COEUR d'ALENE - Chris Fillios is highly educated, and has and has worked at the management level of large corporations in the high-tech, telecom and credit reporting industries.

The native New Yorker bounced around the country for most of his life, and finally settled down in Coeur d'Alene in 2000. He worked in the credit reporting industry in Spokane and eventually wound up in the Coeur d'Alene real estate market, where he works now.

Fillios possesses a master's degree in international politics, but never became active in politics until he ran for Kootenai County commissioner during the 2010 Republican primary.

He lost to Commissioner Jai Nelson, who also beat incumbent Rick Currie, but the race was close with all three candidates garnering about 30 percent of the vote.

With his corporate experience, Fillios thought he was qualified to become a county commissioner.

"I felt that I had the background and the skills," he said. "I had written compensation plans, written budgets, managed people, so I felt I was well suited for it.

"And, frankly, I looked at the history of some of the folks who had been elected and found that basically some of them were not very well qualified."

After the failed attempt at county commissioner, Fillios said he was approached to run for the Eastside Highway District, which he did and won by just five votes. It's a position he holds today.

When the City Council seats came open, he was approached again. He chose to run for seat two on the council against Amy Evans. Incumbent Mike Kennedy decided against running for another term.

"Several people came to me and asked me to run," he said. "There was no one else qualified and interested in running."

At first, Fillios said he was lukewarm to the idea. He wasn't sure if he would have the time to run a successful campaign. Eventually, he warmed up to the idea and decided to take the leap and get into the race.

"My objective basically is to represent all the citizens. I don't want to divide. We are already divided," he said. "What I want to do is accomplish the greater good for the greater number, which is all of the citizens of the city."

Fillios said the council divided the city by making a decision on McEuen Park that mostly benefits downtown land owners.

"I am not saying the merchants necessarily, but the land owners," he said. "If you look at the history of parks around the country, the people who benefit the most from a valuation standpoint are those who own property immediately around the park.

"When you look at that issue and the failure to go to a public vote - however non-binding, because it would have been non-binding - I think it has really divided the community."

He said McEuen is a symptom of a deeper cause, which he believes is a "level of disregard for the general populace of the city."

As for the anti-discrimination law, Fillios wants to let it be - for now.

"The way I look at it, it has passed. It is law, if you will, at the local level," he said. "We need to leave it alone. We need to see how it plays out."

Fillios thinks it could become a real problem down the road, but he fears opening it up now would only elevate the issue in the national press and possibly deter economic development.

Fillios said city salaries are an issue for him in that the city of Coeur d'Alene has 19 or 20 employees whose salaries exceed $100,000 and the next closest city has only two employees over that threshold.

"It's an issue that potentially, in part, may solve itself," he said. "That is the best problem or challenge to have."

He said through attrition, retirement and consolidation of departments, such as Parks and Recreation, the salaries could be brought back in line relatively quickly.

Urban renewal is another area Fillios wants to focus on.

"I have no issue with urban renewal," he said. "I saw it in action in New York."

However, he said the Lake City Development Corp., which manages Coeur d'Alene's Urban Renewal Districts, needs a sense of direction and to focus more on jobs recruitment.

"What's the return on the investment?" Fillios said. "You can't always measure that in dollars. I like to measure it in jobs."

He said Twin Falls is a good model for how urban renewal can be used to attract jobs. They have created 1,600 jobs in the last three years, while Coeur d'Alene has attracted 1,300 jobs in the past 10 years, he said.

"That's where I think our urban renewal has fallen short, largely in the area of economic development," he said. "Why aren't we attracting those jobs?"

If elected, Fillios said he would leverage his experience in the high-tech industry to focus on recruiting software companies to the area.

Overall, Fillios said he believes the City Council could involve more of the public in its decision-making process.

"My bottom line is this - if you take this comment in light of the McEuen controversy - the public has a right to be wrong. They can choose a project. They can vote for something that, perhaps, ultimately maybe proves not to be the right thing," he said. "But as an elected official, I don't have the luxury of being wrong. That's the way I will approach my job as a councilman if elected."