McLean clarifies Boise reopening timeline: That haircut you need might be OK after all
If Idaho moves into the second stage of reopening on Saturday, Mayor Lauren McLean says Boise will move along with it.
Unlike the state, Boise did not attach a timeline to its reopening plan. McLean said repeatedly that the city would move through its reopening stages based on the number of confirmed cases in the area.
Her health order two weeks ago required people to stay 6 feet apart until the end of May, a step further than Gov. Brad Little’s order, which only recommended the distancing. That put Boise businesses that are in close contact with customers — tattoo shops, massage spas and hair salons, for instance — into a spot where it looked like they couldn’t reopen even though similar businesses in other cities could.
Now, McLean is moving toward Little’s approach.
“If the governor says the state can move to Stage 2, or if the health district is saying it makes sense in Ada County to move to Stage 2, then we would put into place” a new health order that would relax distancing restrictions slightly, she said during a Boise City Council meeting Tuesday. McLean said she was “cautiously optimistic” that Stage 2 would begin this weekend.
At the state level, Stage 2 permits gatherings of fewer than 10 people and allows for restaurant dining rooms to reopen once they have submitted plans for approval by the local public health district. Salons and indoor gyms are able to reopen as well.
In Boise, the second stage allows for dog parks to reopen and for limited library services. If McLean reissued the health order to amend the distancing requirements, then close-contact businesses could reopen just as they could in the rest of the state.
Council President Pro Tem Holli Woodings said that because the city’s dates for reopening were unclear, it caused confusion for residents as well as businesses. She requested that future orders make it clearer that the city will be following the same timeline as the state, a change in messaging from before.
“I think that would give people a lot more comfort and create a lot less confusion,” Woodings said. “People just want to get back to work and they want to do it safely. They want to be responsible. We have people who have been waiting seven-plus weeks for unemployment at this point, and it’s created some really dire circumstances for folks in our community. So I would just like us as a city to be really cognizant of that and really make sure that we’re taking that into account.”
Council members Elaine Clegg and Patrick Bageant both agreed. Bageant said that he felt it would “be good not to be in this situation again” with the confusion around the city order. He and Clegg also asked to have more input in future health orders. McLean said she’s open to that.
Little has scheduled a news conference for 1 p.m. Thursday, when he is set to discuss Stage 2 of his Idaho Rebounds plan. It will air on Idaho Public Television and stream online.
This story was originally published May 12, 2020 at 8:53 PM.
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