Cottle, Mayfield, Graham, Thompson notch election wins

MAT-SU — After Tuesday’s election, unofficial vote tallies show Bert Cottle in the lead, Stu Graham as the apparent winner of the Wasilla City Council seat, and in the race for Mat-Su Borough Assembly, Dan Mayfield is ahead.

Everywhere else on the ballot, Valley voters favored incumbents and approved ballot propositions. Vote totals are unofficial and subject to change over the coming days but, as of 5 p.m., Thursday, here’s where the vote stood:

Mat-Su Borough

The borough had just one contested race — for the assembly seat representing Knik and Big Lake. The victory appears to have gone to Big Lake Community Council Vice President Dan Mayfield, who took in 627 votes to Mat-Su Borough Planning commissioner Bill Kendig’s 334.

Reached Thursday, Mayfield said that he credited his success to good, old-fashioned, hard work.

“We put together just a great team of core folks who supported me and got me out the door to really talk to voters which was one of my — that was one of my really core beliefs — was that somebody who represents people really has to talk to people to find out what’s important,” he said.

It’s not inconceivable that Mayfield knocked on the door of every voter that picked him, either.

“We hit over 600 doors throughout the district and got to talk to a lot of great people with a lot of great ideas,” Mayfield said.

In terms of issues he’s preparing to tackle, Mayfield singled out the budget and transportation. Big Lake and Knik are currently the focus of some pretty intense transportation discussions — the Point MacKenzie Rail Extension goes through the area and there are ongoing discussions about road routes from the port to the Parks Highway, which would also necessarily impact the area.

In terms of the borough’s budget, Mayfield said the assembly needs to tighten its spending.

“We need to manage the budget more responsibly, we’re spending more money than we’re taking in right now so we’ve got to look for solutions to that, otherwise it’s just a short road to higher taxes,” Mayfield said, adding that people in his district were very clear, “They don’t want higher taxes. They want us to be more effective with the money that we have.”

Steve Colligan was unopposed and will serve a second term on the assembly. Tiffany Scott and Ole Larson also were returned to the school board in uncontested races.

Voters supported both borough propositions, approving them by wide margins.

The first proposition extends from $150,000 to $218,000 the tax exemption on a senior citizen’s or disabled veteran’s home. Essentially, seniors and disabled vets who own homes worth $218,000 or less won’t pay borough property taxes. Those that have homes worth more than that will only pay taxes on the amount over $218,000.

The second proposition redraws Mat-Su Borough Assembly voting districts to conform more closely to the state’s district maps. The change makes it so borough polling places don’t have to serve more than one assembly district. State maps seem to have finally settled into their final shapes after going through a years-long redistricting process following the 2010 U.S. Census.

City of Wasilla

The contested mayor’s race went to Deputy City Administrator Bert Cottle who pulled in nearly 75 percent of the vote, raking in 566 votes to city planning commissioner Loren Means’ 188. This will be the second time Cottle has been mayor of a city — he previously served as mayor of Valdez — which is rare, but not unprecedented in Alaska.

Reached Thursday, Cottle said he didn’t believe that the counting of ballots still outstanding would shift his election in any meaningful way. He said he was excited to get to work, noting that he’d pretty much jump right into the budget process after he’s sworn in later this month.

“Our goal, i.e. the city of Wasilla’s, is economic development,” he said. “As long as we have economic development then we don’t have to worry about property taxes and all the rest of it.”

He said he wants Wasilla to be the go-to spot for retail and wholesale shopping for Valley residents, even over Anchorage.

“I’ve dealt with Costco and Sams for the past three years trying to get them to come out here and it’s all about the numbers,” Cottle said.

Big retailers look at Wasilla and see a population of 9,000. He said his goal is to get them to broaden that to more like 50,000 — a number that includes the people who live in Mat-Su and shop in Wasilla.

“We are the economic hub of the Valley,” Cottle said.

He said he has a vested interest in seeing the city succeed.

“This is home. I’m not going anywhere. If I mess up I’m going to be stuck with the mess up just like anyone else,” he said.

Of the two city council seats up this year, only one was contested. It appears to have gone to Stu Graham, a ubiquitous presence at civic events in the Valley and currently an employee of MTA. He bested bartender Allison Sacco and U.S. Navy veteran and construction industry professional Tim Burney. Graham pulled in 42.9 percent of the vote. Sacco and Burney pulled in 23.8 percent and 31.9 percent respectively.

In another uncontested race, Colleen Sullivan-Leonard was returned to the council.

City of Palmer

Voters looked kindly on incumbents in the city. Of the three people running, incumbents Linda Combs and Brad Hanson were returned to their council seats to serve third terms, with 44.8 percent and 36.7 percent of the vote respectively. Challenger Elden Tritch pulled in 16.5 percent of the vote. The top two vote-getters will be seated on the council.

Palmer voters also looked favorably on a pair of ballot propositions that updated the city’s charter. The first proposition eliminated a notice requirement the city had in place for liability claims that would have required a citizen seeking an injury claim to make notice to the city within 60 days unless it was a slip-and-fall injury on a city road, in which case the notice requirement was 10 days. These kinds of requirements run contrary to state statutes of limitations and have been struck down by court rulings in other cities.

The second proposition eliminated a similarly illegal-under-state-law timeframe for the filing of referenda on city council actions.

City of Houston

As is usually the case, the vote in the borough’s least populous city hinged on fewer voters than it would take to fill a school bus. Just 19 votes separated Mayor Virgie Thompson from her challenger Ron Gaffney but that almost counts as a commanding lead, considering the vote totals were 54 for Gaffney and 73 for Thompson.

Just because Thompson won, though, doesn’t mean she will remain mayor. The council each year selects a mayor from among its ranks after the election.

Incumbent Gina Jorgensen also did not have an opponent and will return to the council.

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