Big decisions ahead for local elected officials

Just to get this out of the way up front — this will not be another editorial about the city of Houston.

Still, the recent installation of Rosemary Burnett as mayor of the Valley’s smallest city got us thinking about change — mostly about change in leadership.

The past year has seen more than its share of changes at the top. It started almost exactly a year ago with the June 2009 firing of Matanuska Electric Association head Wayne Carmony, following months of tumult.

Regardless of how you felt about Carmony, or how you feel about his replacement, Joe Griffith, MEA hadn’t had a change in its chief executive since its board hired Carmony in October 1994. It would be a stretch to think Carmony could have served that long without dramatically remaking the utility through his goals and ideals.

Next on the list of executives to pull up stakes is George Troxel. The Mat-Su Borough School District superintendent announced his retirement in November. Troxel didn’t have nearly as long of a reign as Carmony had. Troxel became head of the borough’s school district in July 2007.

As the ultimate recipient of the bulk of the Mat-Su Borough’s budget and the arm of local government with which most ordinary, law-abiding residents most often come into contact, the district deserves as much, if not more, scrutiny than nearly every other government body in the Valley.

It also deserves top-flight leadership, which we hope the school board has already found. Troxel’s replacement, Kenneth Burnley, will be heading up the district when classes resume in the fall.

Spring this year saw something of a one-two punch when we learned the most visible un-elected chief administrators in the Valley would also be moving on.

First, the Palmer City Council decided in April not to renew its contract with city manager Bill Allen. Allen is among the shortest-lived leaders on our list. He served as city manager for two and a half years. Allen is still running the city and will continue until September.

In May came the next bombshell, when Mat-Su Borough Manager John Duffy announced he is moving on. Duffy has been something of a constant at the borough, with 10 years as its chief administrator.

Duffy had his share of detractors, even if they weren’t as numerous or vocal as Carmony’s. But he seemed to please the borough assembly, which chose to keep him for a term longer than anyone can remember a local municipal manager serving. Some think he might have set a record for longest serving in the state.

The borough has yet to find his replacement. Voters may choose this fall to radically alter the job’s responsibilities, handing most of them to an elected mayor.

So what is our point in outlining all of this change? To be clear, change can be a marvelous, productive thing. Duffy himself, in outlining his reasons for leaving, said he felt staying too long in one post can breed stagnation, which in turn leads a person to carelessness. He didn’t want that to happen to him.

Local government can also benefit greatly from fresh perspectives in leadership. Burnley might well turn out to be an interesting case study in that regard. His experience ranges from large-for-Alaska school districts — the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District — to large-by-any-measure districts — the public school system in Detroit. We will be watching with great interest the ideas he brings to the table.

But change is nothing if not a double-edged sword.

One thing all five positions we have outlined have in common — all are appointed. Our hope, then, for an orderly and productive transition lies in those who do the appointing and who can take action if the chosen successor doesn’t measure up. That would be the deliberative bodies we have elected to represent us — the school and MEA boards, the borough assembly and Palmer City Council.

Here’s hoping these respective bodies are up to the task.