Coeur d’Alene’s and Post Falls’ city councils both have three contested races on the Nov. 6 ballot. Here are The Spokesman-Review editorial board’s endorsements in those contests.

Coeur d’Alene Council, Seat 1: President Johnson, who had named Thurgood Marshall to the U.S. Supreme Court a few months earlier, was fretting the war in Vietnam. Don Samuelson was governor of Idaho, Frank Church was in his second term in the Senate, and pork roast could be had for 39 cents a pound.

That was 1967, the year Ron Edinger was elected to Coeur d’Alene City Council. Except for a two-year absence in the mid-‘70s, he’s been an elected city official ever since, including one stint as mayor.

His heady batting average at the ballot box is compelling evidence that voters like what they’ve seen. The steady progress and success that the city has undergone during a time when Edinger’s hands were among those on the helm adds to the case for his re-election to the council.

Much of Edinger’s success over the years owes to his candor and independence as well as his understanding of the plight of average citizens.

His challenger is technical writer Dan Gookin, creator of the “… for Dummies” book series. Gookin, a Libertarian turned Republican, confesses that exciting things are happening in the city, but he wants to put a foot on the brake pedal on some of the mechanisms that made it so, a successful urban renewal push, for instance. Without a lot of details, Gookin criticizes the current council for lacking accountability.

Ten affirmations by Coeur d’Alene voters at the polls sounds like somebody thinks Edinger has been accountable, and we see no reason they should change now.

Coeur d’Alene Council, Seat 3: In a four-way field for the seat now held by longtime Councilman Al Hassell, Hassell and Jim Brannon offer the best credentials.

For many of the same reasons that apply to Edinger’s race for Seat 1, Hassell deserves the nod. He, too, has a lot of experience on the job and demonstrated that he’s not beholden to behind-the-scenes string-pullers. He, too, is a former mayor and was credited with launching an urban renewal effort as well as a $9 million street bond and good stewardship of the city’s parks. And those accomplishments were achieved without tax increases.

Brannon is a fiscal conservative who’s exhibited signs of vision. As executive director of Habitat for Humanity and a former investment consultant, he has a keen understanding of housing – especially affordable housing – and financial issues.

But Hassell has demonstrated his competence on the job over an extended time. There’s good reason to believe his leadership has contributed to Coeur d’Alene’s prosperity.

Voters would be wise to retain him over Brannon and the other two candidates, Chris Patterson and retired California police officer Jerry Weaver.

Coeur d’Alene Council, Seat 5: John Bruning is not a member of the Coeur d’Alene City Council, but his 25 years on the Planning and Zoning Commission – 20 as chairman – makes him a key part of the municipal team that has taken the city along a progressive and successful path.

Among the other four candidates seeking the seat being vacated by veteran Councilwoman Dixie Reid is community activist and former Planning and Zoning Commission member Susan Snedaker, Bruning’s strongest rival. Of the others, former city Building Department worker Wayne A. Frisbie Sr. shows potential but needs more seasoning and a meatier resume. Joseph Kunka and Anita Banta lack the credentials to be competitive in this race.

Bruning, whom the departing Reid favors as a “team player,” oversaw adoption of a hillside protection ordinance to prevent rampant development of Coeur d’Alene’s exquisite surroundings. He’s also pushed for a design review process to guard against unsightly construction and obliteration of lake views.

Snedaker has been a grassroots dynamo, tirelessly going to bat for neighborhoods and such citizen interests as keeping sex offenders from residing near schools. Her energy, engagement and decade on the Planning and Zoning Commission would make her an effective City Council member.

Bruning, however, has longer and more intimate involvement in the planning directions so closely linked to Coeur d’Alene’s recent success. His step up to the council would be timely.

Post Falls Council, Seat 1: If civic involvement is important for a City Council candidate, there’s more than enough of it to go around in the race for Seat 1 in Post Falls. Candidates Kerri Thoreson and Kristy Reed Johnson are near equals as measured by the energy and commitment they’ve invested in the city.

The third candidate, Jack Evans, is a transplant from California who touts his business experience and ability to recruit economic development. But he lacks Thoreson’s and Reed Johnson’s grounding in this changing community.

Both have extended engagement in Post Falls affairs, from pageants to the Chamber of Commerce to various boards and commissions. Both have run for political office before (Thoreson for mayor and Reed Johnson for the Legislature). They know the people, the history and the issues.

Either would be an effective council member. Thoreson has been in Post Falls for 22 years, Reed Johnson about 10. And on the matter of Post Falls’ current City Hall, Thoreson doesn’t hesitate to say the last-minute drive to spare it will, if approved by voters, impose lasting costs on the city. Reed Johnson says it should be torn down, but she worked to put the question on the ballot anyway.

There’s a lot to be said for taking the public pulse, but if the City Hall decision was going to be put to a vote, it should have happened months earlier. In this case, Thoreson shows the kind of decisiveness that would serve her on the council. That and her longer community history give her an edge.

Post Falls Council, Seat 5: Former council member Skip Hissong has a record of community involvement ranging from widespread volunteerism to 14 years on the Urban Renewal Commission that he helped found. He has a small-business man’s organized and frugal perspective on local government.

Given his background, though, we’re somewhat wary of his statements that the Urban Renewal Commission should be “reined in.” He’s concerned that tax breaks handed out under the renewal strategy might be costing the city revenues. Hissong needs to make sure he doesn’t undermine the purpose behind those tax breaks, which is to stimulate the economic vitality that more than offsets any revenue losses.

His opponent, small business owner Angela Alexander, was CEO of the Post Falls Chamber of Commerce for two years, and also has a business person’s perspective on city government and its decisions.

On balance, we think Hissong’s background makes a stronger case for the council post than hers. We’re counting on his remaining true to the merits of urban renewal that he has seen in the past.

Post Falls Council, Seat 6: Realtor Linda Wilhelm has expressed interest in a council seat in the past. This year she’s running, and she’s the best choice in a three-way race.

One of the other hopefuls, Keith Hutcheson, has the tools to be a City Council member, but it’s a question of whether he has the time. Besides being the Coeur d’Alene tribal police chief, he trains dogs used in law enforcement.

The other hopeful, mortgage broker Anthony Skarisky, has laid out a mostly one-dimensional budget-cutting campaign. Post Falls needs a more comprehensive approach than that, and Wilhelm is qualified to provide it.

She grew up in the community, has been a Planning and Zoning Commission member for eight years, and has worked on a variety of civic activities, from Habitat for Humanity to the comprehensive plan rewrite.

Hutcheson has valuable law enforcement insights, but if, as he explains, his dog-training activities have encroached on his ability to campaign this fall, they could do the same regarding council work.

We think Wilhelm is the stronger candidate.