Assembly denies runoff election proposal

There's a double-standard in the way elections are run in the Mat-Su borough. And, last week, the Mat-Su Borough Assembly affirmed that life may not be fair, but it is what's best for voters.

At the June 6 assembly meeting, a public hearing was held on an ordinance sponsored by Borough Mayor Tim Anderson that would repeal the existing requirement for a runoff election if a mayoral candidate does not receive more than 40 percent of the votes cast for the seat.

Several members of the public spoke against that ordinance, stating the mayoral leadership of the borough should come from someone who clearly had the interest of the majority of voters at heart.

"This ordinance suggests a cheap way out …" former assembly member Jay Nolfi told assembly members at the June 6 public hearing.

Anderson said he was hoping to address what he saw as an inequality in the code, and this seemed like the easy way to do it.

"I see it as a way of fixing things so they're equal for all," Anderson said.

That ordinance failed, with assembly members Jim Colver and Sara Jansen in support, but Anderson directed borough staff to draft an ordinance that would institute a runoff election for all assembly candidates, including the mayor.

That ordinance was addressed again at last week's assembly meeting, but assembly members decided a runoff election for all assembly seats would not be in the best interest of the public. The ordinance failed with assembly member Colberg in support.

As pointed out by Nolfi, who again addressed the assembly members about the issue during the public hearing, runoff elections can get costly. She pointed out an April 28, 1994, memo from the borough clerks' office that spoke of 13 recent runoff elections. Of those elections, she said, the outcome remained the same in nine. If the runoff had been instituted during the last election, both assembly members up for election -- Jansen and Bruce Bush, would have been involved in runoff elections.

Assembly member Sara Jansen expressed concern that a 40-percent limit would open the door to potential outcome-manipulating.

"Government is not a pure and simple thing," Jansen said. "Having to receive more than 40 percent of a vote strikes me as a tool to influence elections."

She added that the cost of runoffs to the borough, the difficulty of getting qualified people to run and the cost of campaigns make the runoff mandate further unpalatable.

Anderson, in his closing remarks before the meeting was adjourned, said he was discouraged by the vote.

"I'm disappointed about the double-standard about elections," Anderson said. "I think it's unfair, but there's a lot of things in life that are unfair -- no hard feelings."