COEUR d'ALENE - Mary Souza sees herself as a political watchdog and community advocate, and vows that if elected, she'll serve all the citizens.

After moving from Spokane to Coeur d'Alene in 1987, Souza became active in the Coeur d'Alene School District. She held positions on the district's curriculum and advanced learning committee, and participated in the parents groups at schools her four children attended.

Then she heard about a position opening on the city of Coeur d'Alene's Planning and Zoning Commission and decided to apply. She was appointed to that position, where she served six years.

"I didn't have a background in land use, but I was interested in the city's operations," she said.

While she was sitting on the Planning Commission, she decided to run against City Councilman Mike Kennedy in 2005. Dan Yake also ran in that race.

Despite a controversy over his residency status, Kennedy won with 49 percent of the vote, followed by Yake at 27 percent, and Souza at 24 percent.

"In 2005, I had no political experience whatsoever," Souza said. "I had very, very little help. I had no structure. I didn't know how to run a campaign at all, so yes, I have learned a lot."

Souza said it has never been her intention to run for public office.

"It is not a long-term goal of mine. It never has been," she said. "This has never been on my wish list, ever."

But after watching the way city leaders have made decisions, Souza said she became frustrated and decided to step up.

"I have been hoping that someone else would be able to come forward and take on this job, but that just hasn't happened," she said. "So, I decided that I was the one who was most able to do it at this point in my life."

She said she has been involved in the issues and understands them, so it was time for her to make another run at city government.

"It's a big undertaking to step up and do this, but I think we need some really serious representation for the citizens, and I am ready to do that," she said.

Between her 2005 run and this race, the City Council removed Souza from the Planning Commission at the request of three fellow commissioners who said her demeanor was compromising the credibility of the commission.

She also wrote a "City Pulse" column for the Coeur d'Alene Press and a private newsletter that was often critical of the city.

She worked on Jim Brannon's unsuccessful campaign against Kennedy in 2009, and last year she helped organize a recall effort against the mayor and three City Council members after they refused to hold a public advisory vote on the $20 million McEuen Field makeover.

The council was not legally required to hold that vote because it was using urban renewal money to fund the project, which did not require the city to increase taxes.

The recall failed for lack of enough signatures.

Souza has been publicly critical of Kennedy since her loss to him in 2005, and has insinuated repeatedly that Kennedy has used his position on the council to enrich his employer through the urban renewal process. Urban renewal in Coeur d'Alene is managed by the Lake City Development Corporation, whose chairman for several years was business partners with Kennedy's employer.

Souza helped and supported Brannon's run against Kennedy in 2009. He lost by a handful of votes.

Brannon was first to announce his intention to run for mayor early this year, but eventually dropped out of the running after Souza announced she was running too. Souza said she did talk with Brannon and asked him to drop out, but that was early in the process, and he had no intention of dropping out at that time.

"I did talk to him early in the process, but not at the end," she said. "That was his decision completely."

As for her termination from the Planning and Zoning Commission, Souza said it was because she questioned Tony Berns, the executive director of LCDC, about spending taxpayer dollars on private developments.

During a planning commission meeting in 2005, Souza said Berns was giving an update on the progress of the urban renewal districts in Coeur d'Alene. She questioned whether the public owned some decorative fencing that the urban renewal district used tax dollars to purchase for the Ice Plant Town Homes Development on Mullan Avenue.

"He said, 'Well, no. The public will not own that fence,'" she said. "Tony didn't like my questions because I was challenging him a bit."

But, she said, she did not consider her demeanor to be disrespectful at all. In fact, she said, she checked with four people who were in the audience of that meeting and they assured her that she was not disrespectful.

A month later, Souza was asked to meet with the city administrator to discuss complaints that were filed against her, and she was asked to step down from the commission.

"There were no multiple complaints on multiple occasions. There was that one meeting," she said. "Just Tony Berns because it was back when some of the issues about LCDC were starting to be known to the public."

The Press obtained letters from the chairman of the commission and two other commissioners asking the City Council and the mayor to remove Souza from the commission citing her behavior as "unprofessional, rude and argumentative." (See related story.)

In a follow-up interview, Souza said she was not aware of any letters other than a letter from Commission Chairman John Bruning.

Bruning's letter says Souza engaged in other behaviors that he considers to be conflicts of interest, which may be what Souza was referring to, but wouldn't divulge in her original interview with The Press.

"There is a whole different way of looking at those, so if you are going to dredge up that stuff, which is OK, I am going to have a truth page on my website," she said. "The city tried three different times, or four different times depending on how you separate things, to create information or an impression to ruin my reputation or any political future dealings that I might have, but they were conjured up pieces of information that were 100 percent not true."

When asked to elaborate on the three or four issues, Souza declined, saying she would post those on her website as well.

"There was no wrongdoing whatsoever, and it was proven to be that way, but the city made a big deal out of each one of them I think to be negative toward my reputation," she said. "So, I am here to tell you none of that has been any kind of impetus for me to try to get back at anyone."

She said she has no problem respecting, dealing with, or interacting with any of the city staff involved in those cases.

"This is not a revenge method at all," she said. "I am running for this office because I believe in this city and believe we can move forward together in a positive way."