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The LCDC enigma

| January 11, 2015 8:00 PM

Because most of you reading this have no idea what Lake City Development Corp. actually is, we're guessing Friday's story about the narrow re-appointment of the board's chairman ranked somewhere behind Gonzaga basketball, terrorism in France and the classified ad about a lost mutt in raw interest.

Pity. LCDC is important to everyone living not just in Coeur d'Alene, but in Kootenai County.

And the re-appointment of Denny Davis to the LCDC board is important because he wields the most power in a public agency responsible for tens of millions of your taxpayer dollars through many efforts to improve major sections of your community.

Friday's story focused on the argument that the LCDC board is comprised pretty much of the same folks, year after year after year. As a matter of fact, since LCDC's inception in 1997, only 17 different people have served on the nine-person commission. If all nine seats turned over every five years, 36 different people could have served between 1997 and 2012. So what's ideal? And what's realistic? And why do so few people seem to care?

Funny we should ask. Just a couple days before Christmas, The Press published a story about how agency advocates want more exposure. A recent 600-person phone survey showed that only 11 percent of respondents said they were aware of LCDC without the urban renewal group being mentioned. When the group was mentioned, two-thirds of the participants still said they were not aware of the corporation's existence.

It gets worse. The urban renewal agency uses tax-increment financing to improve its two districts in Coeur d'Alene, but only 5 percent of respondents had an idea what tax-increment financing even is. In short, LCDC + public = confusion. And confusion is a direct route not only to misunderstanding, but to non-participation.

LCDC's leaders are determined to reach out to the community so folks will know what they do and who they are. It's our guess that as more and more people understand the important role a good urban renewal agency can play in a community, the list of prospective volunteer board members will grow. Maybe not much, but enough to maintain a strong balance of new blood and institutional knowledge.

So hit the market hard, LCDC, and turn bright lights on accurate, fair exposure.

And you, good readers: Pay attention, please. The more you know, the more effective you can help this powerful urban renewal force be.