Alfieri announces bid for Cd'A council

The tide of candidates declaring for the Coeur d’Alene City Council continued to rise Friday, as Joe Alfieri announced his run for Seat No. 4 this November.

“We’re starting to see the same type of problems that other small cities have had as they grew, and we can’t sit by and just watch what happens,” Alfieri said in a statement. “At least I can’t.”

A resident since 2013, Alfieri served on the Coeur d’Alene Economic Development Corporation’s Jobs Plus Action Committee, as well as serving as chair of the Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce (now known as the Coeur d’Alene Regional Chamber) Membership Outreach Committee.

Alfieri is running on a platform of stricter scrutiny over urban planning projects in an effort to curtail exploding growth.

"I think the current City Council too often rubber stamps projects without giving them adequate review,” he said. “Last week, for example, they approved the annexation of land zoned for residential use without even asking for a traffic study."

Alfieri was referring to the March 16 council meeting in which a 21-acre parcel of land north of the Target shopping complex was zoned to C-17 and R-17 to make way for a potential housing development, bringing as many as 340 new units into the area. While some members of the council voiced concerns over the potential for increased traffic in the area, the council voted to approve the annexation.

“I’m running because I want to make sure that our children, and their children, can grow up in the type of town so many of us love,” he said. “I don’t want to see it destroyed by urban planning, so that it becomes just another small city. This place is special. Let’s keep it that way.”

Seat No. 4 is held by Woody McEvers. When asked about Alfieri’s announcement Friday afternoon, McEvers said he was reserving comment, as he was still weighing his options for another run for office. The Coeur d’Alene resident and owner of the Rustler’s Roost in Hayden has served on the City Council since 2002, a fact Alfieri noted in his statement.

“I think it’s time for some fresh leadership and new ideas,” Alfieri said. “Twenty years in government is too long.”