Learning from the past: Widmyer honors former mayors at Cd'A Rotary

COEUR d'ALENE - When Mayor Steve Widmyer agreed to speak on leadership, he realized he hasn't been in office long enough to lean on his own experience - so he honored eight predecessors.

"Some of you may have recently heard that I was awarded by the Inlander Magazine the title of North Idaho's Best Elected Official," he told a room full of Coeur d'Alene Rotarians. "I thought that was a pretty cool honor, but I got some mixed reactions from other people."

City Attorney Mike Gridley popped his bubble when he jokingly told the mayor, "You do realize that bar is pretty low."

That got Widmyer thinking: What has he accomplished so far as mayor?

"I was just elected to office and I haven't had the time to get much done," he said. "Maybe what voters want are elected officials who don't do anything."

Widmyer said since it was primary election season, he called Range NW to develop a campaign slogan for all the candidates who are running.

"And we came up with 'Vote for me. I am way better at doing nothing than Steve Widmyer,'" he joked.

But the city has been busy, Widmyer said. City staff is engaged in the reconstruction of McEuen Park and Front Avenue, and Widmyer has established a selection committee to pick the new police chief.

"We have some big shoes to fill with Wayne Longo," Widmyer said, adding the committee should be able to select the new chief in a couple of months.

Other great things are happening in Coeur d'Alene, as well. The mayor pointed out that Kootenai Health is launching a $57 million expansion, and the higher education community is working to build out the education corridor.

He said the city's "Four Corners" project is also progressing well.

"But today, the thing I want to focus on is leadership," he said. "I have had a short time in office, and I haven't had a chance to accomplish much.

"So I want to talk about the people in the last 44 years who have accomplished a lot."

Since 1970, Coeur d'Alene's population has grown from 16,776 people to 45,579. The workforce has gone from 12,776 workers to 66,039.

The economy has shifted from a natural resource economy to a much more diversified economy, and Widmyer said Coeur d'Alene was lucky to have the leaders it did during that time period.

He gave a little history of each mayor and some of their accomplishments.

Widmyer said the words most often used to describe former mayor John McHugh, who was elected from 1970 through 1974, were that "John is a real class act."

Ron Edinger has served the city for 44 years. He was mayor from 1974 to 1978, and has been on the city council ever since.

Don Johnston served from 1978 to 1982. He started a program called "Coeur d'Alene Tomorrow."

Jim Fromm served as mayor from 1982 to 1986. He was well known for preserving public access to Lake Coeur d'Alene.

Ray Stone was elected to the mayor's office from 1986 to 1994. He earned the city many national awards, including Idaho's first All American City Award from then-President George H.W. Bush.

Mayor Al Hassell served from 1994 to 1998. He formed the Lake City Development Corp. and oversaw major changes in the Ramsey Road reconstruction project and east Sherman Avenue.

Steve Judy served from 1998 to 2002, and at age 28, was the youngest mayor of Coeur d'Alene. He was nicknamed "The Boy Mayor," and worked on the Northwest Boulevard reconstruction.

Finally, Mayor Sandi Bloem, who served as mayor from 2002 to 2014, was the city's first female mayor. She is well known for her accomplishments, including the Kroc Center, the downtown library, McEuen Park and the higher education corridor.

"So I wanted to thank these incredible individuals," Widmyer said. "What they did - these eight individuals - they raised the bar pretty high for me. I can only hope that I can reach the level of service that they gave the city of Coeur d'Alene."