Mayor seeks city attorney resignation after police chief authority dispute

A fight over who gets to name Coeur d’Alene’s next police chief has spilled into a direct resignation demand from Mayor Dan Gookin to City Attorney Randy Adams, with the dispute now centered on who controls one of the city’s most visible public-safety jobs.

The Coeur d’Alene City Council approved Greg Yeager, a deputy chief with the Fort Collins Police Department in Colorado, in a 4-2 vote Tuesday night after weeks of conflict over the post. The decision came a month after the council deadlocked between Yeager and interim Chief Dave Hagar, leaving the city’s next move unsettled while the debate over the chief’s authority grew more combative.

That split did not stay confined to the council dais. After the vote, community members and police officers who had backed Hagar walked out of the meeting, underscoring how deeply the selection had divided the room and how much attention the city’s police leadership has drawn in Kootenai County.

At the center of the dispute was whether Gookin could appoint Hagar before council approval. Adams told the council that, in his view, the mayor did not have that authority and that such an appointment would violate city policy and state law. Gookin said he believed he had statutory authority and argued that Adams was using a resolution and personnel rule to limit it. He also said Adams undermined him by waiting until the council meeting to raise legal objections, and he said the city attorney was acting in a way that was not professional.

The legal reference point was Idaho Code 50-204, which says the mayor, with the consent of the council, appoints city officers and other necessary officers for the efficient operation of the city. Adams said Gookin had asked him about that code before the meeting, but the two men came away with opposite readings of what it allowed in the police chief selection.

The argument turned personal in the chamber. Gookin said he was “tired of having a city attorney who doesn’t tell me what the law is,” and said Adams and others had “poisoned” the council against him and the police chief. Adams tried to respond during the meeting, but Gookin slammed his gavel and insisted he not be interrupted. Council President Amy Evans stepped in to restore order and reminded both men that the council needed to do business. Former city attorney Mike Gridley was the only person reported to have spoken against Hagar.

Yeager will assume the role only upon acceptance of the offer, leaving the department’s leadership transition tied not just to a vote, but to the city’s unresolved clash over who holds the real appointment power.