[Vision2020] Welcome to the City Council, Tom Lamar!

[Saundra Lund]

>From today's Lewiston Tribune:

Tom Lamar named to Moscow council
He replaces Bob Stout; seat held by John Dickinson still open
By David Johnson
June 19, 2007

MOSCOW - Tom Lamar, executive director of the Palouse-Clearwater
Environmental Institute for the past 17 years, was sworn in Monday night to
replace Bob Stout on the Moscow City Council.

Lamar, 46, will serve out Stout's term through the end of the year. He said
he hadn't decided whether he'll run for election in November. Stout resigned
after being hired in Iowa by the Hillary Clinton campaign for president.

Lamar was nominated by Mayor Nancy Chaney and affirmed by a 3-0 vote of the
council, with one abstention.

Councilor Linda Pall abstained after saying earlier in the day that she
didn't think it was appropriate to seat someone who might later seek
election. Incumbency, she said, would offer too much of an advantage.

That concern apparently was not shared by Councilors Aaron Ament, John Weber
and Bill Lambert. All lauded Lamar as an excellent addition to the council.
Pall also praised Lamar as a perfect choice if he indeed intended to stay
only until January.

The appointment still leaves the council with one seat open. Councilor John
Dickinson disappeared earlier this year when he is thought to have fallen or
jumped from a bridge in Oregon to avoid being hit by an oncoming vehicle.
Dickinson had stopped on the bridge to offer assistance at an accident.

Lamar, according to most observers, is of the same left-of-center political
persuasion as Stout. That means he could join Ament on many issues, as
opposed to the more right-leaning Weber and Lambert. Pall, a longtime
Democrat, has become somewhat of a swing-vote. And now, with five members
voting, Chaney is less likely to make tie-breaking votes.

The politics of the council, however, wasn't on Lamar's mind as he shook
hands with people after the meeting and answered questions from the media.
He thanked Chaney for her confidence in him and said he thought of the
appointment as a means of honoring his friend Dickinson.

After being announced by Chaney and prior to the vote, Lamar addressed the
council and disclosed four agreements PCEI currently has with the city. He
said his salary at PCEI is not connected to the agreements and he promised
to disclose any other possible conflicts of interest.

Lamar's wife, Alycia Lamar, and his daughter, Teva Palmer, also attended the
meeting. Alycia Lamar is a membership coordinator for PCEI and Palmer is an
AmeriCorps intern with the institute.

Tom Lamar also works at the University of Idaho as an instructor in the
Conservation Social Sciences Department.

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Johnson may be contacted at
deveryone at potlatch.com or (208) 883-0564.