wishes, wants & needs

Mayor hopes to maintain local quality of life

Trimming recreational programs gnaws at Mayor Pam Kennedy.

The city of Kalispell has big-time revenue woes. That means budget cuts that probably have not ended.

And parks and recreation programs are getting hit harder than most city operations -mainly because other programs are more life-and-death endeavors or have locked-in incomes.

To Kennedy, parks and recreation programs are symbols of why people want to live in Kalispell: They provide intangible quality of life.

"For me, it's the essence of what a community is about," Kennedy said. "It's family. It's neighborhoods. It's people outside and enjoying what this community has to offer."

Kennedy, 57, moved to Kalispell for the lifestyle 30 years ago from Minnesota. She is in her second term and her seventh year as Kalispell's mayor. And she plans to run for mayor again in 2009.

But 2008 was radically different from her first six years.

Since 2000, Kalispell grew more than it did in the previous 30 years -ordinary people and developers tripping over each other to move to the beautiful, laid-back Flathead with Kalispell as its core.

The city government's chief problem had been keeping up with the growth.

For years, people continuously complimented Kennedy about the city government.

But during the past year, those conversations have changed, especially in the last four months.

People are more stressed -with their own lives, with the possibility of additional layoffs in the Flathead, and with the city government.

Financially strapped, they're scared of greater taxes and fees. But they don't want to lose police and firefighters, or programs for children.

And it's not just Kalispell residents.

"The city of Kalispell is the heart of Flathead County, and everything pumps out of here," Kennedy said.

The Kalispell Fire Department provides advanced ambulance service to a major portion of Flathead County. Rumblings occasionally flare up that the city might limit its ambulance service to Kalispell because of budget constraints, although that idea has never made it beyond the trial balloon stage.

But that thought worries people in parts of Flathead County that don't have their own ambulance services - and they voice those concerns to Kennedy.

Kennedy has learned to listen more carefully to people, hoping to understand what's needed and to possibly find a magical idea that could improve the city's situation.

And she has to explain more and more the frustration of not being legally allowed to move money between separate city funds to fix certain shortfalls.

Kennedy admits that the city's budget woes, mostly caused by the poor economic climate, caught her by surprise - not that revenue shrank, but that the shrinkage has been so great.

The city's general fund - which pays for police, fire protection, parks and lots of salaries -is flirting with red ink. So is the cash reserve fund.

"We're not hiding any of that from our community," she said. "If we have a catastrophic situation, we're going to be in trouble."

Kennedy thinks it could take a few years or longer before the city's budget can creep back up to a level where there is some financial cushion.

"We're going to have to watch every penny," Kennedy said.

She has a cautious optimism. Kalispell's economy has not been hit as badly as many places elsewhere in the nation. Developers still are interested in the area.

And Kennedy sees other signs in Kalispell -food drives and other forms of volunteerism - that fuel her optimism. People are looking out for the less fortunate.

"Everyone can relate to it … on a personal level," she said.

Kennedy wonders whether the city government could tap into that communal feeling.

The city government could approach the public for a list of things that should be tackled but can't because of budget and economic woes. Then it could approach service clubs and other organizations for each to help with one or more items on that list, Kennedy speculated.

"We need to send that volunteer message out there that, 'We need your help.' That's what's special and unique about Kalispell," she said. "It's all about that community spirit that's unique to small towns."

Reporter John Stang may be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at jstang@dailyinterlake.com