Woody McEvers said Tuesday he will seek his sixth term on the Coeur d’Alene City Council.

“It’s been 20 years,” the incumbent said in an interview with The Press. “I was with [then-Mayor] Sandi Bloem for 12 years, and now [Mayor] Steve [Widmyer] for the last eight. Government is its own world, and I think that’s what I like about it. You have your business life and your personal life — your real life — and then you take that real life and put it into this government life. I think that’s been the best part of the last 20 years for me.”

McEvers was first elected in 2002. He said his near-two decades of service on the council have provided him a front-row seat for some of the most significant changes in the city’s history.

“I really appreciate that whole time of developing McEuen [Park] and the library and the Kroc Center,” McEvers recalled. “I remember when the Kroc was just a big hole. I asked, ‘What could they possibly do with this?’ Now, here we are.”

But McEvers said that of all the changes the city has seen, he’s most proud of the work done along Northwest Boulevard.

“Closest to my heart is the skate park,” said the Southern Californian who moved to the area in 1978. “That goes back to my steel wheels days.”

McEvers also said the city’s work in investment is continuing to pay off, most recently with the Atlas Waterfront Park.

“And now the waterfront,” he said. “It’s beautiful down there, and we couldn’t have done it without urban renewal.”

Urban renewal, whether McEvers likes it or not, will likely be in the crosshairs of debate this election season.

On March 26, Joe Alfieri announced his bid for McEvers’ Seat #4 on the council, citing stricter scrutiny on the urban renewal process as a reason for his run. At the time, McEvers said he wasn’t sure if he would run for re-election. It was an internal debate he’s since decided on.

“Campaigning is weird,” McEvers said. “It’s a weird place to put yourself. They take a lot of time, and I wanted to make sure I had the time for it. I’ve been running my business and serving on the council, and those things take time.”

Ultimately, though, McEvers said he felt it was right to run, even though the process isn’t always easy.

“Campaigns are brutal,” he said. “You got people yelling at you because you don’t know all the answers, and they think you should. It’s kind of the opposite of, ‘Let’s get through this and get back to work.’ That’s why it’s important to have those different perspectives and be able to see things from other points of view. If you’re a one-issue candidate, you don’t get to contribute that much.”

McEvers said that one issue — urban renewal — is a common and popular target, but that voters should elect a council member with a more well-rounded perspective.

“I believe people that want to do this job need to be more than one issue,” McEvers said. “They need to contribute. It’s not always about right and wrong. It’s about looking at things through a lot of different perspectives. From my perspective, one thing I look at is the way the city’s organized and running efficiently with taxes. I think we really need to look at what we get for the money.”

McEvers said that while keeping taxes down should be a priority, the return on investment is significant.

“For me, in the city, I take my taxes and divide it by 365,” he said. “That’s $1.41 a day I pay, and what do I get for it? I get snow and leaf removal, street improvements. Everybody has something to offer to the council, and that’s probably the biggest issue for me: keeping our taxes under control and being efficient. That’s the right way to do it.”