Facing challenges from Jason Mueller and Karlene Osorio-Khor this election cycle, incumbent Jim Atkinson is hoping that Ward 3 residents will give him another four-year term on the Kalispell City Council.

On the council for 25 years, Atkinson has been through some exciting times. They started with his own election. A candidate for Ward 3 had no challengers in 1986, so Atkinson mounted a vigorous write-in campaign against him less than one week from Election Day.

“I got coverage like you could not believe and we went up and down the streets with a sign. On Tuesday I lost by 32 votes,” Atkinson said. He was elected to office two years later and has been in office since then.

Over the years there has been plenty more excitement: Meetings on allowing gambling, the “Herculean” push to move to a city manager form of government and the controversial last-minute move to restore Central School with tax increment financing district money.

“There have been some councils that worked well together, and there have been other times where we had 5-4 votes on everything and tons of contention,” Atkinson said.

Atkinson remembers one meeting when the mayor ordered the police chief to arrest someone for disrupting council proceedings. The chief refused. “There’s been some drama. Rather than watch drama on TV, I get to go to council on Monday,” he said.

This last City Council has been one of the better ones to work with in Atkinson’s view. Its members may not agree about everything, but that’s a good thing and “there seems to be a lot of respect among one another.”

“I’m convinced every single one of those people on the council has the community’s best interests in mind,” Atkinson said. “They’re not getting rich, so they have to have some other reason for running and I think it’s a genuine concern for the city of Kalispell and the individuals in it.”

Like other incumbents, Atkinson is proud of how Kalispell has turned around its finances and built its general fund reserves back up.

He gives former City Manager Jane Howington most of the credit for that. “I think it’s just wonderful that we are a community with a balanced checkbook in a county with a balanced checkbook in a state with a balanced checkbook in a nation that is all screwed up,” he said.

As Kalispell wrestles with its impact fees, Atkinson said he thinks the fees will remain a point of strong debate.

“The idea that growth should pay for growth is a great idea,” he said. “The size of the bill that comes with it, that’s what scares people off and makes it a hard decision. And we don’t want to put so much onus on new people or businesses coming in that they won’t come. It will be a real balancing act and will continue to be contentious, I’m afraid.”

Atkinson’s strong support for expanding and realigning Kalispell City Airport through the federal Airport Improvement Program has been a point of contention between him and challenger Osorio-Khor.

He said he strongly supports the City Council’s decision to pursue the project, the subject of a referendum in this election.

“I’ve watched it for the last 20 years as we’ve been trying to make it more of a worthwhile enterprise over there. Bunches of folks have worked with that airport and tried to upgrade it and make it more viable and done all the work you need to do to get the FAA interested in investing in our airport. I’d hate to see that all go south in the eleventh hour,” Atkinson said.

The project will improve safety at and around the airport and help it grow as an asset for local businesses, he said. “I’m adamantly in favor of the funds. We’ve worked hard to get them and FAA is ready to keep moving forward with us if we can get over this hurdle.”

Atkinson also is excited about the core area revitalization plan for Kalispell’s railroad corridor. That includes the expansion of the West Side Tax Increment Financing District and the possibility of removing the railroad tracks and redeveloping the corridor.

“That’s an exciting thing to be involved in and to assist with. That’ll help to establish our core area as a destination point for business and entertainment and for our tourists,” Atkinson said. “Whether we accept it or not, our tourist industry is a huge part of our industry now that lumber and farming has waned some. It’s a clean industry and if it’s treated right, I think it can be fantastic.”

On the City Council, Atkinson said he tries to always listen to all sides of an issue. “When things get a little testy on one side or another, I try to bring it back to the center to say, ‘What’s reasonable here, what will work for us?’” he said.

Atkinson said he has been called the “voice of reason” by some constituents in Ward 3 for just that approach.

“I hope you still consider me the voice of reason and that I will receive your vote in this election. You know where I stand, where I’ve been and you can pretty well guess where I’m going,” he said at the recent candidate forum held by the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce.

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