BALUKOFF: Isn't business as usual

I’ve known A.J. Balukoff for 30 years. He is moderate, and an outstanding member of the business community. I highly respect his business acumen.

In the 1980s, I co-owned the Idaho Business Review. One of our contributors was A.J. Balukoff, a young CPA, who wrote columns that explained and simplified tangled new tax laws. The columns were right on target.

It’s interesting to hear political ads that make it sound as though A.J. is a wild-eyed liberal who just stepped off the boat from California. In fact, A.J. and Susie, have lived here for 32 years. His family has grown up here, virtually all have stayed, and are contributing Idahoans. A.J. has strong, vested interests in the state’s growth and prosperity

He founded the Boise CPA firm of Balukoff & Lundstrom, then successfully ran four locations of A.J.’s Health Clubs. He built and now owns Century Link Arena in Boise, and the popular Idaho Steelhead hockey team.

Otter’s ad campaign fails to mention A.J.’s outstanding business leadership and successes in business, even through the leanest economic times.

A.J. generously serves on boards and foundations. Among others, he’s on the regional board for the Boy Scouts of America, the board for Boise’s Learning Lab, and for St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center. He also has ably served the Boise School Board for 17 years, helping to successfully steer it through the rough times we now see for education. Business experience carries over into many fields!

Enough of this limping recovery! A.J. has the real world experience we need with business and education to get Idaho back to genuine prosperity. A.J.’s goal is a “purple” state where we all get reds and blues working together. Partisanship and discord don’t serve any of us.

KITTY DELOREY FLEISCHMAN

Boise