Election ‘hijacking’ throws Boise’s North End Neighborhood Association into disarray
How many people voted?
What if they held an election and certification of the results was postponed for a couple of months?
No, we’re not talking about the presidential race won by former Vice President Joe Biden against President Donald Trump.
The vote in question concerns an election for the board of the North End Neighborhood Association, a nonprofit that represents the historic neighborhood of 10,000 residents. It’s one of 34 Boise neighborhood associations that collaborate with the city to guide the future of neighborhoods.
The election was the first to be held online for the association, Boise’s oldest, formed in 1976. In years past, elections were held in person during the association’s board meetings. Anyone who lives, works or owns property in the North End can join the association and vote.
Five new board members were elected to the 11-member board during a virtual neighborhood association meeting in October. They clashed with the current board over several North End development issues, including the proposed use of a 113-year-old church for concerts, the board’s support for a bed-and-breakfast seeking to operate a previously unpermited tavern, and the future of a vacant lot across from the Cathedral of the Rockies.
The pronounced turnover caused concern among current board members, who declined to certify the vote at the association’s monthly meeting Tuesday. Instead, the board voted to table the matter and called for a special meeting on Sunday, Dec. 13, to discuss it. A mediator will oversee the discussion.
More than 100 neighborhood residents signed a petition contesting the election results. Idaho law allows such protests. They obligate a board to look into the allegations before certifying the vote.
“My thought was not to eliminate it but to table it until after we have seen the results of the investigation and the special meeting,” board member John Llewellyn said during Tuesday’s meeting. “It will stand if as a result of that, everything is above-board, we will therefore ratify the results.”
Historically, neighborhood association meetings throughout the city are sparsely attended. Two to 15 people would normally show up to the North End board’s meetings before the coronavirus pandemic, unless there was an issue that involved taxes or the Ada County Highway District, which would attract more people, said Chris Wagener, the association’s president.
Since the meetings started to be streamed during the pandemic “we have had progressively more and more participants, which is a good thing,” Wagener said at Tuesday’s meeting.
The election on Oct. 28 attracted 105 attendees. They elected newcomers Carlos Coto, Chrstal Allen, Sitka Soloski and siblings Sarah Foregger and Daniel Foregger. Tory Spengler was the only incumbent to retain her seat on the 11-member board.
The remaining five board seats weren’t on this year’s ballot. Board members serve two-year terms.
In a newsletter delivered to residents’ homes and available at North End businesses, editor Stephanie Matlock Allen bemoaned the results, saying those elected packed the online meeting with their supporters.
“It was shocking to watch the coordinated hijacking of a volunteer organization,” she wrote.
The NENA bylaws allow anyone who resides, works in or owns property within the North End to vote in its board elections. The neighborhood encompasses the area between State Street and Hill Road and from 4th Street to 28th Street.
Coto said it’s unfair to cast aspersions or question the motivations of himself and the other new board members. He said he cares about the neighborhood as much as anyone.
“A lot of people didn’t like the results, because their preferred candidates were not elected,” Coto told the board. “As an association, it is imperative that we follow this democratic process and not try to do a deal because you don’t like the results.”
Coto said he asked the board to conduct the election over two meetings. He said that at his homeowners association, one month they publish the biographies of people interested in running for a board position, and the next month they hold the election. His suggestion was rejected.
Coto and other neighbors opposed the use of a 113-year-old former neighborhood church for concerts. Last month, the Boise City Council voted to affirm a decision to allow the Treasure Valley Institute for Children’s Arts to use its space at the corner of Eastman and 14th streets for private events and church services, despite concerns from neighbors about parking, safety and noise.
The NENA board supported the plan.
They newcomers also opposed the board’s support for Franklin House, a North End bed and breakfast at 1503 W. Franklin St. that was operating an unpermitted tavern. The Boise City Council is scheduled to hold a hearing Tuesday, Dec. 8, on Franklin Hospitality Group’s request for a conditional use permit to operate a beer garden and social-event center.
There was also controversy over the future of Block 75, a vacant city block across Hays Street from the Cathedral of the Rockies, 717 N. 11th St.
The United Methodist congregation has considered developing an affordable housing complex on the property. On its website, the church says it is “continuing in the research and discernment process of understanding the needs within our community.”
Coto’s wife, Sarah Marang, said she also ran for a board position but was unsuccessful.
“It was, in my opinion, a fair election because my husband got elected,” she said at Tuesday’s meeting. “Everyone knew we were a married couple running at the same time, and people voted ‘no’ for me.”
Several people upset by board incumbents being defeated said at the meeting that they were shocked by flyers left on doorsteps and posted on telephone poles before the election. The flyers called on residents to vote for Coto, Marang and the Foreggers, along with incumbent Spengler.
“They were telling me who to vote for and that the board wasn’t transparent,” North End resident Suzanne Troge said at the meeting.
“I was appalled. With my dealings with the current NENA board, I have been impressed with the time that they spend and the energy they put in.”
But North End resident Jeff Powell told the board that the newsletter was biased and one-sided and disparaged his vote.
“I had my face showing (on Zoom), I gave my driver’s license, and I was ready to vote,” Powell said. “And then it was like my vote was totally cast aside In this article that makes it look like I robbed the election, which is ridiculous.”
Julie Madsen, who said she was nominated for a board position but lost, questioned whether all of those who voted were who they said they were and live in the North End.
“You really had no ability to verify who’s putting votes in,” she said.
Conducting the election online, Madsen said, it restricted voting to those with Internet access and those able to access the Zoom meeting portal. Others without computer access could not participate.
“That really eliminates a huge swath of our elderly population, our diversity population, our poor population,” she said. “I don’t think that this community is about alienating people based on socio-economics.”
The North End’s urban charm makes it one of the Treasure Valley’s most desirable neighborhoods. Its residents’ median household income of $52,321 in 2019 lagged the city’s $55,029 average, but its median house values were far above the city average, $347,486 vs. $222,462, according to the city’s Neighbohood Data Almanac.
This story was originally published November 27, 2020 at 12:00 AM.
