Mayor appoints commissioner despite opposition from public

PALMER — Saying he agreed with his values and believed he was a proven leader, Mat-Su Borough Mayor Larry DeVilbiss appointed a man to the planning commission over objections he was the least qualified applicant.

The planning commission is traditionally divided into seats that correspond to the different districts in the borough. The vacant seat corresponded to District 1, which is Assemblyman Warren Keogh’s district.

Applicants were:

• Longtime planning commissioner and former commission president Helga Larson.

• Barbara Hunt, another former commissioner who currently works as a business and community liaison for Alaska Job Corps in Palmer.

• Brian Endle, past president of the Buffalo/Soapstone Community Council and current software developer at Matanuska Telephone Association.

• Real estate developer and landlord Mark Van Diest

DeVilbiss picked Endle. While some members of the Buffalo Mine/Soapstone Community council testified in favor of Endle at Tuesday’s assembly meeting, more testified against him. Most who did instead favored Hunt.

“I certainly don’t disagree that Mrs. Hunt is qualified, perhaps the most qualified,” DeVilbiss said. “But mayoral appointments aren’t just about qualifications, they’re about values that align with the mayor. I think Mr. Endle has a lot of potential. He is a young man who would learn a lot. I was a very unqualified farmer who got appointed to that position probably 20 years ago.“

DeVilbiss said that, before Endle got involved, the Buffalon Mine/Soapstone council, which covers the area closest to Usibelli Coal Mine’s proposed Wishbone Hill development, was working on a comprehensive plan that “was pretty radical and singly focused on shutting down mining,”

“Toward the end of that process Mr. Engle got involved, he did what should be done,” he said. “Instead of shouting and screaming and trying to disrupt the body, he went door to door and tried to get the community involved.”

The result of that, the mayor noted, is a council that regularly draws 100 area residents to its meetings. And if, as some testified, people were tricked into participating through alleged lies Endle told, they wouldn’t still be attending months after the plan was killed, the mayor said.

Assemblyman Warren Keogh opposed the mayor, referencing “copious amounts of emails” he and the rest of the assembly had received in opposition to Endle and in favor of Larson of Hunt.

“With all respect to Mr. Endle, after talking to some of these candidates and reviewing their applications and their resumes, I consider Mr. Endle to be the least qualified of the four applicants and I would recommend as the assembly member from district one,” Keogh said.

But he was in the minority on the assembly.

Assemblyman Steve Colligan decried the opposing public testimony as what he viewed as personal attacks on Mr. Endle.

“He’s not the polished politician or anything,” Colligan said. “Sometimes not being overly experienced is a good thing.”

Assemblyman Ron Arvin also viewed some of the testimony as personal attacks.

“I guess after listening to the public testimony tonight I’m really wondering why anybody would want to serve given what was said,” he said. “I think it’s kind of a sad situation and I largely see it as desperation by those who are anti-coal and pro-planning, pro-delay, pro-preservationist.”

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.