COEUR d'ALENE - Two mayoral candidates want urban renewal to stick around Coeur d'Alene; the other one isn't so sure.

Only one of the two urban renewal supporting candidates, however, is 100 percent behind the proposed Event Center in Riverstone - the next, big project the local agency has pledged $10 million to support.

Coeur d'Alene's three mayoral candidates - Joe Kunka, Steve Widmyer and Mary Souza - sat down with The Press and discussed their views on both urban renewal and the proposed event center, which could be funded in part with urban renewal money.

Joe Kunka

First things first, Kunka is "100 percent" behind developing an event center for an estimated $15 to $20 million. The three-time mayoral candidate admits his understanding about tax increment financing is a little foggy, but said an event center would be a key economic addition to the city.

"As mayor, I would do anything in my power to promote that," he said of the center, which he said would allow Coeur d'Alene to host high school state tournaments, as well as concerts and other events. He sided with a 2008 study about the project that said the arena could draw in $7 million to the economy annually, calling it "a great thing for the community."

"If urban renewal can help with it, maybe we should allow that," he said. "I'm not one of these guys who is going to come in and upset the apple cart without doing research first."

He said he's sat down and tried to study the process of tax increment financing, how urban renewal agencies pay for projects, and doesn't quite grasp the nuts and bolts.

"I really don't understand that entire process: I don't get it," he said. "As I think most of the people in Coeur d'Alene don't get it. So having said that, I can't be in opposition to it and I can't be in favor of it."

His understanding is: "It's a way to publicly finance improvement of impoverished areas."

He said most people are in the same boat as he is, which is why opinion on the local agency varies to such extreme degrees. The City Council could disband the local agency, which has become an issue on the campaign trail.

"I think people are afraid of the things they can't understand or that they don't know about," Kunka said. "I don't think I'm in favor of shutting anything down. I am in favor of educating the public."

Besides the event center, Kunka said he could be in favor of extending LCDC's reach by pushing for an urban renewal district on the east end of Sherman Avenue. But he's not in favor of a City Council member sitting on the LCDC board as a liaison because it gives the appearance of conflict of interest.

"The east end of Sherman Avenue is a gateway to our community as well," he said. "As mayor, I would look at that opportunity."

Steve Widmyer

The City Council, either this year or next, could be faced with the decision on whether or not to extend LCDC's River District boundary so that the agency can pay $10 million for North Idaho College's arena project.

Widmyer supports urban renewal, and wants it to stick around Coeur d'Alene if he's mayor. But he said it's too early to comment on the event center, or whether he thinks it's worth extending a boundary to fund until more details on the project are in hand.

Though LCDC has pledged $10 million to the event center, NIC is considering whether to hire a consultant for a comprehensive feasibility study on whether the area would make a good fit.

"I would have to see that study before I could make any determination on it," Widmyer said. "I wouldn't be doing anyone any justice on giving my opinion on something that I haven't studied."

But as for shutting down the urban renewal agency, Widmyer isn't on board.

He called urban renewal a tool that can be used to recruit economic development. If Coeur d'Alene is competing with other cities for a company that wants to relocate, it would be prudent to keep urban renewal around to incentivize a move here.

"Let's say we have an opportunity to recruit 500 high-tech jobs in the River District," he said. "And we're competing against a town in Oregon, and we're competing against a town in Washington. But we have, with urban renewal, help to pay for some of the infrastructure to help recruit for that company to come to Coeur d'Alene. I think we want to keep that advantage. And we want to be able to use that tool to create jobs."

But Widmyer said he'd like to see LCDC focus on job creation. That's one of the goals LCDC has, but Widmyer said he'd prefer to see urban renewal focus primarily on recruiting new business to town, not helping businesses that could compete with already established ones rooted here.

He pointed to Twin Falls Urban Renewal Agency as a model. That agency won The Council of Development Finance Agencies' 2013 Excellence in Tax Increment Finance Award for providing $37.5 million in infrastructure that helped lure the Chobani yogurt plant.

Chobani has invested about $450 million and hired more than 700 employees because of the project, and contributes more than $1 billion annually to the economy there, the Times-News reported.

Two of LCDC's bigger projects are helping turn an old abandoned mill into Riverstone, and helped build the US Bank Call Center off Seltice Way. The agency estimates it's played a part in creating and retaining 1,873 jobs since 1997.

"It's a tool that can be used," said Widmyer, who has supported LCDC projects like Riverstone and the Kroc Center, but opposed others, such as the scrapped midtown affordable housing project. "And it's effective."

Mary Souza

Souza has opposed a number of projects, which LCDC has financed, as not being beneficial to the greater public, like the Sherman Lofts condo downtown. The window-less, red brick facade of the building has been a symbol for some that urban renewal assistance isn't always warranted.

She said she believes LCDC's mission statement is too broad and vague, giving it the go-ahead to pay for projects outside of its main scope, which should be job creation. Board members should be rotated more quickly, to turn over different ideas, while those members should be required to file a more comprehensive disclosure form that includes things like business ties in the community.

"We could look at LCDC and decide if any of those changes are something we could consider at this point," she said. "Reign it in a little bit."

Souza has been a well-followed urban renewal critic in recent years, both as a columnist at The Press and as citizen who organized workshops on urban renewal, which have been attended by hundreds of people per session.

The overall operation of urban renewal agencies, she has maintained, allows cities to skirt state legislation that says cities must get voter approval to take on debt to pay for large projects.

She also doesn't like how LCDC pays for lobbyists to defend urban renewal laws each year when the issue comes up in Boise. She sees that as using taxpayer money to lobby on behalf of laws taxpayers are trying to change. Although, she said the first phase of Riverstone was a good use of urban renewal dollars.

But, as mayor, would she advocate doing away with LCDC?

"It would have to be evaluated really closely," she said. "That's something to look at, but I don't know that would be the answer. I'm not saying that at all. I think all possibilities are on the table."

She also said it was too early to weigh in on NIC's proposed event center.

"It probably is premature," she said. "It's changing all the time. They don't even have a location, let alone specifics."

She said she wasn't sure she would support a public advisory on the event center, as she pushed for McEuen Park, even if LCDC makes good on its pledge and is ready to pay $10 million for an event center.

Souza said she'd prefer a vote on a bond rather than an advisory one, "It would also depend on factors that are not at all confirmed yet."

Her husband Rick Souza is on the ad hoc committee that is recommending the college hire a professional consultant. She said that doesn't represent a conflict of interest, rather that the college was tapping into Souza's 29 years of business experience as owner of Design Events, which caters to the types of events the arena would attract.

She said experience tells her the proposed project has a long ways to go if it's truly going to be an event center, and not just a big sports arena.

"I'm not certain this project is viable," she said. "You're not going to get an event center for $15 million. I don't say that as an expert. That's my personal opinion."

Part 1 of a four-part series

• On Wednesday Coeur d'Alene, mayoral candidates weigh in on urban renewal and a proposed event center.

• On Thursday, the trio of mayoral candidates will discuss the anti-discrimination ordinance adopted by the City of Coeur d'Alene on June 5 to protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

• On Friday, the mayoral candidates will discuss the issue of city employees' salaries and how the city's salary structure, staffing and responsibilities could possibly be changed.

Urban renewal agencies pay for public projects inside their urban renewal boundaries with tax increment financing.

Tax increment financing is the increased amount of property tax money inside a district after it is established. Instead of going on the city's tax rolls, the increment financing goes to the urban renewal board's control to allocate to help spur economic development.

The money is often used to front developers for public portions of their projects, say sidewalks. The urban renewal agency is then reimbursed the money over years after the completed project generates an increase in property taxes.

An agency can also give a lump sum of money for a public project, without relying on being paid back. Lake City Development Corp., the local agency, did just that, paying roughly $15 million for the McEuen Park project.

LCDC has two districts. The downtown Lake District, established in 1997, is set to expire in 2021.

The River District is the other one, set to expire in 2027. It encompasses Riverstone.

The City Council has the ability to disband the LCDC and wind down its districts early.

However, it couldn't happen overnight, as LCDC has financial obligations that would take several years to pay off, thereby requiring it to stay in existence until then.

In responding to claims that the agency could go ahead tomorrow and city coffers would prosper, LCDC Executive Director Tony Berns wrote that the Lake District likely couldn't expire until around 2019 because of debts owed.

The Lake District has experienced $200 million in increased construction valuation since 1997. Using today's levy rates that would be $1.3 million budget infusion around 2019 to the city if the council did close it. The River District TIF has raised about $139 million since 2003. If closed, it could represent about $941,000 to the city budget process in year 2019 or 2020.

Coming Thursday:

• The trio of mayoral candidates will discuss the anti-discrimination ordinance adopted by the City of Coeur d'Alene on June 5 to protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.