COEUR d'ALENE - Mayor Sandi Bloem said Wednesday she will not seek a fourth term this fall.

Bloem, the city's only three-term mayor - and its only female leader - cited personal and professional reasons for not running for re-election Nov. 5.

Bloem didn't elaborate on those reasons, but said she still intends to be involved in the community after she steps away, calling her 12-year run as head of the city "an incredible honor."

"It's the right thing for me now," Bloem said. "It was a very difficult decision but I have a few opportunities in front of me and I feel if I don't take those opportunities, and wait four more years, they might not be there."

Bloem said she made the decision a few weeks ago and told some staff and council members. But then rumors of the decision circulated online Wednesday, which she confirmed.

"It's been an incredible opportunity, experience and honor for me to serve," she said. "I cherished the friends I've made and the opportunities I've had, the experience, the challenge of moving a community - working with a community to create a better place.

"I wouldn't trade the 12 years for anything," she added.

Bloem will be 71 at the end of this term.

Among the transformations under her administration are turning an old mill site into the education corridor, constructing the public library and Kroc Community Center and most recently, breaking ground on the McEuen Park redevelopment project.

The downtown $20 million park project, which Bloem championed and moved forward with her fourth and tie-breaking vote on a deadlocked council, will be mostly completed in November, incidentally.

Bloem sent a citywide email Wednesday confirming her decision.

"I didn't want to believe her until she went public, because I was hoping she would run," Council President Mike Kennedy said, calling the last 12 years "the best leadership that we could hope for in this town."

"I've learned a tremendous amount from her about leadership, grace under fire and balance," said Kennedy, who is also up for re-election Nov. 5 and unsure if he'll run again due to time issues between work and family. "Ten years from now (Bloem's time as mayor) will be looked back on as hugely important in a positive way to Coeur d'Alene."

Local elections in recent years have become increasingly partisan. Many politicians have said they've become increasingly nasty, too. Bloem said that she didn't factor the negativity that comes with campaigning and holding public office into her decision.

"I would be less than honest if I didn't say to you the negativity is something I don't enjoy," she said. "But it certainly wasn't a factor in deciding whether or not I would run."

City Council member Deanna Goodlander, a political ally of Bloem's, said she believed the negativity surrounding local politics factored into Bloem's decision to some degree.

"It's been difficult at times, the name calling on her and her family," Goodlander said. "I think that's part of the decision."

The longtime council member pointed to a comment posted on The Press website April 17 under an article about the American Legion baseball field from an anonymous poster, called "bionic man," directed at Bloem and three fellow incumbents who supported the McEuen Park project.

"They are going to stick the taxpayers with the most they can get away with while in office. too bad they all weren't sitting on the 'bombs' of boston," it said. "May the legal system and wrath of whatever, reign down on their lives."

Bionic man was banned, and the comment was taken down.

Still, Goodlander said, "that's a little frightening for families."

"I hope there's people willing to run for the office," she said. "We need a leader, we really do."

Mike Patrick, managing editor of The Press, said Wednesday that the editorial staff had just banned three frequent cdapress.com visitors from posting comments.

Many people in the community have said the Press online discussion is often too crude and mean to serve any public good.

"It has gotten out of hand," Patrick said. "We want open discourse on the site but a number of frequent posters have crossed the line to malicious, ruthless mudslinging and name-calling. Our goal is to honor freedom of speech, but with a little civility mixed in."

Leadership is important now, Goodlander said, because the city is also losing half a dozen department heads over the next couple of years. She said what she admired most is Bloem's ability to lead with an upbeat attitude, while never clamoring for attention.

"I'm going to miss her positive attitude, her visionary ideas, and her leadership style," Goodlander said. "I think we will all miss those things, but again, I support her decision and understand her feeling that way. Sometimes it's time to move on."

One name that comes up about running for mayor is City Councilman Dan Gookin, a second-year councilman who often sits on the opposite side of the political fence as Bloem.

"It would be premature to say anything right now," Gookin said on a possible run, then added: "But I do agree with the mayor's decision it is time for change at City Hall."

Bloem, Goodlander, Kennedy, and Councilman Woody McEvers, also up for re-election in November, were targeted in a narrowly unsuccessful recall petition drive last year. Bloem now will leave office on her own terms.

While the personal and professional opportunities aren't public yet, Bloem, owner of Johannes and Co. Jewelers, said they won't require her to move from Coeur d'Alene.

"The past 12 years have been very special to me personally to have the opportunity to work with such a great city family," her citywide email read. "Thank you for all your support and the excellence you provide every day."

Asked what some of the highlights from the last 12 years were, she said there were too many to name.

"It would be hard to pull one out from all the others," she said. "The people, probably, are the biggest highlight, the people I've been able to work with."