Kalispell Mayor Tammi Fisher will not run for a second term in a looming election season that could see some changes on the City Council. Five of nine seats on the council are up for grabs this fall.

Fisher was elected in her first run for office in 2009 and is the city’s third female mayor, following Pam Kennedy and Norma Happ.

“I had always perceived it as being a one-term commitment,” Fisher said on Wednesday. “I have never considered running for a second term in that office. I like to leave room for fresh blood, new ideas.”

Fisher has a new idea of her own that she may choose to eventually run for a seat in the Montana Senate. “If I were to seek another office, it would be at the legislative level,” she said.

For now, the 36-year-old attorney will continue to work in risk management for Kalispell Regional Medical Center and try to make some inroads on unfinished priorities during her last year on the City Council.

That includes developing a program to adequately fund Kalispell’s capital improvement needs.

It also includes devising a funding mechanism to maintain city streets and replace the transportation impact fee program that Fisher and four other council members voted to kill in February 2012.

Before the departure of former City Manager Jane Howington in January 2012, the council had passed a resolution telling staff to keep brainstorming ideas for a new street maintenance assessment model after a “per-transaction” assessment model that Howington pitched failed to gain traction.

That work seemingly ground to a halt through turnover in the city manager’s office and in the public works department. But a council majority proceeded to kill off the transportation impact fees before other possible funding models were identified.

Fisher said it’s a subject she wants to pursue this year.

“I just want to find the fairest way to shoulder that burden, and not have the 10,000 taxpayers in Kalispell shoulder the burden of roads used by millions of people,” she said.

The mayor serves as the ninth and presiding member on the Kalispell City Council.

Ward one council member Bob Hafferman, ward two council member Jeff Zauner, ward three council member Jim Atkinson and ward four council member Tim Kluesner also have terms that expire at the end of December.

Kluesner said he’s pondering a third run for office, but is still making his decision.

Hafferman said he’s still making up his mind about another run. Because of a census-driven ward redistricting, Hafferman would have to run for a ward three seat against Atkinson, who said he does intend to run for another term.

Zauner could not be reached for comment about his intentions. The filing window for candidates to run in municipal elections is still several months away.

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.