Incumbents enjoy wins in MEA election

MAT-SU -- It was the year of the incumbent at Matanuska Electric Association's annual meeting Saturday. Well, almost.

MEA Board President Larry DeVilbiss, who was appointed to the board in 2002 to fill a seat vacated by former MEA board member Aaron Downing, handily won the co-op's Palmer district election with more than 500 votes to spare against challenger Michelle Heun. According to the unofficial tally released at the meeting, DeVilbiss brought home 1,772 votes to Heun's 1,239.

In the Eagle River district, incumbent Linda Shattuck faced two challengers, but won the race by a wide margin. For Shattuck, who was appointed in 2000 to fill a seat vacated by Craig Campbell, the win will mark the beginning of her second full term on the board. In the election, she garnered 1,485 votes to challenger Robert Wells' 695. Former board member and enduring candidate Tom Staudenmaier took 495 votes in the race.

The only incumbent who won't be returning to the board for the next term is board member Michael Janecek. In a race against Alaska State Trooper Dallas Massie, Janecek brought in 1,884 votes to Massie's 1,913, giving Massie the seat with a slim 29-vote margin.

The split in support could be felt in the Colony High auditorium during the meeting when each candidate was given a brief amount of time for one last pitch for votes. Both candidates were greeted with loud whoops and clapping, and their brief speeches were peppered with more yells of support.

After the meeting, Janecek said exiting the board may well be the most positive political move of his career.

"My tenure on the board has taken its toll, I think," Janecek said. He said he's not leaving MEA entirely -- a lawsuit challenging the newly adopted MEA bylaws pertaining to candidate disclosures and drug testing will continue, he said. He said although he's skeptical of the vote-counting process that led to such a narrow defeat, Janecek said he didn't plan to challenge the vote count.

Massie said he was happy but not surprised at the outcome of the election.

"I knew it was going to be a close call," Massie said. He said he plans to maintain a steadying presence on the board.

"I'm going to work in the spirit of cooperation with other directors on the board and take care of business," Massie said.

The returning and new board members provided hair samples for drug testing at the annual meeting, and will be seated at the co-op's regular meeting in July. A meeting was scheduled Monday to certify the election results.

Contact Rindi White at rindi.white@frontiersman.com.