EDITORIAL: Surfin' mayor misses out on awesome wave

Welcome to the hot seat, Woody.

Coeur d’Alene’s Mayor-in-Waiting, Woody McEvers, won’t officially take over for Jim Hammond until Sept. 1. But Tuesday’s City Council meeting, the last with Hammond presiding, provided a blast of cold water in the face of his replacement, who looks like he could still grab a board and do some gnarly California surfin’.

McEvers knows the ins and outs of city government like few others. He’s represented his district since 2002, cruising to victory over and over again because he’s essentially everything you want in a friend and almost nothing you want in an elected official.

But Woody wiped out Tuesday night when his bid to name former fire chief Kenny Gabriel to fill the soon-to-be-vacant council seat was defeated in a 3-3 tie.

Now, to be crystal clear, if there’s a better candidate for council than Kenny Gabriel, may he or she please step forward. 

Gabriel offers everything a Lake City resident could want: smarts, intimate municipal knowledge, respect for taxpayers and love for his community — a package topped with a bow of humility that comes directly from the heart.

It’s a matter of record that in voting against McEvers’ anointed one, Dan Gookin, Christie Wood and Dan English were not voting against Kenny Gabriel. They were voting against the process.

Without getting too deep in the seaweed, the mayor has the authority to appoint the person who fills a vacant City Council seat, pending council approval. But Wood, English and Gookin encouraged Woody to take a different approach: Rather than pull a name out of a suspenseful hat Tuesday night, open the process to the community. 

The recommendation to do everything out in the open, encouraging nominations from citizens, conducting open interviews, was not the path Woody chose. In these days of heightened skepticism about governmental backroom deals, the mayor-elect instead stuck with his lone preference.

That’s lamentable on several levels. For one, Mayor Jim Hammond's final meeting was pockmarked with unnecessary infighting. He who has long governed so conscientiously, a straight-backed consensus builder and political minefield navigator, now leaves for Colorado with a heavy chip on his council’s shoulder.

Gabriel’s bona fides likely would have launched him into the vacancy after a public process anyway. Will he now be erroneously viewed as damaged goods, eliminated unnecessarily while depriving the community of an outstanding public servant?

A strong city council represents different viewpoints that sometimes stoke disagreement. That’s not just natural; it’s healthy. 

Fortunately, the failed first attempt of the mayor-elect can still end happily for all concerned. Mayor Woody can chalk this one up as a valuable lesson learned in local leadership’s hottest of hot seats. 

There's time to surf atop deep, shark-free waters with openness and civic engagement shining on his shoulders, dude.