Cda Council Adds Member Ben Wolfinger, Sheriff’S Department Captain, Selected To Replace Nancy Sue Wallace

The Coeur d’Alene City Council voted Tuesday to appoint Ben Wolfinger as its newest member.

Mayor Steve Judy selected Wolfinger, a captain and spokesman for the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department, to replace Nancy Sue Wallace.

“I’m excited about the challenge,” the 39-year-old Wolfinger said.

Wallace resigned Dec. 6 because she plans to move into a new house near Hayden Lake Golf Course, which is outside Coeur d’Alene city limits.

Wallace also served as council president and on the Coeur d’Alene Urban Renewal Agency. On Tuesday, the council appointed Councilman Chris Copstead to become the new council president. It also voted to appoint Councilwoman Deanna Goodlander to serve on the Urban Renewal Agency.

All votes were unanimous.

The meeting also was the first for new City Administrator Bill Panos.

Panos, 37, of Long Beach, Calif., last year helped direct facilities programs for the nation’s second-largest school district with 800,000 students. He replaces Dan Dible, who said he resigned last December at the request of Judy. Dible held the post only four months, after city leaders ousted longtime administrator Ken Thompson in January 1999.