McEvers: 'Look for the good'

Mayor Woody McEvers. 

It’s a title he’s still getting used to. 

Since he took the seat of the city’s highest-elected office Sept. 1, friends have congratulated him, as well as given him a hard time. 

“Do we bow down?” some have joked.

A few have hinted at favors from the man in charge.

“They think I can fix things,” McEvers said, shaking his head.

Praise and compliments don’t go over well with the old-school McEvers. 

“I’m a better giver than a receiver,” he said. “It’s humbling right now."

Asked what his pay is as mayor, McEvers shrugged. He didn’t know. 

“I couldn’t tell you. I know you get paid,” he said. “I don’t know what. I don't know. I don’t care.” 

No surprise.  

This is the same guy who had a skate park dedicated to him in 2021 in Coeur d’Alene. A rock wall there bears his name and picture with his quote, “Dude, make it cool.” 

“It doesn’t need my name on it. That’s silly,” he said.

But he is pretty cool.

The 76-year-old isn’t a stickler for details. Money is not his motivator. Nor is power.  

“I'm not a politician. I’m kind of naive to it. I’m here to take care of people,” he said. 

He’s a big-picture guy. He’s known for an upbeat, positive outlook. It’s something he learned growing up from mom, an astrologer.

“Everything in my life was always, ‘Look for the good’ because I’m not good with the bad,” he said. 

Being happy, McEvers said, beats the alternative. 

“It feels good,” he said. 

For the next 15 and a half months, the longtime Coeur d’Alene resident will lead the city. He'll be its face. He steps in for former Mayor Jim Hammond, who resigned to move to Colorado and be near family. 

He has experience in government.

McEvers served on a traffic safety committee in the '90s before joining Planning and Zoning for about five years, and then earned a post on the City Council in 2002. He's been there since.

He has loved serving on the council because he readily admits, he doesn’t know all the answers of all the issues that come before it.

That's the beauty of it. He doesn't have to.

“You ask questions. You learn and you try and make good decisions," McEvers said.

Being mayor is different. He doesn’t vote unless the council deadlocks. His role is more to guide the process, offer input and keep order.

“I’m not sure how it’s supposed to go,” he said. 

But he does know he wants to focus on communication and let citizens know what the city is doing with streets or parks or law enforcement, he wants to explain how and why it impacts them. He’s thinking about bringing back coffee with the mayor.

McEvers doesn’t have any other firm mayoral goals. Rather, he looks for opportunities as they arise.

“It’s just a matter of putting things together," he said.

McEvers was born in Chicago and raised Santa Monica, Calif. His first job at 16 was a bag boy at a grocery store. He remembers it well because it put him in a position where he talked with people. He became comfortable meeting strangers and striking up conversations as if they were old friends, which he still does today. 

“I loved it,” he said. 

He was the high school mascot, dressed as the king with cape and crown. In school, he tended toward industrial arts and theater. 

“High school was fun for me,” McEvers aid. 

Beyond the classroom, he was the laid-back surfer. He loved the freedom of riding the waves in California and Hawaii. 

When he gets the chance, he still does. 

“Not big stuff,” he said. 

Over the years, he worked in photography, sailing and bartending at the Elks Club. It was there he heard from the old-timers that he came to respect and admire. 

“I loved listening to their stories. I learned history,” he said. 

He said understanding the past makes one appreciate the present. 

“The past is how we got here. History is important to me. I appreciate the past. It’s part of who I am, how I’ve learned things," McEvers said.

McEvers considers himself low key and economical. He doesn’t need “stuff.” When he travels in his Suburban, he often sleeps at a truck stop. 

“I still like to get down to basics,” he said. “Maybe that’s who I am.” 

He’s been in the restaurant business more than 40 years, owning Rustler's Roost since 1983 with his brother, Daren McEvers. For a time, they had two restaurants, one in downtown Coeur d’Alene and one in Hayden. In the late '90s they closed the Sherman Avenue site because it was too much operating two full-time operations.

“You learn as much from failures to keep you moving in other directions,” he said. 

As councilman, McEvers has been involved in key city developments, like Riverstone and McEuen Park. He stands behind those projects and believes they have proven to have big benefits.

"Everything isn’t perfect, but from how it used to be, it’s pretty darn good," he said.

When his time as mayor is up, McEvers hasn’t decided if he’ll run for office. He has family and grandchildren he wants to be with and said perhaps it’s time to make way for others to serve the city. 

“I’m getting older. I’m looking at what's important,” McEvers said. “Life is full. I guess I’m realizing that’s who I am.” 

He said in the months ahead, he’ll do his best to be honest and fair. And he expects to learn a great deal.

“Maybe that’s my whole purpose here, is to learn new things," he said.

He might be happy to learn the mayor of Coeur d'Alene makes $38,400 a year.