Wolfinger keeps eye on politics

Outgoing Coeur d’Alene Councilman Ben Wolfinger has big plans for 2006.

He’s going to tie some flies and use them to catch some fish. He may even read a few books and spend a little more time at home.

At noon Tuesday, Wolfinger will step down from the council, ending his five years of service. The clerk will swear in Mike Kennedy, who won a three-way race in November, to replace him.

Wolfinger, 44, chose not to run for re-election because his work as a Kootenai County sheriff captain left little time for city business or family. He had to give up something, especially after the Groene family murders this summer caused Wolfinger to rack up 100 hours of overtime in the first 13 days.

“I got to the point I didn’t feel I was giving people what they should expect of me,” Wolfinger said. “I was missing more meetings than I was making, and that’s wrong.”

Wolfinger became the face for the investigation and the Sheriff’s Department, giving updates around the clock from the Wolf Lodge murder scene. His face became so familiar to a national audience that when he traveled to Honduras in August to join his son for a church-based medical mission, a volunteer from Alabama recognized him.

Wolfinger was appointed to the council in 2000 to fill a seat vacated by Councilwoman Nancy Sue Wallace, who had moved out of the city limits. He was then elected in November 2001.

His interest in politics isn’t satisfied. He readily admits he has larger aspirations, perhaps the Idaho Legislature. But he must wait 6.5 years until he is eligible for retirement with the Sheriff’s Department.

“We’ll just have to see where it goes,” Wolfinger said.

He thinks his biggest influence on the city was helping it figure out how to market itself to the public – the taxpayers who pay the bills.

When he first joined the council and was appointed to the Public Works Committee, he saw that the water, sewer and roads departments weren’t showcasing their accomplishments, such as pumping 31 million gallons of water in 24 hours one hot summer day.

Now, he said, the city staff makes sure people know about these things.

Wolfinger said the city is running more smoothly than ever and thinks Kennedy will be a good addition. His advice to the new councilman is to “make decisions with your head, not your heart.”

Kennedy, 36, will become the youngest member of the council.

He ran on a platform focusing on children, open space and handling the city’s recent population explosion.

“Right now my first goal is to understand the process,” said Kennedy, who works for the software company XDimensional Technologies. “It’s a learning curve, and I think it will take me about six months to understand the flow of things.”

Council members Deanna Goodlander and Woody McEvers won re-election in November and also will take the oath of office at the meeting.

In Post Falls, the swearing-in ceremony for Councilmen Joe Bodman and Ron Johnson, who both won re-election in November, is Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Mayor Clay Larkin also won re-election but won’t attend the swearing-in because he had heart bypass surgery last week.

City Administrator Jim Hammond said the oath is just ceremonial and won’t be repeated when Larkin returns to work in about six weeks.