13 running for borough assembly

MAT-SU -- Five seats are open on the Mat-Su Borough Assembly and two on the school board, and the borough's Oct. 7 election promises to be full of close races.

Three candidates have cast their bids for the top position on the assembly. Incumbent Tim Anderson, Charlie Fannon and Steve Menard have all signed up to run for the borough mayor seat.

Fannon and Anderson's campaigns are in full swing. Both candidates have had kickoff fundraisers and have been making themselves visible at various public functions. When asked their strategies for running this election, Anderson said the facts speak for themselves.

"I'm strictly running on our record," Anderson said. "I think we've done many good things in three years. We're doing all the basic government services and I think we're doing them well."

Fannon said changes were in order.

"I just don't think they're listening to people as much as they should be," Fannon said. "We're not so overcrowded that each community can have what they each individually want -- if, in fact they want it at all."

Menard did not return messages left Friday afternoon.

Two will be vying for the Assembly District 6 seat, currently held by Jim Colver. Sherry Pinckley-Trboyevich, a core-area resident, will be challenging Colver for the seat.

In the district 7 race, incumbent Kelly Lankford-Ladere of Trapper Creek is running against Meadow Lakes-area residents Betty Vehrs and Thomas Hood. Ladere, in 2000, was a surprise winner -- signs for her campaign cropped up immediately before election day and Ladere won with 13 votes over contender Charlie Huggins. She now faces Vehrs, who has been involved in the Meadow Lakes Community Council and Fire Service Area Board of Supervisors and Hood, a former chief of the Meadow Lakes Fire Department.

Assembly member Talis Colberg is running unopposed to retain his District 3 seat on the borough assembly. If Colberg takes the seat, it will mark his second term on the assembly.

Assembly member Bill Allen, who represents the Palmer-area assembly district, was appointed to the assembly last year after former member Sara Jansen vacated her seat. According to borough code, the assembly was able to appoint someone to fill the seat, with the condition that the seat be filled through the election process at the next borough election. Allen is currently running unopposed for the District 2 seat, and the winner of the race will secure the seat for an additional year -- the time that remained of Jansen's term.

Two school board seats are also up for reelection on Oct. 7. Incumbent Rob Wells is running unopposed for Seat A. Incumbent Sarah Welton is running against Konnie Shuey to fill Seat B. Welton was appointed to the seat previously held by Carl Gatto, who vacated the seat after being elected to the Alaska House of Representatives. Welton served out the remaining year of Gatto's term, and the winner of the race will hold the seat for a full three-year term. School board seats are three-year terms, and seats are at-large.