Reid will not seek council re-election

After 26 years in office, the first woman elected to the Coeur d’Alene City Council will not run again.

Dixie Reid, 64, said Thursday the passion she had for serving the community has waned because of “nasty negativity” from a small but vocal group of critics.

“They’re anti-everything,” she said. “You name it, they’re against it.”

She also said she made her decision on a spiritual basis, after talking with God.

Reid and Councilman Mike Kennedy recently were the subjects of a critical video posted on Google, created by Coeur d’Alene resident Dan Gookin. Gookin and others have questioned the role of the Lake City Development Corp., the city’s urban renewal agency, in funding private development.

The video clip, taken from a City Council meeting and titled “Dissent is not allowed in Coeur d’Alene,” shows Reid shaking her finger at a speaker during a public comment period.

Gookin and others also have questioned how the city helped fund the Kroc Community Center.

“The whole thing really put me in a state of high stress,” said Reid, who represents the council on the urban renewal agency’s board.

Though she considered seeking re-election “to counteract all of this nasty negativity,” Reid said she decided she would be running for the wrong reasons.

Her decision not to seek re-election has been a year and a half in the making – and was influenced by God, she said.

“I have an extreme faith in God, and about a year ago last January, he started tapping me on the shoulder and saying, ‘You know, maybe it’s time we do something else, here,’ ” Reid said. “I said, ‘Oh, I don’t think so. I’m still having fun.’ “

Reid said God told her to “think about it a little bit.”

“We played that game, God and I did, for over a year, and he finally got my attention,” she said. “I said, ‘It’s time for me to do something different.’ “

The interior designer said she will devote more attention to her husband, children and grandchildren, and to her business.

In 1975, Reid became the first woman elected to the council. She served two years, lost a re-election bid, then ran again and was elected in 1983. She was re-elected five more times.

“The thing I’m very most proud of is the people who have entrusted me to represent them for 26 years,” she said.

Reid is chairwoman of the city’s Public Works Committee and the Enough is Enough substance abuse committee, and she serves on the Kootenai Metropolitan Planning Organization board.

Her council seat is one of three up for election in November. So far, no one has filed for candidacy.

Incumbent Al Hassell on Thursday indicated he will run again. Hassell has appointed a campaign treasurer and filed notice of that appointment with the city. Councilman Ron Edinger said Thursday he likely will file for re-election sometime next week.

Edinger said he was sorry to hear Reid won’t be running.

“She’s been a good councilperson,” he said. “We disagreed on issues in the past, but I think all in all she had the best interest of the city and the people of Coeur d’Alene at heart at all times.”

Hassell said he understood Reid’s decision. “It is a lot of work, and it takes away from family and work and everything else,” he said, “and she’s been doing it for a long time.”

So far, none of the critics Reid alluded to has filed. “Obviously, that’s a possibility,” Hassell said, “but I think our voters in Coeur d’Alene are smart enough to pick out the ones that will be a benefit to the community.”