City Government
Media Rides Scooter Story
July 5, 2006 
Scooter user Hillary Haymond–”HH” to GUARDIAN readers–got 15 minutes of fame Wednesday and secured a neat little parking perk for two wheel drivers…free parking at two downtown Boise locations.
Like the activist she is, Hillary deftly handled on camera interviews and schmoozed with the mayor and council president.
Hillary wrote to Mayor Dave Bieter and City Councilors asking them to amend the parking code which limited parking to just a single scooter in downtown parking spots. She thought it was dumb to not share space with other scooters and actually free up parking for the gas guzzlers.
Team Dave and the Councilors jumped aboard the scooter plan and within 60 days they had signs in place–encouraged no doubt by the e-mails and calls from GUARDIAN readers and other scooter and motorcycle riders who used the blog to share their ideas and game plan.
At the Wednesday photo op, Bieter was taken for a ride by a scooter babe wearing a pink helmet. In most situations it is the politician taking the citizen for a ride. Turn about is indeed fair play.
Part of the balancing act for the council is making the on-street parking a “pilot program.” If it works they can make it permanent or kill it if there are major problems. Locations at Main near 5th and on Bannock near 8th Street have been designated as “Two Wheel Parking.”
Search SCOOTER at the upper right of the page for previous stories.
To insure more advertising-free Boise Guardian news, please consider financial support.
Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Jul 5, 2006, 3:37 pm
Power to the (2-wheeled) people!
(Poor Hillary – there were so many 2-wheel enthusiasts present, that she had to park HER scooter around the corner!)
I’ve gotta admit, my opinion of Mayor Dave went up a couple notches when he got in that sidecar and went for a ride around the block. However, I believe he made one mistake; he stated that 2-wheeled vehicles pollute less than their 4-wheeled counterparts. That is likely incorrect – since there are far fewer 2-wheelers out there, they have traditionally not been subject to the same stringent anti-pollution requirements as are automobiles. (California will soon be changing that.) But he’s absolutely correct that they are a more efficient mode of transportation than single-occupant automobiles.
I hope the parking experiment is a resounding success! (If the 5th/Main spots are filled, you can find more on eastbound Bannock at 8th.)
Jul 5, 2006, 4:45 pm
Oh wow…
Anyone remember Dukakis in that tank?
Jul 5, 2006, 10:39 pm
Ahh, the power of photo ops….always the possible downfall. Did you notice that Team Dave leader cannot make eye contact with the persons he was talking to? Shifty eyes….
even a problem with the news cameras.
No, no upward notches in my opinion and I made the mistake of voting for him.
EDITOR NOTE–Kinda harsh, but we agree he is not comfortable in photo op situations.
Jul 5, 2006, 10:50 pm
Bikeboy – it was very nice meeting you. It was nice to see the turnout. Hopefully the parking will stay (as I was promised today) and the law for one two wheeler per parking space will go away.
I’m not certain of the Mayor’s off the cuff remark about two wheeler pollutions – but we both know what it is like to sit behind an idling automobile. Let’s not make a big thing of this the two wheelers get sucked into the Ada County Emission Testing farce. shhhhhhh. I understand that power lawn mowers are just plain nasty at air pollution.
Jul 5, 2006, 11:05 pm
Ferris, I had the same initial reaction to that photo. Then I remembered Dukakis was serious while this is camp.
Jul 6, 2006, 8:41 am
Lurking in the background I watched the event and also took note that the mayor was the only politico who looked quite uncomfortable when he was talking to HH. He also would give her nor this venue no credit in the city’s pilot program in front of the rolling cameras. Why not? Is it her or is it this blog or is it just him?
He stated that he had friends who had spoken to him a few months ago about two wheel parking…..well, perhaps his friends had been reading this blog or talking to HH. Or it could be that he doesn’t listen to the ideas or desires of the public, just his friends.
EDITOR NOTE–Blogs are threatening to a lot of folks. The GUARDIAN is like a radio station with regulars, visitors, and lots of people who “tune in” because they like the message and a chance to sound off. That is a major force for politicos to deal with.
Jul 6, 2006, 11:44 am
Talk about photo ops… if he were a Republican he would have rode a huge gas hog Harley, probably a three wheeler, dressed in full leathers, with “Ride for Christ” colors, proclamed “Mission Accomplished”
then blast off with no motorcycle license.
At least Team Dave has the guts to ride in a side car with a scooter babe driver.
Jul 6, 2006, 5:06 pm
Well, Dave has never struck me as a person at comfort in front of the press – he has a “deer in the headlights” look most of the time. Someone should remind him to blink, just to let us know that there’s something there behind the suit.
Anybody notice a passing resemblence to Taylor Hicks? Maybe a less well kempt uncle, twice removed…
Jul 7, 2006, 9:25 am
Well I applaud anyone who gets off their duff and does something proactive for their cause, whatever it may be.. Way to go HH!!!
Jul 11, 2006, 4:23 pm
NShadows – had to look up duff…not that I have never used the expression you uesd, but because I enjoy words and I felt like it. So I stayed on my duff and looked it up online.
This is what I found:
duff n.
A stiff flour pudding boiled in a cloth bag or steamed.
[Dialectal variation of dough.]
duff 2 n.
Decaying leaves and branches covering a forest floor.
Fine coal; slack.
[Origin unknown.]
duff 3 n. Slang
The buttocks.
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2000
Jul 11, 2006, 5:20 pm
Just thought I’d send you a copy of an email I recently sent Mayor Dave.
As a frequent flyer out of the Boise airport and a motorcycle rider I found the
recent changes in downtown parking interesting. A recent thought was to discount
parking at the airport to motorcyclists. When I ride the motorcycle to the airport I
generally park in a corner rather than utilize a car space.
Discounting the parkingat the airport garage to motorcyclists would encourage more people use and parkmotorcycles at the airport, potentially freeing up several addition spaces. With thepotential for 12-16 motorcycles per floor this would help slightly with parkingdemand at the airport.
I would also urge you to consider motorcycle parking when looking at further
expanding airport parking.
Jul 11, 2006, 10:38 pm
Clint – this is great! If anyone supports this as an expansion to the downtown parking spaces for two wheelers, then send an email to the Mayor and let him know. I know that I will. Why should down town be the only location to support two wheelers? Save the parking spaces for the gas guzzlers! Green up this town!!!