Californian transplants are stirring the political pot of a quaint Idaho suburb – with furious locals claiming they are not conservative enough to fit in.
The new dynamic involving the Boise-bordering town of Eagle was unveiled this month by The Los Angeles Times, in the form of statements from residents – and local politicians – both new and old.
They mostly complained about how, in recent years, the town of 32,100 has been bombarded with new arrivals from The Golden State – particularly those receiving hefty pensions following careers in public service.
Abetted by pension funds, the long-in-the-tooth lawmen are swiftly supplanting longtime residents, they said – pointing to the so-called ‘liberal baggage’ the ex-cops and firefighters are bringing with them as they move in from hundreds of miles away.
This ideological clash recently came to a head in the town’s mayoral election this month, during which City Council President Brad Pike won a resounding victory in a heated runoff over incumbent Mayor Jason Pierce.
The win, aside from serving as an upset, comes as California pension money is quickly becoming the ‘lifeblood’ of the area, in the words of The Times report.
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Californian are moving in droves to the quaint Idaho suburb of Eagle (seen here) – and locals are now complaining that they are not conservative enough to fit in
This ideological clash recently came to a head in the town’s mayoral election this month, during which City Council President Brad Pike (left) won a resounding victory in a heated runoff over incumbent Mayor Jason Pierce (right)
Both men are Republicans originally from California, and spoke to the Times for its report. Pierce, however, moved to Eagle more than two decades ago, and thus bickered with his rival who was less influenced by their old state politics.
Pierce framed his challenger as a secret progressive, but Pike, a retired Santa Clara County fire captain who arrived in the town shortly after Gavin Newsom was elected, ultimately came out on top.
He told the Times how he moved to the town in 2018, after being alienated by the policies of Gov. Newsom, and his predecessor, Jerry Brown.
‘I came here looking for anything that’s not the liberal, socialistic view of the government in California,’ Pike said, revealing how he continues to collect a $123,000-a-year pension from Newsom’s administration.
‘This is a free country, you have the option to go anywhere you want,’ he continued, touting his long-standing Republican allegiance he says has spanned 41 years.
Confronted by the contrasts between him and fellow Californian who arrived in Eagle in 2003 without a pension, the fire captain flat-out said: ‘I’m not ashamed to say that I brought my CalPERS pension to Idaho.’
Those supposed differences are the same being cited by Eagle’s more veteran residents angered by the new arrivals – and emerged as a major talking point during the mayoral election.
According to the Times’ report – which was published days after Pike secured his victory – it is still being debated almost a month later.
The new dynamic involving the Boise-bordering town was unveiled this month in the form of statements from residents – as well as warring politicians – both new and old
The idyllic town is nestled in the Boise Foothills, and is now one of the top places where California pension money is being diverted
The town is known for its assortment of golf courses, spas, and green spaces – which includes a state park, an outdoor farmer’s market, and grass as far as the eye can see
The Legacy Development in Eagle is seen here. It is one of several developments that have sprouted up in recent years to house the outflow of arrivals
!['You find a lot of Californians who move here don¿t realize how much [liberal] baggage they¿re bringing with them,' Pierce charged, as he and other proponents who questioned the legitimacy of Pikes' and other pensioners' so-called conservativism](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/30/18/79463401-12912561-image-m-48_1703959521480.jpg)
‘You find a lot of Californians who move here don’t realize how much [liberal] baggage they’re bringing with them,’ Pierce charged, as he and other proponents who questioned the legitimacy of Pikes’ and other pensioners’ so-called conservativism
‘You find a lot of Californians who move here don’t realize how much [liberal] baggage they’re bringing with them,’ Pierce charged, as he and other proponents who questioned the legitimacy of Pikes’ and other pensioners’ so-called conservativism.
‘They want to give the same kind of benefits to officers and state employees here,’ Pierce continued.
‘And it’s like, “Wait a minute, you literally created a huge deficit in California, and now you want to do the same thing here?”‘
The crippling debts and deficits the four-year mayor mentioned is currently at a purported $31.7billion – as California continues to struggle with simultaneous crime and homelessness crises that emerged even before the pandemic.
Those problems, long an issue in locales like San Francisco and Los Angeles, have since worsened, and look to have no solution in sight.
Factors like the economy, fiscal health, housing, and taxes have surfaced as sticking points – all serving as influencers in Pike’s and several others’ decision to move to the burgeoning locale.
When he arrived in Idaho, he recalled to the Times, he immediately found himself captivated by the town’s assortment of golf courses, spas, and green spaces – which includes a riverside State Park, an outdoor farmer’s market, and grass as far as the eye can see.
‘They want to give the same kind of benefits to officers and state employees here,’ Pierce continued. ‘And it’s like, “Wait a minute, you literally created a huge deficit in California, and now you want to do the same thing here?”‘
The crippling debts and deficits the four-year mayor mentioned is currently at a purported $31.7billion – and come in stark contrast to the picturesque situation being touted in Eagle
As California continues to struggle with simultaneous crime and homelessness crises that emerged even before the pandemic, Eagle residents enjoy less taxes, nicer homes, and virtually no crime on properties that are often right on the water
Pike explained how after Moving into one of the many developments in 2019, he now feels finally able to ‘exhale… and enjoy life’
Moving into one of the many developments being built around the 31 square-mile suburb, he explained how he now feels finally able to ‘exhale… and enjoy life.’
‘I came here looking for anything that’s not the liberal, socialistic view of the government in California,’ he explained, after Pierce and others accused him and other arrivals of being Republican in name only.
That assertion was echoed by several other ex-Californian pensioners who spoke to the paper, as their takeover of the small, scenic town looks to be all but secured.
‘I was paying some years $40,000 in income tax,’ ex Long Beach cop Jorge Grajeda said of his decision to leave SoCal in 2019 after securing his pension.
‘I was feeling so burned down, frustrated, stressed’, he recalled, remembering how he spent more than three decades as an officer the city’s notoriously spread-thin police force.
When he visited Eagle and its surroundings, mostly rural landscape, he said was struck by how safe he felt.
In its report, The Times pointed out how Eagle now sits at the top of the list of locales where residents receive California pensions.
As of Saturday, almost 90,000 Californian public employee retirees receive their pensions out-of-state.
That assertion was echoed by several other ex-Californian pensioners who spoke to the paper, as their takeover of the small, scenic town nestled in the Boise Foothills looks to be all but secured
‘That’s how it used to be when I was a little kid,’ he said, remembering the Bay Area before crime became an issue in the 80s.
Today, Grajeda owns four houses in the Treasure Valley, the name of the thousands of acres of grassland surrounding Eagle, contained by the Boise mountain
He said he lives in one with his family and rents out the other three, before bragging about how he used taxpayer money to capitalize on low prices and interest rates just before the pandemic.
He said he simply could not pass up the investment opportunity – while an ex sergeant from the LA County Sheriff’s Department, who asked that his name not be published due to threats from an ex-inmate he helped cuff, explained how he felt no qualms after using his $128,000 pension to relocate in 2019.
‘You get over that real quick,’ he said of leaving behind the government that today still foots the bill for his health coverage. ‘You put 30 years of blood, sweat and tears into the city. You don’t feel guilty at all.’
He added how his neighbors are ‘about 90 percent Republicans’ – a welcome change, he said, from the unstable society of liberal voters he spent decades working to protect.
‘I’ve stood on the front lines at protests with people spitting in your face, throwing bottles and rocks, and you couldn’t do anything,’ he said. ‘That was just silly to me.’
Pierce, however, continues to disapprove of the new phenomenon, despite moving from California himself
Citing how most Californians’ pensions may exceed what working people make in Idaho, told the publication how it was ‘ludicrous’ for the new residents to call themselves conservatives.
Without providing a basis, he said the newer residents could result in a push for policies similar to those he says spawned the current financial situation in California
‘We take care of ourselves,’ Pierce told Fox News Digital in a later interview. ‘We take care of our neighbors, and you’re getting a lot more people wanting, you know, others to take care of them. It’s odd.’
Pierce, meanwhile, continues to disapprove of the new phenomenon, despite moving from California himself.
He told The Times that most Californians’ pensions may exceed what working people make in Idaho, and that it was ‘ludicrous’ for the new residents to call themselves conservatives.
He went on to claim the newer residents could result in a change to the town’s political climate – and a push for policies similar to those he says spawned the current situation in California.
‘We take care of ourselves,’ Pierce told Fox News Digital in a later interview. ‘We take care of our neighbors, and you’re getting a lot more people wanting, you know, others to take care of them. It’s odd.’
Using the documentary ‘Rocky Mountain Heist,’ about how Colorado went from a red state to a blue state to illustrate his fears, he added: ‘I don’t think [the shifting values] gets done on purpose by the conservatives or the Republicans.’
He continued: ‘I think what they get is bamboozled into the Democrat talking points, and they’re very easily able to promote their ideas without them sounding liberal.’
The ex-LA sergeant, however, countered: ’70 percent to 80% percent of us would still be in California’ if it weren’t for elected officials and their policies.