HUMMEL ARCHITECTS
“We’re optimistic, but we’re also very realistic,” she added. “We know that there are still some concerns with some of our East End neighbors.”
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UNDA’ THE ROTUNDA
THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD Meanwhile, those same East End neighbors say they love St. Luke’s, but more than a few of them say they hate the idea of seeing Jefferson Street permanently closed for the hospital’s master plan. “We’ve become the city’s sacrifice zone,” said Erik Kingston, a certified professional community and economic developer and East End resident since 1994. “We lost East Junior High School to Boise State and that increased traffic as a result; we lost our only activity center at 111 Broadway, which became derelict and abandoned. We gave up Bannock Street to St. Luke’s in the 1990s; we supported the hospital for its Life Flight helipad; now we’re being asked to give up more.” Kingston thinks St. Luke’s push for support, particularly among its business partners and supporters, might be counterintuitive. “We’ve heard from a number of people that say they’re being heavily pressured to testify on behalf of St. Luke’s, and the fact that they’re coming to us and saying that leads me to think that they really don’t want to do that,” said Kingston. “Something like their [video ad] campaign could actually backfire. Sure, they can pack a room, but these organizations are being asked to think that they need St. Luke’s when, in fact, St. Luke’s needs them.” The East End Neighborhood Association has launched keepboiseconnected.com and is distributing leaflets describing the St. Luke’s master plan as a “sprawling campus,” a “super block that isolates the East End” and “a bad precedent for any neighborhood.” Charles Honsinger and his wife, Lee, have lived in the East End for 20 years. “Look, we’re not professionals,” Honsinger said. “We’re just trying to preserve our neighborhood. It’s a good place to live. We’ve been standing in front of M&W Market on Warm Springs talking about this, and everyone we’ve met hadn’t heard anything about this, but they were immediately concerned about the possible closure.” On March 15, as the Honsingers were walking through their neighborhood handing out leaflets, things got a bit testy. “A man approached us who was adamantly opposed to our effort. My wife talked to him first,” said Honsinger. “He was getting louder and angrier, and when I tried to engage him a little bit, he called us selfish and said that if St. Luke’s gets their way, it would increase his property value. He kept following us and getting angrier. Finally, my wife turned BOISE WEEKLY.COM
“We’ll gladly risk this. We’re already in prison.”
Natalie Stevens said she was prepared to testify before the House committee because she was an expert. “I’m an expert on my daughter,” Stevens said. Her daughter is 11-yearold Marley, who suffers between two and 100 seizures every day. “You’ve heard the word ‘seizure’ over and over today,” said Stevens, “but when you hear it over and over, you forget what that entails. ‘Seizure’ means Marley can never be out of my sight. It means that she has scars from biting her tongue all the time. It means that her breathing stops. It means missing school and missing work. It means sleepless nights and agonizing days. “Seizures are our prison,” she added “We’ll gladly risk this. We’re already in prison. We would rather be arrested and have an affirmative defense.” Opponents of the bill brought out the big guns, figuratively, with Idaho police, sheriffs, prosecutors and Elisha Figueroa, director of the Idaho Office of Drug Policy, pushing hard against SB 1146aa. “Yes, this is heart wrenching, but I want to be clear: this is not hemp oil you can buy at the Co-op. This is marijuana, a Schedule One drug, and Idaho will be violating federal law if this passes,” said Figueroa, who was appointed as drug czar by Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter. “We have a very real criminal element in this state that is looking for a shield for their activity, and this law does just that,” he added. Figueroa urged the committee to instead support Senate Bill 1156, which would direct the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to administer a special program including trials and oversight of the pharmaceutical drug Epidiolex. The Epidiolex trial would include approximately 25 to 30 people, but at least one estimate during the March 30 State Affairs Committee hearing indicated that there approximately 1,200 Idaho children suffering from severe seizures. 8
Among the proposals in the St. Luke’s Master Plan are a new hospital tower, expanded children’s hospital and multiple office complexes.
around with her cellphone and told him that she was taking a video of him. He took off pretty quickly.” Honsinger insisted that he would love St. Luke’s to stay where it is and even expand. “But it’s all about Jefferson,” he said. “That’s what we’re focused on. We’ve always said, ‘Hey, if you want to expand, fine. Let’s work out a way where we keep Jefferson open. But they’re not talking about a Plan B. It’s either this or nothing.” Honsinger said that he’ll be at the April 7 hearing in front of the City Council. “It’s hard to guess what they might do,” he said. “But I think we have a good shot.”
THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE Ben Quintana may be in the most tenuous position when it comes to St. Luke’s. He’s a Boise City Council member but spends his days as an organization development program manager for the St. Luke’s Health System. “And that’s why I’ll be recusing myself; I won’t be voting on this,” Quintana told BW, adding that he may, in fact, have to step down from the Council dais during the public hearing. “I’ll need to join the audience at that point.” Quintana also isn’t allowed to advocate for, or against, the issue with his fellow lawmakers. “I’ve been staying out of those conversations,” he said. That can’t stop him from speaking publicly on the issue. Given that he’s a St. Luke’s employee, Quintana thinks there’s way too much at stake not to approve the hospital’s master plan. “This is one of the biggest decisions the city will make in the foreseeable future,” said Quintana. “This involves hundreds of millions
of dollars and thousands of jobs.” Quintana acknowledges that a number of neighbors simply don’t want to see Jefferson closed, but he also says that too many members of the public simply haven’t seen the actual plan. “I ask people, ‘Have you seen the plan?’ They say, ‘No, I haven’t.’ When we’re able to see what St. Luke’s is trying to do and how it actually advances the city’s overall comprehensive plan, I think the community will see how everyone greatly benefits from the proposal. There are so many improvements that go with this plan, but a number of people are only looking a portion of Jefferson Street being closed.” Alan Shealy knows a thing or two about testifying before the Boise City Council—he’s been on both sides of the podium. Shealy spent nearly nine years as a councilman, approving and rejecting plans that were or were not in sync with the city’s overall master plan. In February, Shealy told the city’s P&Z Commission, “I view the intent to block Jefferson Street as being sheer arrogance on the part of hospital authorities.” Shealy is expected to be one of scores of citizens to stand before the Boise City Council to weigh in on the debate on April 7 and April 14 before lawmakers cast their votes. “Those meetings could be pretty long, but we’ll do our best,” said Kingston. That remains one thing that Kingston and McLeod can agree on. “He’s absolutely right. They will be very long evenings,” said McLeod. “But they will be evenings full of passion. There will be a lot of people there to either support the plan or oppose the plan; and all of that will come with a tremendous amount of passion.”
—George Prentice BOISEweekly | APRIL 1–7, 2015 | 9