COEUR d'ALENE - In her own words, Amber Copeland is not your typical candidate.

She is not running for a position, she said. She is running for an ideal.

"I am not what they expect," Copeland said. "People like to fit people in a box. I don't fit in a box."

The 33-year-old single mother of four children is running to represent what she considers an under-respresented demographic in Coeur d'Alene.

"I want people my age to get involved in politics," she said. "I kind of want to create a mushroom cloud and get people involved."

Copeland ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 2011 against incumbent John Bruning and challenger Steve Adams. Adams won the race with 56 percent of the vote. Copeland garnered 11 percent of the vote, and Bruning earned 33 percent.

"I am going to run again and again and again until they elect me," she said, adding she doesn't mind being a thorn in the side of the partisans who have hijacked the non-partisan city races.

"They make the mistake of not taking me seriously," Copeland said. "From the outside, I may look young and uninformed. But I am very smart and very informed on the issue."

Copeland, who is a full-time supervisor at Innercept, is working on a degree in marketing and communications at Spokane Falls Community College, and plans to transfer to Gonzaga.

She said she got in a little trouble herself back in her 20s, and now she uses that experience to help at-risk individuals at Innercept.

Among other traffic violations, from 2003 through 2004 Copeland was arrested twice for driving under the influence and cited twice for driving without privileges, and one more time for inattentive driving.

"I wouldn't say I had a drinking problem. I was just young and stupid, and I learned from that," she said.

She chose to run for council seat four because it was the only seat where she could challenge an incumbent.

She is racing against three-term incumbent Councilman Woody McEvers, who was endorsed by Balance North Idaho, and Reagan Republican-backed Sharon Hebert.

"I wanted to run against an incumbent because I believe in turnover," she said. "But don't get me wrong, I am not running against anyone.

"I have met Woody and he is a very nice guy, and he has done a fantastic job."

Still, Copeland said the council lacks diversity and she wants to be the one to change that. She believes that when the concept of a representative city council was being hatched, the idea was to elect a legislative body of individuals who represent different segments of society.

"When representative government was an idea in the back of their heads, I doubt they were thinking six people who are exactly the same," she said.

As for the issues facing the city, Copeland said employee salaries are probably at the top of her chart if she gets elected.

"I plan to dig into that issue first," she said.

She also has met with the leadership at Lake City Development Corporation to get a better understanding of their function and urban renewal.

"I support urban renewal and I always have," she said. "I think the problem with LCDC is in their implementation of urban renewal.

"How we get there is where a lot of people take issue with it," she added. "It's the process people have a problem with."

Approachability, Copeland said, can change that. Copeland, who grew up in Bonners Ferry, is a farmer's daughter and the granddaughter of a county commissioner. She believes she is approachable.

"Organic interaction always yields better results," she said. "It is a lot harder to sit in front of a person and take shots at them than it is to sit in front of a computer and do that."

Copeland supported a public advisory vote on McEuen Park.

"I think that would have alleviated a lot of ill-will on that matter," she said. "I believe it would have passed."

She said she would favor an advisory vote whenever it comes down to controversies concerning "necessities versus wants or amenities."

"I support the park makeover," she said. "But it is not appropriate for me to come onto the council to represent my belief."

The city's anti-discrimination ordinance, on the other hand, was pretty cut and dried in Copeland's opinion.

"That is a question of right versus wrong. I feel like that is a black and white issue. I support it 100 percent," she said. "Anytime there is a shift in humanity, there is going to be opposition. Just because it's uncomfortable doesn't mean we shouldn't do it."

Copeland said her campaign strategy is get people out to vote. She is targeting the non-typical voter with social media and door hangers.

"I don't like door knocking," she said.

Copeland said she is not a career politician. She sees herself as a citizen who believes in getting involved in her community. She has a philosophy that drives her.

"My job as a human is to always try and better myself," she said. "I am not in competition with anyone else, I am in competition with who I was yesterday."