Kalispell gets new leadership

Voters called for change in leadership at Kalispell City Hall on Tuesday when they elected Kalispell attorney Tammi Fisher as mayor and voted newcomer Jeff Zauner to the City Council.

Incumbent Jim Atkinson retained his Ward 3 council seat.

In another ballot issue, the Kalispell Golf Association overwhelmingly won a new 20-year lease to operate Buffalo Hill Golf Course.

The 3,158-to-471 vote means golf-course managers will be able to secure funding for $1.5 million to $2 million in deferred maintenance and capital improvements.

Fisher totaled 63 percent of the vote to Mayor Pam Kennedy's 37 percent, ending Kennedy's tenure in office after eight years.

Zauner defeated incumbent Hank Olson 669-467 in Ward 2 while Atkinson had 348 votes to defeat Mark Rold (who had 300 votes) in Ward 3. Two incumbents - Bob Hafferman in Ward 1 and Tim Kluesner in Ward 4 - were unopposed in the election.

Voters turned out in relatively healthy numbers - just over 31 percent - for the municipal election, which typically brings light participation. Out of the city's 12,034 registered voters, 3,752 voted either by absentee ballot or at the Flathead County Fairgrounds on Tuesday.

Fisher ran on a platform questioning Kennedy's wisdom in decision-making and fiscal responsibility.

Fisher, 33, is a Kalispell attorney focused on property law, land use and planning, and real estate. She was backed by a strong contingent that questioned the lease-purchase agreement for City Hall, crafted on Kennedy's watch, and stewardship over a shrinking city budget.

"It's a sign that the citizens are ready for a change," Fisher said shortly after learning of her victory Tuesday night. "I take their vote of confidence to heart, and I take my responsibility as a public servant seriously."

She was struck by the overwhelming support, she said in the midst of an election-night gathering in Scotty's Bar in south Kalispell. She confessed "it was a little bit of a shock" to have such a decisive margin of victory in her first run at public office.

"I think we're seeing it across the country," Fisher said, with taxpayers ousting incumbents as the country still struggles to regain its footing after a prolonged recession. "They want the transparency. The old system hasn't been working."

Kennedy said she wished Fisher the best in her new role. Naturally disappointed in the results, she said the wide margin "surprised me a great deal."

"It's happening across the United States that incumbents have been blamed for the state of the economy," Kennedy said. "It's a tough year to be an incumbent."

Kennedy had touted her proven leadership and ability to bring people to consensus as she ran for her third term in office.

Kennedy, 58, served two terms as a City Council member before being elected mayor eight years ago. She has worked in the construction industry for most of her career and now is the managing partner with her brother in Great Bear Builders Inc.

An early projection for just $130,000 in cash reserves in the general fund, down from $1.5 million during the boom years of 2005-07, came under attack and helped galvanize opposition to Kennedy, Atkinson and Olson. But the incumbents helped ride herd on a push that will leave reserves close to $309,000 at the end of the 2009-10 budget cycle.

It's a trend in the right direction, Kennedy pointed out, but Fisher continued to call for fiscal responsibility in good times to provide a cushion in economically down times.

Zauner is self-employed in irrigation and light construction and is part of the family that ran Zauner's Ace Home Center, Ben Franklin Crafts and Zauner's Recreation Center.

In Ward 3, Atkinson has served on the City Council for the past 21 years. He spent 16 of those years as the director of the Agency on Aging in Kalispell, and has taught special education, was a salesman and was a nursing home administrator in years past.

Reporter Nancy Kimball may be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com