City bids adieu to attorney, council members

SANDPOINT — Mayor Gretchen Hellar announced Friday that City Attorney Will Herrington is retiring.

“On a personal level, I will miss his sage advice, wry sense of humor and friendship. I wish him all the best,” Hellar said in a statement.

Herrington will continue to act as the city’s legal counsel until a new attorney is found. Herrington was out of the office on Friday afternoon and could not be reached for comment.

Herrington was appointed to serve as the city’s legal advisor and planning director in 2003, following the death of Jeff Jones. He continued on as city attorney when Jeremy Grimm was hired as planning director in 2007.

Prior to Sandpoint, Herrington was Moscow’s city attorney and taught at the University of Idaho’s College of Law. He was also Pocatello’s first full-time city attorney in the 1970s and also taught at Idaho State University.

Herrington also served on a number of charitable boards in Moscow and worked on contract for government entities around the state, including the Sagle Fire District and Bonner County.

Hellar said Herrington’s 35 years of experience in the public sector and his advice will be missed.

“His knowledge not only of state and municipal codes but also his intimate knowledge of case law provided the city with an understanding of how those codes have been applied and interpreted by the courts. That knowledge, based on his years of experience, has served Sandpoint well and will be difficult, if not impossible to replace,” said Hellar.

Herrington’s retirement came the same week three new members of the council were sworn in. Justin Schuck, Marsha Ogilvie and Jamie Davis replace John O’Hara, Michael Boge and Helen Newton.

Boge served on the council for 14 years. Of the 180 people who have been on council since 1901, only four have served longer than Boge, according to Newton.

“To say that Michael’s integrity, experience, knowledge and dedication on the city council will be missed by this community is an understatement of significant proportions,” Newton said on Wednesday.

Councilwoman Carrie Logan affectionately referred to Newton as the maven of the City Council because of encyclopedic knowledge of city history, passionate stands and dexterity with spreadsheets.

“The city owes you a debt of gratitude,” Logan said.

Logan also praised O’Hara, who she said was not verbose, but when he did pipe up his remarks were insightful.

“John O’Hara barely got his dancing shoes tied before the music stopped,” said Logan, referring to his brief time on the council.