Thanks in part to the theatrics that led up to it, Dennis Hession’s installation as mayor of Spokane drew the most attention among a number of local government realignments in the region this week. Because a new year brims with opportunity, though, an aggregate view of the situation is in order.

Not only has Hession replaced recalled Mayor Jim West in Spokane, but Councilman Joe Shogan has taken over Hession’s former role as council president. The council now must select a replacement for Shogan from Council District 3, which will make newly elected Councilwoman Nancy McLaughlin the senior council member representing northwest Spokane.

Meanwhile, the Spokane Valley City Council reinstalled Diana Wilhite as its ceremonial mayor but elected a new deputy mayor, Steve Taylor, in a contested race.

Across the state line in Coeur d’Alene, new City Councilman Mike Kennedy was sworn in this week, too, urging constituents to flood him with ideas.

For the record, two of Spokane County’s three county commissioners – Mark Richard and Todd Mielke – are only a year into their own terms. Fresh faces abound.

What links these and other local government leaders is the fact they reside in the same region, and their decisions impact an overlapping constituency with interlocking concerns. The political divisions that show up on maps make a world of difference in terms of tax collections and service delivery, but are mostly invisible to residents who routinely cross them on their way to work, home, recreation, school and shopping.

But the unity of interests that makes the people of Spokane and Kootenai counties a community is a minefield of clash points among affected governmental agencies. Consider annexation, for one conspicuous example.

Spokane has its eyes on a strip of commercial property north of Francis and west of Division, abutting McLaughlin’s district. Hands off, county commissioners warned last year when West was said to have bargained with them not to pursue it. With West gone, that contest may reignite.

To the east, Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake continue to wage an annexation conflict of their own. Interests in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene spar over whether the greater municipal area ought to combine in one metropolitan area, which would give it higher visibility when federal agencies compile statistics and hand out grants.

In the search for reasonable settlement to such issues, local political leaders have a natural impulse to defend institutional prerogatives – read tax base. Unfortunately, that impulse doesn’t always coincide with what’s best for the community at large.

All of these leaders who are new to their positions have an opportunity to bring a fresh outlook to bear and foster greater intergovernmental cooperation on behalf of the people who live here. Hession especially, because of Spokane’s centrality to the region, could be a leader in ending the disharmony and launching a positive approach to the region’s – repeat, region’s – well-being.