Borough seats subject of forum

WASILLA — The first of this year’s series of candidates’ forums is set to start Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in the theater at the Alaska Club.

The forum features candidates for Mat-Su Borough School District School Board and Mat-Su Borough Assembly — but not all six of them.

“We’re only having the candidates who are opposed for borough assembly and Mat-Su Borough School Board because that will put four people up on stage,” said forums organizer Diana Straub. “For us to stay in the right time frame and allow people enough time to really draw a conclusion as to who they want to vote for, I want to give the people who are opposed enough time as possible.”

Unlike last year, the forums will not be broadcast live on local radio, but they will be available as podcasts.

“Country Legends (100.9 FM) will definitely podcast it and KMBQ (99.7 FM) is working to see what they can do,” Straub said.

Candidates need to show up at 5 p.m., the forums start at 5:30 p.m.

SCHOOL BOARD

The unopposed candidate for the school board is retired correctional officer Ole Larson, who said he wants to remain in his seat to continue working in a district he said received new energy under late superintendent Ken Burnley.

The candidates who will be at Thursday’s forum are Erick Cordero, currently the board’s vice president, and challenger Lynette Warhus, a newcomer to local politics.

Warhus is a Meadow Lakes resident who said she entered politics out of dissatisfaction with the way the schools are running, citing new grading systems and curriculum as particular areas of concern, as well as spending.

For his part, Cordero runs an organization pairing pro-bono attorneys with low-income Alaskans. He’s originally from Mexico and became a citizen just a year before he was first elected to the school board. He said he’d like to see the district maintain its support for parental choice in the district.

ASSEMBLY

Former borough mayor Darcie Salmon is the unopposed candidate for the assembly. Barring anything unforeseen, he’ll take over in October the seat representing Knik and Big Lake on the assembly. He said he wants to get back to the assembly table to see to fruition major projects started during his previous term — mostly port projects.

The Wasilla seat is the opposed race — Steve Colligan is facing off against Pat Johnson. Either would be a new face on the assembly.

Colligan is vice chair of the state’s Republican Party. Professionally, he works with computers running his own firm, E-Terra, which specializes in mapping, computer-aided design and database services. He said the assembly needs business experience, which he can provide.

Johnson has spent three years on the borough’s planning commission, which advises the assembly on land-use issues such as zoning changes and major construction projects. He is a Vietnam veteran and a retired carpenter who said he wants to make sure the borough has quality education and good neighborhoods.

So far, the contested assembly race has focused around a few hot-button issues. For example, Colligan said he supports the jobs that coal mining in Sutton might bring, saying mining can be done responsibly without impacting other businesses.

Johnson has more reservations about coal, saying he worries it will make things tough for local tourism-related businesses.

Colligan has been positioning himself as the conservative in the race, though at a recent forum Johnson described himself as a fiscal conservative.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.