It's another performance of 'Who's on first?' in Wasilla

Frontiersman editorial board

Gary Lundgren laughed about it. What else could he do? Last year a long court battle between Lundgren and the city of Wasilla ended with Wasilla winning title to the land upon which the new multi-use sports complex sits. Wasilla, relieved to have the dispute over, proceeded with construction, and last week the facility opened with much fanfare.

Meanwhile, Lundgren was at home wondering why he'd been assessed property taxes on the land -- the assessment coming from the city of Wasilla, of course.

After a little digging, it turns out the city never bothered to file the transaction so, technically, the land still belongs to Lundgren. As has been the case throughout the Lundgren vs. Wasilla saga, everybody wants to claim credit for recovering the fumble, but nobody wants to accept responsibility for dropping the ball.

Wasilla Mayor Dianne M. Keller is convinced the whole thing is just a minor glitch, but one she's quick to blame on the Mat-Su Borough, just the same. "The Borough never fixed the plat," Keller explained.

That's news, apparently, to Paul Hulbert at the Borough Platting Office. Hulbert says the paperwork's been sitting in his office for some time, waiting for action from the city.

Meanwhile, Wasilla wasted no time firing off a tax assessment for the land to Lundgren, which is a sweet deal for the city, when you think about it. Wasilla gets a shiny, new multi-use sports complex and Lundgren gets to pay the property taxes. It adds insult to the injury of losing the court battle, and allows Wasilla to recoup some of the millions it spent on construction -- albeit at a maddeningly slow rate.

The moral of the story, if there can be anything moral about a story like this, is that competence can be an elusive thing, but when it has slipped through your fingers it's best to fess up and take your lumps.

It's time for Wasilla to record the transaction and make the deal complete. In a show of good sportsmanship, the city might also consider offering Lundgren a reserved parking space and maybe his own locker. It beats the alternative of renaming the building the Lundgrendome and blaming the whole thing on the Nature Conservancy, which seems to have gotten off relatively easy so far.