Hawkins resigns from Sandpoint council

SANDPOINT — After nearly two years on the job, Councilman Doug Hawkins Jr. announced Thursday he was resigning from the body, effective June 1.

Hawkins was appointed to the council in September 2007 by then-Mayor Ray Miller and was elected to serve a four-year term the following November.

 Hawkins said he can no longer juggle his career at Litehouse Foods with the responsibilities of serving on the council.

“Already I’ve missed two of the last three City Council meetings, and just looking at my schedule, I’m going to miss four more City Council meetings and four (Administrative Committee) meetings in the next eight months. And I don’t think it’s fair for me to be an empty council chair,” he said.

Hawkins said he had been mulling the idea of stepping down for some time, but the news still came as a shock to some, including Councilman John Reuter.

“I think it’s terrible,” Reuter said. “I think it’s really unfortunate. To tell you the truth, I’m a little heartbroken about it. Doug Hawkins was a powerful advocate for business on the council and was always motivated by a strong sense of what was right, along with his common sense.”

Mayor Gretchen Hellar echoed many of Reuter’s comments.

“We’re losing a really unique asset on the council,” she said. “Not only was he bright, not only was he able to think beyond his own special interest to the good of the community, but he has something that we really don’t have enough of. He had a really good heart and he was really a good person.”

With a number of important issues coming across their desks in the past year, including the comprehensive plan, a budget and a number of controversial zoning changes, the council has spent more and more time in meetings and workshops, according to Hawkins.

“To be an active member on the council right now requires not just that you attend the meetings,” he said. “It’s the number of workshops and committees and special sessions and other things. There were times last summer that I was putting in at least 30 or more hours a week on council.”

Hellar agrees with Hawkins’ assessment and said the council should look for ways to rein in the number and length of official meetings.

“They had 23 meetings for the comp plan,” she said. “They want four hours for a workshop to look at a lease. I think … they need to understand that you never have 100 percent of all the questions answered. Sometimes you just have to say, ‘Given what I know, to the best of my abilities, this is where I think we should go.’”

Hellar said she hopes to find Hawkins’ replacement sometime in June.