Students Quiz Local Candidates Teens From Government Classes Ask About Youth Issues
It took students to stump the candidates at a forum Wednesday night for the city races in Hayden, Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene.
“Read it again?” was Coeur d’Alene Councilman Ron Edinger’s initial response to one of the toughest questions of the evening as laughter rippled through the room at the bold questioning.
Lake City High School student Liberty Harris, representing her government class, wanted to know how the Coeur d’Alene City Council would prevent future delays in council decisions.
Harris’s classmates, who attend council meetings, are concerned with the number of times issues are tabled and delayed for long periods of time, she said.
“Get them straight-back wooden chairs - these are pretty comfortable,” joked Coeur d’Alene council candidate Sam Sears, from one of the City Hall seats he will assume if elected. On the serious side, you can’t blame the council for going on and on, he said. “You have to listen to the city.”
The council generally does a good job dealing with complex issues, said Edinger, a 26-year veteran of the council, once he understood the question. The other candidates - Robert J. Wachter, Chris Copstead and incumbent Dixie Reid - all agreed the council generally does a good job.
One of the biggest problems, Reid added, is when a council member is unprepared “and boy can you tell it,” she said.
The candidates forum was held at City Hall and sponsored by the Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene chambers of commerce, and several other business groups.
Students from area government classes also put candidates on the spot about curfews, teen violence, and how youth feel targeted by city ordinances and law enforcement. Most candidates suggested there should be more opportunities for youth. Most also said yes to curfews.
Hayden mayoral candidate Mike Sperle was one of the few exceptions. “I’m not sure because I’m not at all familiar with the issue,” Sperle said.
But if parents do a good job, the government doesn’t have to spend its time and taxpayers money keeping track of children, he said.
His opponent, Gordon Andrea, supports curfews, within limits. “We cannot have 7-year-olds out at 11 o’clock at night,” he said.
Hayden City Council candidates Richard W. Cook Jr. and Susanne Dedmon talked of dealing with growth as the top issue of the town. The other candidate to attend the forum, Robert Sparr, pointed to worries about the safety of residents and programs for youth.
Karl Janson, a 14-year veteran of the Hayden City Council, was unable to attend.
From the Post Falls side, Robert Hunt continued his stealth candidacy. Hunt didn’t make the forum, didn’t make another forum Monday night, and has declined to be interviewed about the race or photographed by this newspaper.
There was optimism about Post Falls’ recent setbacks among the candidates who attended and from mayoral candidate Jim Hammond. Post Falls is losing the Louisiana-Pacific Corp. sawmill and live dog racing at Coeur d’Alene Greyhound Park.
Both mean the loss of jobs. But the town has attracted 1,000 new jobs during the past five years and “I’m confident that track record can continue,” Hammond said. His opponent, Don Kline, was not at the forum.
Post Falls council candidates Clay Larkin, Scott Grant, and Joe Bodman echoed that. All said the community will have to work harder to attract more businesses to replace the lost jobs.
Attracting more commercial and industrial growth also is essential in finding ways to spread out the cost of new schools, most of the candidates said. Bodman was the only candidate to suggest something different.
“I feel schools are getting overloaded by out-of-control growth,” he said. “I think we need to think about controlling growth a little - until schools catch up.”
, DataTimes