From Wasilla City Council to State Legislature: Getting to know Wilson, Sullivan-Leonard

WASILLA — Former Wasilla city council members David Wilson and Colleen Sullivan-Leonard were elected to the Alaska Senate and House of Representatives, respectively, on Nov. 8, 2016.

They’re still the people in your neighborhood. The two join forces with Representative Mark Neuman this Saturday, Jan. 28 at 9 a.m. for a public safety meeting at Mat-Su Family Restaurant.

But now, the two carry more responsibility. Senator Wilson and Representative Sullivan-Leonard were sworn in to the 30th Alaska State Legislature on Jan. 17.

Both Wilson and Sullivan-Leonard have identified reducing the budget, and moving forward on the KGB Road improvement project, as key issues they’re working on in the legislature.

Sullivan-Leonard also expressed support for returning to Alaskans the full Permanent Fund Dividend, and revisiting the crime reform bill SB91.

The Frontiersman connected with Senator Wilson and Representative Sullivan-Leonard on Tuesday, for a more informal look at the two Wasilla City Council alumnae who are bringing freshman energy to the Alaska state legislature.

David Wilson

Valley resident since 2008

Wife: Aleta

Favorite camping spot in Alaska:

Crescent Lake in Seward

Favorite food: “Potatoes. Doesn’t matter how they’re cooked. Just potatoes.”

Favorite drink: “Gosh, it’s a tie between cranberry juice and tea.”

Favorite book: The Book of Proverbs

Favorite childhood toy: A model trainset

Favorite outdoors Valley activities:

Hunting and snowmachining

Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/AKDavidWilson

Wilson is soft-spoken on the phone. He has an even, calming voice that departs from the punctuated intensity you typically hear from people in political office.

“I don’t get overly excited, or overly emotional on issues and things,” Wilson said. “I try to stay pretty pragmatic.”

Wilson first came to Alaska in 1999 from San Jose, CA to go to pursue his education. After earning his bachelor’s in psychology, he returned to school in 2006 to earn his master’s in business administration in social service administration from Alaska Pacific University.

He moved out to the Valley in 2008 with his wife Arleta, and worked for the Valley non-profit Alaska Family Services as a director of domestic violence and sexual assault programs.

His wife Arleta is also in social work, he said, working as a deputy director of substance abuse program. Recently she began transitioning into mental health services work.

After winning a special election in 2013 and finishing out a two-year term on Wasilla City Council, Wilson was elected again for a full term, but served just a year of it before running for the Alaska State Senate.

The primary win was the close race, Wilson said, and he credits his wife and his mother-in-law with forming the strong backbone of the campaign’s operations.

Wilson said once he got his wife’s go-ahead for higher office, she was all on board.

“We talked about it quite a while, had to get the blessing and permission,” Wilson said. “Sometimes it’s intrusive, because everyone looks at everyone in the family. She was OK with it; she was very supportive in the process. My campaign staff was my wife and her mother. Making phone calls, driving me doing my door knocking, doing more phone calls, campaign events. I had two other friends who worked on a part-time basis, but that was it.”

Wilson said he’s proud of having been part of two achievements while on city council: keeping the school resource officers in the schools when it was proposed that they be cut; and, working with current Mayor Bert Cottle to institute the SART (Sexual Assault Response Team) in the Valley, so that forensic exams, interviews, and victim advocacy services could be provided locally instead of having to take victims to Anchorage.

Wilson said that sometimes people have asked him how it feels to be making history, as the first African-American man on the Alaska senate.

He said he tells them that he appreciates the gravity of that, but, it’s not what people elected him for.

“Currently, we’re trying to do what we can to address these larger issues in the room, to make sure that we do that responsibly as quickly as we can,” Wilson said, “without trying to hurt the economy or the people of Alaska.”

He said he thinks it’s a good thing that there are a lot of new faces in Juneau for the 30th legislative session.

When asked what he’s most looking forward to this session, Wilson said, “Changing how we look at things and the way we do business. Introduction of those ideas. This is the largest change we’ve had in legislators. And I think that will create enough momentum, of ways of looking at how we address problems and issues from a different perspective.”

Colleen Sullivan-Leonard

Valley resident since 1996

Family: Husband Ted and seven children ages 19 through 34, plus three grandchildren

Favorite camping spot in Alaska: “We’ve got a cabin in Susitna that my mother and father homesteaded in 1964. It’s been our family refuge and our place to read, relax, fish, boat, kayak and have wonderful family time.”

Favorite food: “Good old plate of Irish corned beef and cabbage.”

Favorite drink: “I’m a coffee lover.”

Favorite book: “Margaret Thatcher, her biography. She is she is a public servant I emulate.”

Favorite childhood toy: “Well I have to tell you I grew up with seven brothers. So there were always baseballs and basketballs and soccer balls. Probably soccer. I wasn’t into toys as much as sports.”

Favorite outdoors Valley activities: Hiking, fishing and shooting.

Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/ColleenSullivanLeonard.Dist7

Unlike the political newcomer Wilson, Sullivan-Leonard was already an experienced hand in state politics before joining the Wasilla City Council, having switched careers from the health field to the political world, starting out as a legislative staffer in 2003 and 2004.

Shortly after, in 2005, she was tapped by then-Governor Frank Murkowski for the new Regional Mat-Su Director position.

At that time, she’d already served on the local planning commission starting in 1999, as well as her first Wasilla City Council term from 2001-2003. Sullivan-Leonard said she quickly learned the ins and outs of government in those years, from the nitty-gritty of local infrastructure, to inter-body communications among agencies, non-profits, legislators and the executive branch needed to get things done at the state level.

“Certainly working in the legislature prior to my term here in the house, prepared me to understand how bills are crafted, legislative intent, fiscal notes,” Sullivan-Leonard said, “and then also the real important aspect of working legislation through committees, and working with other legislators to get good bills passed and stop bad bills as well. Working in the governor’s office opened up the importance of communication and relationships with different organizations and agencies across the Mat-Su.”

Sullivan-Leonard was elected once again to Wasilla City Council in 2010, and served two terms, through to 2016.

She said she’s proud to have been part of a sales tax regime that appropriately raised the sales tax on a temporary basis to fund projects that the public wanted – the sports center and the new library – and reduced the tax level back down again once those projects were funded.

“As we promised, we did take away that sales tax, reduced that to two cents on the dollar,” Sullivan-Leonard said. “I think that’s a real feather in my cap to be able to do that, build public facilities. It’s a good, safe measure with your constituents, when you can say, ‘Look, I’m going to increase your taxes, but only for a very short time, and then we will reduce it because we don’t want a tax that’s onerous and unnecessary. I think that’s a good type of governing.’”

Sullivan-Leonard said public service runs in her family, and she credits her family with being a source of support for her.

“It’s something I grew up in, and my family has been active over the years, they are very supportive, very loving,” Sullivan-Leonard said. “They provide me with a grounding, and certainly lots of prayers, to make sure I govern with a public servant’s heart.”

Sullivan-Leonard said she’s most looking forward to working with her fellow legislators from the Valley this session.

“More than anything, working with my Mat-Su delegation, to make sure that we work together to promote the interests of our residents here in the Valley, to make sure that we don’t impose taxes, that we don’t impose onerous regulations,” Sullivan-Leonard said. “I’m working to restore the PFD check to our residents, and last but probably most important, is getting the KGB dollars back on track to get construction of the expansion of the Knik-Goose Bay Road this year. It’s a priority. It’s a safety issue; that’s the number-one issue I’m pushing.”