Recall effort has long history

Mr. Chairman and members of the Board:

I come before you to address the campaign to recall Mayor Sandi Bloem and three Council members as I believe the issue has a direct impact on your current projects with the city.

Our great city is at a crucial crossroads as the recall debate unfolds. I wish to join in the discussion from an historical view of American cities.

In 2002 “Newsweek International” journalist Adam Piore wrote an informative article on how to build a creative city. He supports his ideas of a creative city through the writings of Christine Stansell, a professor of cultural history at Princeton University, who described creative cities in these terms: “They come to live life to the fullest, to be a ‘player,’ to be where the action is, to walk the street and feel what it’s like — to be on the edge of what’s possible.”

One of the most authoritative works on what will produce America’s most successful cities in the 21st Century is Dr. Richard Florida’s book “The Rise of the Creative Class.” He studied, compared and classified American cities he predicted will experience a bright future contrasted with those American cities on the decline in the 21st Century. He discovered a specific set of bold and visionary public policies and cultural traits that will determine the outcome of a city’s future success. He found America’s 21st Century “Creative Cities” will share in common such features as a quality educational system including colleges/universities, open green spaces and multi-parks, promotion of the arts and humanities, home to a variety of museums, an excellent infrastructure including pedestrian friendly walkways, support for great public libraries, a variety of entertainment and recreational opportunities, and a commitment to the acceptance and celebration of human rights and diversity fostered by a variety of cultures. These are the cities attracting members of the highly productive creative class who bring to the city their many talents that in turn attracts national and international business enterprises. Dr. Florida developed the “Creative Index” to test his findings.

Now let’s see what the city of Coeur d’Alene and its leaders have done over the past 40 years regarding the “Creative Index” formula. Mayors John McHugh, Ron Edinger, Don Johnston, Jim Fromm, Raymond Stone, Al Hassel, Steve Judy and Sandi Bloem, the city council members and community volunteers have joined forces to make us a truly an “All American City.”

Let me list and explain just a few of these major accomplishments. First of all, some 40 years ago Coeur d’Alene’s elected officials encouraged a group of local outdoor enthusiasts led by attorney Scott Reed to acquire a loan from a national preservation organization making it possible for the city to acquire Tubbs Hill that is known as one of Idaho’s great gems.

In 1976, the city, the Kootenai County Commissioners and community activists united behind North Idaho College’s purchasing of 3,200 feet of lake beach property to be set aside for the enjoyment of the public. On July 18, 1987, North Idaho College joined with Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus in dedicating this sacred ground to the Coeur d’Alene Tribe that would forever be known as Yap Keehn-Um (The Gathering Place). Yet another Idaho gem was preserved through joint funding from NIC, Kootenai County and a grant from the Federal Government despite the active opposition of the “Naysayers.”

Coeur d’Alene is now home to one of the Pacific Northwest “Class A” recreational centers at the Kroc Center, a first class library, a small city within a city called “Riverstone,” a newly developing education corridor, an ever improving infrastructure, celebration of the arts and humanities, an ever expanding museum system, a human rights center in downtown Coeur d’Alene made possible partially through a partnership with the city, a one stop location to serve those in need made possible by the city forming a partnership with several social agencies, miles of first class bike and pedestrian paths, a modern wastewater treatment plant that has become a model for other cities, and the list seems endless. As one who has studied Dr. Florida’s thesis, I suggest that if he visited our fair city, he would be inclined to classify us as a truly “Creative City.”

Over the past few years I have received calls from families considering a move to our state and city. The questions they ask are almost identical to the findings in Dr. Florida’s book.

In closing, we must not forget the many difficult challenges we have overcome even in the face of the opposition to realize the accomplishments now enjoyed by our citizens. For example, you had the bold vision to move forward with the education corridor even in the face of a legal challenge from the opponents of the project.

The future course of the city now rests in the hands of the Coeur d’Alene residents as they must choose either a continuation of these more than 40 years of visionary policies and projects or select the alternative path that is based on caution, skepticism and resistance to a bold and creative city of the 21st Century.

Put in the form of a fundamental question:

Will we continue building the “Creative City,” the “All American City,” “A Shining City on the Hill,” or will we abandon that heritage yielding those opportunities to other Northwest cities who eagerly embrace the concept of a creative city of the 21st Century with all its vibrant opportunities?

Tony Stewart is a board member of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations.