Widmyer appointed to Hassell's term on urban renewal board

COEUR d'ALENE - Coeur d'Alene Mayor Steve Widmyer was appointed to the board of ignite cda during Wednesday's regular meeting.

Widmyer will serve for the remaining three years of Al Hassell's five year-term on the board. Since he will be taking on Hassell's term, a vote of approval from the city council is not necessary.

"We've always had good council liaison representation on our board from day one," said David Patzer, who serves on the board. "Communication between the two organizations is extremely important."

Patzer added that he contacted Widmyer with the idea of once again having current council representation on the urban renewal district's board. Widmyer, he said, came back saying he would like to serve.

Questions of conflict were raised by board members during the discussion since Widmyer owns commercial and rental properties throughout the city, including in both of the urban renewal districts.

"I visited with the mayor and talked to him about potential conflicts of interests via real estate holdings in the districts and discussions about housing projects," Patzer said. "He assured me that if there was any conflict of interest he would recuse himself from those discussions."

Executive Director Tony Berns added that it is not unusual for mayors to serve on urban renewal boards and that there are mayors currently sitting on boards in the state.