Gookin, Evans park themselves in hot spots

Dan Gookin found himself in the crosshairs of a government watchdog’s ire Monday after the councilman was allegedly caught parking illegally.

Gookin and fellow Council Member Amy Evans, both of whom participated as committee members during Monday’s noon General Services meeting at the public library on Front Street, confirm they parked their vehicles in the city’s 15-minute stalls. The meeting, which generally lasts between five and 15 minutes, ran long because of an attempt to correct a technical glitch during the first presentation on the agenda.

“The General Services meeting is generally pretty short,” Gookin told the Coeur d’Alene Press. “I’m usually gone within 15 minutes. Because of the extra time with the water booster station item, the [Monday] meeting ran a little longer.”

“Traditionally, General Services meetings are usually very, very, short,” Evans added. “I was running behind, and I had to choose between getting to the meeting on time, where it was televised, and where to park. So I parked in the 15-minute stall. The meeting went longer than usual, and I also stopped after the meeting to talk to a citizen.”

Casey Whalen was on hand with a volunteer and a pair of video cameras to report on what he said in the video he believed was a Visioning meeting, rather than the General Services meeting. He documented Gookin’s vehicle, not realizing at the time Evans owned the other vehicle in the second 15-minute stall.

Whalen went to City Hall’s front desk to report the alleged transgression and later posted video of the incident on his YouTube channel, North Idaho Exposed, titling the link, “Gookin & Evans: People With Special Privileges,” complete with an intro mimicking the popular NBC show “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

City Clerk Renata McLeod confirmed city staff was, indeed, notified of the incident. She emphasized that 15-minute parking stalls are intended to encourage drivers occupying those stalls to conduct business, something Gookin and Evans were both doing at the time.

“If someone parked there, unloaded their coolers and headed down to the beach, we’d have a problem with that,” McLeod said. “That’s not what was happening [Monday].”

While City Code 4.15.060, the regulations governing the public parking lot adjacent to City Hall, does not specifically mention 15-minute parking, 4.15.040 specifies that “all persons within a City parking facility shall obey posted regulations and/or the direction of an authorized parking official.”

The transgression comes as the Coeur d’Alene City Council is embroiled with a passionate citizenry over a recent parking cost increase in certain lots. At the most recent City Council meeting July 16, the council heard nearly two hours’ worth of public testimony decrying how the May increases marginalized low-income residents and created a disconnect between the public and its government.

Whalen said via email the incident shows a lack of accountability the people should not ignore.

“They are not accountable,” Whalen responded. “Moreso, they have explicitly shown they do not take their own ordinances they passed seriously. So why should the people?”

The watchdog leader did not specify how long Evans was parked, but he estimated Gookin’s Jeep remained in the stall for nearly an hour. While Evans said she wasn’t certain she was in the stall for longer than the 15-minute threshold, she emphasized if she did the crime, she’d do the time.

“I fully expect to get a ticket,” she said, “and I would absolutely own my responsibility to it. If I violated the law, I take full responsibility for my actions.”

“This is about principle,” Whalen told The Press. “You can’t have folks in a position of power abusing the very [law] they have passed. This allows for a dual system of law, where the powerful are able to ignore it, and the plebs are forced to comply.”

Gookin said he’s glad someone is holding him accountable.

“The good news is, we can use this to get the message out,” he said. “Those are legitimate 15-minute spaces. That’s a message I really want to get out: We really should respect the law … Let’s leave the 15-minute parking to the moms who pull in with a bunch of kids to enroll them in soccer. That’s what those spots are for.”

As for Whalen, Gookin said he holds no ill will.

“It’s a civic duty thing,” Gookin said. “I think it was poking a stick at a public official, which [Whalen] absolutely has a right to do.”