A candidate for Coeur d’Alene mayor wrote a letter to Mayor Woody McEvers asking him to encourage City Councilman Dan Gookin to drop out of the race. 

“With Gookin in the race, I worry the outcome could fracture the vote and open the door for the KCRCC (Kootenai County Republican Central Committee) candidate,” wrote John Pulsipher in a letter delivered to McEvers’ home about three weeks ago. “Their agenda isn’t about city issues — it's about forcing national politics onto local government, which could lead to turmoil and lawsuits.” 

Pulsipher also wrote that if he was elected, he would invite McEvers to serve as “senior advisor to the mayor.” 

“To make it budget-neutral, I’m willing to forgo my own mayoral salary and benefits so yours can continue,” the letter read. 

McEvers said Friday that when he read the letter, he initially thought it was a joke. 

“It seemed unreal to me,” he said. “It’s just bizarre.” 

McEvers said he did not respond.

“I can’t support it, of course,” he said. “It’s just not the way we do things here.” 

McEvers said he will continue his campaign to retain the mayor’s office in the Nov. 4 general election.

Gookin said he was both “appalled and surprised” when he read the letter. He also questioned offering a political opponent a job at City Hall if elected.

“In my years of being politically active in Kootenai County I have never seen anything like that,” he said. 

Gookin said such requests for someone to consider leaving a race might be done verbally, perhaps over a cup of coffee. 

“It’s never in the mail,” he said. 

Gookin said he has not spoken to Pulsipher and does not plan to drop out of the race.

“Absolutely not,” he said. 

In the letter, Pulsipher wrote he doesn’t believe Gookin is the right person to lead the city. 

“That leaves us,” he wrote to McEvers. “To avoid splitting the vote, I’d ask you to consider encouraging Dan to step aside and support you — in which case I’d also step aside. But if he stays in, I ask you to consider supporting me.” 

On Friday, Pulsipher responded to questions from The Press about why he wrote the letter. 

“Unfortunately, a significant number of voters cast their vote based on recommendations by political party leaders. Woody, Dan, and I are NOT the KCRCC preferred candidates and risk splitting the non-KCRCC vote. This may lead to the KCRCC gaining control and influence in the city. We have already witnessed what KCRCC influence has done to NIC and the community library network,” he wrote in an email. “We cannot let that happen to our city.” 

Pulsipher wrote that Gookin’s challenge for the mayor's office is an indictment of McEvers' performance. 

“However, at a time when our nation and even our community suffer from significant division, and based on these personal attacks by Dan, I do not have confidence that Dan can unite and represent all of Coeur d’Alene as mayor,” he wrote. “Neither Dan nor Woody appear to be dropping out. Woody did not entertain the idea of creating a budget-neutral, paid position for him to continue serving the city in some way. So, as I have already told voters, I will defer the mayor’s salary to a first responders fund, and it remains a perilous four-way race where the maximum voters must be informed and vote.” 

Debbie Loffman is the fourth Coeur d’Alene mayoral candidate and has the backing of the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee. 

Brent Regan, KCRCC chair, said he found Pulsipher’s letter “pretty remarkable.” 

He said it was “stunning” that Pulsipher would offer McEvers a job if he is elected. 

“I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s really quite remarkable," Regan said.

He said Pulsipher’s comment that KCRCC is “about forcing national politics onto local government" is wrong. 

“I don’t know where he got that,” Regan said. “KCRCC doesn’t have any kind of agenda in regard to this,” but rather, simply supports the best candidate. In this case, Loffman, he said.

“I think Debbie is an excellent candidate,” Regan said, adding she is an award-winning businessperson with a nice demeanor. 

Regan said he considered Pulsipher’s letter to McEvers “backroom dealing” that aimed to exclude the public from having a choice in the Coeur d’Alene mayor’s race. 

He said it was too late for anyone to withdraw, as the deadline for that was about a month ago. 

“The ballot is set,” Regan said.

    Gookin
  

    Regan
  

    McEvers