COEUR d’ALENE — A call for candidates interested in serving on the board of ignite cda, Coeur d’Alene’s urban renewal agency, used to mean a commissioner was stepping down.

No more.

Now, when a board member’s term is up, Mayor Steve Widmyer is asking for an open call for candidates, and the sitting commissioner can also seek reappointment.

“It’s to give everyone qualified a chance to serve,” Widmyer said.

Widmyer said there has been a push for urban renewal board members to be elected, but he doesn’t think people seeking to serve their city as volunteers should have to do that.

He said he does think, at a minimum, all interested citizens should be given the opportunity to be considered for a position on ignite cda’s nine-member board.

Commissioner Mic Armon’s term is coming to an end, and the deadline to apply for appointment to the vacancy was 5 p.m. Monday.

Four candidates are seeking consideration: Matthew Smith, Kathleen Tillman, Mark Johnstone and Sid Fredrickson. Armon has also expressed a desire to continue to serve, according to Sam Taylor, the city’s deputy city administrator.

The City Council and mayor will likely select an appointee, or reappointee, when they meet again Tuesday, April 18, at 6 p.m. in the Community Room at Coeur d’Alene Public Library.

“Past mayors have had different protocols,” said Tony Berns, ignite cda’s executive director.

Berns said in the past, the urban renewal agency would let the mayor and Coeur d’Alene City Council members know a board member’s term was ending and that he or she was willing to serve again, and the city officials would decide whether to reappoint the individual.

City Councilman Dan Gookin called the prior practice “self-reappointment” by the urban renewal agency board. He said the council and mayor would receive notice a commissioner’s term was ending and that he or she was seeking reappointment, and it would be “rubber-stamped” by the mayor and council.

“Typically what would happen, they like to pick their own. They tend to use the same circle of people they know,” Gookin said.

It’s hard for a group to effect needed change when the members are all like-minded or remain the same, he said.

Gookin said the new protocol aligns with state urban renewal law that calls for all appointments to be generated from the mayor and council.

It was common for Coeur d’Alene’s urban renewal agency commissioners to serve many terms, sometimes for 20 years, Gookin said. Appointees were often selected simply because they have strong ties to the city or because their families have been here for a long time.

“I support the mayor with appointing new faces and new people. It’s healthy for the community,” Gookin said.