Who’s up against Labrador for the Central District Health seat? An epidemiologist
When the Ada County Commissioners meet Tuesday to consider their choice for representation on the Central District Health board, they will have at least one new name to consider: Dr. Sky Blue.
Blue told the Statesman that Commissioner Kendra Kenyon asked him to consider applying to represent Ada County on the board that makes decisions about public health measures.
“I certainly want to be able to help out,” he said. “I would just as soon we didn’t have a pandemic, and I don’t think anybody really wants to have to make the decisions ... but it doesn’t mean that you don’t have to (make them).”
Two Ada County commissioners last week said they wanted former U.S. Rep. Raúl Labrador for the health board seat. The seat was formerly occupied by Diana Lachiondo, a Democrat who lost her 2020 re-election bid to Republican Ryan Davidson. Lachiondo resigned from the board earlier this month.
Davidson, sworn in Monday with fellow newly elected Republican Rod Beck, wanted to appoint Labrador, who lives in Eagle and is a former U.S. congressman and former state GOP chairman.
Labrador has criticized governments for mandating that people and businesses follow guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Even though I believe the use of masks is overrated and the media has been misleading the public about their effectiveness, I wear masks to enter private businesses because I want them to stay open,” Labrador wrote last month. “It is not their fault that an overbearing government is imposing stupid requirements on them.”
Kenyon, a Democrat, said during last week’s commission meeting that she would vote against his appointment because it was rushed, and she wanted to see other candidates first.
“Normally, we have at least a day or two to discuss these appointments,” she said.
The events raised questions about whether Davidson and Beck had decided on Labrador’s appointment outside of a public meeting. Canyon County Prosecutor Bryan Taylor agreed to “act as a special prosecutor to review this matter,” according to Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts. (Bennetts couldn’t conduct the review due to a conflict; as county prosecutor, the commissioners are her clients.)
“I have watched over the last year as unelected officials have been making decisions that affect people’s lives in a most intimate way,” said Labrador, now an unelected official himself. “I have been watching how decisions that are supposed to be based on science become politicized, and I think the people of Ada County and the people of Idaho need somebody who has a little bit of common sense, that understands the political implications and the scientific implications and more than anything, the personal implications.”
Who is Dr. Sky Blue?
Blue is a longtime resident of the Treasure Valley, lives in unincorporated Ada County and is a doctor who specializes in infectious diseases.
Blue sees patients in all local hospitals through Sawtooth Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases, an independent physician-owned practice. He also is medical director of the Family Medicine Residency of Idaho’s Wellness Center, which provides care to patients with HIV/AIDS.
Blue moved to Boise in 1997 to practice infectious disease medicine and epidemiology.
When the coronavirus pandemic arrived last year, he became one of the local health care experts who regularly talks with the public, the media and government entities about COVID-19. He briefed the Southwest District Health board in November, as one of two infectious disease specialists who spoke after two local health care providers presented false and debunked information about masks, COVID-19 treatments and vaccines.
Blue said in a phone interview that Kenyon reached out to him Friday about joining the CDH board. He agreed, somewhat reluctantly, to put his name forward, he said.
The board includes elected and unelected officials. The politicization of the pandemic has put the public health board under political pressure and scrutiny.
“I really don’t see this as being an either/or (choice) when you’re trying to open the economy and protect people,” Blue said. “We do the best we can given our circumstances, and we say, ‘How can we keep people the safest in any circumstance?’”
There have been anti-mask protests at board meetings. Some of the protesters went to board members’ homes, making loud noises and pounding on their doors. One meeting ended within minutes, when protesters frightened Lachiondo’s child, who was home alone, and Boise Mayor Lauren McLean grew concerned that police officers may not be able to control the situation.
“My grandmother and grandfather moved to Canyon County in 1948 ... so we have deep roots,” Blue said. “I live out in the country, and all our neighbors help out each other. When I see some of the discourse, I don’t really recognize that as our Idaho values. ... When you can discuss all the issues, we can come up with our best decisions.”
Labrador is a lawyer with Skaug Law in Nampa who has been involved in Idaho politics for years. He was a member of the Legislature representing District 14, which includes Eagle and Star, for two terms. He then represented Idaho’s 1st Congressional District, which covers western Idaho from Canada to Nevada, including all of Canyon County and the western part of Ada County, for eight years in the U.S. House. Labrador was the chairman of the Idaho Republican Party from 2019 to 2020, when he resigned to start practicing law again.
This story was originally published January 16, 2021 at 11:23 AM.
