4 seek trio of school board seats

PALMER — The race for Mat-Su Borough School Board was shaping up to have at least two contested races, but those battles were whittled to one after board member Cheryl Turner decided not to file for re-election.

Turner has not returned messages seeking comment about her decision not to run again after an earlier announcement she would. She has reportedly said she bowed out because of her dissatisfaction with the board’s makeup and her dislike of serving with board member Jim Colver.

In an e-mail message, Colver says he wishes Turner all the best.

“Although Cheryl Turner and I have disagreed on policy issues on the school board in the past, I have enjoyed our discussions and I wish her all the best in the future,” Colver said.

Turner’s decision not to run leaves four candidates to fill three seats in the Oct. 7 election. Current board member Pat Purcell will defend Seat D against Palmer resident R. Ole Larson. Running unopposed for Seat E is Palmer resident Brian Sullivan, a newcomer to Mat-Su Valley politics. Myrl Thompson, who was appointed to fill Seat G in May, is also unopposed.

Sullivan, a former Washington state legislator, is a military police officer at Fort Richardson and said shortly after he filed that he entered the race to get Turner off the board.

“If she were a reasonable person, I wouldn’t be running,” Sullivan said.

He added that he didn’t feel Turner got along well with other board members, citing instances when Turner has verbally sparred with Colver and her public condemnation of Thompson’s appointment.

In response, Turner told the Frontiersman in June that she would not run a negative campaign and would focus solely on what’s best for education in the Borough. She said she didn’t know Sullivan’s character well enough to know if he is reasonable or not.

Sullivan said he wishes Turner the best. He also said he’s looking forward to working with Colver on the board, calling him a “good guy.”

Although he will campaign less aggressively now that he’s unopposed, Sullivan said he still plans to get his platform out to the public. He also is aware a write-in candidate with enough support could pose a challenge, but as of press time no one has come forward as a potential write-in.

Elsewhere in the school board race, Purcell will defend her seat against Larson.

Larson, who applied for the appointment eventually given to Thompson, said his background would benefit the board. The former Mat-Su Pretrial superintendent spent 29 years working in the criminal justice system, including stints at the Fairbanks Correctional Center, the Hiland Mountain/Meadow Creek Correctional Center and the McLaughlin Youth Center.

Larson said his experience managing employees, multi-million dollar budgets and dealing with unions will benefit the board. If elected, Larson said he will work to create summer programs designed to prepare students for college by allowing them to take prerequisite college courses in an effort to get ahead. By providing outlets for students to stay involved over the summer, Larson said the benefits could include a decrease in teen crime resulting from boredom.

For Purcell, her candidacy is born from a desire to help the board carry on the important work it’s already addressing.

Running to retain the seat to which he was appointed, Thompson, a Big Lake resident, said he will work to prevent the district from losing more classes and try to be more fiscally responsible.

Thompson was vocal during a recent dispute over a state energy supplement allocation, a grant that gave the district an extra $2.3 million.

The board did not agree for some time before coming to a conclusion as to what to do with the money. Thompson said the issue highlighted a change was needed in the board’s thinking.

“People were pretty gung-ho to spend it, spend it, spend it,” Thompson said of the grant.

Beyond issues, Thompson said he’s also running because he feels the board is meshing well.

“It’s a pretty fun bunch of people to work for,” he said.