NAMPA, Idaho — The College of Western Idaho will soon own the Ford Idaho Center after Nampa City Council approved the transfer for the second time in three months during Monday's meeting.
Mayor Debbie Kling broke a tie vote to approve the ownership transfer, which had been delayed and restarted since October due to concerns about open meeting law violations and issues with 20-year-old deed paperwork.
WATCH to see legal complaint by city councilman
"So... coming into this I really pondered whether I was going to break a tie or not. Wow there's so much I could go through. So my answer's yes, I'm going to break the tie," Kling said during the meeting.
The controversy began when Councilman Victor Rodriguez filed a complaint alleging Mayor Kling violated open meeting laws by requesting informal polls to gauge council members' positions on the transfer.
Documents obtained by Idaho News 6 show Canyon County prosecutors investigated Rodriguez's claims in October, interviewing council members Sebastian Griffin and Randy Haverfield about the allegations.
Haverfield told investigators that Kling "had never done that," explaining the mayor would ask for concerns about the Idaho Center and "you could get a read of where people were at by things like head nodding or the way people answered."
Griffin echoed Haverfield's account, telling prosecutors "We have never taken an actual vote in executive session." He said council members could gauge opinions during sessions but emphasized there was never a formal "yes I will or no I won't" vote.
Griffin noted that Rodriguez stated his position by saying "Mayor, I'm a no so just take it as that," which was "the only time anyone has ever formalized their vote in an executive meeting."
Councilwoman Natalie Jangula said the controversy damaged public trust in the city council.
"It's really unfortunate that this happened because it disturbed the process because it made people not want to trust the city council, thinking that we were doing shady things behind closed doors," Jangula said.
The College of Western Idaho must now hold its own vote to accept ownership of the facility.
The Snake River Stampede will maintain guaranteed use of the Idaho Center under the conveyance agreements. For two weeks each year, the stampede takes full financial and operational control of the Ford Idaho Center grounds.
The Snake River Stampede says they are contractually allowed to hire any management company during their two-week control period but choose to continue using Oak View Group because "they do a good job."
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