Bettine left her mark on borough

Although Cindy Bettine no longer has a seat at the table for the Mat-Su Borough Assembly, we doubt we’ve seen — or heard — the last of her. And we can’t say we mind.

In her six years serving borough residents on the assembly, Bettine’s become known as a “people person” — the kind of person who doesn’t represent any one group or region so much as seems driven to serve her community; the whole community.

Bettine is a something that is becoming more and more scarce: a truly nonpartisan politician. Party allegiance has, in recent years, come to define races for even officially nonpartisan seats like those on the borough assembly. But it has never defined Bettine.

We weren’t surprised when we interviewed her that her favorite “going-away” note was from a borough employee who observed the same pattern in her votes.

“I could tell that with every vote you had the taxpayer in mind,” the note said.

That’s not to say that Bettine’s voting record was unilaterally viewed favorably — just review frontiersman.com reader comments on assembly stories for the past six years.

Anyone who serves the public as an elected official these days must also know how to roll with the punches, and Bettine can.

Some assembly members seem unprepared, some too sleepy and some seem to participate mostly telephonically in conducting the people’s business. Not Bettine.

We’d vote her most likely to have read the packet and talked to a few dozen of her constituents about the items on the agenda before taking her seat at the table.

When Goose Bay Elementary was overcrowded and voters shot down a bond issue to build a new elementary school, Bettine introduced an ordinance to move forward with a special election in order to capitalize on the state’s capital reimbursement program for schools.

A special election was held, voters approved the bonds and hundreds of students go to school each day at what is now Knik Elementary School.

Maybe it wasn’t “fiscally conservative” to spend the money on a special election, which is what the mayor said when vetoing the ordinance. But it was fiscally savvy to use state matching dollars to pay for most of the cost.

Rather than local property taxpayers shouldering the entire bond, the special election shifted the burden to state tax coffers, which are filled mostly from taxes paid by oil companies.

Looking back, she listed among her accomplishments working to change the process the borough uses to acquire property for new schools.

In the past, property owners knew the borough had deep pockets and may have adjusted their asking prices upward as a result. Now the borough uses a double blind process that keeps a buyer’s identity secret.

The process also will include a review of road access, utilities and soils for property the borough is looking to buy.

Love her or not, Bettine has served the people of the Mat-Su Borough for the past six years. She’s done her homework. She’s listened. She cast hard votes and easier ones. She served the people. And for that, we say thank you.