Longtime councilman Woody McEvers sworn in as CdA mayor

Coeur d’Alene City Council President Woody McEvers took his oath as the city’s new mayor Tuesday night, replacing Jim Hammond who retired last week for health reasons.

McEvers, 76, has served on the council since 2002. Before that he served on the planning commission for five years.

After swearing in McEvers, the council elected Councilman Dan English as president.

Last month Hammond attempted to nominate former fire chief Kenny Gabriel to fill McEver’s council seat, but opposing council members said they wanted the public to be more involved in the process. The seat remains open.

The council unanimously appointed McEvers at a July 31 meeting after Hammond announced he would step down.

McEvers moved to Coeur d’Alene from Southern California in 1978. He has co-owned Rustler’s Roost restaurant, now located in Hayden, with his brother Daren since 1983.

He will serve out the remainder of Hammond’s four-year term through the end of next year.

McEvers said his biggest goal is to improve communication with the public.

“I think it is important for people to know what we do, why we do it and how much it costs,” he said.

A longer-term issue is housing – not a quick fix he thinks he can solve in 16 months.

Coeur d’Alene’s mayoral post is an administrative position where the mayor sets the agenda, conducts meetings and breaks tie votes on the council. After serving on the council for so many years, the new role will take some getting used to, he said.

McEvers was instrumental in the creation of Coeur d’Alene’s government cable TV station, CDA-TV in 2004.

The city’s skate park was renamed for him in 2021 in honor of his efforts to get it built a few years earlier. A stone monument at the park quotes him, “Dude, make it cool.”