Borough opening interests Allen

PALMER — What will Palmer City Manager Bill Allen do when he leaves his job in about four months?

He’ll manage.

Since the Palmer City Council declined in April to extend Allen’s contract past September, the city manager has been proceeding “business as usual.” But an event at the Mat-Su Borough has piqued Allen’s interest.

In what may be a minor case of musical managers, the borough’s top executive is retiring after 24 years with the borough. John Duffy gave his 60 days’ notice in late April.

It’s a move that hasn’t gone unnoticed by Allen, a former Mat-Su Borough assemblyman and manager for the Fairbanks North Star Borough.

“You must have a screen inside my head,” Allen said when asked about his interest in the Mat-Su Borough manager’s position. “Yeah, I have been thinking about it, I have to admit.”

But thinking about applying to return to the borough and making a decision to go after the job are completely different, he said.

“Yeah, it’s there, but I need to give it more thought and talk to the speaker of my house (his wife, Sharon),” Allen said. “She has veto powers and she uses them very conveniently.”

The timing is also interesting because he learned his contract wouldn’t be renewed about three weeks before Duffy resigned.

“You know, now it’s just a matter of making a decision of whether I’m ready to retire from public service,” Allen said, adding he’s aware the borough is conducting its own search and, if interested, he’d just be another candidate. “I feel like I still have some gas left in my tank and can contribute to the borough.”

Because he has a political history as a former assemblyman, he said any interest on his part may also be helped or hindered by the current makeup of the assembly.

“The other part of this is being accepted by officials at the borough,” he said. “It’s a very difficult job having been a strong manager. … I think I have a very good résumé as far as a public administrator.”

His future aside, Allen said he made a commitment to the city of Palmer and intends to do his job until his contract expires or another manager is hired. He also has learned from his experience in Palmer, where the city council felt he operated outside the council’s wishes in getting projects done.

“When they hired me here, the complaint was the previous city manager wasn’t moving fast enough, which I disagree with,” he said. “They made it very clear they wanted projects completed and Palmer moving forward. … They’re paying me a good wage to do a job for them, and I’ll continue to work in their favor to the very end. I’m not a quitter.”

Looking forward should Allen become the next borough manager, Allen was quick to respond what his first priority would be: “Sit down with the seven elected officials and find out what direction they want.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.