Sandpoint’s been in good hands
THERE’S A “DEEP THROAT” IN SANDPOINT, and retiring city clerk Helen Newton won’t reveal the person’s identity – not even after her last day on the job Tuesday.
Sandpoint’s Deep Throat mystery began in the early ‘80s when one of Helen’s first assignments from Mayor Sally Cupan was to find a book of City Council minutes that had disappeared. She and staff members looked for the volume in every office nook and cranny with no success.
“One day she came into City Hall with a package and a chuckle and told me she had completed her mission,” Cupan, now from Boise, recalls. “Someone had entrusted her with the missing volume on the condition that she never tell who had it. If Helen has ever told anyone, it hasn’t been me.”
Six mayors and 24 years later, Newton, a former Spokane Chronicle correspondent, still refuses to divulge the culprit.
“If that person wants to admit it, fine, but I’m not telling,” she insists. That fierce sense of loyalty and refusal to betray a confidence has carried Helen Newton through numerous municipal challenges since the day Cupan asked her, “What are you doing for the next 15 or 20 years?”
When Helen wondered why, the mayor said, “I want you to come to work as my city clerk.” After discussing the idea with her husband, Skip, Helen walked up the steps of the old City Hall at Second and Main on Aug. 1, 1981, beginning “a 24-year love affair with being Sandpoint’s city clerk.”
“It’s the best work in the world,” says the 63-year-old devout Methodist with an infectious laugh. “It’s mentioned in the Bible, you know!” Helen extended the job far beyond taking minutes and maintaining records – always demanding high standards from herself and fellow employees. Grants Pass, Ore., resident Wanda Andrews worked for the city of Sandpoint from 1987 to 2003, retiring as deputy clerk.
“Working for Helen is not an easy job,” Andrews said. “She’s a perfectionist and a real taskmaster. I learned an awful lot in the seven years and 10 months that she was my boss. I never worked harder during any seven years and 10 months in my life.”
Andrews has no regrets.
“I treasure her friendship and gained some great work ethics from being her employee,” she added.
Ethics have driven Newton almost to a fault. Where physicist Isaac Newton believed in his law of gravity, Helen Newton steadfastly follows her law of integrity. Her “Newton law” demands adherence to the truth in both public and private life.
“It’s what I am and who I am,” she says. “I’ve always been honest with people whether it’s elected officials, fellow workers or the public. They know they can trust me.”
Her consistent work ethic has earned high marks from each mayor. All have viewed her as a sounding board and an efficient worker with great attention to detail who gave absolute loyalty to whatever mayor was in power – even if she didn’t support the individual politically.
Former mayor David Sawyer – now a city administrator in Oregon – considered Helen supportive, critical and generous. Mayor Ray Miller appreciates her historical perspective and dedication to Sandpoint.
“Helen is a walking encyclopedia of city code and how it applies to this city particularly,” Miller says. “There will never be another employee that has such a complete and unqualified love of her job and the city for which she works. She sees beyond her own area to the bigger picture of the city as a whole.”
Paul Graves respected Helen’s viewpoints and experience.
“For years, it has been no secret that Helen’s incredible skills and knowledge as clerk make her invaluable in her service to the city,” says Graves, who was mayor from 2000 to 2002. “We used to joke that my job was to show up to work and do what Helen said.”
When Helen spoke, Graves listened, respecting her opinions. She also kept him on his toes when they disagreed.
“I knew I needed to be on firm ground or she would use solid logic to make me see things differently,” he recalled. “I cannot imagine being mayor and not having Helen to show me where the political land mines were.”
Helen clearly remembers several political land mines during her tenure. Most prominently, the 1988 annexation took a huge chunk of land into the city north of Baldy Road. That move prompted an unsuccessful recall effort against Mayor Ron Chaney. In the early 1980s, the city leased the Cedar Street Bridge for 99 years to developer Scott Glickenhaus – a dollar a year during the first 40 years of the lease. That decision incited an unsuccessful lawsuit aimed at the city by citizens opposing the lease. As she leaves office, the Sandpoint community is once again divided over the proposed Highway 95 byway construction, sending traffic out of downtown on a route east of Sand Creek.
In each of these controversies affecting her hometown, Helen has assumed the role of devil’s advocate.
“I try to bring up questions or statements to show the alternative viewpoint and create conversation that aids the long-term benefits to the city,” she says, “I’ve been very fortunate that the seven mayors I’ve worked for … may not have taken the path I hoped for, but they listened.”
Since announcing her retirement, Helen has worked in “frantic mode,” even coming in on Saturdays, organizing data crucial to her position and orienting incoming city clerk Maree Peck, now deputy clerk.
“She’s done so beautifully in just short of two years,” Helen says. “I’m so happy to have someone like her to pass this on to.” Peck will be among city employees honoring Helen at a luncheon Tuesday and hosting an open house from 1 to 3 p.m. at City Hall Chambers.
On her first official day of retirement, Aug. 1, Helen figures she’ll shed a tear or two while reflecting on the joys and challenges of the past 24 years. She will spend more time with her passions of quilting and grandkids.
And, this self-proclaimed “political junkie” may just add another item to her lifetime resume, which already includes malt shop waitress, bookkeeper and funeral home receptionist.
When Sandpoint’s next city election rolls around this fall, three council seats are up for grabs.
“I’ve had a number of people ask me to run for elective office, and this November I’m considering that,” she says. “I care so much for this community, and it would be good to give something back.”