GREAT DEBATE

WASILLA — Candidates for Wasilla City Council and mayor faced a crowd of potential voters Monday night at the Wasilla Multi-Use Sports Complex.

Topics ranged from how the candidates would govern, to what the future might hold for Wasilla.

An audience of roughly 60 people, some from Wasilla, some from points beyond, listened as each candidate fielded questions relating to challenges facing the city.

The evening forum was still going around 9:30 p.m., when questions submitted by audience members began flying at candidates.

Perhaps the most pertinent question asked Monday dealt with the future of Wasilla’s economy and how new leadership might attract high-paying jobs outside the service sector.

One prime example of the yearning for better jobs in the city became apparent during a recent hiring fair for the new Target store. The fair saw almost 1,000 residents show up looking to fill the 300 available positions.

For the candidates Monday, it became a theme to mention the infrastructure needs that have to be available for business to move to the city. Although some candidates differed on just what kind of infrastructure.

Mayoral candidate Greg Koskela said he’d like to see development at the industrial park near the Wasilla Airport launch the town into the economic future.

“We could turn that into another economic engine for our city,” Koskela said.

Wasilla City Council Member Steve Menard, a mayoral candidate, touted bolstering Wasilla’s infrastructure so the city is more attractive to potential job suppliers.

“If you want better jobs you’ve got to build the infrastructure,” he said.

Menard said development at Port MacKenzie is also a crucial objective because it would provide the transportation hub missing from the city.

Fellow city councilman and mayoral candidate Marty Metiva said what he calls high-paying legacy jobs should be attracted to Wasilla because the city has the right people to fill the jobs.

Currently, roughly 33 percent of the area’s population commutes to Anchorage daily for work. The idea is to let businesses know the same people who do the job in Anchorage can do it in Wasilla where it’s less expensive to bring in business with the existing infrastructure, Metiva said.

“We’ve got a work force that’s trainable,” he said.

For Verne Rupright, a local attorney running for mayor, the key to better jobs in Wasilla might lie with a commuter rail system.

By providing a feature like a rail system, Rupright said it will serve the population better, and could bring folks from Anchorage north to work new jobs once they get here.

Rupright also said the area’s energy resources could be developed to create jobs that would last for years.

For at least one candidate, the way Wasilla’s job growth is going seems to be working.

Michael Carson, a real estate broker running for mayor, said the majority of jobs in Alaska are either in Anchorage or on the North Slope.

Carson offered a plan to keep the growth going as it has been.

“We get more of what we got, keep the sales tax low and we’ll do well,” he said.

For city council candidates, infrastructure and smart development are key to attracting new, better jobs.

Ron Cox, running for Seat A, said it’s time the city’s management stepped forward to take an active role in developing the city.

“Let’s put out some feelers and put our own businesses out there and let them hire our people,” he said.

Leone Harris, one of two candidates gunning for Seat C, said she agrees the airport should be a focal point of development.

By expanding the operations of the airport, namely sending flights to the North Slope, Harris said business would likely pop up in the industrial area around the airport, thus creating more jobs.

Expanding the airport seems like a good idea to Gretchen O’Barr, who is running against Harris for Seat C.

O’Barr said with more resources and infrastructure concentrated in that area, businesses could latch on to the airport as hub to do business.

“I would love to see the airport area expand,” she said.

Two candidates are running for Seat D, and both said the city has some work ahead of it to attract higher paying jobs.

Nancy Hall, who said the engineering firm at which her husband works in Anchorage has 15 Valley residents working there, put some of the blame on Wasilla’s culture.

Hall said a lack of entertainment options, such as theaters, museums and other amenities commonly found in Anchorage, might be keeping business away.

“The culture needs to be developed,” Hall said.

Mary Kvalheim, a term-limited Mat-Su Borough assemblywoman who is running for Seat D, said Wasilla needs to look outside the box to attract jobs beyond the service sector.

The first step is finding out what sets Wasilla apart for business, Kvalheim said.

“There has got to be something we can give them to ask them to come,” she said.

The candidates said much more Monday evening. Check the Frontiersman’s Web site, www.frontiersman.com, Tuesday for more.

Contact Michael Rovito at michael.rovito@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.