Kenny Gabriel and Charlene Phipps elected to Idaho cities leadership roles

Coeur d'Alene Councilor Kenny Gabriel and Spirit Lake Mayor Charlene Phipps were elected District 1 directors for the Association of Idaho Cities at the group’s 79th annual conference in Boise, putting two Kootenai County officials into positions that help shape statewide municipal priorities. Moscow Mayor Hailey Lewis was elected Third President for 2026-2027 at the same gathering, underscoring how North Idaho communities are moving deeper into the state’s city leadership orbit.

The Association of Idaho Cities was formed in 1947 and now serves Idaho’s 197 incorporated cities as a nonpartisan, nonprofit corporation. Its work centers on city governance, community leadership and services to citizens, and it provides advocacy, education, training, technical assistance and research to support local governments. The organization is governed by a Board of Directors elected by the membership and organized around Idaho’s seven geographical districts, with an Executive Committee made up of the president, the four most recent past presidents, the three vice presidents and the chairman of the Legislative Committee.

For Gabriel and Phipps, the election gives Kootenai County a larger voice in the discussions that often determine how Idaho cities handle growth, infrastructure and the local funding needed to keep pace with both. Gabriel, a retired fire chief, serves on the Coeur d'Alene City Council in Seat #4, while Phipps became Spirit Lake’s mayor in January after serving on the city council and the Community Coalition. Her elevation carries particular weight in Spirit Lake, where the city approved an updated comprehensive plan in January and still cannot allow new development inside city limits until a sewer moratorium is lifted. City engineers’ wastewater facility plan currently points to completion in 2030 or later.

The conference also recognized a longtime North Idaho city administrator. Rathdrum’s Leon Duce received the 2026 Ken Harward Award, which honors exceptional contributions that benefit Idaho and its communities. Duce began municipal work in 1995, joined AIC in 1997 after graduating from Idaho State University, spent 19 years serving Idaho’s cities at the association and has been Rathdrum city administrator for the past 10 years during a period of significant growth.