Candidates share views at mayoral forum

BY BRIAN O’CONNOR

Frontiersman.com

BIG LAKE — The Mat-Su Borough mayoral candidates largely kept things cordial at a candidate forum at the Big Lake Family Restaurant Monday (Sept. 14).

On the Knik Arm Bridge, on the importance of libraries, on whether Big Lake should become the borough’s second second-class city, the candidates largely agreed. For example, all three candidates said they supported building the bridge, and used less than a half-dozen words to express it. All three candidates said they supported and would adhere to a revenue cap that limits how much property taxes can increase in a budget cycle.

Candidates differed somewhat on roads, where Rosemary Vavrin, a former Anchorage Times and Anchorage Daily News reporter and outspoken supporter of public transportation, floated a public transportation system as an alternative to traffic-ridden roads. Vavrin always took the opportunity to circle back to mass transit.

“Long-range planning? More transit,” she said, in answer to a question prompting candidates to offer opinions about transit

And again, when the audience-submitted questions turned to road standards:

“One way to change the road standards from deteriorating so fast is to take vehicles off the roads, and the most efficient way to do that is transit,” she said.

Other differences emerged, too. DeVilbiss used a question about whether candidates supported equal protection for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons as a minority group to touch on criticism of an ordinance being weighed by the Anchorage Assembly. Similar measures failed in 2009 and 2012, measures DeVilbiss said he would veto, given the chance.

“My position is this: all men are created equal, but the minute you start creating special classes, some people are more equal than others, and I don’t see that as constitutional,” he said.

Halter and Vavrin said simply that they believe the constitution should be applied equally to everyone.

Halter, who was also the first candidate to mention the Knik Arm Bridge, touted his independence in opening remarks.

“I want to be mayor, I feel comfortable being mayor, I think I could handle issues,” he said. “I’m not a Republican. I’m not a Democrat. I’m not in a political party. You just get Vern.”

The area that saw the most sparks fly was on how the candidates differed from one another, when DeVilbiss and Halter tangled briefly over a single ballot initiative.

“I do know Mr. Halter a bit,” he said. “I believe one difference is something I’m alluded to. I am more inclined on big things to do with taxes, debt, property rights, I’m huge on taking those things to the voters.”

One example, DeVilbiss said, was a push to put local marijuana commercialization bans on the ballots of virtually all the municipalities in the borough. Ballot Measure 2 allowed for a local option for commercialization, and voters deserve a chance to exercise it, DeVilbiss said. He also said he was pushing to change the way Special Use Districts — a localized form of land zoning — were created to be more inclusive.

“It’s not a local option if it doesn’t get to the voters,” he said.

DeVilbiss claimed participation was the difference between him and Halter.

“I think the big difference between me and at least Mr. Halter: I like to give people a voice wherever possible,” he said.

Not true, Halter said. He pointed out that DeVilbiss had in 2011 vetoed a measure putting a more-than $30 million package of road bonds before voters.

“There’s no difference, really there,” he said. “This mayor vetoed the road bonds, and he vetoed the ordinance that would have put the road bonds before the voters.”

The apparent dissimilarity between DeVilbiss’ past actions and present words called his credibility into question, Halter said. Halter also pointed out he had voted to support other ballot measures in the past.

“So now, when you say you want it in front of the voters, that’s very suspect to me,” he said. “I wanted to see what the voters had to say on that road bond.”

The election is October 6.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2270, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.