NEWS/CITYDESK BUSINESS/NEWS NOAH K R OES E
FLEX IT
On June 3, the American Civil Liberties Union announced it had amended its suit against Idaho’s largest prison, removing the Idaho Department of Correction Director Brent Reinke and the Commission on Pardons and Paroles from the suit’s list of defendants. The ACLU complaint filed in March alleged that prison officials at Idaho Correctional Center not only accepted the culture of violence at the prison but encouraged it. On June 2, Boise Weekly reported that since the suit was filed, violence had increased. A May 26 letter by Idaho prison chief Brent Reinke said: “During the month of April, six incidents were reported. Since the beginning of May, there have been 11 reported incidents.” In a release on the amended complaint, ACLU of Idaho Director Monica Hopkins said, “We felt Corrections Corporation of America is the real culprit. However, when the state government chooses to contract out management of its facilities, they do not contract out their responsibility to adhere to constitutional standards.” In April, Hopkins told BW that although a bill carried through the Legislature this year designed to help quell prison violence was a step in the right direction, it would not affect the lawsuit.
On June 2, Boise Mayor Dave Bieter gave his annual State of the City address to a packed house at the Boise Centre. While topics included last year’s successes and the city’s economic development, the highlight of the morning was the unveiling of a new large-scale solar-power project west of the airport. The city has entered into negotiations with Sunergy World to build a large-scale solar energy production facility on the former city dump site. The plant would cost $45 million, generate 10 megawatts of electricity (enough to power 1,200 homes every year) and create several dozen jobs. Sunergy is also interested in installing solar panels in awnings at the airport parking lot. The project is a first step into boosting the city’s green reputation, a factor that led to the loss of a German solar panel manufacturer to Colorado last year. But solar power is just part of Bieter’s overall plan for the city. He credited careful planning and budgeting for preserving vital city services, but said that to prosper, the city needs to move forward, not stand still. “If we do everything, we win,” Bieter offered as his economic development philosophy. He explained that it was not a call to try to be everything to everyone, but to use every tool available. “This is what I mean by every tool. Our job is to provide the context for you to succeed,” Bieter said. He once again stressed the need for a local option tax. “If we’re going to prosper, we need more tools. We can’t do it by cutting alone,” Bieter said. According to the mayor’s statistics, a oneeighth-cent sales tax would generate $7 million annually to fund research at Boise State. A half-cent tax would generate $22 million annually he believes could fully fund a topnotch public transportation system, including both buses and a proposed light rail. Bieter said he believes a local option sales tax is the most effective means of funding because it spreads the cost to visitors. “We vote in state legislators who don’t trust the voters,” Bieter said. “All I’m asking the governor and the Legislature is, give us this tool and let us have those conversations locally so we can take it from there.” Idaho is one of only three states without a local tax or state funding for public transportation, along with Alaska and Mississippi. “All due respect to those states, I’d rather be in the majority,” Bieter said. The mayor acknowledged that these were likely the toughest times seen since the Great Depression and said that he agreed with President Franklin Roosevelt that we rise or fall together. “We will have success if we don’t look back at what we’ve lost, but look forward to what we stand to gain,” Bieter said.
—Rachael Daigle
—Josh Gross
Making work work ZACH HAGADONE “Work is not where you are, it’s what you do,” said Patricia Kempthorne, former first lady of Idaho and founder and executive director of the Twiga Foundation, a Boise-based nonprofit that promotes workplace flexibility. “[Workplace flexibility is] so important because of the way we work now in the 21st century,” she said. “We are such a 24/7 global economy, plus, there’s a real awareness of family.” According to Kempthorne, a confluence of forces—political, demographic and technological—is driving a trend toward a world of wireless work. It’s been happening for a long time, aided by the ubiquity of cell phones and wireless Internet, but a rising generation of tech-savvy workers, the need for elder care and more families with two working adults means workers are demanding more flexibility. “More and more employers are discovering that loosening the traditionally rigid work schedule pays off,” said Sandy Colling, director of sales and support with Boise-based Business Psychology Associates. “Studies show retention increases and study after study shows productivity also shoots up. More than half of companies now say they offer flextime, and one-third allow telecommuting at least part-time.” The change in workplace culture is also gaining political support—including from the president of the United States. President Barack Obama hosted a White House forum on workplace flexibility in late March, when he brought together business leaders to focus on policies that help employees maintain a healthy work/life balance— from flexible hours and in-office child care, to sabbaticals and job sharing. Kempthorne’s group, Twiga—Swahili for “giraffe,” a gentle family devoted animal—is geared toward improving the work/life balance of working moms, but as Obama said at the forum, “Workplace flexibility isn’t just a women’s issue … It’s an issue that affects the well-being of our families and the success of our businesses.” Kempthorne agrees. “As we’ve seen in the recent research, women make up half of the work force, but what that has really shown us is that both men and women are looking for flexibility because there’s a much greater sharing of responsibility, both as the provider and the caregiver,” she said. And it turns out Boise is a community in the lead on workforce flexibility. Eight local businesses and organizations were awarded 2009 Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility, and the national awards presentation was hosted by the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce. Given out by the Families and Work Institute, which Twiga partners with, the awards are about best practices that help enhance WWW. B OISEWEEKLY.C O M
recruitment, retention, health and productivity. Among Boise’s Sloan award winners is the law firm Givens-Pursley. Human Resources Director Robin Scruton said the company’s policies include flextime, child care and a host of health and wellness programs. “It’s made us happier and healthier—more productive and efficient,” she said. Scruton added that while flexible work programs have always been a priority for GivensPursley, there’s definitely been an increase over the last five years. “This is a whole different generation coming up right now, and we try to recognize that. We also have a lot of working mothers,” she said. “We have a culture of being very family minded, and we take what we do very, very seriously. It’s a very stressful job practicing law, and we want to help people have a good, happy life doing it.” Audit, tax and financial advisory firm KPMG is another Sloan award winner. Mike Alva, associate director of KPMG’s West Internal and External Communications, said 81 percent of employees who said they have flexibility at work also said KPMG was “a great place to work.” “It’s about establishing a culture where people feel they have control over when, where and how they work,” Alva said. But even with benefits measured in higher retention, better health, improved productivity and happier workers, workplace flexibility can be challenging to institute. “I would say trust is a barrier—employers have to trust their employees that when they’re working from home, they’re actually working,” Kempthorne said. “Then there’s the ‘we’ve done it this way for years’ factor, and businesses often think flexibility is going to cost them somehow. It won’t. It’s really just the perception of cost.” “We’ve kind of done away with that whole stereotype that to get ahead in your life you’ve got to go full-out, nose-to-the-grindstone,” Scruton said. “What’s more important is what can we do to help our employees be whole people?”
MAYOR BIETER STRESSES LOCAL OPTION TAX AND SOLAR POWER
EXTRA/NEWS
The Idaho Correctional Center is the center of an ACLU complaint for a climate of inmate violence.
ACLU DROPS IDOC FROM SUIT
BOISEweekly | JUNE 9–15, 2010 | 9