Houston candidate dies

HOUSTON -- On the eve of his swearing in, newly elected Houston City Council member Carl Burnett died of an apparent heart attack while on a shopping and errand-running trip in Anchorage.

Anchorage paramedics on Monday responded to a 911 call placed at 6:45 p.m. from a home on North Tahiti Loop -- a street leading into Manoog's Isle mobile home park, just off Lake Otis Parkway -- by someone who reported that a man had stopped breathing.

The Anchorage Police Department confirmed Wednesday that the call was placed by people who were trying to help Burnett, who, on Oct. 2, had won the race for Houston City Council's Seat F over incumbent Kim Kasper, 87 to 81.

Burnett was pronounced dead at Providence Alaska Medical Center sometime between 7:30 and 7:45 p.m. that day, according to Providence nursing staff.

Family members said Burnett, 63, was on a shopping trip, and had phoned home to say he was finished and to check to see if more errands needed to be run before he headed back to Houston. Burnett apparently tried to drive to a friend's house as his heart started to fail, and collapsed after getting out of his car.

"I think he had it in his mind that he needed to get to his friend -- to get to somebody he knew," said Karrol Johnson, Burnett's daughter-in-law.

Somber tones reverberated through Houston as word of Burnett's death circulated through town. Burnett's widow, Rosemary Burnett, attended Tuesday's city council meeting, at which the election of her husband was certified.

Audience members and council members alike paid their condolences and gave supportive embraces to Burnett's widow. The meeting opened with an invocation by council member Angela Rosas, who added a prayer for Burnett to the usual calls for unity, and civil discourse.

Houston's 2001 council race was unusual in that the town had five seats to fill, instead of the usual two or three.

The race for Seat C ended in a tie, and was decided by a coin toss at Tuesday night's meeting.

Rosas was tied up with challenger Dannie "O.B." O'Brien, after a recount that took place Monday in the Mat-Su Borough's administration building in Palmer. Rosas was one vote behind before Monday's recount.

Tuesday night, Rosas called "tails" and won the coin toss. O'Brien congratulated Rosas, and returned to his seat in the audience.

A town record of 11 candidates filed for council seats and four out of five races ended up with margins of six votes or fewer.

There were also contentious meetings earlier in the year over land-use permits for gravel pit operations, which have long been a source of debate in Houston. This year the council triggered a rush of opposition candidates when it ruled in favor of a land-use permit for one of its incumbent members.

The election was challenged when rumors spread that a free election-day beer was being offered at the Burnetts' Houston Lodge to anyone who voted. The challenge stalled the certification for one week while city clerk Daleann Pond conducted an investigation with the help of Houston's attorney, Richard Deuser.

"Carl was really proud to have won," Rosemary Burnett said after Tuesday's meeting. "He was proud to have won, but he was sad to see things get so petty at the end."

Deuser's report on the free beer flap was submitted to the council Tuesday night. The seven-page report dismissed the challenge. Deuser wrote that although it was likely the election-day beer was offered at the lodge -- and that the offer may have turned the election -- it's also reasonable to conclude nothing illegal happened.

That's because of a definition to the words "valuable thing" that was added to Alaska statutes by the Legislature after free fuel was offered to voters during the 1994 gubernatorial election.

In 1995, the state Legislature broadened the law to make it illegal to offer money or "any other valuable thing" in exchange for voting, but the Legislature also included exemptions for "food and refreshment" at both partisan and nonpartisan gatherings.

If the exemption wasn't enough, Deuser also wrote that the investigation didn't find the alcohol was distributed in a partisan fashion: ". . . the circumstances existing at the Houston Lodge bar do not reflect anything suggesting coercion or heavy handed tactics."

Deuser's report ended with the recommendation that the incumbent council certify the election results pending recount procedures.

Recounts for both Seat C and D took place Monday. There was no change in the results for the Seat D race, in which challenger Cliff Moore unseated incumbent Mike Markiel by one vote, 80 to 79.

The other races were certified with the results as counted the first time around. In the race for Seat E, Ruth Blanchard beat incumbent Jerry Nelsen 103 to 67. In the race for Seat G, incumbent Dale Adams fended off challenger Timothy "T-Bone" Christoffersen 87 to 84.

Burnett's seat will remain empty until the council fills it by appointment. That will likely happen in November. A memorial service for Carl Burnett will be held Monday, Oct. 22, at 4 p.m. at Sacred Heart Catholic Church on Bogard Road in Wasilla. A reception at the Houston Lodge will follow the service.