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One week before their candidate forum, the North Idaho Builders-Political Action Committee’s endorsements leaked to the press. Although we cannot disclose the source of the information, it is deemed credible.

We interviewed 2026 mayoral candidates sitting Mayor Woody McEvers and Councilman Dan Gookin in June. We invited the other candidates today. To avoid conflict of interests all CDA News content and reporting will be handled by the employees. There is a significant possiblity the site will be on hiatus until the end of the election or the end of the next mayoral term.

City leaders continue to grapple with growth and demand for living downtown. Nearly two dozen meetings have taken place to find a solution to building allowances and heights downtown. Here are several possible scenarios:

The flavor we are hearing right now is that potentially no more towers should be added to Front Street or Sherman Avenue. This is an ongoing story and will be updated regularly.

Mayoral candidate Dan Gookin recently floated the idea of compensating city employees for cost-saving measures they discover and implement. While his proposal lacked details consider the following scenario as an example.

Picture this: “Thank you for saving the city $40,000, Mr. Jones. On your next paycheck, we will give you a bonus of $40!” While the savings in this scenario are great for taxpayers, the monetary reward for city staff pales in comparison to the savings. A bonus of $400 would be more exciting to the employee. But, where do you draw the line? How would the city differentiate last-minute, money-saving changes from poor planning or vetting? Isn’t efficient spending part of the job? Isn’t that what engaged employees do? Gookin’s idea comes across as if he has never led an organization or a group of people. It takes extra time and effort to change course in a bureaucracy and implement cost savings. To put a number on it devalues the intrinsic motivation.

We need engaged city employees. But even more, we need engaged citizens. City staff can’t be everywhere all the time, but citizens are! Consider how one citizen noticed this problem in the park:

City beach exhibits erosion.

Four days later the erosion increased and undermined the sidewalk. An engaged citizen contacted city officials to report the issue.  “[The Parks Department] was unaware of the erosion, probably caused by a broken sprinkler head. A crew will fix it shortly.”

Thankfully, the city fixed the issue and the beach and sprinkler are as good as new.

The Coeur d’Alene Historic Preservation Commission was recently informed by the U.S. Park Service that the City’s downtown Garden District neighborhood has been officially listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Letters from the Idaho State Historic Preservation Office informing residents of the listing were mailed out Wednesday to all registered property owners in the Garden District. 

The Garden District is one of Coeur d’Alene’s oldest neighborhoods, featuring houses built primarily from 1890 to 1940. Found within its borders are the homes of many of the people who built Coeur d’Alene – the doctors, bankers, lawyers, architects, builders and early mayors — as well as more modest homes originally occupied by everyday citizens and millworkers.

The neighborhood features an array or prewar housing styles, from classic bungalows to elegant Queen Annes; from tudor revivals to striking art deco designs.

The newly designated historic district contains over 500 primary buildings and nearly 400 outbuildings, and stretches roughly from Lakeside Avenue to Montana Avenue, and 5^th Street to 11^th Street.

The effort to recognize the neighborhood’s historic significance began when a group of Garden District neighbors approached historian Robert Singletary, then the Chair of the Kootenai County Historic Preservation Commission, with the idea of placing their neighborhood on the National Register. That commission subsequently applied for and received a grant from the Idaho State Historic Preservation Office to conduct a reconnaissance survey of the district.

On completion of that survey, the project was handed over to the newly formed Coeur d’Alene Historic Preservation Commission, which applied for another State grant to officially nominate the Garden District to the National Register of Historic Places.  

A special “Garden District Weekend” has been planned to commemorate the neighborhood’s new status. The Museum of North Idaho will conduct a tour of the Garden District on Saturday, May 31. The following day, Sunday, June 1, the Historic Preservation Commission and the Garden District Board of Directors will host an event in Phippeny Park to officially celebrate the listing of the neighborhood in the National Register of Historic Places. For more information, please contact Historic Preservation Commission Chair Walter Burns at (415) 259-7000.

https://www.cdaid.org/Home/ShowPage?path=7196

Learn more about the Garden district here.

Coeur d’Alene makes national news, again, for something negative. A North Idaho College employee who ran for public office, Teresa Borrenpohl, was dragged out of a town hall, nearly losing her shirt. The CDA Press reported phenomenally despite reports of their credentialed reporter being “hit in the face by a security guard” and leaving early because “[she didn’t] feel safe [there].” We witnessed a cut over her eyebrow. The KCRCC and Lear Asset Management subsequently faced a rebuke from the city and Coeur d’Alene Police Chief White. One must wonder, will the sheriff resign? Will the KCRCC take responsibility for its actions? A video on it’s Facebook page seems to indicate the KCRCC is endorsing and explaining the treatment of Ms. Borrenpohl.

Watch the removal of Ms. Borrenpohl here. Below is a video from a different side of the room. Many senior citizens are booing, walking out, standing up, and yelling at the moderator, Ed Bejarana, and “interrupting” the town hall. None were physically removed. This creates a question: Was Teresa Borrenpohl targeted because of politics?

Ed Bejarana, creator and former host of the now-defunct podcast, Idaho Speaks, loudly proclaimed to the “Rabble Rousers” in the crowd, “Your voice is meaningless now.” However, not one candidate backed by the KCRCC won seats on the Coeur d’Alene City Council or the NIC Board of Trustees. The people’s choice resulted in NIC being back on track to full accreditation. Ironic? Maybe it is the KCRCC whose voice is meaningless now. Certainly, they lose credibility by doubling down on this tragic event.