City Administrator Getting Acquainted

Coeur d’Alene’s new city administrator spent his first day introducing himself to city employees on Monday.

Bill Panos, 37, of Long Beach, Calif., said his title for the next two weeks will be “student.”

“I’m going to learn and listen,” he said.

Panos - who last year helped direct facilities programs for the nation’s second-largest school district with 800,000 students - spent a few summers as a kid throwing hay bales near Priest Lake.

He’s finally made it back to North Idaho.

Panos replaces Dan Dible, who said he resigned last December at the request of Mayor Steve Judy.

Dible held the post only four months, after city leaders ousted longtime administrator Ken Thompson in January 1999.

“I’m very excited,” Panos said. “This is a great opportunity and something where my skills can be applied.”