City appointments delayed

Wasilla council members question advertising procedure

December 16, 2005

MARY AMES/Frontiersman reporter

WASILLA - Approval for new members on the city of Wasilla Planning Commission, Parks and Recreation Commission and the Airport Advisory Commission stalled at Monday night's council meeting.

According to city code, the mayor appoints commission members who are then approved by the city council. The council had an action memorandum to approve Greg Koskela, Dorothy &#8220Peaches” Hamilton, Colleen Sullivan-Leonard and Gary Hall to the Planning Commission; Joan Matthews, Maureen McCombs and Scot Norman to the Parks and Recreation Commission and Gary L. McDaniel to the Airport Advisory Commission.

Diana Straub, who holds seat D on the council, asked where the openings were advertised.

&#8220I know several people who would like to serve and none knew they could,” Straub said.

Mayor Dianne Keller told the council the openings had been posted twice in the Anchorage paper in November. Delaying the vote, Keller said, would have an adverse effect because the city needs full commissions.

Vicki Wehe addressed the council from the audience.

&#8220I was surprised at the lack of public announcements for the commission,” Wehe said. &#8220You could post it on the City of Wasilla Web site. There needs to be a lot more public awareness. Lots of us want to participate.”

Mayor Keller said the city wanted to train the public to look in one spot.

&#8220One source?” Wehe said. &#8220What source?”

&#8220The Anchorage Daily News,” Keller said.

Mark Ewing, holding council seat F, said he was unaware of the commission openings. Why not advertise where the city survey said most people look for public information? Ewing asked. The question went unanswered.

Mayor Keller commissioned Dittman Research Corp., an Anchorage polling firm, to conduct a survey of the city for $15,900. Dittman mailed survey questions May 13. In answer to a question about where respondents obtain information about the city of Wasilla, 79 percent said they use the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman. The Anchorage Daily News, the source Mayor Keller said she wants to train the public to look at, was the third-place choice, trailing &#8220word of mouth” by 10 percentage points.

Ewing and Straub had other qualms about voting to endorse some of the people whose names Mayor Keller moved forward.

&#8220I'm concerned about the number of commission positions all in one vote,” Ewing said. &#8220I'd like to have the candidates come before us and interview. I only see a couple in the audience. I don't like grouping them all in one process.”

Straub said she wouldn't confirm anyone who didn't appear before the council.

Howard O'Neil, serving as deputy mayor and sitting in council seat A, said he didn't have a problem, that everyone went through proper channels, but suggested they could split the list.

Three people up for commission posts, Sullivan-Leonard, Hall and McDaniel, were in the audience Monday night and answered questions from the council.

Sullivan-Leonard, who served on the city council in the past, was unanimously confirmed to a seat on the Planning Commission.

Hall, who has lived in Wasilla for three years, is a structural engineer and said he felt his knowledge would be a plus on the Planning Commission. Hall was unanimously approved, also.

Two other people appointed by the mayor to the Planning Commission, Hamilton and Koskela, did not attend the meeting but were approved, with Straub voting no on each.

McDaniel, a longtime pilot, told the council about his ideas to develop the airport into a more active place, bringing in businesses such as a flight school and parts-supply stores. McDaniel was also unanimously confirmed to a seat on the airport commission.

Matthews and McCombs, as longtime members of the Parks and Recreation Commission with known track records, were approved unanimously.

Straub moved to postpone a vote on Norman until he could speak with council members, and the motion passed.

Contact Mary Ames at

352-2284 or mary.ames@

frontiersman.com.