Hayden City Councilmember Dick Panabaker, who was mayor of the city for six years, said Thursday he's again seeking the city's top elected position.

"I don't have an agenda, there's no ego, and I'm not in it for the money," said Panabaker, 70. "I truly care about where I live, and I will always try to do the right thing."

Panabaker has lived in Hayden since 1970, and was living in Coeur d'Alene earlier.

He served as Hayden mayor from 1988 to 1994, and was a Kootenai County commissioner from 1994 to 2004. He was elected to the city council in 2009, and has two years remaining on his term.

Currently, he's retired, but he had owned and operated an upholstery business and worked at car dealerships prior to that.

He said the city has developed a reputation for not being business friendly enough, and he wants the opportunity to do more to turn that around.

He said Hayden City Hall has quality staff members, and he wants to work with them to review ordinances that might be too restrictive, review fees that might be too high, and encourage businesses to choose the city and bring in jobs. He also wants to work more with Jobs Plus Inc., a nonprofit economic development corporation that assists existing companies to relocate to North Idaho or expand here.

"I want this to be a family town," he said. "But there has to be jobs for the people for it to be a family town."

Mayor Ron McIntire hasn't announced whether he will be running for another term.

"If he doesn't run, I want to make sure I'm there," Panabaker said.

He said he would be taking an honest, common-sense and teamwork approach to government, if elected mayor.

"I'm not the king; I'm not wiser than anybody else," he said "You build a team, use their expertise, and get things done."

One of the biggest challenges facing the city is coming up with a solution for the city's budget shortfalls. The city had to pull $391,000 from its reserves to reach a balanced budget this summer.

The city can't maintain that pace, he said.

The city has been stuck with a low levy rate for years, and he knows it needs to be raised, but it can't be done during tough economic times - like now. A slowdown in building also has hurt revenues.

"I don't want to take more money from people, but at the same time the city has to survive," he said. "We have to provide services."

Panabaker has been married for 47 years, and has two children and 10 grandchildren.

Panabaker is president of the Lake City Center and president of the Inland Empire Chapter of Nash Car Club of America.

He served on the Hayden Area Regional Sewer Board for 17 years, and twice chaired the Coeur d'Alene River Basin Commission.

"I enjoy getting things done for the area we live in," he said. "We're lucky to live here."