Clerk shaped borough office in new role

MAT-SU -- For many people, the Mat-Su Borough clerk's office is the gateway to public involvement in the borough. To find out more information about a topic of interest, to be involved in local elections, or simply to speak at a public meeting, people interested in becoming involved in their community visit the clerk's office or ask questions of the clerks at public meetings.

Many credit Sandra Dillon, who served as Mat-Su Borough clerk for nine years, with having made the clerk's office the well-respected entity it is today.

"I feel that Sandy Dillon, as a clerk, set the standard for the Mat-Su Borough," said former assembly member Jay Nolfi. "When she was there, she ran it very professionally and was extremely knowledgeable. If she didn't have an answer, she would make sure she found out what was the answer."

Nolfi was on the assembly when Dillon was hired as clerk in April 1995. But Dillon began her 15-year career at the Mat-Su Borough six years before that, in the borough's law department. Dillon said she worked in that department for five years, and worked one year at the borough's Department of Public Safety, what's now the Department of Emergency Services.

"I think Sandy was always a very dedicated, concerned professional, regardless of whether she was acting as a legal secretary or borough clerk," said former Mat-Su Borough Attorney Michael Gatti, who initially hired Dillon as a legal secretary. "She's

intelligent, analytical, interested in problem solving and in doing the best job possible with the resources available."

Those qualities, Gatti said, helped Dillon transform the clerk's office from an office dealing primarily with secretarial functions to one much more involved in the day-to-day operations of a growing Mat-Su Borough.

"It's a very critical role," Gatti said, "not to mention how important it is to run the elections -- and have the elections be fair."

Dillon has reshaped the way the borough deals with elections, rounding up a sizable crew of meticulous volunteers and schooling them in fair election practices each year. Although many recent elections have ended in close races, sometimes involving long bouts of ballot recounting, candidates involved in those elections -- both on the winning and losing sides of the election -- regularly compliment Dillon and her staff on a fair process. That commitment to fairness could be behind the fact that Dillon's most embarrassing moment is linked to one of the few election mishaps that have happened on her watch.

On the borough's 2001 ballot, a 2-percent sales tax was proposed. Although assembly members had discussed linking the proposed tax with a property tax cap, they did not approve a decision to institute a tax cap on the ballot. When the ballot went to the printer, however, the proposal was called a tax limitation, reflecting the once-proposed tax cap. The error, Dillon recalled, was found after the ballots were printed, and after some had been distributed for absentee and early voting.

"It was too late to have the ballots reprinted," Dillon said, so her staff set about marking out the incorrect words with black markers.

It was a race against time -- and ink. Dillon said there were about 44,000 ballots to be marked in four days, and her staff spent long hours at the borough building crossing the words off ballots. One unexpected issue came up -- and has left a legacy at the borough building.

"We used every black marker in every store in the Valley," Dillon said. "Finally, there were no more left -- anywhere."

Dillon said her staff had to purchase several packages of multi-colored permanent markers, just to be sure they had enough black markers to finish the job. Today, she said with a laugh, there are still colored permanent markers floating around the borough building as a result of the mishap. The incident may seem relatively minor, Dillon said, but the public aspect of her job brings every action under a public magnifying glass.

"You always worry, in a job like this, because everything you do can be so public," Dillon said. "Ultimately, there're going to be mistakes, and there's not anything that can't be corrected -- albeit awkwardly. This was certainly one of those times."

Many who know Dillon attribute the successful growth of the clerk's office to her love of learning, and to always looking for a better, more fair or more efficient way to do things. And, as Gatti pointed out, the circle of people who have benefited from Dillon's diligence extends far beyond the realm of the Mat-Su Borough. She has been recognized several times for her work, and was last year presented with the Municipal Clerk of the Year award from the Alaska Association of Municipal Clerks.

Mention Dillon's name in municipal offices in nearly any community in Alaska --and several communities outside Alaska -- and you're bound to hear stories of how a clerk or elected official learned from Dillon in classes taken at an Alaska Municipal League conference or, closer to home, at classes Dillon taught at community councils, local high schools or Alaska Job Corps. Teaching classes, Dillon said, is something she's interested in continuing after her retirement. It's one way, she said, to help students realize that there are plenty of careers available for them in municipal government.

"What this job has done is, it has opened the door," Dillon said. "No one ever says 'when I grow up, I want to be a clerk,' or 'I want to be a public servant.' … Local government really isn't focused on a lot in the education system today, and I always thought it was important that students know more about their government … Being a public servant makes me proud and humbled."

Dillon said she's looking forward to spending more time with her husband, Michael, who recently retired. With her retirement, Dillon joins the ranks of a select few who have held the position as Mat-Su Borough clerk, and has perhaps seen the most change take place while holding that office. It's a role that hasn't always been easy. Dillon said her most trying time while in office was nearly three years ago, when several recall petitions against borough assembly members and the borough mayor were launched. Dillon, in her capacity as borough clerk, was pulled into the struggle when Assembly Member Jim Colver filed suit against her for approving a recall petition filed against him. While both Colver and Dillon stated at the time the conflict wasn't personal in nature, Dillon said the suit made for a stilted relationship, partially because the clerk serves at the behest of the assembly.

"That was a very awkward time," Dillon said. "I never took it personally because I understand the process … but it was still really awkward to be sued by assembly members."

Since its inception in 1964, seven borough clerks have stood at the helm of the clerk's office and, at the end of May, Deputy Borough Clerk Michelle McGehee became the eighth, taking over from Dillon on May 25. She was promoted from her role as deputy borough clerk by the assembly shortly after Dillon announced her plans to retire in March.

McGehee recently was awarded the designation of certified municipal clerk from the International Institute of Municipal Clerks, making her one of 33 active municipal clerks in Alaska with that designation. It's a designation that generally takes about three years of classes and course work, which McGehee achieved in about two and a half years. McGehee was raised in Alaska, having moved to the state with her parents in 1980. She's a Wasilla High School graduate, and attended classes both at Mat-Su College and the University of Alaska Anchorage, receiving a bachelor's degree in justice, with a minor in business management. She was hired at the clerk's office in 2000, and was promoted in 2002 as deputy clerk. A new deputy clerk has been selected from within the office to fill McGehee's now-vacant position -- Janice Case, who was hired on at the clerk's office in 2002.

McGehee said she's hoping to continue along the track Dillon has set the clerk's department on, and looks forward to meeting the challenges that face a municipal clerk's office in a growing community.

"I've been trained by the best, and I just intend to use the knowledge that I accumulated from Sandy," McGehee said. "I agree with the motivations and values that have risen the clerk's office to the level it's at."

Contact Rindi White at rindi.white@frontiersman.com.