Assembly culls manager list

Eleven candidates remain on the Mat-Su Borough’s short list for its vacant manager’s position, one week before Valley voters decide whether to eliminate that job in favor of electing a so-called “strong mayor.”

Borough assembly members met Monday afternoon to thin a field of 75 people who applied for the position, which pays an annual salary of $125,000 to $220,000, depending on qualifications and negotiations with the borough.

“We have 11 qualified people,” Assemblywoman Cindy Bettine said in a borough release Monday after the assembly’s third meeting in the manager-selection process. “We will begin interviewing them by videoconferencing Oct. 11.”

The candidates:

• Desi Mayo, former finance chief for the Mat-Su Borough, has also served as chief financial officer for Matanuska Telephone Association. He has also worked for Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. and is with Crowley Maritime Corp.;

• Phillip Oates, a retired Army major general, is Seward’s city manager and has served as the chief of staff of the 6th Infantry Division (Light), chief of staff of Alaskan Command, Adjutant General Alaska and has been the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs;

• James Wilson, a former Alaska resident who is housing director of Galveston County, Texas;

• Melinda Carlton, former Vernon Township, N.J., manager, from North Myrtle Beach, S.C.;

• Don Baird, town manager of Grandby, Colo., former city manager of Bethel;

• Gary Adams, village administrator, Oswego, Ill.;

• Robert Reardon, director of operations and maintenance, Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority, Fla.;

• Eric Strahl, city manager, Menominee, Mich.;

• Charles Whiting, administrative coordinator, St. Croix County, Wis.;

• Dr. Martin Moore, general manager of Timberon water and sanitation district, New Mexico;

• Gregory Young, city administrator, Ferndale, Wash.

“Basically they were ranked and the assembly worked with the top-rated qualified candidates, vetted them a little bit,” Assemblyman Jim Colver said Monday. “After the teleconference interviews, there will be another round in the selection made with face-to-face interviews.”

The assembly is moving forward with the manager selection process in case Proposition 1 does not pass Oct. 5. A special election for mayor is scheduled for Jan. 11.

“Obviously the assembly will respect the rule of the voters,” Colver said of the possibility that voters might eliminate the borough manager job. “We’ll cross that bridge once the election happens. We have to be prepared in any eventuality.”