Four seek two spots in Palmer City Council races

PALMER — If anybody should know what kind of election Palmer City Council candidates should expect on Tuesday, it would be Steve Carrington. But the lone incumbent out of four running for two seats on the council, as Edna DeVries runs unopposed as mayor to succeed the outgoing DeLena Johnson. Carrington says he has no idea what to expect come Tuesday night.

“Before this, I’ve run in 1996 and 1997 won, lost in 2000, ran again in 2001, got on in in 2004,” Carrington said. “I don’t know. We’ve got such a small city and a lot depends on how many turn out… I’m trying not to be confident for confidence sake.”

He’s got company from David Fuller, Elden Tritch and Sven Johnson.

How Palmer handles impending growth seems to be a common theme among the candidates.

“Palmer is on the cusp of growing and we’ve got to do it smart or it’ll end up like Wasilla with pop-up businesses that just don’t fit,” said Fuller, a Palmer resident since 1998, who recently began attending meetings regularly, and now sits on the planning commission. “Compared to other borough cities we have the most extensive infrastructure with sewer and water.”

Sven Johnson grew up in Palmer, but upon returning from serving in the Coast Guard a year ago and welcoming the birth of a son, he’s taken more interest in local public affairs.

“Going around and talking to voters I hear over and over that Palmer is a really nice town to live in,” Johnson said. “People want to balance that small town with a close-knit community and they don’t need to see too much development.”

Carrington, on the other hand, sees Palmer perhaps needing to expand its city limits.

“We tend to have a bit more foundation for infrastructure since things are progressing decently, with the new Fred Meyer, etc.,” Carrington said. “I’d like to see us keep progressing and, I’m going to use an ugly word — annexation to move our boundaries. We’re one of the densest cities around the state.”

Carrington said he’s in favor of the other matter on Tuesday’s ballot, the approval for the city to spend $5 million to improve its sewer facilities. He’s also hopes to see a stronger relationship with the Mat-Su Borough government, citing Palmer’s lost bid to host the borough’s 9-1-1 dispatch and a lack of borough support for the library, which, he said, attracts three-fourths of its users from outside city limits.

Fuller said one issue that made him want to run was the council’s decision over the summer to not allow term limits on a city proposition.

“There was a large public outcry,” Fuller said. “I was in favor of it and the council shot it down. We just wanted it put to a vote of the people, but basically it was kind of the same old, ‘If people want term limits they can vote us out.’ But my opinion is anything that affects elected officials it should be decided by the people and not the body itself.”