Testimony: ‘Walk across the street and meet with us, talk with us’

Rep. Eric Anderson, R-Priest Lake, told Occupy Boise volunteer Dean Gunderson, “This is nothing but chaos to me, because as long as everyone behaves according to your doctrine and your group’s doctrine, no one else can participate over there because you’ve set up your own governance for those grounds.” Gunderson responded, “The particular scenario he envisioned implies an exclusivity of use, that somehow we occupy the entire site and it’s ours. If you actually go over to the vigil site, you’ll find that there’s a tremendous number of other activities, both state activities and non-state activities, and additional space for any other group that wish to come in and engage in political protest.”

Mary Reali of Boise told the lawmakers, “I consider being involved in Occupy Boise an honor. … I see Occupy Boise as part of a long tradition of Americans exercising their constitutional right to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. … You can find veterans and students and retirees and professionals from many sectors, some of whom you’ve heard from today.”

Glen “Angel” Garity told the committee, “My first night out of prison I stayed at the Boise Rescue Mission.” The second night, he said, he stayed by the river. “The next morning I was wet, cold and miserable, and ready to commit another crime.” Then, he said, “I came to the Occupy town of Boise. They gave me a tent, a few warm blankets - now they’re my family and my town.” Garity said he became active in the group. “This gave me a  reason to stay out of prison. … I hide nothing from them. They all accept me as one of them and I belong to them. Now I spent 13 years in prison and became institutionalized, and now this family of mine is the only thing that helped me become a citizen again.”

Marlenee Diaz of Bliss, said HB 404 was “proposed for the sole purpose of getting us to shut up. … Instead of trying to silence our voices, walk across the street and meet with us, talk with us.”

Bob Blurton, asked by committee members if the encampment might move elsewhere at some point, perhaps to private land, said he figured it would move at some point, when the currently vacant old Ada County Courthouse is needed for something else. To chuckles, he said, “We have more contingency plans than the U.S. military.” But Blurton urged against HB 404. “There’s no room for free speech any more, and by God, if somebody figures out a creative way to do it, we’ll regulate that too,” he said.

Stan Hoobing, a retired Lutheran pastor, told the lawmakers, “There is a purpose to this colorful tent city. It’s a symbol of hurt, frustration, despair about the economic situation in our country.” Hoobing urged lawmakers not to pass the bill, but instead to engage in a conversation with the Occupy participants about their concerns.