Steve Anthony: Been here all along

COEUR d'ALENE - Steve Anthony is the longest-tenured city employee in Coeur d'Alene. He was hired as a recreation supervisor in 1975, when Councilman Ron Edinger was the sitting mayor.

He has stayed in that department for 39 years, and has since become the Director of Recreation at the city, but that will change before he retires.

Anthony started when Red Halprin was the Parks and Recreation Director. Two years before Halprin retired the city separated the Parks Department from the Recreations Department and Anthony landed the job of Director of Recreation.

Ironically, the city just decided to re-combine the two departments, and Anthony will become the Director of Parks and Recreation before he retires.

He got his bachelor's degree in parks and recreation management at University of Idaho and later when he became director in 1985, he went to night school to earn a master's degree in sport and facilities management.

Anthony said he owes a lot of his success to the sacrifices his family made for him.

"I have a very supportive wife and family," he said. "My kids have to give up a lot of time with me."

Anthony said a recreation director's hours are not 9-to-5, and he found himself working many nights and weekends.

He also credits his staff for helping to ease the pressures of the job and for freeing him up to facilitate the development of the city's Art's Commission.

Did you start at the city right out of college?

Actually, I didn't start right out of college. I drove a school bus for about six months for the school district and then the position opened up at the city.

A school bus driver? How was that for an experience?

I actually enjoyed it because I got to learn a lot about kids. There is a big difference between the morning drive to school and the afternoon drive home from school.

In the afternoon, the kids have all this pent-up energy that they couldn't expend in school, so it was little more challenging on the afternoon drive home.

I had a rural route in the Blue Creek area and Yellowstone Trail, so you get to know the kids a little bit that live up Blue Creek because you get to spend a little more time with them.

Those last couple of kids you spend 15 minutes with them just visiting and talking, so it was actually a growing experience. I am glad I did it because now I have a lot of empathy for school bus drivers.

That was in 1974, and I drove from September to Jan. 1 when I started with the city.

What was your first job at the city?

I started as the Recreation Supervisor.

So you have been in the same department the whole time you have been with the city?

Yeah, I have been here the whole time.

The city was much smaller back in 1974. How have things changed?

Yes, but I have always had a very active recreation department because back then we were the only game in town. There was no Little League back then. There was no Sting soccer. There was no AAU basketball - everything went through the city recreations department. Junior tackle went through the rec department.

I guess you are right; I played junior tackle right out there on McEuen Field.

Yes, that was actually a city program. The city bought all of the equipment. I remember when we took on eighth grade, we collected all of the aluminum beer cans from all of the bars in town to raise the money to buy the helmets and all of the other equipment.

So you put that program together?

Yes, we put that together where we collected beer cans, and we hired a part-time guy - that was Jack Foster - to go around and collect them. They would call us and Jack would go around town picking up beer cans and we recycled them to pay for everything.

What are some of the other things that have changed?

There was no Title IX back then either, but we were a little ahead of the times. We had a girls softball program and we actually started girls basketball before Title IX.

We were one of the first ones to create girls sports programs, and now I can't say exactly how much, but I estimate that over 40 percent of our participation is from females.

All they used to have for girls was dance and baton, so we were one of the first departments to expand those programs. We started soccer and co-ed softball ... stuff like that.

So when did you become the staff liaison to the Arts Commission?

That would have been during Mayor Sandi Bloem's first term. I volunteered for that position.

What was the learning curve on that?

100 percent, because the only thing we ever had at the department was the kids arts and craft program.

Did you have an art background or are you an art collector?

No art background whatsoever. I've only bought one painting and that was at the Taste of Coeur d'Alenes from the artist.

From there until now, hasn't the city has accumulated almost $1 million in art?

I think we have added - if you throw out the utility boxes - we've added about 20 significant pieces of art. That's not an exact number, I have been trying to figure that out.

You start with the umbrellas and the bears and the roundabouts. And then there are the (wastewater pieces). Even though there are eight pieces down there, that is probably really three different individual pieces.

And then you know the utility boxes, that program has just been phenomenal. That's been a hit for everybody.

So, you have really come a long way with the Arts Commission haven't you?

I would put for a city our size - the Arts Commission not only does the art - they also do kids art program with a 160 kids at the Harding Center. The arts awards, we probably - for a city of our size - have one of the best art programs in the Northwest by far. Nobody matches us.

I get calls from Huntington Beach, Federal Way, maybe Bellevue, but that's a lot bigger city. I get calls from Houston, Brooklyn New York on the signal boxes and people just passing through.

Again, it is not me, it's the Arts Commission. It is the tremendous volunteers and the dedication they have.

So, in 39 years there had to be some ups and downs.

Yes, but a lot more ups than downs. I've weathered a lot of mayors.

Politically, what were some of the tougher times?

The toughest time would have been Red's last two years when they were splitting the departments. It was tough time politically for Red, which kind of filtered down to the staff. So that would be the toughest time.

Doug Eastwood was the Parks Supervisor back then, and I was the Recreation Supervisor, and we could kind of see it coming. Doug got named Parks Director, and later I was named Recreation Director.

The one thing Doug and I had was mutual respect for each other. We always bounced things off of each other. We really didn't draw lines in the sand saying this is parks and this is recreation.

And now that is coming back full circle isn't it?

We don't really know what the game plan is just yet. Just some preliminary things and stuff like that, but we are coming back together.

Are you up to leading that effort to bring the departments back together?

I wouldn't have agreed to it if I wasn't up to the challenge. I have been fortunate to have a very supportive staff. Because I have such great staff I have been afforded the opportunity to do things like the Arts Commission and stuff like that. I have 100 percent trust in all of my people.

On the parks side they have some really great people too.

So it should be a pretty smooth transition?

Yeah, I think so. If I would have seen any red flags, I would have had to question what I was getting myself into. One thought is when I began here, the departments were together and maybe that's a good way to go out. Now we come full circle. My wish is everything is seamless, and goes well.

Mainly we all work for the public and it really is for the benefit of the public. It's all a team effort - no one person can take credit for this.

So do you have a target date for when you retire?

I have made a commitment to the city to stay a certain period of time, and I will honor that commitment. So basically, when they decided to combine the departments, I did postpone my retirement but I gave a commitment to stay a certain amount of time, but it is not indefinite. I still plan to retire.

I am not a die-at-the-desk kind of person.

For example, I just had some cousin come up for a visit and I gave them the tour and they said: "Wow, this is such a neat place." I take pride when people say "Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, you are so lucky to live there."

It's everything, it's not just the parks and all that, it's the whole community and I am a little part of that. I take pride in being a part of Coeur d'Alene.