Schindelbeck a small business owner challenging Edinger

COEUR d'ALENE — Toby Schindelbeck said he knows what policies are necessary to create jobs in any economic climate.

Schindelbeck, 37, owner of Nutrishop Coeur d'Alene, has experience balancing budgets and living within his means, he said. He is challenging longtime Coeur d'Alene City Councilman Ron Edinger in the Nov. 3 election.

"I will be a good steward of the people’s tax dollars," he said.

He listens to all sides on an issue, he said.

"This has allowed me to build businesses in any economic climate, and create good-paying, year-round jobs," he said. "I am not for sale to the highest bidder. I have not accepted money from unions or public employee groups."

He wants to make sure Coeur d'Alene doesn't become like Spokane.

"I want to see Coeur d’Alene thrive without sacrificing our small-town feel and values," he said.

The city must change the way it handles urban renewal, he said.

"It’s bad enough that the public dime is funding the ignite cda’s executive director’s nearly $200,000-a-year salary and benefits package, but it is an insult to every taxpayer that $140,000 of our tax dollars were used to rebrand the former LCDC (Lake City Development Corp.)," he said. "With millions of property tax dollars being siphoned off through ignite cda without voter oversight, citizens in Coeur d’Alene pay 14 percent more in taxes to make up the shortfall."

Phasing out ignite cda would put millions of dollars back into the city’s general fund, he said. The money could then be used to hire more police officers, improve roads, build up emergency reserves and more, all without increasing taxes, he said.

The city's police department recently announced it was getting $340,000 in federal grant money to hire three new officers.

"What happens when this money runs out?" he said. "We have to raise taxes to keep those officers. This is a bad plan."

A better plan would be to reallocate public art fund money and use it to hire officers, he said.

"For the 2015-2016 budget year alone, we have $324,000 allocated to public art," he said.

If elected, he said, one of his goals would be eliminating the public art fund.

As for economic development, he said the best thing the city can do is get out of the way.

"Other cities are doing this successfully by waiving or deferring impact fees and developer fees, deferring property tax for a year, and having a single point of contact to streamline the permit process," he said.

One way to improve blighted areas without an urban renewal agency would be to freeze property taxes for 10 years on projects in urban renewal districts.