4 vie for Wasilla mayor seat — so far

WASILLA — Wasilla Mayor Verne Rupright is facing a challenge to remain Mayor from two city councilwomen and the father of Bristol Palin’s toddler, who reportedly plans to turn his campaign into a TV reality show.

The mayor’s annual salary is currently about $85,000, despite efforts in the past by Rupright’s staff to recommend the pay be raised to $104,000. The deadline to file for candidacy isn’t for another six weeks, so the field could grow.

Councilwoman Dianne Woodruff recently announced her candidacy, joining fellow councilwoman Taffina Katkus in the effort to unseat Rupright in the October mayoral election. Both women have been vocal critics of Rupright over the past several months.

Levi Johnston, who became an instant celebrity during Sarah Palin’s bid to become vice president in 2008 when it was revealed Palin’s daughter was pregnant with his child, declared his candidacy for mayor last October.

The high school dropout, who posed for Playgirl magazine after breaking off his engagement to Bristol, has yet to file financial updates required of municipal candidates who enter races in the fall.

Woodruff, Katkus and Rupright said they do not consider Johnston a serious contender because of his lack of experience and knowledge about how a city operates. Although Johnston could not be reached for this story, his handlers previously confirmed he’s still in the race.

“I really don’t see him as a viable candidate,” Woodruff said of Johnston Saturday. “But some people might vote for him as a ‘none of the above’ statement. With such low voter turn-out in these elections, it’s hard to tell sometimes what could happen.”

She said she sees herself as the strongest candidate because of her experience on the council and her commitment to giving residents a voice in the community.

“I’ve been working for about five years now to keep the public in the process and I think I can do a better job at giving local businesses a voice, too, to help the city grow economically and also find ways to attract larger companies based in Anchorage to open satellite offices here,” Woodruff said. “That way, residents can stop commuting and start being more active in the local community and with their families.”

Although Woodruff, who owns her own public accounting business, likes and admires Katkus, she said she doesn’t feel she’s quite ready to be mayor.

“I think someday she’d be a great mayor, but she just needs more experience seeing how everything works,” said Woodruff, who was first elected to the city council in 2007 and was re-elected in 2010. Her current council term expires in 2013.

Katkus, a mother of seven and artist who owns a local sign shop, was elected to the city council in 2009 after learning of Rupright’s plans to put in an outdoor firing range adjacent to her home near the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center.

That issue, which is still tied up in the courts after Katkus and other neighbors appealed the Planning Commission’s approval of the gun range, continues to motivate her and her desire to change the way citizens are informed of such matters.

Although Katkus could not be reached this week to comment on her candidacy and that of the others in the race, she has said in the past she believes she can use her experience as a businesswoman, a councilwoman, and a mother to make sure everyone is represented — not just special interests or those close to the mayor.

“We need to be more open and transparent,” Katkus said. “There are too many things going on behind the scenes that raise ethical questions.”

Woodruff, too, wonders about the high turnover rate of city police chiefs and human resource managers since Rupright took office in October of 2008.

“We’re on our fifth acting police chief and fourth human resources person in less than three years,” Woodruff said. “I find that turnover very concerning and some of the hiring looks very strange as well.”

But Rupright, an attorney by trade who worked at the correctional center in Sutton when he first moved to the Valley in 1983, said he believes his record speaks for itself. He said he has contributed countless hours of pro bono legal work in the past and also volunteered his time to serve the Wasilla Youth Court.

He also served as the chairman of the Wasilla Planning Commission, the Mat-Su District Advisory Board, the Bureau of Land Management Advisory Commission, and is an active Post Officer in the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Wasilla as a Vietnam vet.

He said this week he’s running for re-election because he wants to continue the progress Wasilla has made since he became mayor.

“I set a number of goals when I ran for mayor in 2008 and we have succeeded in meeting numerous objectives,” he said. “The job of Wasilla’s mayor is a full-time management position which requires foresight, planning, leadership, sound problem solving and negotiation skills with a positive determination to see things through.”

Rupright, who has come under fire by Woodruff and Katkus for implementing a new policy requiring Wasilla police to be dispatched on all 911 calls involving dangerous drivers if those drivers are city employees, points to the lowering of sales taxes and the paying off of nearly all of the city’s long-term debt as signs he’s doing his job.

“We’ve lowered the budget over the past budget cycles by more than 16 percent, improving response to citizens’ needs and not cutting services,” he said. “This administration has continued to abate the need for any city property tax and improvements to the Wasilla city center area have been implemented successfully.”

In response to criticisms that he hasn’t listened to the needs of residents, Rupright said he believes he has demonstrated the ability to lead the city as transparently as possible.

“I believe I have demonstrated the ability to open government, negotiate and balance people’s needs, work with diverse and various groups without bias or bending to political pressure,” he said, adding a quote from his 2008 mayoral campaign: “I want Wasilla to be as nice a place and as well run a place that people can come to and live in and point to with pride.”

Contact K.T. McKee at Kate.Mckee@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.