Council hopeful cites her activism

Susie Snedaker says it’s time to have a community activist on the Coeur d’Alene City Council who is a critical thinker, not another local business owner.

That’s why Snedaker quit the city’s planning commission this summer to run against Councilwoman Deanna Goodlander.

“I bring a different approach to things,” said Snedaker, 64. “Deanna is very pro-business and wants the downtown to thrive. But I want the entire community to thrive.”

Snedaker is retired after a career of various jobs – from working in a retail nursery to being a legal secretary and construction superintendent.

A decade on the city’s planning commission gave Snedaker the experience she said she needs to contribute to add a different perspective to the debates.

One of her main issues is something her neighbors brought to her this spring, just a month before the Groene family killings threw Coeur d’Alene into the national spotlight. The neighbors were concerned that a transitional house for felons, including sex offenders, was just blocks from an elementary school and high school.

Snedaker said she pushed the city to take notice and proposed changes to the zoning rules so those types of boarding houses are allowed only in commercial areas and must get a city permit. The council has yet to vote on the issue.

The next step, she said, is lobbying the Idaho Legislature to change the laws so registered sex offenders can’t live near schools, day care centers or parks.

Her other issues are preserving Coeur d’Alene’s shorelines for public use, making sure there’s affordable housing for the area’s laborers and that the city plans for public transportation as the population skyrockets.

She wants the city to adopt better rules for landscaping in new developments, lighting requirements and mechanisms to keep the entire town – not just downtown – viable.

Goodlander, who is seeking a third term, agrees that her business experience makes her stick out. And to her, that’s a benefit for Coeur d’Alene.

“I have a more conservative outlook on life and on how to do business,” said Goodlander, 67, who is semi-retired from her family businesses, which include a convenience store and, at one time, Army surplus and outfitting stores.

The three things Goodlander would like to see accomplished by the council are ensuring that the $29 million Kroc Community Center becomes a reality, the new downtown library is built and the educational corridor along the Spokane River is completed.

Goodlander said the educational corridor, which will allow North Idaho College to expand as well as the state universities, is key to ensuring that Coeur d’Alene has a solid economy even if the recent building boom busts.

As a member of the city’s urban renewal agency, Lake City Development Corp., Goodlander wants to get rid of “California” style subdivisions on large lots with big yards. She said the city must concentrate on developments in existing neighborhoods that rekindle the “neighborhood” feel. For example, row houses with garages in the back and porches in the front. She advocates changing the city’s zoning and subdivision laws to allow those types of buildings. Goodlander envisions these developments all over the city, not just downtown.

She also supports increasing public spaces and applauds the city for filing a lawsuit to finally determine the ownership of Sanders Beach. She wants developers to include public boardwalks, bike paths and parks in their projects.

Snedaker disagrees with Goodlander’s 2004 vote to allow local businessman Duane Hagadone to annex the Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course into the city limits without paying $150,000 in annexation fees. Snedaker also thinks the council should have pushed to make Potlatch Beach forever public as part of the deal.

Goodlander said Hagadone wasn’t charged annexation fees because the golf course required no infrastructure improvements, such as roads. She added that Hagadone agreed to deed land to the city for a sewer pumping station that would also service the Silver Beach area.

She said she would defend that decision until the end because the golf course instantly added value to the city’s property tax base.