Election changes mulled

School board districts eyed

March 19, 2006

DARRELL L. BREESE/Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - Changes may be afoot in how members of the Mat-Su School Board are elected.

Tuesday, during the first of four regularly scheduled quarterly joint meetings, members of the borough assembly and school board pondered adding election districts to the seven elected board seats.

Currently, board members are elected in a boroughwide vote, but under the proposal brought forward by Mayor Tim Anderson, they would be elected based on districts, similar to the members of the assembly.

One reason for suggesting the change is the fact that the current school board is made up entirely of residents of the borough's core area. The current board is made up of three residents of Palmer and four from Wasilla, meaning there is no representation from areas beyond the central Valley.

For some, the current system works fine.

&#8220Ideally, having someone who represents the borough as a whole is good,” assembly member Lynne Woods said. &#8220I'm on the fence. I'd like to think that the members of the board aren't playing favorites and are representing the whole borough.”

But the other side argues that by having representation from a boroughwide vote, the board is lacking the voice to address the needs of various localities.

This was the concern of several residents of the Talkeetna and Willow area when the problems surrounding the Su Valley High School roof came to light.

&#8220The people were screaming at me to find out who their representative on the school board is,” assembly member Betty Vehrs said. &#8220When I told them they didn't have one representative but the whole body represented them, their outrage grew.”

Why is there no representation from beyond the core area? The person best qualified to answer that might be Stephen Fee of Houston. He was the only resident from outside the core area to seek election to the school board in the last six years, (the equivalent of two elections for each seat) when he ran during the 2004 election.

&#8220People just didn't know who I was,” Fee said. &#8220The people from Houston knew who I was, but the average Joe in Wasilla had no idea who I was.”

Fee believes that if the board seats were elected based on districts he would have had a better chance of unseating the incumbent. Yet he does not believe the board should follow the same districts as the assembly.

&#8220I believe fair representation can be accomplished by having four representatives from districts,” Fee said. &#8220The other three board members could be selected at large.

&#8220That balance would prevent having board members favoring their district and keep the focus on the borough as a whole,” Fee concluded.

Vehrs also emphasized the value of having local representation on the board.

&#8220One of the things I have found representing a district is that I am out there and can hear from the people,” Vehrs said. &#8220A local board member would see things as they are happening and wouldn't have to wait for things to blow up to take action.”

Nothing concrete came from Tuesday's discussion, yet Woods believes the topic will likely find its way onto the ballot for the October election, allowing voters the final say.

&#8220I wouldn't be surprised to see this on the ballot this fall,” Woods said. &#8220There is no rush; the assembly has until August to decide what goes on the October ballot.”

Contact Darrell L. Breese at 352-2267 or at darrell.breese@frontiersman.com.