Elaine Price seeking seat on Cd'A City Council
Price
COEUR d’ALENE — Elaine Price has announced her candidacy for Seat No. 1 on the Coeur d’Alene City Council.
Price, who calls herself a political outsider, is a longtime Coeur d’Alene resident with an “absolute passion” for this city. Her concern for the community helped her choose to participate in city government.
Price was born and raised in Iowa. She lived most of her early life in a town of 2,000 people.
“I moved to Coeur d’Alene in 1990 from St. Louis because I was looking for that hometown feeling I had when I was in Iowa. I found it in Coeur d’Alene. I continue to live in the first house I bought when I moved here, in downtown Coeur d’Alene. I raised two boys in that house. One is an Army veteran and the other is an NIC graduate.”
Top on her agenda: Growth.
“If I am elected on Nov. 5, my focus will be on the people and our community and will include the development of a comprehensive plan to give us direction and responsibility with our growth, development and management of sustainable community services such as parks, transportation, and workforce housing or housing that young adults or working adults can afford.”
Price said not all community members were well represented by the current council. She hopes to remedy the situation by representing the middle-class, blue-collar residents of Coeur d’Alene.
Her vision to manage the area’s rapid development:
“Property should be developed within the conditions and zoning attached to it when it was purchased, and developers should not be granted variance and zone changes,” she said.
She hopes to curb the density increases “we are currently seeing by these special zone requests,” she said.
“As a city council member, I would advocate for an updated comprehensive plan for our city, which gives a road map to what our growth should look like,” she said. “I want to see specific guidelines so there is clarity for builders on what it is we want our city to be and how we want it accomplished. CDA 2030 was promoted as carrying out the vision the city puts in place. I will advocate for improved oversight to ensure these visions are worked on toward completion. I will be a voice of dissent on ordinances that we know cannot be enforced. I will look to set goals and visions that we can see through to fruition.”
The root of her candidacy is inclusion. “I call myself middle-class, because that’s what I am,” she said. “I don’t feel the middle-class citizens have a voice or representation on the council, and I’m wanting to take that torch. I will be the one asking how the decisions the city is making today will contribute to a better tomorrow.”