Assistant borough manager Gray moving on

PALMER - The Mat-Su Borough's second-in-command is pulling up stakes and heading back to Oklahoma to take the reigns of a city there.

According to a borough press statement, Elizabeth Gray resigned this week as assistant borough manager to take a job as city administrator for Altus, Okla.

Gray came to the borough three years ago to take over for Marion Romano. Gray came to the borough from Shawnee, Okla., where she had been director of operations for that city.

In the borough, she served first under former Borough Manager John Duffy, who parted ways with the borough in the summer of 2010, saying he'd simply held the job for too long and it was time to go.

For a full year after Duffy left, but before the borough hired John Moosey to take the reigns in February of this year, Gray served as acting manager.

"I sincerely enjoyed the time I spent serving the citizens of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and could not have asked for a more professional group of co-workers who became friends," Gray says in a borough press statement. "I will always treasure the time I have spent here. I believe the borough is in good hands with Mr. Moosey. I wish the citizens and the employees nothing but the best."

During her time at the borough, Gray has also had to fill in for various departing department heads, including stints as acting director of Community Development, Human Resources and Animal Care and Regulation. A borough proclamation recognizing her service describes Gray as "a tireless champion promoting the borough as a travel destination and a forward-thinking government."

The borough has not posted Gray's position in its online job listings. The borough says it will resume its search for her replacement in the New Year.