Connecting Idaho Through Conversation with Matt Todd | Ever Onward Ep. 80 - podcast episode cover

Connecting Idaho Through Conversation with Matt Todd | Ever Onward Ep. 80

Jun 30, 202547 minSeason 1Ep. 80
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Episode description

When Matt Todd moved from California to Idaho, he didn’t just bring his family and his business—he brought questions. Big ones. Why is Idaho the way it is? Who’s making the decisions? And why is it so hard to hear directly from the people shaping the future of the state?

That curiosity sparked The Ranch Podcast, a platform dedicated to authentic, long-form conversations with the leaders, changemakers, and everyday residents who define Idaho. In this episode of Ever Onward, Matt shares his unlikely journey from college prep entrepreneur to one of Idaho’s most trusted independent voices.

Matt started The Ranch Podcast in 2019 with short, entertaining clips for his students to listen to on the way to school. But after relocating to Idaho in 2022, he realized there was a void—no central, credible space where Idahoans, especially newcomers like himself, could learn directly from those shaping the state’s education, politics, law enforcement, natural resources, and more.

With humility and curiosity, Matt began interviewing his neighbors—sometimes about HOA meetings—and slowly expanded to include mayors, legislators, sheriffs, and tribal leaders. Through it all, one theme remained: connection.

At the heart of this episode is a critical insight about media today: “People form their worldview passively through content—but the actual leaders of Idaho are rarely part of that content.” The Ranch Podcast bridges this disconnect, letting people speak for themselves—without filters, soundbites, or spin.

Together, we explore:

  • What’s really happening in Idaho—beyond the headlines
  • The tension between newcomers and longtime residents
  • Challenges like affordable housing, property taxes, and education funding
  • How thoughtful development can unify instead of divide
  • The launch of the Truth in Media Foundation, Matt’s effort to build a long-format, unbiased media center for Idahoans

Whether you’re a lifelong resident or new to the Gem State, this conversation is a powerful reminder of what happens when we slow down, listen closely, and build trust through dialogue.


Matt's Podcast called "The Ranch Podcast" can be found here: https://www.theranchpodcast.org/

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Transcript

Introduction to Matt Todd

Speaker 1

Today on the Ever Onward podcast , I get to have Matt Todd on , who owns and runs the Ranch podcast . He's been doing it for about three years . Incredible guy .

Matt moved up and relocated from California a few years ago and has really taken a spot in the Valley here to be the guy that is interviewing all the people in several areas of business and government and allowing conversations to happen that just weren't happening before .

I'm a huge fan , regular listener and it's going to be really fun to have Matt Todd on today . Again . Matt Todd , owner and podcaster of the Ranch Podcast . Matt , welcome man , thank you very much . I'm a huge fan , Reached out to you just because I've been . Well , you know who first called me and said you got to listen to this guy , he's awesome .

It was Bill Whitaker . Oh , Bill , yeah , he's great . So , Bill one year . So we've had several versions of this over the last six years , but one version was Bill was my co-host . Oh awesome , but Bill is like a madman , and having a guy that travels 92% of his time around the world riding a motorcycle as your co-host Makes it really hard to schedule things .

Speaker 2

Yeah , man , he's a rolling stone .

Speaker 1

He seems pretty cool though he is a fantastic human being man . Hey , I'm a huge fan , hey , thank you . I'm a big-time listener . You have filled a niche . It's an incredible story , though . A dude from California comes up here and figures out how to get people don't say that word . Don't say that word hey , I , I'm like who , I'm like who is this guy ?

And then I'm like what ? But it's so authentic , you do a really great job . Oh , thank you .

People want I mean I like listening , because I want to listen to you and your takes on these things and and you're not shying away from having , you know , randos on there that are going to say some stuff that that are gonna say you know randos on there that are going to say some stuff that are going to say you know what I mean .

Speaker 2

There's a guy actually to that point . I put out this clip yesterday or yesterday , the day before , and it was just having this conversation about early literacy and essentially there's a crisis in education in the state , with relevancy , whether people buy into it or think it's valuable .

And what was really funny is it's kind of like look , you know you're not going to avoid paying for people one way or another , like you were going to pay for them in the education and training or you're going to pay for them in incarceration and social programs , but like there's no world where we don't pay for people .

And so I put out this clip saying like hey , look , you can either invest a little bit in education at the beginning of people's lives or you can invest 60 to 70,000 per year for the rest of their life .

Speaker 1

Either you know with incorrections or whatever , and someone hammered you for that .

Speaker 2

What's that ? Did someone hammer you for that ? No , it was hilarious . Somebody in the comments is like wow , I can't believe it . But I actually agree with this guy , like for the first time , and I wanted I actually was going to reach out and be like hey man , do you want ?

Like I don't know why you would disagree , like I don't even take hard positions on things .

Speaker 1

You do a really , you do a really well . First of all , um , I love the level of guests you're going to to . Uh , you know , we , we do , we do a weekly deal here , but I I pretty much just have on people I want to talk to , yeah .

Speaker 2

Yeah .

Speaker 1

Right , that my like . People always say what's your agenda ? Everyone's got an agenda , by the way , but my agenda , if I , if I enjoy talking to someone , that I genuinely want to hear their story and listen about , that's , that's my agenda . Um , but you , you have time . How many do you put ?

Speaker 2

out . I mean I do during the legislative session . I was doing about 20 per week . That's crazy . And then , uh , and now I thought it was going to slow down . I'm like , honey , we just got to cause I got a wife and kids . I was like we just got to make it through this . It was intense and now it hasn't slowed down .

It's like I could do 10 to 20 a week still , yeah , and you have on .

Speaker 1

You have on some some really great guests that I absolutely want to run and listen to , and then I've got people'm pretty well informed on stuff and it's .

Speaker 2

It's been great , yeah Well thank you for listening and , again , I usually just use the barometer of

Navigating Idaho as a Californian

am I interested in this thing ? Is there something that I could dig into ? Because people reach out and they're like , hey , here's this big , here's one that came up recently . This gal reached out and she's like I'm a Boise school district teacher .

We had this huge problem with cleanliness of my home , ec , all these things , and I got Lyme disease and it was like , okay , that's a relevant thing , but I don't really want to be like that guy who's like the crisis hub guy . So I passed her on to a friend of mine who had a great conversation with her . He essentially broke the story .

Channel 6 put out a story this morning and it's like okay , that's awesome and I think that's relevant , but it's also like I don't want to be a crisis hub .

Speaker 1

Hey , listen , what I like about what you do is I love how authentic it is . You immediately connect with people . You've had a couple of my really good friends on recently .

Speaker 2

Oh nice .

Speaker 1

Who's that ? Chief Allen ? Oh yeah , dude , he's great . Oh , that guy's , he is legit man , he is one of my great guys . So I immediately he's like hey , what do you know about this guy ? I'm like so , he's awesome and I thought you're just really digging into the relevant issues that are here . It's great , can ?

Speaker 2

we discuss for a second . How dumb I felt when I realized that within Native American communities you don't say chief anymore , but his name is chief , you say chairman .

Speaker 1

His mom named him chief I know , but listen , I use it to my advantage all the time . He's been my friend for a long time and I'm sure he'll listen to this . But now that you can say it , you can say I'm good friends with the chief of the Coeur d'Alene tribe . Just say chief of the Coeur d'Alene tribe .

Speaker 2

Don't say the chief .

Speaker 1

Say chief Chief of the Coeur d'Alene tribe . They're like whoa , you know the chief . Yeah , you don't know the chief . Everybody knows the chief . Everybody knows the chief . He's the best . Oh , he's awesome , I can . People are like you know the chief . I'm like , well , he's the chairman , yeah , right , anyway , he's a great guy .

You know what happened to him two years ago with his accident .

Speaker 2

No .

Speaker 1

It's one of the craziest stories ever . He goes out , hops on his Sea-Doos with his daughter , gets on a Sea-Doo that he normally would ride , that she would normally ride . They're going out for a ride together Hits the ignition and it blows up . He gets knocked out and breaks his both arms , both legs and is laying in the lake . I mean he should have died .

I mean you look at his injury , should have died and and had oh , he'll tell you I don't know how many 20 , 30 surgeries . Um , it was only two years ago . What incredible . What happened ?

Uh , I guess , doing the research on it , I guess they can vapor lock and get some , some , some gasoline fumes in where the ignition is , and I guess this is a known thing . But yeah , yeah , not a great thing and then that guy , he didn't complain uh , yeah his biggest complaint .

He used to play basketball like almost every day and I can't anyway , great guy . So tell me , the only thing that's weird about this is we don't really like Californians . Yeah , I don't either . That's why they're all coming here , but then they get here and then they're like hey , no more right .

Speaker 2

Well , I mean kind of I think a lot of the . I think very unfortunately , some of the . You know , if you get out of a really bad relationship with somebody , say , you're dating some crazy girl , she's just crazy , and you finally break up with her , you're like I can't take this anymore , like my life is not worth this , and you break up with her .

You know the poor girl you meet next . You're just beating her up about you know , on all the she's like anxiety . Are you going beating her up about , you know , on all the she's like anxiety , or you're going to want me to , you know , hang out with your dumb friends , or like whatever it is . And she's like well , my friends are nice .

Like what do you mean ? And people bring , I think .

Speaker 1

That is like the best explanation I've heard of it .

Speaker 2

Yeah , you're in a toxic relationship .

Speaker 1

It's not that you don't like listen , I love development . They are the first ones to come and oppose it , and there's just a lot of hypocrisy with it . So I think some of this sentiment is pretty well deserved , right .

Speaker 2

Oh , a thousand percent , listen , but I think that's anybody moving here and specifically because there's a path of progress that this state has been on that is almost impossible to understand , like there's no . One of the reasons I started the podcast is because how do you find out about it ? How do you , how do you know about what the state has been doing ?

Like , where do you , where do you research ? Is there a website ? There's no source of information . So , in in trying to orient myself properly , it was like , okay , but I don't know who these people are , I don't know what the politics are , I don't know , like , the path of progress .

I didn't know that the the farm across the highway from where I was living was sold 20 years ago and they're just waiting Like I didn't know any of that and now , all of a sudden , the community is trying to stop the development . It's like , guys , this was in the works decades ago , like you just showed up 15 minutes ago .

Speaker 1

Hey , I just think it's cool that a guy from California is doing this . I mean , you're going to do more for Californians than the rest of the state of Californians .

Speaker 2

Yeah , I don't know . I mean it's cool , We'll see . We'll see you are .

Speaker 1

No , because it's authentic . Just like you said , every issue that you have on there , you're like I want to know more about this Grazing . You've had grazing Ranching . I mean you're all over the place . The episode on the grazing with that gal that came on . I'm trying to think .

Speaker 2

Oh , gretchen Hyde , yeah , she's fantastic .

Speaker 1

I'm sitting there like I didn't know any of that stuff .

Speaker 2

Well , here's a question for you . You've seen people move here . How long does it take for me to just be a dude instead of the dude from California ?

Speaker 1

Like what do we talk about ? Five years ?

Speaker 2

Do I have to get the right belt ? Buckle Like what do I get ?

Speaker 1

I came in the 90s and I'm still not native . It comes up all the time . Where did you come from ? Utah , oh my God . Well , I first moved here when I was 18 , I guess , but you don't get credit for that , yeah .

Speaker 2

So , but you don't get credit for that .

Speaker 1

It's I'm , I'm , I'm , I'm . I'm over 25 , I'm 26 , 27 years now , and I'm still yeah .

Speaker 2

Yeah , but at what point ? Like is it essentially , we weren't born here , so we'll never be Idaho , like you're always going to be a function of some other state .

Speaker 1

You know what's weird about it is ?

Speaker 2

I've lived in Arizona , utah , and here have you lived in California and then here , yeah , the same five-mile radius , my whole life , your whole life .

Speaker 1

So I think it'll change . It's certainly pretty unique . There's a heritage . I didn't understand this place until I ran for governor and I spent a full year and a half on the road , I mean me and Maddie was by my side , but we went to every town . Indie was by my side , but we went .

We went to every town in this state a couple of times and uh , and then I kind of got it . I kind of got it . I mean , I think , uh , I think this place still has , uh , this heritage thing of , hey , this is our place and and you know , we love it because our heritage and we don't want it to change .

And I think that you have the great state of Ada and a lot of the people you have come on are from Ada County and I really don't think you kind of fully get Idaho . I didn't , until I spent time . I spent 90% of my time on the road because I knew this place .

So I spent 90% of my time everywhere else in Idaho and then I'm like , okay , it's a different thing . And I understand now why people look at the great state of Ada and they're like , oh , that's not Idaho either . So there's another layer to all this , right , because most people are moving to the Treasure Valley and they're like , hey , this is our place .

If you got out of here and spent time in more rural Idaho , it's even more jarring . They're just just , they don't want to change People . Don't want to change People , hate change .

Speaker 2

I think there's a great I would ask you do you think there is a great struggle for ownership , because it seems that designations and characterizations are things that everybody's grappling for , like ? Are you a real Idahoan Right ? Or is even Ada County Idaho Right ? Are you a conservative ? Are you a real conservative , like all of these things are ?

Hey , let's categorize like , let's play identity politics , but let's just play it with the Idaho conservative politics .

Speaker 1

Yes , yes , and within what you just said . I cannot tell you how much hypocrisy is within what you just said too . It is the course You'll sit .

I remember well with Matt we would be in coffee shops in St Mary's , idaho , right , and we'd be sitting with guys that would just be freaking , hammering me because of my positions or what I thought about education whatever . And I would take it , man , I would just sit there and take it , and I was always good about listening to people .

I really like listening to people and learning from them , because I think that's why America is great , right ? I mean , you look at your show . You look at all the different people that come on with very strong opinions that are all over the place , by the way , you do a really good job of just kind of listening to them and respecting .

I love that , but then you have to just ask a couple of questions after they go . What do you think about this ? So I think , people , it's human nature to have tribalism and be part of a group that I love , and then it's also human nature to have a lot of blind spots . So , as much as you hate the government , you're the first one in line for Medicare .

As much as you hate the government , you'll bitch and moan about that road out front that they're not fixing . Or healthcare is the big one , right ?

Everyone hates the fact that people have the government's helping with healthcare until their wife gets cancer Right In St Mary's , right , right , and the only way they are going to get world-class treatment in St Mary's . Idaho Is government assistance Is government assistance , otherwise they would have died in six months .

Right Right have died in six months , right Right , and so you start asking , or loans on their homes or anything or anything .

Speaker 2

You start going through this . What about it ? What about the education bill from last year ? Ninety three , ok . So let me get this right . You want to give five thousand dollars to people who are going private ? Yeah , totally fine , ok , great . And you want no requirements or regulations ? Ok , fine , that's fine .

And then you want to add an additional cursive writing requirement over here to the already overburdened , overregulated public . It's like okay , do we want requirements on education dollars or not ? Just pick one . And I'm good either way .

If you say , hey , give all 500 requirements to the private schools or remove all requirements from the public schools , just pick one . You got to pick it , just pick one , but they can't .

Speaker 1

all requirements from the public schools Just pick one . You got to pick it . Just pick one , but they can't . We're going to go all over the place today because I'm telling you we're going to go all over the place . So one of the things everyone always asks why I ran , and I honestly thought I could make a difference in a couple of areas . One was education .

So when I ran , we went and visited 87 of the school districts and I sat with their superintendents and just asked them what's right about this place ? what's wrong about this place ?

Speaker 2

what challenges do you have ? Where do you ?

Speaker 1

see the future of education in your town . And you go from West Ada and Boise and kind of Ada County to just even if you just go 90 miles west of here and you've got Payette and Fruitland and you've got you can hit a nine iron and be in a different school district .

They all got their own superintendents , they all have their own challenges and you sit and listen to people and you'd realize just how kind of messed up it is . We don't scale things well in education . We don't ask the right questions . You look at how we spend money and then you start asking about this local control and idea of who gets paid what .

But look at what Debbie tried to

Challenges of Growth and Development

do this year just changing the formula a little bit and got hammered , hammered so you almost can't win .

Speaker 2

Well , I think the politics in Idaho are kind of like a hedge fund , where people are always trying to take advantage of movement , any direction . It doesn't matter if it's positive or negative movement . It just means , like you know , superintendent Critchfield is doing something good . She's doing something bad , it doesn't matter , we have to capitalize on it .

And generally you capitalize on it by saying it's the wrong thing to do , so say she's doing something positive , you've got to find a spin on it . It's like no , no , this is bad . She's doing something bad . And you're like , yes , this is bad .

So , no matter where you go , it's like there's an relativization structure to articulate a failed policy or failed attempt and you have to capitalize both ways . Very well said . I'm telling you it's hedge fund politics .

Speaker 1

It's hedge fund politics . That's what it is , hey . So what brought you here ? I mean the same thing that brings everyone here .

Speaker 2

Well , I mean , that depends , right , I think . Pursuit of a better life , obviously , but what in particular made it a better life is a better question . Nobody moves here because they think they're going to have a worse life right , yeah .

Speaker 1

And like anyone that thinks , hey , we got to slow the , it's not changing , I mean I don't even have to ask why . I mean , why would you even want to live in this wonderful place ?

Speaker 2

It's like , why would ?

Speaker 1

you want to live .

Speaker 2

Why would you want to live in eagle , right ? Well , yeah , I just moved to eagle . Yeah , I was living in an unincorporated ada county until recently , but yeah , I mean it's for me . First off , I'm raising three boys , okay , and that's how old are they ? Uh , 13 , 11 and 8 . Man , they're monsters I have .

I made , uh , I make six eggs this morning that I'm gonna try to split with me and my wife and my eight-year-old eats all of them . And then'm going to try to split with me and my wife and my eight-year-old eats all of them . And then I make six more to split with me and my wife and he eats half of those . So I have an eight-year-old .

That's 135 pounds of man fury and he's like Gaston from Beauty and the Beast where he's , like I was a boy , I ate three dozen . So I have these big kids , a lot of giddy up , as you can imagine .

And the culture in California state that shall not be named , excuse me , the culture down there is more one of like look , the holy grail of that education and cultural system is like a very quiet six-year-old girl who will sit down and do everything she's told and not need anything else .

The holy grail is not some kid who's like vibrating at the table , as you could imagine , my kids do . So it wasn't working in that respect . There's also a very odd I was talking to somebody just yesterday about this .

There's an odd lack of cultural grounding , meaning you can move here and people will say to you hey , I'm a fourth generation , I'm a fourth generation , I'm a fifth generation . Mayor Trevor Chadwick from STAR .

When he came on he was talking about the culture of STAR and he was like listen , every time bird season comes around , duck hunting season , people freak out . They see people within the city limits with shotguns . They hear gunshots Like , yeah , man , you're going to hear more of this . This is our culture .

And there's a self-awareness to Idaho that does not exist in California , because so many people are transient and the nature of the occupancy is transactional . People don't move there because the quality of life is great . They move there to make a lot of money or they were born there and this is all they know . Because of that , you don't have an actual culture .

You don't have a grounded California culture because it's whoever happens to be there at that moment , and so you have this fluidity where people are being told what to do and told what to think and told what the culture is .

So the BLM movement rolls around , that's the Black Lives Matter , not Bureau of Land Management that rolls around and everybody's like oh my gosh , I guess we're all racist . What do you do you mean ? Like , how do you like I'm Mexican ? Like what do you ? I have black adopted brothers . Like what do you mean ? I'm racist .

And they're like well , that's , you know , like what the news says . So you have this . You know cultural demoralization . You don't have any grounding , grounding reality there . You have a culture that's very much against you know . Know , high energy males you have . You have a number of problems there .

And then , of course , everything that happened around 2020 just solidified everything where it's like oh , this is like a failed state , but people can't exist here , but I don't know anybody who lives there that functions in the real world , that actually saying , hey , this is great yeah , it's horrible it's horrible it's got to be sad looking around your community .

Speaker 1

I spent almost a month down there a couple months ago down in Santa Monica and it's like Third Street Promenade and it's just vacancy . I mean it's a failed system .

Speaker 2

Right and for the people that can tolerate it generally can insulate themselves with extreme amounts of financial backing . So they live up on the top of hills , they have gated communities and they don't . It's like we lived in this place called Danville , which was very much like Eagle little tiny house there . We got into it .

We were happy that we got into it , but that was the most . That was the safest township in the state of California and , mind you , it was 25 minutes from Oakland and it was very similar to Eagle . There was a freeway running down the center of it .

So people would come from Oakland , jump off the freeway 30 seconds to somebody's house $2 million house , 1,800 square feet by the way Kick in , smash and grab 60 seconds they're out . They jump on the freeway and then they transition . It's like they're gone .

So you have this constant anxiety of , oh my gosh , people are like you know , we're 20 minutes away from a real crime , not like we're talking like severed heads and ballpark crime , like cartel style action . Yeah , it's very sad . So that's why you left a little bit . That's one of the reasons why , why , why , oh , okay , well , look man , where are you going ?

You're not going to the coastal states . You're not going to Oregon , you're not going to Washington , all right , so take those out . What you want to go to Arizona , you don't want to be there because you're here and you were there .

Speaker 1

I'm not going to Arizona . Listen , no one's ever going to get an argument from me why you're here .

Speaker 2

Great , so wait , just walk Mexico . No , I saw Better Call Saul . I'm not going to New Mexico . Okay , so you're not going there .

Speaker 1

Montana as a huge fan and my brother-in-law lives down there in Albuquerque . We've done the Breaking Bad tour and it's awesome because you get to go see all the Anyway .

Speaker 2

But never .

Speaker 1

New Mexico . No , I'm not going to New Mexico , I'm not going to New Mexico .

Speaker 2

I'm not going to Colorado , right ? Because I mean , the problems that you have in California are very similar to problems in Colorado . Right , you're on the way , so you're out of those Wyoming . I don't know anybody in Wyoming , montana , not a huge Billings fan , it's fine . It's like I are you going to go to Texas ? First off , texas has growth problems .

You're just going to be in a giant subdivision . That's like 100 miles by 100 miles . Right , that's an even bigger problem . So you have all of that . And then , if you push any farther east , all of our family my wife and I both left our entire family back in California . So it's like , okay , 60 minute plane flight , no problem , right , a hundred bucks .

If you get it cheap , no problem . And I knew one person who had moved up here , this dear friend of mine from jujitsu . We'd been training partners for over a decade and he moved up here in 2020 and he said , man , it is different here . It is great for raising kids , this is a great area . And I was like done , done , we're there .

Speaker 1

So that was it , and it probably has not disappointed in any way .

Speaker 2

No , no , has not disappointed , was not inaccurate , 100% on point . And when you look at all that , you just it's like okay , what do you want people to do ? Like we can play the political , like oh you're not from here game . Great , I'm an American , Everybody has American flags , Everybody loves America .

Speaker 1

Okay , you just hate other Americans who are looking for an American dream . Talk about hypocrisy , yeah , I know , and the idea that it's going to stop , it's going to get more expensive , because I think the regulations that they're trying to do to pass to I mean it's going to be because they're not going to stop people coming here .

Speaker 2

Okay , talk to me about this , because I was talking to the mayor of Caldwell just yesterday and we were discussing Caldwell's position on development and growth versus Middleton's position , which is essentially Middleton came out with an ordinance that said hey , if our services , like our schools , are at capacity or overcapacity to a certain degree , you can't build until

there's another school built Now . That will be good for people that exist there right now because you won't continue to overburden the systems , but it will also drive up the cost of housing because you're going to limit the stock . Caldwell is taking a slightly different tact . You're the developer . What's the right answer ?

Speaker 1

So the right answer is supply and demand . I mean , it just freaking is , and no matter what anyone tells you , it's supply and demand . And then , underlying that , we got to have formulas that have growth , pay for growth .

But what happens is , if you look , whether it's the legislature or local jurisdictions , they can't help themselves by getting involved and they're very well-intentioned , they really are . They're trying to do the right thing , but it's not the right thing . So anytime they make it harder to have any type of housing , it's going to cost more .

But I do think , like , how does growth pay for growth ? And how do we as developers do that ? We have some of the greatest housing developers in the country . If you look at their sub—David Turnbull Look at Brighton , look at any subdivision he's done . It's got a school in the middle of it . It's got a school in the middle of it . It's community focused .

Go , drive through any one of them . I mean it'd be the envy of the entire country . Look at what Corey Barton does , look at what Jim Hunter does . I mean , go down the list , don Hubble what they did for years . We create great places and those developers , if you look , they will tell you I have paid for my-oriented .

I mean , we couldn't have it any better , right ? So to blame development , not paying their way , that doesn't make any sense , right ? So then you got what I think needs to happen tonight .

You got the three-legged stool of taxes property , sales and income tax and I think , having really good ways to say are we planning forward a tax strategy which allows us to keep property taxes where they need to be for people . Sales tax where the consumer that's using is actually paying for growth ? Last thing is we don't bond .

Well , here , you probably have heard this a hundred times , but 20 years ago when I was looking , we had a group we put together 20 years ago and said , hey , one of the problems we're going to have in Idaho is we don't have the tools to bond that other states do .

So if you look at Utah and just the toolbox they have for bonding that allows people that are going to use services to pay for those services over time , it's a very conservative principle . We don't have that . We have urban renewal that gets misused all the time . So I'm the first to admit you go up to North Idaho and I remember the first time I saw it .

There's a booklet up there that has all of the cases of misused urban renewal for development and you look through them you're like yeah , yeah , yeah , but it's the only tool there is , so then jurisdictions push it and use it irresponsibly . So it's a big question .

I think we need to figure out how to bond better to pay for some of the big infrastructure projects transportation infrastructure so that it's paid for by people over time . I think we need to watch property taxes and everyone's you know Mike's really keen on getting those down but at the same time we need to fund the things that matter , I mean schools .

Can we do better ? I mean , I think there's a lot of things . I think Debbie I love Debbie . I love Debbie Critchfield . I think she's smart , I think she understands . I think she would do more if she could . There's just more work to be done to try to do school a little more efficiently , the way we spend our dollars .

I think higher ed we've got a lot of duplicative processes in how we do higher ed here . There's a lot of pressure on higher ed , but a lot of those systems are so old and antiquated in the way that the different universities work and do stuff . I think Gordon Jones I think you've had him on at CWI do an unbelievable thing .

So I think there's a lot of good things going on , but somehow we got to . We'll get through this . We have really good leadership . I just think it's going to take some big ideas to get through this and I think it's probably going to be some pain . We're going to probably have some gridlock on these freeways before something happens .

I think we're going to have pain . I think you're going to have people are going to keep coming here and then everyone's . There's going to be a reset and everyone's go . Okay , we got to figure something . It happened in Austin

Tax Policies and Local Control Issues

.

Speaker 2

Well here , if I may ask , when you're saying growth , like when people build schools , say , you build a development , it's like you know 500 houses , you build a school there , right ? Or you know 1000 , or whatever it is . You build a school that you have that initial one time expense but that doesn't pay for salaries over time .

And this is where the big problems were a lot of the growth not paying for growth . Come in , for instance , star . You have a new fire department , you have the physical building . You don't have the salaries for the nine firemen and women that you need .

So you have this problem with hey , yeah , we can get developers to give us this one-time money or give us this infrastructure , but the community has to agree to provide the long-term funding for it .

And as of right now in the Treasure Valley , people are getting obliterated or , excuse me , the taxing districts are getting obliterated when they're trying to say hey , we doubled in size , start , doubled in size in the last five years and they're not getting that cap on the on on their .

Speaker 1

Uh , they put a cap on what they can charge in property taxes .

Speaker 2

Essentially , oh , yeah , yeah , and that 389, . The problem is , you can only go up at most 8% .

Speaker 1

I was just with all the mayors in sun Valley a few weeks ago . That is still the concern and something he's . I mean , I don't think so . There , there you go . There's a legislature trying to do something good , saying , hey , growth , pay for growth , and then not allowing that growth to go be taxed , right .

Speaker 2

Right , and that's the problem . The people if you take star , for instance , stars property taxes have actually dropped . People like me that move here Do not understand . They're like , well , you have double the number of houses , you should have double the amount of property tax . It's like okay , sparky , hang on a second . That's not how this works .

What we have is you actually have a lower property tax than you had before you doubled so now you have this distributed cost . That's only up roughly 32% compared to , but you have 200% of the houses .

Speaker 1

And the mayors are all . They're unified in saying that . Right , it's just yeah .

Speaker 2

So we don't have a system where growth can pay for growth , even if developers do a part and say , hey , I'm making X number of dollars , I will put X number of dollars back in , that's a one-time thing .

Speaker 1

You're spot on . You're spot on .

Speaker 2

So what do we do ? Because we're not bonded , spot on . So what do we do Because we're not bonded ? People aren't about it .

Speaker 1

People want fewer taxes . Well , it used to be . I think it's still us in Kentucky super majority . I mean , if you think you got to get 66 and two thirds like there's 25% of people that hate everything , that's true Even if it was Jesus that wrote the legislation . So I mean you're at 25 . That's the margin , right .

Speaker 2

So that's the margin , right , right . So are you saying we need to change it , so it's not a super majority .

Speaker 1

So we've come on . What's the answer ? No , listen , listen . So over the years , over the years I've been , we've helped fund um polling to just see where people are sure I think ? I think one of the things we do poorly here is we don't get data , sure , and so every single time we've polled to ask people that that is a non-starter like you you talk about .

That's the one thing everyone agrees on . So you want me to agree to lower the threshold of how you want to tax me ? That's not going to happen . Sure , local option tax there's been a lot of great like .

If you think about , chuck Winder had some great legislation 20 years ago where it was basically , hey , we're going to come to the community and do a vote and we're going to say , hey , we're going to use tax dollars for this purpose , is that okay ? Then we're going to allow the tax to be collected .

Then we're going to come back to you as voters and say , okay , now we've collected the money , is it okay if we spend it on the thing we expect ? I mean , that was a pretty friendly tax policy and that didn't pass .

Speaker 2

Okay , can I ask you because I've been talking to people about local option tax a lot what's the difference between a local option tax and a taxing district ? Like you have the Starfire District or you have Canyon County Paramedics , these are , you got Mosquito Abatement .

Okay , whatever it's a taxing district , we have to , we have to accept , we vote and get those like .

Speaker 1

What is that ? There's nothing wrong with it , except for public opinion . Again , you're like it's so nothing .

Speaker 2

What's the difference between the two ? Because people talk about local option tax and like we already have a taxing district that's based on voter approval .

Speaker 1

The difference is for what you can use the funds for . Got it so if you have an unrestricted local option tax . So if I'm in , so there's already . So like if you think in sun valley right now they have a local option tax in our our resort communities . Mccall has a local option tax In our resort communities .

Speaker 2

McCall has a local option tax that's flexible on how they use it .

Speaker 1

Taxing districts are specific to that entity Got it . So a local option tax for districts . So in McCall they can use that local option tax for their sewer or for a road or for whatever , and they're charging people more . And the idea is , hey , you got outer towners coming in , so that's how it got passed .

So they're like hey , we're going to have other people that come to our town pay more . We're going to pay more in our town too , but we're going to use those dollars . Very similar to an auditorium district concept . Auditorium district is great because it's a room tax .

Speaker 2

Yeah right , so people coming in to take advantage of hospitality and leisure .

Speaker 1

So Chuck's bill was hey , we're going to set up a local option tax for a specific purpose , get the dollars . And then we're going to ask you again if we can spend the dollars . And that didn't even pass . And if you pull on local option tax right now , it's like an 80-20 issue . People just are like so I don't know .

I think a local option tax would be a really good way for local communities to use dollars for things they need , whether that be be we need to fix our sewer treatment plant in Preston , idaho , or whether that be we need to fix a road in Canyon County . It would give local government .

And then one irony of this is , if you notice , we're all about the federal government staying out of our way as a state . Hey , leave us alone , but we're not about the legislature staying out of the way of local government . Somehow that principle does not pass Well .

Speaker 2

I think the legislator is not about that . I think local communities . If you talk to people in Nampa , they're like , hey , why is the state encroaching on us ? But if you talk to the legislature , they're like , hey , this is our job . We believe in local control until it's your local and then we're in control of you .

Speaker 1

Right , yeah , uh gosh . So you moved up here . You've been here two , two , three years , three and a half , three and a half years , and then tell us how the podcast started . So you were doing one , you were done in California .

Speaker 2

Yeah , so I uh . So I was an SAT tutor literally from the week I graduated college until I left the state when I was 39 , like that day , and that's all I ever did . I really enjoy education very much , value it and I always wanted to be a classroom teacher , but it's like I can't .

I can't live that life where it's like you make 10 bucks an hour plus like a teacher appreciation card , anyway . So I was , I was privately , privately employed through to do education and , along the way , in the end of 2019 , my students I had a classroom . My students were like , hey , you should start a podcast .

I don't know anything about that Like , yeah , it'd be great . What would I say ? They're like , essentially , just record what you say to us in class and publish that . I was like , well , that's a bad idea . But so I just again , I don't know , I have any background in audio video engineering , so go on to you know YouTube .

It's like , listen , somebody can learn this , I can learn this . And it's start with like iMovies and GarageBand , and so I started down there and that's really where I could . Originally it was just kind of like these little thought bubble gums for my students going to school . It's like 10 minute episodes on like do you like ketchup , right ?

Or like whatever it might be , and that transitioned into this community hub where you know , obviously , over the over the the pandemic , with communities ripping each other apart , I became this hub for , okay , look , can you just tell me what your position ? Like I'm not even going to argue with you , just come and talk to me .

So you had , you know , like the president , the teachers union , the superintendent , then you had city council people . So I kind of cut my teeth on these interviews that were people were coming in ready for a fight and realized like I'm really just interested in talking to you and understanding your position . Like we don't even have to agree , isn't ?

Speaker 1

that refreshing .

Speaker 2

And why is this controversial ? Why is this wild ?

Creating a Podcast with Purpose

So I move up here in the beginning of 22 and kind of kiss that goodbye . I learned a lot from it . But move up here and I realized really quickly like , oh , the problems that were plaguing our community there , I can see them . Exactly the same thing , they're on the other side .

But you really start realizing , oh , there's no way for people to properly orient their worldview here , because , again , people spend what eight to ten hours a day on their cell phones looking at social media .

Here's an interesting problem and you could understand this , I'm sure Twenty years ago if you were part of an association or department or office or something , you engaged in passive communication transfer , right . So you would update a website . You'd essentially set a buffet of information and the end consumer , that's the active user .

They could come and grab that information and that was how you did it . So the offices and departments are like , hey , let's just set the table and when people want to come eat , this is the information . So you have active and passive . Now that actually has flipped . So the end consumer of information is the passive actor .

I sit on my couch and just scroll infinitely , no problem , and that's how I get my worldview . I'm never going to a website , I'm never picking a pamphlet .

Speaker 1

In fact it's fed to me based on what I looked at last , Exactly Now . Here's the problem the people that are actually in charge I hate the fact that my wife sends me these funny goat videos now and now Are they the fainting goats ? Oh yeah , it's always some farm thing and then I can't get rid of it .

Speaker 2

I don't want to see chickens in goat milk anymore . And no , you're not making your own fat up , but it's true .

Speaker 1

I mean , it's like it doesn't stop .

Speaker 2

Yeah , so and again , this is the point . People form their worldview passively through consuming . But the actual leaders of Idaho do not appear in that media . So you're not seeing Governor Brad Little , you're not seeing Superintendent Critchfield . You're not seeing these people .

So I developed my opinion about the governor , I developed my opinion about the superintendent of ed , not based on them , it's based on whoever is telling me about them . Well , you go down that road long enough . It's over , man , because you have no actual connection to reality . So figuring this out in 22 , it's like , oh my God , this is it .

If somebody doesn't step up and create a platform where you could integrate the actual leaders and reality of Idaho , the narrative and worldview that people have of Idaho will be taken over by whoever is talking to them . And you saw this last year multiple times . But remember the water call . Remember the cobalt mines in Idaho ?

Nationally , people thought the federal government was shutting down Idaho farmers and farming out the water resource to cobalt miners for the Ukraine defense , whatever , total lie . But where was the water board ? I didn't even know there was a water board until I invited them on .

These are the problems that will absolutely destroy the state as they have other places , unless people show up where the individuals consuming information are . Amen .

Speaker 1

Talk about the medium because it's really fast . I mean it's awesome , it's pretty cool . I mean the fact that a guy like you could come in and have access to all these people that want to tell their story . You do a great job interviewing them . I've told you that already . I'm a huge fanboy here , but you do a great job .

But these people aren't asked by anyone else . Has that shocked you ? I don't think so . I mean , you look at the list of people you've had on and they aren't being interviewed by a newspaper . They aren't being interviewed by local TV stations . They don't have a venue through their organizations to get out there .

They probably had a newsletter at some point 20 years ago , but now they're out talking to people and you know you've got this viewership . It's a really cool way that people can now get connected to their community . That didn't exist .

Speaker 2

Well , here's the thing I don't know . I don't know that it's entirely accurate that they're not being asked . I think there is a large distrust , whether appropriate or not , of legacy media . I think there's an inherent filtration problem with legacy journalism .

If I interview you , and I interview you for 10 minutes or whatever , I'm asking my set of questions and I go home and write an article , there is an inherent filtration that happens . I select what I think is important , you know what that happened to me this morning .

I don't want to say who this was , but I got interviewed by a journalist this morning about the BSU president search and I don't like this guy . I love Andrew .

Speaker 1

From my days it's not Andrew but from my days when I ran for governor . I'm going to just tell the story because I don't care . Sure , please Go . Came in interviewed me . I I'm going to just tell the story because I don't care . Sure , please go . Came in interviewed me .

I think Matthew was in the room Looked at his computer the entire time he interviewed me . This is a big interview , that's great . Like never looked up one time and left and I thought , man , I did a pretty good job and then just hammered me .

It was nothing Because you know how it is right and I'm like that was my interaction and that's what you took away from it , so I've always been a little leery . Well , I did an interview with him this morning for half an hour on the president BSU search , because I'm on the committee and as soon as he hung up . I'm like man .

We'll see what this ends up turning Thursday , I'll know . But that's the problem . That's the problem . Yes , that is the problem . That story is going to be told through the lens of that guy about this whole thing and he already I could tell from his questions he already knows what he wants the narrative to be .

Speaker 2

Listen you just articulated , and that's the media . This is it . He's not a bad guy . No , he's a bad guy . I don't even know who he is . He's a terrible person . But that's the problem .

Speaker 1

So it's not that people aren't being asked .

Speaker 2

It's that there's a problem with consumption , the consumer of those articles , if they're worth their salt at all . The consumer knows what's happening . So it's not that it's like , oh , you're just a random guy with a podcast and like , oh , this works because they haven't been asked . No , no , no , they're asked constantly for media appearances .

Speaker 1

But the magic of what you do is the format too , just letting people talk , sure , I think it's great , because when you listen to people that come on your show and I do the same thing sitting with someone it's hard to hide authenticity , right ?

You know , within the first few minutes , hey , people come in , guarded sometimes , sure , but pretty soon you're like okay , now we're talking .

Yeah , just relax , listen , we're just having a conversation and it feels good to the listener to be able to say hey , I just authentically listened to someone about something and they're telling me the truth , versus me reading something that's been filtered through someone that has a bias , right ?

Speaker 2

Right , so that's it . So for me , this path has really been one of you either have value or you don't . Okay , so you're going to bring value to your immediate community , hyper-local , or you will not . Because if the idea three years ago was , hey , what if I had this state-level platform ? Okay , great , what are you going to start by talking to the state ?

You don't know anything about the state , right ? So my play was essentially look , if I can't add value literally to my next door neighbor , I'm not going to do anything . So my first episode was with my buddy who literally lived like three houses down and we were talking about like the HOA meeting , right .

And then it's like a little bit bigger to the neighborhood elementary school . There was a problem with it . It's like pushing out more and more and focusing every second on can you bring value to this person ? Is the guest going to walk away and be like you know this was great and you know who you should talk to , and so again pushing out .

All of a sudden it became all right . You're valuable to the city of Eagle . Okay , you're valuable to a little bit more of Ada County . Okay , you're valuable to boom , boom , boom . And at this point they're like Congressman Simpson's comms people call . They're like hey , are you around next week ? Because there's value for him to have this .

Speaker 1

Isn't he great . By the way , I had him on mine last week . I love that guy . He's great , hey . So what's next , though ?

The Value of Unfiltered Conversations

Like what ? Because we're already talking for 49 minutes . Watch out , watch what's next . As far as like for you , my interview today . No , no , like what's ?

You're a smart guy like this , is you go back and look at how you're doing this and and how it's produced and who you've got on and where you're heading , and there's value here for for people , and I think people know it . Um , I'm I'm hearing from you about when you first started this .

I started hearing from you , from a lot of friends saying , hey , this guy , this is , this is really something unique . Where do you want this to go ?

Speaker 2

Exactly where it is . I'm not going national . The state of Idaho needs this , one of the biggest problems that people start . There are always national issues . People are always talking about the administration , there are all of these problems , but if we don't keep a lens focused on Idaho , there will never be a time when we resolve issues .

We can focus on broader things , but that is going to betray the necessity of attention locally , idaho state leaders and Idaho prominent figures to Idaho in a way that is never done before . Like if you look at , if you look at , rogan's platform and connecting people worldwide , that's fantastic . Well , look what if we could just get him to be here ?

We'd be like , hey , could you just do only episodes about Idaho ? How great would that be ? Well , it'd be fantastic . Well , he's not going to do that , right , because there's not a large enough . Somebody has to , yeah , somebody has to .

Speaker 1

Hey , I think it's so good . I mean , well , first of all , I think you're easy to listen to , you're funny , you're entertaining , you engage people , you're authentic , and so I think that's the first key is , do I want to get on and listen to you , listen ?

Speaker 2

to you . It has to be voluntary . I don't even care who your guest is . Yeah , right .

Speaker 1

I mean like the one I was looking at the other day . I thought I don't even know who that is , but I don't care and it was actually really good you had the new . It was a professor from University of Idaho who was doing a thing on policy .

Speaker 2

Oh yeah , oh yeah , Awesome McKay .

Speaker 1

Cunningham .

Speaker 2

Yeah , fantastic . I didn't know who this guy was . Yeah , college of Idaho . Yeah , college of Idaho .

Speaker 1

Anyway , I think you've hit a real niche that we need . So the Ranch Podcast you can be found anywhere right , yes , exactly , youtube , instagram , tiktok , youtube everywhere . Ranch Podcast . What else there it is ?

Speaker 2

McKay Cunningham , our constitutional crisis . Yeah , he's fantastic and his hair was even better . Yeah , it was great hair . Yeah , he's a . He's a handsome man . Yeah , no , it was a fantastic , uh , conversation with him and again he he was talking about broader , broader national issues and I was .

I was happy to have that conversation because I thought it was relevant to have , but he , he's also a college of I , who's been the most surprising guest for you I had this guy by the name of Charlie Lyons Charlie Lyons , charlie Lyons it was back in January this year and he is a rancher , but he started the initial rangeland fire protection agencies in Idaho

and hearing his story of why he needed that as a rancher and what the problem was and it was this multi-decade long , such a classically Idaho story , because here you have individuals struggling for their existence and they're trying to defend their way of life and no solution that could be found and they figured out something to do on their own and it was a take

the problem , address the problem , don't look for the government for our solution . And that , to me , has become the most , the most classic Idaho story , which is there is no help coming and if we don't figure this out , it's over . And it was man . He took me through a journey , man . We were both like laughing and then crying and then laughing .

It was wild . I have to listen to it .

Speaker 1

Yeah , it was great . Well , if there's anything we can ever do to help , let us know .

Speaker 2

Well , come on my show . I'll come talk some trash . Oh yeah , Come talk some trash . I don't know .

Speaker 1

I .

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