What's an election season without a few potshots?

At last night's Coeur d'Alene City Council candidates forum, there were more than a few jabs by candidates and incumbents alike, but not necessarily directed where you might think.

Seat 1 incumbent Ron Edinger pulled it off the old fashioned way, though, going directly after his challenger.

The 40-year public servant had barely sat down in his seat when he started digging at Adam Graves, or more specifically, at what Graves had said in an email exchange with City Clerk Susan Weathers earlier in the week.

"I'm proud to be a part of the oldest common denominator," Edinger said off the bat.

"I'm a 75-year-old geezer!" Edinger repeated.

Edinger was referring to an email exchange the much younger Graves had with City Clerk Susan Weathers. In in, Graves expressed his dismay that iPads wouldn't be allowed during the forum. Blasting the city's decision, he referred to old school note taking as so old fashioned, it's better suited for 75-year-old politicians and "the oldest common denominator."

Graves didn't bite Thursday though.

He even told Edinger that he had nothing personal against the incumbent, respected him, and decided to run for his seat based on how the other candidate filings played out.

Incumbent John Bruning is quiet, respectful and professional. His swipe, though, wasn't aimed at challengers Steve Adams or Amber Copeland. It went to, wait for it, the city of Spokane.

While he praised Coeur d'Alene city services, he referred especially to the street department's work. Driving around Coeur d'Alene is a dream, he said, especially compared to wheeling around our neighbor's town.

"You want to see potholes," Bruning said. "Go to Spokane, because you won't see them here."

If it's one thing the litigated 2009 city election taught us, it's that you can live in Spokane and vote in Coeur d'Alene's election, so how many Spokane voters Bruning turned off is yet to be seen. What, too soon to joke about it?

Amber Copeland is adamant that East Sherman Avenue must be fixed up. She doesn't sugarcoat how she feels about how the current stretch of town looks either, basically calling it ugly.

What do you see when you drive down the street?

"A bunch of rundown bars," is how she put it.

Ouch, to bar owners.

Dan Gookin, watchdog and city critic, looked out to the audience when he decided to have a little fun. The question was what Gookin would do if he were appointed by Mayor Sandi Bloem as a city liaison to the Lake City Development Corp., the city's urban renewal board.

Gookin, everyone who follows Gookin knows, is not a big fan of LCDC, while the mayor is a big supporter of the local agency.

The hypothetic question about Gookin's appointment was too much for the Seat 3 challenger to pass up.

"Sandi, would you appoint me to the LCDC board?" Gookin asked, looking out to the seat where Bloem sat.

He smiled and waved off his own question.

"You don't have to answer that," he said.

Annastasia Somontes, running for Seat 3, took a shot at the library, either the poor-defenseless structure itself or those who planned it.

The location of it, she said, "sucks."

Of course, there's more to a forum than inside jabs. And for those who missed the two-hour show, a schedule of its rebroadcasts on channel 19 is posted on the city's website, www.cdaid.org.