Candidates vie for seats on MEA board

March 18, 2005

DAWN De BUSK/Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - Five candidates are vying this year for seats on the Matanuska Electric Association board of directors. The co-op will give members an opportunity to select two new board members for three-year terms during MEA's annual meeting, scheduled for 2 p.m., April 2, at Colony High School.

Before that, MEA board candidates will have an opportunity to answer questions at the Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce's forum March 29, starting at noon at the Best Western Lake Lucille Lodge.

Seeking to fill the seats are John Alexander of Palmer, Peter Burchell of Wasilla, John D. Glass of Palmer, incumbent Lee Jordan of Eagle River and Tom Staudenmaier of Eagle River. Board member K. Scott Daugharty of Wasilla will not be seeking another term.

The seven-member board has staggered election years. Jordan is running for another term while Daugharty is not. The five people remaining on the board are acting vice president Larry DeVilbiss of Palmer, secretary/treasurer Linda Shattuck of Chugiak, Bill Folsom of Palmer, Lois Lester of Eagle River and Dallas Massie of Wasilla.

The MEA nominating board chose Jordan, Burchell and Alexander. Staudenmaier and Glass are running after being nominated by petition.

According to information from MEA's election packet, Alexander, a 29-year resident of Alaska, has been married to his wife for 35 years. They have four grown children.

Alexander attended Everett High School and then, Northwest Bible College. He received a certificate in electronics from Edison Technical/Seattle Community College and obtained a first-class FCC radiotelephone license.

During his time with the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve, he served as an electrician mate as well as an electronic technician. He also taught basic electronics for five years with the reserves.

Alexander's job history is grounded in audio and visual electronics. He worked for Boeing Aircraft Co. as facility electrician and electronic technician. He learned all about marine electronics by installing and repairing ship-to-shore radios and radar systems. He spent 5-1/2 years at ABC/KOMO in Seattle as broadcast transmitter engineer and was audio-visual director at a large church for eight years. Alexander owned and operated Audio and Acoustical Design, a business located in Anchorage and serving clients statewide, for 18 years.

His educational employment includes teaching amateur radio theory and code to blind students as well as teaching science classes at Harvester Christian Academy.

"We are facing increased power requirements due to rapid growth in the Valley and the final years of an "all needs" power contract with Chugach Electric. The next few years are going to require some very important and strategic decisions that will affect our power supply for years to come," Alexander said in the MEA ballot packet. "I believe my experience in electrical applications and electronics will qualify me to make a meaningful contribution to this process."

"With my disabilities, I have come to appreciate more than ever the need for reliable electrical power and I would be diligent to see that MEA is giving us the maximum uninterrupted service that is economically and technically feasible," said Alexander, who has used a wheelchair for the past seven years.

Burchell moved to the Mat-Su in 1983 with his wife and three children.

His employment background is based in education and his work experience includes starting three alternative schools and overcoming limited funding. He received the Educator of the Year award from the Wasilla Chamber of Commerce in 1992. That same year, he was honored with the Milkmen National Education Award.

Burchell earned bachelor's and master's of science degrees in teaching and an administrative certificate during his seven years at Portland State University:

He first job was teaching and coaching at John Adams High School. He served as vice principal and principal at Estacada High School. He came to Alaska, where he joined the staff at Wasilla High School as a teacher and principal. He then founded Mat-Su Alternative School, where his duties included teaching and acting as principal.

"In 1988, I was told that there was not a need for or an interest in establishing an alternative school program in the Mat-Su Valley. Undaunted, I wrote a JTPA grant and established the Mat-Su Alternative School. Local money was not sufficient to build the school so I worked with local and state officials to secure funding. The first two years we had a donated space in the Cottonwood Center," Burchell said in the MEA board candidate packet.

Burchell looks not only at his past successes, but to the future.

"The challenge will be to plan for and build the infrastructure to provide electrical power for the rapidly expanding population of Chugach and the Mat-Su Valley. To do this, cooperation must be continued with local, state and federal grant sources as well as cost-effective leadership," he said. "There will be an increased need for members of the board of directors who have experience planning and implementing programs to meet those needs."

Glass and his wife, Melinda, moved to Palmer to enjoy its rural atmosphere, but still take advantage of community-involvement opportunities.

Glass attended the College of Mortuary Science in San Francisco. He also attended FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va., and joined the 22nd Recruit Academy in Sitka.

Glass is a licensed funeral director and embalmer who may practice in Alaska and Oregon.

Starting out in Ketchikan in 1973 with the Alaska State Troopers, Glass served with the troopers for 17 years and covered not only Ketchikan, but Sitka, Girdwood, Juneau, Bethel, Palmer and Anchorage. When he retired in 2000, he was colonel/director of the Division of Fish & Wildlife Protection.

After his retirement from the troopers, Glass gained employment with Purcell Services in North Slope, Prudhoe Bay, working in private security.

Glass currently enjoys employment as the captain of security at the Port Of Anchorage.

"It is my understanding that the contract with Chugach Electric for the supply of electricity is due for negotiations in 2012. While this may seem to be a long time away, it is not. It will be important (to) insure the co-op will be able to continue to provide the best service to its owner/members for the least amount of money. It is time now to start looking at the possibility of alternative sources for that energy," Glass said in MEA's election candidate packet.

Glass' security position with the Port of Anchorage provides him with a two- weeks-on, two-weeks-off work schedule.

"I have discussed my candidacy with my supervisor and he endorses my participation in the board," he said. "During my two weeks of work I have the flexibility to alter my shifts to attend those meetings. Therefore I can commit to consistent participation in meetings and work sessions."

Jordan, current president of the MEA board, was appointed to the board in April 2003 to fill the remaining term of the late Jim Hermon. Jordan and his wife, Barbara, who joined him in marriage in 1951, have four children, nine grandchildren and one great-grandson.

Jordan was assigned to the Alaska Communication System during his time with the U.S. Army, 1947-1954. He founded and operated the Chugiak-Eagle River Star, 1962-2000. He served as mayor of the short-lived Chugiak-Eagle River Borough in 1974. Jordan served three four-year terms as a session member at Eagle River Presbyterian Church. As an MEA board member, he has acted as chairman of the MEA bylaws committee, MEA scholarship committee and the MEA election committee.

"The most significant challenge facing the cooperative is determining its power supply source(s) when the present all-requirements contract with Chugach Electric Association ends in 2014," Jordan said.

"I have experience in both business and public affairs and have been able to assist the board in dealing with many complex issues. Those issues are ongoing and require sound decision-making as we find the solutions that best serve our members," he said.

An Alaskan for 36 years, Staudenmaier is a life member of VFW 9787 Eagle River, U.S. Air Force Aid Society, Disabled American Veterans, Alaska No. 7 and a member of American Legion Post No. 0077.

He did a tour at Elemendorf Air Force Base from 1969-1971 after his service in Vietnam.

"Staudenmaier is the founder of Staudenmaier's Electrical Merger Committee for the triple purpose of streamlining, cutting your monthly electric bill 50 to 80 percent per month and rolling back your taxes," according to the information in MEA's candidate packet.

Staudenmaier has one daughter and one granddaughter, who attended Anchorage schools.