ATHOL - Ask Gust Schieve why he's running for City Council and he'll tell you, "I'm running for the town. I just like doing stuff for the town and there's nothing I want to change here.

"I'm running to defend a way of life. It's slow and comfortable and a place you know everybody. This is probably the best town you could live in."

The 48-year-old candidate was raised in San Pedro, Calif., and has an associate's degree in electronics. He moved to Athol in 2005 and was voted Citizen of the Year in 2012.

"I'm not even quite sure what the City Council does except direct certain projects and handle minor issues concerning the town," Schieve said.

One of the major citizen concerns in Athol is the issue of growth.

"I'm for the no-growth or slow-growth side," Schieve said. "I pretty much stand with the mayor. I'm not setting up to hinder growth. I just want to keep the town running in the same direction it's been going for the last 20 years.

"As long as we hold to a policy of no-growth, the sewer system's not going to go in. I, personally, don't want to see it going in. If I wanted the sewer system and the things that come with growth, I'd have moved to Coeur d'Alene or Hayden. I would imagine everyone's got some sort of septic now, anyway. We don't need a treatment plant."

In terms of the Hughes Investments project - currently in litigation and intended for the intersection of Highways 95 and 54 - Schieve said he is against the proposed grocery, restaurants, hotel and travel center.

"Why project that on a town that wants to keep a certain stature?" he said. "It's going to be another lost cause - build it and nobody will come.

"I'd compare this to Walmart. When Walmart doesn't make enough money somewhere, they leave. Is that what we want? No. Besides, we've already got basically what they're planning. For them, say, to put in a grocery store would hurt the Little Town Market we've got."

Currently unemployed, Schieve has been an electrician, industrial glass blower and U.S. Army combat engineer with experience in bridge building, demolition and construction.

His qualifications for the job, he said, are 30 years of computer skills, AutoCAD experience and volunteer work as an elementary school teacher's assistant in computer skills. As a volunteer, he redid the Athol cemetery plans.

In the future, he said, he'd like to start his own business in alternative energy sources. He is married and has a 16-year-old daughter.

Schieve said he wasn't sure if he would campaign.

"I'm not running because I have a personal agenda. To campaign would just mean that I had ulterior motives, in one sense. Besides, in a small town, you tend to meet more and more people, so everyone kind of knows what you stand for.

"As a matter of fact, I would step aside in favor of someone who had a better idea for the betterment of the town. I wouldn't push my views on anybody. I think that's what the City Council is about - supporting the people."

Everyone needs a voice, Schieve said, and he wants to be that voice. He wants to help the town in any way he can.

"Think of this as a community," he said. "In the big city you don't have a sense of community, and that's what makes living here so special. I've already lived in the city - Los Angeles - and I didn't like it. This town is perfect."