COEUR d'ALENE - The longest tenured city councilman said he has never served on a council where arguing has been so commonplace.

Disagreements in politics are par for the course, Councilman Ron Edinger said, but never has he served on a council where personality clashes and personal digs have occurred so frequently.

"I think that sometimes it gets a little carried away," Edinger said Friday, a day after an at-times testy council workshop on Thursday in what has been a month full of testy city meetings. "Personal things get involved, and I think that's wrong."

During Thursday's meeting, the council decided to put a $36 million bond out to election to pay for wastewater treatment plant upgrades. The subject is a touchy one for the council because one councilman, Steve Adams, threatened to tie the issue up in court at the 11th hour if it didn't go to a vote.

But even before they voted on the wastewater issue, council members Dan Gookin and Mike Kennedy went tit-for-tat over urban renewal during a city workshop with Lake City Development Corp. - an argument Edinger interfered with by calling for a recess.

"I don't remember in the past where we got personalities involved," said Edinger, a former mayor with 40 years of council experience. "This has been different."

Mayor Sandi Bloem said that the wastewater debate that lasted most of March has created a very "frustrated" council. She also said this week that a top priority - besides ensuring the plant upgrades move forward - is to return a respectful manner to the meetings.

Something that has seemingly been missing of late, said Bloem, who, as mayor, acts as chair of the meetings.

"From my part I'm going to personally realize that frustration is there and do what's possible to defuse it and not to react to the feeling," she said. "I think (in the past) there's definitely been different political views and different views; there have often been differences. But always we've been able to handle those differences with respect ... That's what we're going to have to do now."

Gookin, who often sides with Adams on the divided council, said the meetings can be "pretty nasty," while members on the other side - Kennedy, Deanna Goodlander, and Woody McEvers - have said the perceived lack of respect goes both ways.

McEvers said part of the tension stems from the city often getting criticized with inaccurate information that filters its way to the meeting via online discussions.

Blogs, online posts, comments at the end of stories: Discussions during city meetings often mention online threads, where those who comment aren't required to leave their names and facts can get twisted while opinions run hot.

It can be frustrating having to defend a stance that's not a meeting topic because someone posted something, somewhere, McEvers said.

"Anything we say they don't believe," McEvers said. "It doesn't seem to matter what it is. If they don't believe what it is, then we just spin around."

While online threads didn't create the council rift, they mirror it.

Gookin was a prolific online writer before being elected in November 2011, and some of his posts, as well as his followers, criticized the Bloem administration.

That hasn't been forgotten.

On one post, Gookin said he would do away with LCDC if he had enough votes as mayor.

On Thursday during the LCDC workshop, Kennedy reminded Gookin of that stance when the group was talking about successful urban renewal projects.

"Under your leadership they would not have been," Kennedy told Gookin. "We would not have gotten to this place."

Kennedy couldn't be reached Friday but has said in previous Press interviews and public meetings he feels compelled to defend the city against unfair charges. He took exception last year when Gookin used the term "shoveling money" more than once to describe allocating funds to the McEuen Field project.

On Thursday, he took exception to Gookin's claim that LCDC had a perception for some in town of "crony capitalism" for financially supporting developers who are already financially stable, and that sort of labeling was exactly the reason LCDC consulted a public relations firm a few years ago.

"Are you OK with calling these people crony capitalists at this table, Dan?" Kennedy said. "That's out of line."

McEvers defended Kennedy on Friday.

"It's hard sometimes to not respond to it," McEvers said. "At least (Kennedy) is gentle about it. He calls (BS) nicely."

But Gookin said he's frustrated with council members interrupting other council members. He pointed to Kennedy jumping into Gookin's discussion with LCDC Director Tony Berns on Thursday as an example. Gookin often addresses the mayor before he speaks.

"It can be pretty nasty," he said, adding council members shouldn't lecture each other either, and personal digs shouldn't be a part of the discourse. "The mayor needs to run the meetings and the mayor needs to gavel that down so we're not going off in the weeds."

Bloem said this week that's what she'll do.

All month, meetings have been tense as the city flip-flopped between securing wastewater treatment plant funds through judicial confirmation and a public vote - the more expensive option and least desired by the majority of the council but not the selected route because of Adams's appeal pledge. Alleged threats, swears, finger pointing and fist shaking have been part of it all.

While polarizing politics isn't unique to Coeur d'Alene, Bloem said, she wants to get back quickly to respectable discourse. The council should "set a good example," she said, and not "embarrass the community in any way."

Edinger agreed, saying the arguing didn't reflect well on the town, and he would interrupt them if they're allowed to go on. Edinger has been frustrated to the point of swearing at a workshop too, however.

"I want to stay on that track and set an example of courtesy and respect at the meeting," Bloem said. "If a break is necessary, and the feelings are high, I'll bring the discussion back to the topic ... away from any personal feelings."