Houston candidates will file with APOC for first time

HOUSTON -- Population growth has triggered a change in Houston's status under Alaska's campaign finance disclosure laws.

The 2000 census recorded 1,202 people living within Houston. That means candidates for city council will be filing with the Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC) this year for the first time ever.

Technically, all of the Houston candidates missed APOC's Sept. 3 deadline, but were granted an extension, according to APOC assistant director Chris Ellingson.

"There will be no penalties assessed," Ellingson said, "We sent out letters telling them what their filing deadlines were."

This newest wrinkle in Houston politics won't likely change the way campaigns are run. Houston is still a one-precinct town where everybody votes at city hall. City Clerk DaleAnn Pond said she expects all 11 city council candidates to file exempt status with APOC.

"Our campaigns aren't on the scale of Anchorage or even Wasilla. You don't see people standing on the corner waving signs," Pond said.

The strategy for Houston politicians will most likely remain in the realm of telephone calls and shoe leather. At a recent forum for the 11 candidates, about 20 audience members and only five candidates turned out, but most of the people there agreed that poor scheduling was to blame.

APOC, for its part, has mailed a letter to all the candidates so they can file with the commission in a timely fashion, according to Ellingson. APOC staff didn't know Houston had more than 1,000 citizens until the last week of August, when Pond alerted them to the situation.

Ellingson said the commission doesn't usually get population statistics until they are provided with a state publication called the Municipal Officials Directory.

Pond is a new city clerk and said she was studying the new census statistics because Houston needs them to qualify for various grants. Pond said she was checking election law so her first election as clerk would run smoothly.

"Because I'm new, I'm doing lots of checking and double-checking to make sure that everything is correct," she said. Houston city code referred her to state election laws, which led her to APOC.

Pond called the commission, and Ellingson asked if the population had increased, and now there's at least one more form for Houston candidates to fill out.

"What a difference a couple of hundred people make," Pond said.