GOOKIN: Wrong for Cd’A mayor

I served as the Coeur d’Alene city attorney from 2002-2022. I feel compelled to comment on Dan Gookin’s campaign signs boasting of his “Proven Leadership.”

The only “proven leadership” by Mr. Gookin that I witnessed was his leadership in his failed efforts to stop the city’s urban renewal agency, the library, the Kroc Center and McEuen Park. Fortunately, his failures leading those efforts allowed ignite.cda and the city to build the library, the Kroc Center, McEuen Park, the Atlas Waterfront, and other great projects.

Mr. Gookin claims that his No. 1 priority as mayor would be to give City Council more information because currently council members are not really told anything and are kept in the dark about things going on at the city. He claims that they just don’t get a lot of information.

This is total BS. Mr. Gookin is a co-chairman of the council’s Public Works/General Services subcommittee that meets to review items going to council. Additionally, every week before each council meeting each council member is given a packet of information containing everything that is going to council at the next meeting.

Mr. Gookin has been on council for 13 years. He has access to all city staff. His emails to/from city staff reveal the volumes of information he receives. For him to say that council doesn’t get information totally misrepresents the truth. It is just politician speak for, “I don’t have any new ideas, but I’m promising to fix a nonexistent problem so that you’ll vote for me.”

I am voting for Woody McEvers because he is honest. He listens and cares about the citizens of Coeur d’Alene.

MIKE GRIDLEY

Coeur d’Alene