ATHOL - Mary Zichko said it's time for a change in city government.

"We need to not have the same people in there all the time," she said. "We need new ideas."

The 68-year-old retired office manager and secretary has worked in the public sector for almost 30 years. "I put myself through business college and worked all but three years of my adult life," she said.

In terms of city growth - an ongoing Athol concern - Zichko supports reasonable expansion.

"I'd like the community to grow some, but within reason," she said.

"We're not a rich community, but we need some growth or we're going to die. Because of the highway, which kind of takes away from Athol, we need to give people a place to get off the road. If our businesses don't grow, we may become a ghost town."

Another issue of concern is wastewater treatment.

"We need to go back and look at our plan on the septic issue and see what we can resolve with the health department, and then look into funding for a sewer system - if we need one. We need to look at what we can afford. We really need to address this because we've had a lot of people asking.

"We already have septic tanks, and we're limited to our total number of tanks. We do have some people who have property they can't build on or do anything with because they don't have enough ERs (Equivalent Residency)."

Zichko was born and raised in Springfield, Vermont. She moved to Athol in 1973. She has five children and 14 grandchildren.

The first thing she'd do if elected, she said, is ensure that when residents attend Council meetings, their concerns are heard.

"If they have questions, they should be answered," she said. "I'm going to make sure I find out answers for them."

The other action she would take would be to reinstitute the annual Athol Cleanup Day.

"It used to be a fun thing and it makes people more neighborly," she said.

Zichko has worked on several agricultural projects and helped set up a tree seedling program. Her civic activities include being a court advocate for the Women's Center for Domestic Violence in Kootenai County, a member of the County Task Force on Human Rights and four years at the ABC Food Bank.

Zichko's opinion of the proposed 56-acre Hughes Investments project at the intersection of Highways 95 and 54 - currently stalled by litigation with the Idaho Department of Transportation - was, "I think this would be good, but citizens shouldn't have to pay for expenses like getting water over to them. Also, they'll need to do their own paving."

n Incumbent Mark Dane declined to be interviewed by The Press.