Athol mayor who exposed embezzlement running for first full term

ATHOL — Mayor Darla Kuhman, who has been in office for a year and a half, is seeking her first full term.

Kuhman, 49, is a graduate of Sandpoint High School and currently works as a paralegal and mediator. She was City Council President when longtime Athol Mayor Lanny Spurlock died, and she was appointed to his position.

"Working in the legal field has provided me with a large base of professional contacts in which I can reach out to on the multitude of issues that face a municipality," she said.

Kuhman discovered and turned in a now former city clerk for embezzlement. Sally Hansen this summer was sentenced to prison for embezzling $417,879 from the city.

Kuhman faced opposition when she made her discovery public.

"It was the right thing to do and I would do it again," she said.

Kuhman also is running a nonprofit glass recycling company, Coeur d'Alene Glass Recycling Company.

"Both of these accomplishments have given me the confidence to know that I can do anything that I put my mind to doing," she said.

She started the city's newsletter that goes out with the city water bill so residents can stay informed about city meetings and events.

"I believe that taxpayers should always have a say in what is going on in their city," she said.

She created the city website to provide additional information for citizens and tourists to the area.

"I have struggled to clean up our city community center to make it more available for citizens and others to use," she said.

She believes she has started Athol down a path of improvement.

"I would like it to continue and not revert back to the way it was," she said. "I have to finish what I began, and I love this town and the people who support and need me to be there when they can't or do not know how."

The city needs to continue the embezzlement investigation, and work to get the city's money back, she said.

"We can't just forget about it," she said. "I still have that feeling that there is more to it."

She added, "As soon as I became mayor I discovered embezzlement that had been going on literally under my opponent's nose in an office where he had been working for years closely with Sally Hansen, and he had never saw it."

Her opponent, Bob Wachter, was the city public works and water-system operator. He is now retired.