Mica Kidd fire commissioner appointed

A vacant seat on the Mica Kidd Island Fire District board of commissioners was filled this week, concluding a divisive chapter in the community.

Fire District Commission Chairman Chris Shelton was recalled in November, and now Coeur d'Alene attorney and relatively new volunteer firefighter J. Kelso Lindsay has been appointed to take his place.

"It's funny, I really never had any intention or desire to get into politics, and now here I am representing the desires of hundreds of people in my district," Lindsay said Thursday.

He said he "will definitely give it my best effort."

Lindsay was selected by Commissioners Jim Smith and Larry Mundt on Tuesday. Had the two commissioners differed on which of the half-dozen applicants should get the appointment, it would have come down to a coin flip. That didn't happen.

Shelton was one of the applicants, along with some who worked on his recall.

"I didn't envy the two commissioners on the process they had to go through," district fire chief Jason Blubaum said Thursday. "It wasn't easy for them."

Blubaum said he hopes Lindsay works to heal the wounds the recall process inflicted on the community.

Lindsay will serve the remainder of Shelton's term, which runs until January 2016.

The fire district has 24 volunteer firefighters and serves 1,800 year-round residents, though that number swells significantly in the summer and includes three summer camps.