Former assembly member wins Houston council seat

October 4, 2006

BY MARK KELSEY/Frontiersman

HOUSTON - While votes were tallied in three races for seats on the Mat-Su Borough Assembly, an outgoing assembly member was celebrating victory in her race for a seat on the Houston City Council.

Betty Vehrs cruised to win one of two council seats up for grabs Tuesday, garnering more than twice the votes of her nearest competitor, incumbent Angela Rosas. Jeff Allshouse ran third in the race for council seat C.

Vehrs originally had signaled her intent to run for re-election to the assembly, where she has represented a large swath of the Susitna Valley for the last three years. She said her experience on the assembly, where she advocated for her rural district against the larger voting bloc from the borough's core area, will help her be an effective city councilor.

&#8220I hope I can lend a hand to the city of Houston. One of the proudest things I did on the assembly was represent Houston,” she said. &#8220Houston is emerging. I'm excited about the growth, and I want to be a part of that.”

Recent assembly activity, such as the controversial rewrite of a longstanding land-use ordinance, and consideration of a new state prison in the borough, put Vehrs out in front of issues that resonate in Houston.

She called the Title 16 rewrite, of which she was a vocal opponent, detrimental to economic development within Houston city limits.

And since Houston already has expressed a desire to have the new prison built in city limits, Vehrs said her knowledge of the proposal from her work on the assembly will serve the city well as it moves forward with pursuing the $330 million project.

Vehrs said she felt a twinge of guilt in knocking off incumbent Rosas, who has served two three-year terms on the council.

&#8220Angela is a lovely person who ran a superb campaign,” she said. &#8220If I hadn't been running, I would have campaigned for her.”

Rosas could not be reached for comment.

Despite her experience at the borough level, Vehrs said she thinks the most important thing she brings to the council table is good communication. She invited any city residents who wish to contact her or be on her regular informational mailing list to send her an e-mail at bvehrs@gci.net.

Houston Mayor Dale Adams said he is hopeful that Vehrs' experience will have a calming effect on the council, which has been bickering for months over police services in the city.

&#8220She's probably going to add some good input,” Adams said.

Incumbent Johnnie Winder joined Vehrs as an election night winner. Winders was unopposed on the ballot, but faced a stiff write-in challenge from Roger Purcell, whom she bested 144-81.

Adams said he was pleased Winder emerged victorious.

&#8220She's OK,” he said &#8220She's interested in helping the city move along.”

Neither Winder nor Purcell could be reached for comment.

Houston voters were the borough's turnout champs Tuesday. More than 54 percent of the city's 976 registered voters cast a ballot.

Next closest was Wasilla No. 2 precinct, which registered 42 percent turnout. Boroughwide, the turnout was slightly more than 25 percent.

The next meeting of the Houston City Council is Oct. 11.

Contact Mark Kelsey at

352-2268 or mark.kelsey@

frontiersman.com.