phone costs are from $20 to $30. And this is just
7 in the trying-to-get-started range. She very much is in
8 favor of it also. That's all I've got to say.
9 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Let's see if there are
10 any questions.
11 MS. COPSEY: No questions.
12 AUDIENCE: Are you in favor of it or against
13 it?
14 THE WITNESS: I'm in favor.
15 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Mr. Kramer, we thank you
16 very much for your testimony.
17 Ron Swearingen.
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1 RON SWEARINGEN,
2 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
3 sworn, testified as follows:
4
5 EXAMINATION
6
7 BY MS. COPSEY:
8 Q Mr. Swearingen, would you state your full
9 name, spell it for us, and state your address.
10 A I'll try. Ron Swearingen,
11 S-w-e-a-r-i-n-g-e-n. Mailing address, 1795 North 6th East
12 in Mountain Home.
13 Q Go ahead with your statement.
14 A Did I put my business address on there? 150
15 South 3rd East. My name is Ron Swearingen. I'm a
16 life-long native of Mountain Home. The group that I work
17 with was involved with the initial phase of gathering
18 petitions so people could sign with the interest of getting
19 included in the extended area of service.
20 I, as an individual, and from my business
21 standpoint, am very much in favor of this for a myriad of
22 reasons, most of which have already been mentioned. I
23 think we have a fairly good turnout tonight. You may not
24 know that you're in competition with the school dedication
25 about a mile away, which also has good attendance. And
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1 there are also about 100 local businessmen at Mountain Home
2 Air Force Base tonight because there's an Air Force soiree,
3 or I would have had more in attendance.
4 Because of that, I would, once again, just
5 like to state my support for your including us in the
6 extended area of service. It will be of economic and
7 personal advantage to almost every citizen of Mountain
8 Home. And I had numerous people wanting to know if they
9 could submit written testimony, so I would like to present
10 you with about 200 letters from people in Mountain Home
11 that support this proposal.
12 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Sounds like you should
13 consider running for office.
14 THE WITNESS: I may run for the border, but
15 not for office.
16 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Are there any
17 questions?
18 MS. COPSEY: No.
19 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Commissioner Hansen has
20 a question.
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1 EXAMINATION
2
3 BY COMMISSIONER HANSEN:
4 Q Sir, those that signed those letters of
5 support, were they aware that the cost is $5.50 to $6 more
6 a month for service?
7 A Yes, sir. The letters state there that they
8 understand the bills will go up $5 or $6 a month.
9 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Thank you.
10 THE WITNESS: I appreciate the opportunity.
11 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you for your
12 testimony.
13 The next person's last name is Taylor.
14 Geanna?
15
16 LEANNA TAYLOR,
17 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
18 sworn, testified as follows:
19
20 THE WITNESS: First, I would like to thank the
21 members of the Public Utilities Commission for giving us
22 the opportunity to speak to you.
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1 EXAMINATION
2
3 BY MS. COPSEY:
4 Q Ma'am, could you first state your name for
5 the record, and spell it. I have this little routine.
6 A It's Leanna Taylor, L-e-a-n-n-a, T-a-y-l-o-r.
7 My address is 595 North 15th East in Mountain Home.
8 Q Thank you. You can go ahead.
9 A I won't thank you a second time. I'm the
10 mother of a teenager. And because he occasionally enjoys
11 making extended calls to friends in Boise, I now have a
12 block on my long-distance service. So I am one of the many
13 people, I think, in the community who do not make
14 long-distance phone calls. So, for me, $5 or $6 a month
15 would be money above and beyond what I'm currently paying.
16 And I'm here tonight because I want to express to you that
17 my family would happily pay that money.
18 You know Webster's defines "connected"
19 as "joined or linked, having social, professional, or
20 commercial relationships." And the communities of the
21 Treasure Valley and Mountain Home are connected in a
22 thousand different ways.
23 In my own case, my husband and daughter both
24 work in Boise. In my daughter's case, her two-year-old son
25 is in daycare in Mountain Home. So if there's a problem
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1 with him, it's a long-distance phone call. If she needs to
2 check and see how he's doing or tell the caregiver
3 anything, it's a long-distance phone call. If I want to
4 just talk to my husband to tell him what's happening, we
5 pay long-distance charges.
6 Also, there are a good number of services
7 that aren't available in Mountain Home. When my mother
8 had cancer, everything to do with her treatment was a
9 long-distance phone call. Every time I wanted to talk to a
10 specialist, it was a long-distance call. And during what
11 was already a difficult and costly time we had the
12 disadvantage that Boise area people don't have of having to
13 pay several hundred dollars over the course of her illness
14 in long-distance phone charges.
15 Finally, as a taxpayer in the city I would
16 really like to see the thousands of dollars that the city
17 currently pays, and probably other governmental entities as
18 well, in long-distance charges going to police services or
19 parks or, you know, better textbooks, whatever the case may
20 be. That is money that would be better spent, you know, in
21 the services, not in long-distance charges.
22 As I understand it, one of the most important
23 factors in your decision is our willingness to pay that
24 extra $6 a month for this service. And I just wanted to
25 tell you that I am not only willing, I am ready. Please,
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1 let it begin.
2 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you for your
3 testimony. Do you have any questions?
4 MS. COPSEY: No, I have none.
5 COMMISSIONER SMITH: I just had one
6 suggestion. Make the teenager pay the extra. I have two
7 of those myself.
8 Dawn Monasterio.
9
10 DAWN MONASTERIO,
11 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
12 sworn, testified as follows:
13
14 EXAMINATION
15
16 BY MS. COPSEY:
17 Q Do you want to state your full name for the
18 record, and spell it, and then give us your address.
19 A My name is Dawn Monasterio,
20 M-o-n-a-s-t-e-r-i-o, 1730 East 8th North.
21 THE COURT REPORTER: Would you spell your
22 first name.
23 THE WITNESS: D-a-w-n.
24 Q That's in Mountain Home?
25 A Yes. My long-distance phone calls usually
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1 run from $3 to $10 a month. I make all of my long-distance
2 calls on my mobile phone because it's cheaper. You should
3 see my mobile phone bill. When I call Boise, I always use
4 my mobile because it's cheaper. I have two children who
5 are in high school and middle school who have friends in
6 Boise and Meridian. They are limited to one call a week
7 for five minutes.
8 When I need service from a Boise business, I
9 usually call those businesses with toll-free numbers, which
10 eliminates the small businesses who struggle to survive as
11 it is, because only larger businesses have the toll-free
12 numbers in Boise. I'm, obviously, in favor of this. They
13 would love to call their friends every day, and I could
14 disconnect my mobile phone.
15 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Do we have any
16 questions?
17 MS. COPSEY: No questions.
18 COMMISSIONER SMITH: It's going to probably
19 cost you more than $6, because when the kids start making
20 all those calls, you'll have to add a second line.
21 THE WITNESS: That's okay. He's got a job.
22 He can pay for it.
23 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you very much for
24 your testimony.
25 Philip Miller.
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1 PHILIP MILLER,
2 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
3 sworn, testified as follows:
4
5 EXAMINATION
6 BY MS COPSEY:
7 Q Mr. Miller, do you want to go ahead and state
8 your full name for the record, and spell it, and give your
9 address.
10 A Philip Miller. Last name M-i-l-l-e-r. My
11 home address is 1476 Casa Villa, Mountain Home. That's
12 C-a-s-a, V-i-l-l-a.
13 THE COURT REPORTER: Would you spell your
14 first name.
15 THE WITNESS: P-h-i-l-i-p. And my business
16 address is P.O. Box 506, Mountain Home.
17 Q You can go ahead with your statement.
18 A My interest in this is twofold; personal and
19 businesswise. I have family that lives in Boise. My
20 wife's children live in Boise, and her mother lives in
21 Phoenix. Currently, it's more economical for her to keep
22 in touch with her mother in Phoenix over the telephone than
23 with the two boys in Boise. I think that's a very common
24 thing. We live close together. We see each other
25 frequently. But we can't visit by phone very much because
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1 it's so expensive.
2 Second of all, I'm an attorney in a law firm
3 that has offices in Boise and Mountain Home. What we see
4 is that the economic community of interest between Mountain
5 Home and Boise is very, very close. We have clients both
6 places. They're calling both offices. We're calling the
7 other city very often. We have business clients in
8 Mountain Home who have legal problems in Boise. That
9 causes a great number of telephone calls to Boise.
10 Additionally, the court systems in Elmore and
11 Ada County are very unique. Elmore County is part of the
12 same judicial district, so there are three judges that sit
13 here in Elmore County who also sit in Ada County. They
14 spend about half their time in each place currently. So
15 that, I'm quite sure, necessitates the county spending huge
16 amounts of telephone calls between the two offices.
17 You know, we are like a lot of other -- like
18 a lot of other businesses. I live in Mountain Home. I
19 frequently work in the Boise office which requires
20 long-distance telephone calls back here to talk to my
21 wife. One of our Boise employees lives in Mountain Home
22 and she has small children that she's constantly having to
23 check on.
24 I checked with the Boise office today and
25 their off-the-top estimate is that currently we spend
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1 upwards to $500 a month, our firm does, just calling back
2 and forth between Boise and Mountain Home.
3 We personally would be very happy to see this
4 local calling started. Businesswise, we would be very
5 happy to pay for it. It would be an economic advantage to
6 us. And personally, my wife and I would be very happy to
7 pay for it.
8 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Let's see if there are
9 any questions.
10 MS. COPSEY: No.
11 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you for your
12 testimony, sir.
13 THE WITNESS: Thank you.
14 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Marta Eguia.
15 Marta Eguia?
16 How about Arlie Jones.
17 Arlie Jones?
18 Glenda Bresliu.
19 MS. BRESLIU: I think everything that I was
20 going to say has already been stated, but I'm really glad
21 you're here.
22 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Leola Jackson.
23 How about Barbara Ann Milligan.
24 MS. MILLIGAN: Thank you for coming here.
25 I'm here, but I don't have anything to add.
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1 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Teresa Paige.
2
3 TERESA PAIGE,
4 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
5 sworn, testified as follows:
6
7 EXAMINATION
8
9 BY MS. COPSEY:
10 Q Ms. Paige, do you want to go ahead and state
11 your full name for the record, and spell it, and give us
12 your address, please.
13 A My name is Teresa Paige, T-e-r-e-s-a,
14 P-a-i-g-e. My address is 5243 South Farmhouse Place in
15 Boise, Idaho.
16 Q Thank you. You can go ahead and make your
17 statement.
18 A Thank you. First of all, I would just like
19 to thank the Commission for you to be here tonight. I am
20 directly in favor of this going through. It impacts me
21 greatly.
22 I was born and raised here in Mountain Home.
23 I've moved to Boise and call Mountain Home frequently and
24 as often as I like to everyone, friends and family. And I
25 would like you to know that it's really hard to hide that
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1 phone bill when it comes at the end of the month. I have
2 sent it to my work address. My husband has offered to pay
3 me to drive from Mountain Home, but I don't have time. I
4 think if I were to give you copies of my phone bill you
5 would understand that it means more to me to speak to these
6 people and find out what's going on and show my care and
7 concern than anything. So it greatly impacts my family.
8 Not only that, my marriage.
9 The other thing I would just like to point
10 out to the Commission, in looking at this going forward, I
11 have a unique situation in that I live in Boise. I come to
12 Mountain Home often, nightly, weekly, every other week, and
13 I work in Nampa.
14 It seems very discriminatory to me that I can
15 live just as far away from my home to my work, and I can
16 call freely and check on things, than I can to drive or
17 call from my home to where all my family is.
18 It's not going to stop me from paying those
19 high bills. And it may cause a divorce, but I'm trying to
20 hang on, and I have for 17 years.
21 I certainly hope that you'll take into
22 consideration possibly the things you did when you brought
23 in Nampa/Caldwell area to the local calling district. It
24 is very convenient. It has prospered businesses over
25 there, as I can see directly through my work. And I do
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1 believe that Mountain Home needs that in order to prosper
2 their businesses. I know that they work very hard in
3 trying to bring new business into Mountain Home, and
4 anything to help the bottom line would definitely maybe
5 have an impact on their economy and might have someone look
6 at them a little harder to come here and relocate.
7 With that, my concerns for the area, my love
8 for the area, and my personal savings, I would gladly pay
9 the $6, $7, and I probably could support many others and
10 still come out ahead. Thank you for your time.
11 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you. Let's see if
12 there are any questions.
13 MS. COPSEY: I don't have any.
14 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you very much for
15 your testimony.
16 Cathy Knock.
17
18 CATHY KNOCK,
19 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
20 sworn, testified as follows:
21
22 THE WITNESS: My name is Cathy, C-a-t-h-y, Knock,
23 K-n-o-c-k. I live at 4245 C Central Road, Mountain Home
24 Air Force Base. I'm speaking on behalf of myself and some
25 of the people that work under me.
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1 I'm a Tupperware consultant in the area.
2 Being that we are small, home-based in-home businesses, our
3 personal area here is not as large as we would like to make
4 a lot of money. I do pretty well, but I have a lot of
5 consultants in Boise and employees that are my
6 responsibility, not to mention over half of my customers
7 are in Boise, Nampa, Caldwell. And I'm having to drive
8 that far, but my long distance adds up.
9 My average bill is over $60 a month just for
10 business. That doesn't count calling Edwards Theatre,
11 which I think you all do, to find out what the movie is.
12 That can be a buck apiece just to find out the latest
13 movie. It's real important to me and I have been like
14 dreaming for this.
15 I did call U S WEST, actually, about three
16 days before I saw the first notice for this in the paper,
17 to find out how much it would cost to have a Boise phone
18 number in Mountain Home. I was told it's over $500 to get
19 it set up, and it's over $80 a month. This is going to be
20 a dramatic savings. I have two phone lines in my home; one
21 for family and one for business. We're a computer family.
22 That is going to affect both of the phone lines. That's
23 going to be double the monthly payment I'm going to pay,
24 but I would pay $20 a line if I have to.
25 The other thing is, I'm military. My husband
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1 is. We're calling long distance enough to call our family
2 and stuff to be here. Most of us didn't choose to live
3 here. If you add on that little extra long distance to
4 find out what the movie listings are or to call about
5 something, or anything like that where -- doctors' offices
6 and stuff, it really does add up a lot. To me it would
7 really benefit my business. My business will probably
8 triple by not having to think twice about making those
9 long-distance phone calls. Thank up for your time.
10 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you for your
11 testimony.
12 No questions?
13 MS. COPSEY: No questions.
14 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Don Etter.
15
16 DON ETTER,
17 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
18 sworn, testified as follows:
19
20 EXAMINATION
21
22 BY MS. COPSEY:
23 Q Mr. Etter, do you want to state your name,
24 and spell it for us, and state your address for the record,
25 please.
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1 A My name is Don Etter, E-t-t-e-r. I live at
2 310 South 5th East.
3 Q Thank you. You can go ahead.
4 A Thank you. I am the mayor of Mountain Home.
5 I am here this evening to testify that I think this is an
6 excellent proposal. I just feel it is two years late. I
7 wish it would have happened a couple of years ago when you
8 picked up the other long-distance calling area.
9 My wife and I have no family in Boise and we
10 do not call Boise quite a bit, but we are willing to
11 support this and make the extra payment each month on our
12 telephone bill, because I know there are a lot of people in
13 Mountain Home that work in Boise, that if they need to call
14 their family from Boise it's a long-distance call.
15 Also, by including Mountain Home and
16 Glenns Ferry into the larger calling areas, the people from
17 Boise will then be able to call Mountain Home and it won't
18 be a long-distance call for them. We are very supportive
19 of this program and hope that you will do very favorable
20 upon it this evening.
21 As I was looking at your colored map here, I
22 notice you've done an excellent job in eastern Idaho. It's
23 like you have combined the whole part of the state.
24 Mountain Home, sometimes it's out here in the middle of the
25 desert and we don't know whether we're part of the Treasure
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1 Valley or part of the Magic Valley. Please include us in
2 the Treasure Valley this evening. Thank you.
3 COMMISSIONER SMITH: We thank you for your
4 testimony, Mr. Mayor. I think that is one of the reasons
5 we're here tonight is we want to be sure that we know
6 whether you're part of the Treasure Valley or Magic
7 Valley.
8 THE WITNESS: I love to hear that. Thank
9 you.
10 COMMISSIONER SMITH: We need to go one way or
11 the other.
12 Are there any questions for the mayor?
13 AUDIENCE: (Inaudible).
14 COMMISSIONER SMITH: I'm sorry, we're not set
15 up for questions from the audience.
16 AUDIENCE: Can I turn in my wife's
17 testimony? She supports it.
18 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Jerrie LeFevre.
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
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1 JERRIE LEFEVRE,
2 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
3 sworn, testified as follows:
4
5 EXAMINATION
6
7 BY MS. COPSEY:
8 Q Mr. LeFevre, do you want to go ahead and
9 state your full name, and spell it for the record, and give
10 us your address.
11 A My name is Jerrie, J-e-r-r-i-e, LeFevre,
12 L-e-F-e-v-r-e. My home address is 325 East 17th North in
13 Mountain Home. I am superintendent of schools in Mountain
14 Home. My business address is 140 North 3rd East in
15 Mountain Home.
16 I would like to start, first of all, by
17 thanking you-all for being here tonight. We appreciate you
18 being here. I have to tell you that this room is not
19 necessarily designed to have large meetings like this, but
20 we're going to work on it. I also want to tell you that I
21 am in favor, both personally and professionally, for the
22 proposal we're here to discuss. I'd like to go over that,
23 if I may.
24 I'm in favor, for two reasons, with the
25 school district. And that's financially and also for the
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1 purposes of time management. Mountain Home School District
2 employs approximately 600 people. We have 4,600 students.
3 We have 67 telephone lines and over 550 telephones in our
4 facilities. And last month 52 percent of our long-distance
5 telephone calls were to the Treasure Valley.
6 A year ago the district purchased and
7 installed a telephone system. We now have telephones in
8 every classroom in the school district. The main reason to
9 do this was communication. There is no other reason but
10 communication. The main reason for this was to allow our
11 staff improved opportunities to communicate with the
12 parents and the students, and to communicate with their own
13 families.
14 Many of our staff members, I would estimate
15 as many as 50, live in the Treasure Valley and commute to
16 work to Mountain Home each day. They, obviously, have
17 families, they have appointments, dental appointments,
18 recreation, and they communicate back and forth with Boise,
19 Meridian, et cetera.
20 My information tells me, and I'm going to
21 figure in the area of $3,600 for my long-distance calls in
22 the month of May with Sprint long-distance carrier. And we
23 had another figure not quite that high that I'm not assured
24 of with U S WEST. It is a financial consideration for the
25 Mountain Home School District. Although we realize there
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1 would be additional costs per line, we feel the financial
2 benefit to the district would be great.
3 I must tell you that for several years
4 Mountain Home School District was not affiliated in our
5 activities and athletics with the Boise School District,
6 Meridian, Nampa, and Caldwell. It was very informal. This
7 year -- starting a year ago this month, we started a new
8 conference. We organized the Southern Idaho Conference,
9 for not only athletics but also the School Interlock
10 Program and for other activities. Our staff makes
11 literally hundreds of telephone calls to the Treasure
12 Valley each day ranging from athletic events, substitute
13 teachers, to set up meetings, to cancel meetings, take care
14 of other business.
15 Our main affiliation is with the Nampa,
16 Caldwell, Boise, Meridian, Emmett and Vallivue School
17 Districts. We have a regional affiliation with Kuna and
18 other areas not being considered here tonight.
19 I want to go back briefly to the staff that
20 we have that live in Boise and that drive to Mountain
21 Home. Obviously, the majority of our staff lives in
22 Mountain Home and Mountain Home Air Force Base. We have
23 reason, in each of our schools and departments, to have
24 telephone trees to notify our staff in the event of snow
25 days, tragedies within the staff, which we had last year
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1 where we wanted all staff to know the deaths within the
2 student body, within the staff of the district. This is
3 quite a problem. There is a teacher who is employed by the
4 school district and he works in two different buildings and
5 has two different telephone trees.
6 We also do a significant amount of business
7 with vendors in the Boise Valley. We're trying to keep our
8 business as much as we can within our school district so we
9 don't have all the resources that we need in the Treasure
10 Valley. And we have the authority to do a lot of
11 purchasing through the billing level, so there are a lot of
12 telephone calls that way.
13 We have direct lines to Boise, but we ask our
14 staff, especially on personal business, to not use long
15 distance, to use the direct lines. These direct lines are
16 busy constantly throughout the day. This comes to the area
17 of time management. Our staff does have plenty of business
18 to conduct with Boise Valley, again, with families and
19 other business areas. I feel this would greatly increase
20 the time that they would be able to put on school-related
21 activities because their minds would be at ease because of
22 family and other problems.
23 Personally, my family is not a telephone
24 family. I get plenty of phone calls during the day and do
25 not seek additional phone calls after work. My daughter,
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1 suprisingly, is not a very active telephone user and
2 neither is my wife. However, we do have a son. One of our
3 children in this family lives in Nampa. And my grandson is
4 constantly calling me to see when we can do various
5 activities together. So that would help us as a family.
6 We also take some of our medical care out of the community
7 of Mountain Home to Boise and this would be a great benefit
8 to our family. So, in closure, I would say that the school
9 district -- I feel this would be a great benefit to the
10 school district.
11 I wanted to point out one more thing. We do
12 have students that live in Boise. As well, many parents
13 that work in Boise that we need to contact during the day.
14 But we also have students that live in Glenns Ferry that
15 attend our school district and parents who work in Glenns
16 Ferry. We have a need to have this service available both
17 going to the Treasure Valley and to Glenns Ferry. Anything
18 you can do to help out the school district, we would
19 appreciate it.
20 We do have financial concerns in our
21 district. Of 112 school districts in the state of Idaho,
22 Mountain Home is the 14th largest. However, our tax base
23 is the 96th of those 112 school districts. And we feel
24 that the addition of this service to Mountain Home would
25 encourage continued growth in our commercial area which
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1 would transfer into the growth and tax base for the school
2 district which we would turn into improved educational
3 facilities for the students. Thank you. And I appreciate
4 the opportunity to speak.
5 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Let's see if there are
6 any questions.
7 MS. COPSEY: Has your grandson learned how to
8 dial your number on his own?
9 THE WITNESS: Yes, he has.
10 MS. COPSEY: Congratulations.
11 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you very much.
12 THE WITNESS: Thank you.
13 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Joe B. McNeal.
14 Joe B. McNeal?
15 How about Sheri Sellman.
16
17 SHERI SELLMAN,
18 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
19 sworn, testified as follows:
20
21 THE WITNESS: My name is Sheri Sellman,
22 S-h-e-r-i, S-e-l-l-m-a-n, 1520 East 8th North, Mountain
23 Home. I am a retired City Council member and now a
24 community social activist.
25 And I know I'm one of the last speakers to
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1 speak, and I would like to sum up, I think, what we've
2 heard this evening. John Donne, the poet, said, "No man is
3 an island unto himself." To paraphrase that, no city is an
4 island unto ourselves. And some of the policies of Boise
5 have made Mountain Home into an island.
6 You have not placed us in the Treasure
7 Valley, from The Statesman articles, "What to do with
8 Treasure Valley?" They completely eliminate Mountain Home
9 in the Recreation pages. The Magic Valley doesn't include
10 us, and being an island is not particularly enjoyable on a
11 social level, the family level, or the business level.
12 We have many friends, neighbors, and families
13 who work in Boise. You've heard that testimony this
14 evening. And many of your Boise folks travel to Mountain
15 Home to work here.
16 We think that you're missing out a lot, and
17 we know that we're missing out a lot without this phone
18 service that would help us economically. It is to Boise's
19 benefit to add this area into your phone system. It will
20 help you businesswise. It will help you build a better
21 response and it will help Mountain Home.
22 I'm asking you basically tonight to help us
23 build that bridge to this island. We're willing to help
24 build that bridge with $5 or $6. We just ask that you
25 build the bridge from the other end, because we really
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Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 would like to be connected. I appreciate it very much.
2 Thank you.
3 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Let's see if there are
4 any questions.
5 MS. COPSEY: I don't have any.
6 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank very much for
7 testifying.
8 Debra South.
9
10 DEBRA SOUTH,
11 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
12 sworn, testified as follows:
13
14 EXAMINATION
15 BY MS. COPSEY:
16 Q We do need you to state your full name, and
17 spell it, and give us your address.
18 A My name is Debra, D-e-b-r-a, South,
19 S-o-u-t-h. My address is 1605 South 10th East, Mountain
20 Home, Idaho.
21 Like many others tonight, I was born and
22 raised in Mountain Home. And after 17 years of living in
23 Meridian, we chose to move back to Mountain Home. But I
24 continue to work over there. My husband is self-employed
25 and does a great deal of business over there.
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CSB REPORTING SOUTH
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1 We have three telephone lines into our house;
2 a business line, a line for the children, and a residential
3 line. On my residential line my average telephone bill per
4 month is between $100 and $150. And because of that, that
5 I continue to work in Boise, each time I need to call home
6 or one of my children needs to reach me at work, it's
7 necessary for them to call long distance. If the school
8 district has to call me for some reason or another, they
9 have to call me long distance.
10 It's just a tremendous expense. And I can
11 fully attest, by commuting back and forth every day, that
12 there are probably just as many people that drive from
13 Boise and the Treasure Valley to Mountain Home to work, as
14 driving the freeway is very busy in the morning.
15 I would like to see Mountain Home continue to
16 grow. As I said, I was raised here. My family is here.
17 We've chosen to return here. My husband's business is
18 here. And I would think it would benefit the residents of
19 Mountain Home and Mountain Home Air Force Base and, in
20 turn, benefit the residents of Boise, because too often
21 they think that Mountain Home is that 43 miles basically at
22 the end of the earth. And I think that this, as Sheri
23 said, would help build that bridge, bridge that gap that we
24 so intensely feel. We feel very isolated.
25 And quite often -- I belong to several
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1 organizations over there. And when I go to volunteer to be
2 on a committee to do this and that or the other thing then
3 they will say, "Oh, it will be long distance and you have
4 to call." I think this has been too long in coming, and I
5 would very much like to see things changed.
6 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you for your
7 testimony. Let's see if there are questions.
8 MS. COPSEY: No questions.
9 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you very much.
10 Barry Cahill.
11
12 BARRY CAHILL,
13 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
14 sworn, testified as follows:
15
16 EXAMINATION
17
18 BY MS. COPSEY:
19 Q Mr. Cahill, could you state your name for the
20 record, and spell it, and give us your address.
21 A My name is Barry, B-a-r-r-y, Cahill,
22 C-a-h-i-l-l. My address is 925 Holiday Drive, Mountain
23 Home, Idaho.
24 Q Go ahead with your statement.
25 A I'm also employed by the school district.
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CSB REPORTING CAHILL
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 I'm principal of this building. And I would just like to
2 echo some of the comments of the folks who spoke earlier.
3 This building has a phone in every classroom, in every
4 room. Not a day goes by that we do not have to contact
5 parents that live -- or that work in the Boise area. That
6 is a long-distance toll call at this time. And I think
7 occasionally staff says, "Well, you know, I don't have time
8 to make that toll call, I'll do it later." I think it
9 would be a great convenience.
10 I spent 20 some years counseling in this
11 district before I became principal, and over those 20 years
12 I saw lots and lots of families starting to make the
13 commute to Boise and vice versa. We are now becoming a
14 bedroom community. Lots of people live here and work in
15 Boise. And I believe this would help very much.
16 On a personal note, I have a widowed mother
17 that lives in Weiser, and I'm glad that went that far, but
18 I would encourage to you carry this out. Thank you.
19 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Let's see if there are
20 any questions.
21 MS. COPSEY: No questions.
22 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you. We
23 appreciate your testimony.
24
25 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Grace Townsend.
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CSB REPORTING CAHILL
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1 GRACE TOWNSEND,
2 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
3 sworn, testified as follows:
4
5 THE WITNESS: My name is Grace Townsend,
6 T-o-w-n-s-e-n-d. My address is 1155 North 6th East,
7 Mountain Home. I would like to thank the Commission for
8 coming here tonight. I am currently a City Council
9 member. I work also with the school district out on
10 Mountain Home Air Force Base.
11 A year ago I worked in Boise with an employer
12 over there. And it was very hard to make calls back and
13 forth to family over here when I had family emergencies or
14 whatever. I am for this change in our telephone system. I
15 had hoped that you do consider this, and I hope by the
16 turnout tonight that it will convince you that we do want
17 this to come here.
18 I have children that are living in Nampa.
19 And so I, for personal reasons, would like to have a phone
20 system in. Again, I would thank you for your
21 consideration.
22 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Any questions for
23 Ms. Townsend?
24 MS. COPSEY: No questions.
25 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you very much for
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1 your testimony.
2 Gayle Hatch.
3
4 GAYLE HATCH,
5 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
6 sworn, testified as follows:
7
8 EXAMINATION
9
10 BY MS. COPSEY:
11 Q Ms. Hatch, do you want to state your full
12 name for the record, spell it, and state your address.
13 A My name is Gayle, G-a-y-l-e, Hatch,
14 H-a-t-c-h. My address is 3825 East Wormwood Court, Boise.
15 I was not going to come up here and speak tonight. I was
16 just going to write you a letter. But since I took the
17 time to drive over here, I decided to speak.
18 I think I have been on sizzle mode ever since
19 the Nampa, Caldwell, Melba, Idaho City areas were made
20 local calls, and Mountain Home was excluded. And I
21 thought, there are as many people who -- some of the same
22 things you've already heard -- work in Mountain Home that
23 live in Boise, or vice versa, who have to make calls all
24 day long in one way or another, making appointments,
25 checking with their families, one thing or another. And to
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CSB REPORTING HATCH
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 add insult to injury, this is peak rate time, and there are
2 no breaks during those working hours when you're having to
3 make all those calls.
4 I, too, work for a school district. And we
5 make a lot of calls in this direction, just as
6 Mr. Cahill indicated that this school district has to call
7 over there. Actually, it was Mr. LaFevre, I believe.
8 I have a mother who lives here in town who
9 lives on a limited income, and one of the places that she
10 can control her expense is her phone, but my mother never
11 calls. It has to be an absolute emergency.
12 My own monthly bill just to Mountain Home
13 would average $75 to $100 a month. And since myself and
14 other members of my household didn't seem to be disciplined
15 enough to stop me from those calls all the time, and I made
16 them frequently, I took out my long-distance service. We
17 now use Talk-'N-Toss cards which certainly restricts the
18 time you're going to call, because you're going to be very
19 quick. It's very inconvenient as well. But I'm going to
20 leave it that way because it is probably the only way that
21 I will stop making that many calls here so that I can save
22 face.
23 I guess the bottom line is, I want you to
24 know I definitely am in favor of this change in the phone
25 billing. And the $6 or so it would cost me every month
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CSB REPORTING HATCH
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 certainly wouldn't equal what I was spending in
2 long-distance calls. It won't even equal what I spend on
3 Talk-'N-Toss cards. Thank you.
4 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Are there any
5 questions?
6 MS. COPSEY: One really quick question.
7 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Ms. Copsey.
8
9 CROSS-EXAMINATION
10
11 BY MS. COPSEY:
12 Q Are you aware that your mother will have to
13 have her bill also increase to approximately $6?
14 A But it would be worth it to me to pick up the
15 additional expense.
16 Q You're aware that people in Boise are already
17 having their rates increased to $5.50 soon? Their rates
18 are going up?
19 A I think I can live with that.
20 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you very much for
21 your testimony.
22 Jack Streeter.
23
24
25
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1 JACK STREETER,
2 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
3 sworn, testified as follows:
4
5 THE WITNESS: My name is Jack Streeter. I
6 live in Mountain Home. I'm a businessman. I have been
7 here for 40-or-some-odd years.
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9 EXAMINATION
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11 BY MS. COPSEY:
12 Q Mr. Streeter, could you please tell us your
13 name, and spell it, and give us your address.
14 A S-t-r-e-e-t-e-r.
15 Q Thank you. Could you give your address.
16 A 195 North 2nd West, Mountain Home, Idaho.
17 Q Thank you. You can go ahead.
18 A I think I said that I'm a local businessman.
19 I have been here for over 40 years. I'm in the real estate
20 business. My wife is an antique dealer and appraiser. We
21 have two or three telephones all the time. And we call
22 long distance an awful lot because we need information from
23 different businesses and different real estate agencies all
24 the time.
25 And I think that this is especially an
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1 advantage for the other communities that we're calling as
2 it is for us. And it is -- I can see no objections for it,
3 because it will increase the business flow in the area.
4 There's one thing, since you are with the PUC -- are you
5 not?
6 COMMISSIONER SMITH: We are the PUC.
7 THE WITNESS: Well, then I would like to
8 strongly object to these telephone slams.
9 COMMISSIONER SMITH: We object to those,
10 also.
11 THE WITNESS: Well, why don't you do
12 something like sue them?
13 COMMISSIONER SMITH: The Attorney General
14 has.
15 MS. COPSEY: I would also like him to know
16 that the Commission is currently considering changes to its
17 customer relations rules that should restrict a great deal
18 of the slamming. There was just a state statute passed in
19 the Consumer Protection Unit within the Attorney General's
20 office that does take the slammers on.
21 COMMISSIONER SMITH: I guess I would add that
22 we had a company request to be certificated to be a
23 competitive local exchange company, and we denied them that
24 certificate because they had a history of slamming as a
25 long-distance company. So we take that seriously and we
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1 stamp it out wherever we find it.
2 THE WITNESS: I have had it happen twice to
3 me. Maybe that's because I'm a little gullible. But the
4 thing that is difficult for me to understand is, when they
5 call up they ask you several questions, one of them is,
6 they say, "Good morning," or "Good afternoon, are you
7 Mr. Streeter? We have something here for you," blah blah,
8 blah. Then you'll tell them, "No, I'm not interested."
9 Then they will ask you one more time. "We have this for
10 you, and your name is Mr. Streeter; is that right?" If you
11 say, "Yes," then the only thing that they record is that
12 you said, "Yes." That's the way they do it.
13 COMMISSIONER SMITH: All I can say is --
14 THE WITNESS: Never say yes.
15 COMMISSIONER SMITH: You're obviously
16 smarter, now.
17 MS. COPSEY: Also, for the record, there is
18 one more thing you can do. You can call U S WEST and
19 request that they put a restriction on your phone that
20 prevents you from having your long-distance carrier changed
21 without written permission.
22 THE WITNESS: I appreciate that.
23 COMMISSIONER SMITH: That's called a pick
24 freeze.
25 THE WITNESS: That's great. I'm doing all
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1 these things now, and I'm asking that -- Mr. Syd Lansing
2 works for you as an accountant or something?
3 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Yes, he does.
4 THE WITNESS: He's aware of it.
5 COMMISSIONER SMITH: We thank you for your
6 testimony tonight. Are there any questions?
7 MS. COPSEY: None.
8 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you for coming.
9 We appreciate your testimony.
10 THE WITNESS: I'm real upset with this
11 slammer business.
12 COMMISSIONER SMITH: It's a problem. I think
13 they're even getting congress involved in that.
14 This is the end of the persons who have
15 signed up to testify. If there is anyone in the audience
16 who has listened and now wishes to make a statement, maybe
17 your points weren't covered, or you have a different
18 opinion, now is the time to come forward and we will take
19 your statement now.
20 No?
21 That being the case, I want to thank you-all
22 very much for coming tonight. The Commission takes the
23 public testimony very seriously, and it's a very important
24 part of our decision-making process. We appreciate the
25 fact that you-all took the time to be here tonight and tell
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1 us how you feel about this. With that, we will be
2 adjourned.
3 (The hearing was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.)
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1 AUTHENTICATION
2
3 This is to certify that the foregoing
4 proceedings held in the matter of the petition from Elmore
5 County residents requesting extended area service between
6 Mountain Home and Boise and between Glenns Ferry, Hammett,
7 King Hill, and Boise.
8 And in the matter of the petition from
9 Weiser, Payette and New Plymouth residents requesting
10 extended area service between Weiser, Payette,
11 New Plymouth, and Boise.
12 The proceedings commencing at 7:00 p.m., on
13 October 7, 1998, at Payette, Idaho, and continuing on
14 October 8, 1998, at Mountain Home, Idaho, is a true and
15 correct transcript of said proceedings and the original
16 thereof for the file of the Commission.
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JEANNE M. HIRMER
22 Certified Shorthand Reporter #318
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