First month flies by for new Wasilla mayor

WASILLA — He’s moved his office across the foyer, jumped ahead on the city’s comprehensive plan and moved forward with details of a proposed annexation.

He’s also gone on a Thanksgiving ride-a-long with the Wasilla Police Department and dropped in on its dispatch center twice, along with working nights and weekends.

This is what the first month of Mayor Verne Rupright’s term has looked like.

Elected in a run-off contest at the end of October, Rupright, just after winning the mayor’s seat, said he planned to dive right into work. So far, it appears he’s held true to his word.

On Wednesday morning, as the sun barely peaked over the Church Mountains, Rupright sat beneath a painting of the Alaska Railroad in his office. His desk, cluttered with documents, maps and a folder with papers seeking the mayor’s signature, sat ready to occupy his day.

Wearing thick, black-rimmed glasses, he ticked off some of the headway he’s made in the first four weeks of his administration. And he hasn’t been disappointed.

“It’s been everything I thought it would be,” Rupright said.

Rupright’s election signaled a shift in the politics of Wasilla. He’s the first male to hold the position in 12 years and he’s a new face in an office that became fraught with controversy near the end of the previous mayor’s term.

But Rupright says politics is secondary to helping the city move into the future. Goals include updating the 12-year-old Wasilla Comprehensive Plan, which Rupright said needs to be brought to modern standards.

“Things have changed,” he said.

Pushing up the date for its redrafting, Rupright said he wants to nail down the plan to create a road map for growth and development in Wasilla. He also wants to know what residents think.

“What do you want to see in your city?” Rupright asked.

To do so, the public will be invited to meetings after the turn of the year. He wants residents’ input, along with his city administrators, to shape the plan.

Rupright also hasn’t replaced former economic development director Casey Reynolds, who left months before the change in mayors took place. Reynolds was named in an independent investigation this past summer as one of the city staff who allegedly worked to benefit a private developer at the cost of local business owners.

Rupright said he thinks as the area grows — the Mat-Su Borough is one of the fastest growing “counties” in the United States — businesses and others will see Wasilla’s obvious attractions.

But, there has to be a plan in place, he said. It also means developing the industrial area around the Wasilla airport and making headway into improvements that will make that area more appealing to businesses.

There’s also the possibility of annexation in the near future.

Unrolling a map in his office, Rupright pointed to a large swath of land west of the Seward-Meridian Parkway and north and south of the Palmer-Wasilla Highway.

Though sparsely populated now, the annexation would include a business corridor along the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, which could mean benefits for the city.

For residents, Rupright said one of the most important improvements would be protection by Wasilla police.

If the annexation occurs, residents in the area would no longer have to wait for Alaska State Troopers to get to them.

Rupright said the tasks he wants to complete often keep him at the office late. He’s also said he realizes a three-year term won’t be enough to complete all his goals, meaning a run for a second term is almost definite.

Rupright said he’s still up to the challenges.

During the evening of Thanksgiving, Rupright went on a ride along with a Wasilla police officer. He said he figured if police had to work on a holiday, there’s no reason he shouldn’t work.

Getting in on the ground floor with those that run the city will be a priority, he said. “That’s the best place to be for a mayor.”

Rupright said he likes to listen to his city staff and work so everyone is “going in the same direction.”

And he’ll keep dropping by, maybe just to say hello, but also to see how the city he’s found himself in charge of operates.

“I intend to pop-up at the oddest times,” he said.

Contact Michael Rovito at michael.rovito@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.