MEA relocates board candidate

Ballot ‘bias' could lead to legal action

March 9, 2007

By Russell Stigall

Frontiersman

MAT-SU - Matanuska Electric Association's cherished and lauded bylaws may not have protected the ballots for MEA's ongoing board of directors elections.

In a borough of many cities and notorious hometown pride, board candidate Dan Tucker may lose Palmer district votes because his ballot bio named him as a Wasilla resident. The problem is, Tucker does not live in Wasilla.

Representatives of several districts comprise the board of directors for MEA. This year's election is to fill open seats for Eagle River, Palmer and Wasilla districts.

District boundaries, set by MEA's board and administration, encompass more area than the cities they represent.

Tucker has lived in Mat-Su since 1977. Like many borough residents who reside outside city limits, Tucker has a Wasilla mailing address. However, he lives west of Hyer Road, between Hyer and Seward Meridian Parkway.

For districting purposes, MEA's line separating the Palmer and Wasilla districts runs down Seward Meridian.

&#8220To my knowledge, Wasilla city limits does not extend east of Seward Meridian anywhere,” Tucker said.

Tucker said where a candidate lives shouldn't have much of an effect on their decisions, should they become a board member.

&#8220I have property in Willow, I'm just as concerned with Willow as I am here,” Tucker said.

When it comes to MEA bylaws, Tucker said, you are either a Palmer district resident or not.

&#8220And I am, by almost half a mile,” Tucker said.

By listing Tucker as a Wasilla resident on the Palmer ballot, Tucker said MEA is biasing a ballot that is area-specific.

&#8220Bottom line is, (Palmer residents) are going to vote for the local guy,” Tucker said.

Peter Burchell, a dissenting voice on the current MEA board, said he agrees with Tucker's concern.

&#8220Palmer residents are very loyal to Palmer,” Burchell said.

Tucker's opponent, incumbent Larry DeVilbiss, is listed on the ballot as being from Palmer, although borough property listings show him as living outside city limits on Lazy Mountain.

Burchell said he believes MEA board members and administration used Palmer's loyalty to handicap the candidacy of Tucker, who is running to change the status quo among the MEA board and

management.

&#8220Is it a manipulation? I don't know I could prove it either way. But it is an unfair ballot,” Burchell said. &#8220[Tucker] is hurt and frustrated, and I wouldn't blame him.”

This is not the first time MEA has been accused of election improprieties. In 1998, former board member Doug Mills filed a lawsuit over a board election that eventually was dismissed.

Tuckerman Babcock, MEA spokesman, said he believes Tucker's complaint is

unfounded.

&#8220Well, he's a Wasilla resident,” Babcock said. &#8220I think the opposite would be misleading. I think it would be misleading to hide you are from Wasilla.”

To explain why MEA would list the addresses of candidates in a district election, Babcock fell back on a familiar MEA response.

&#8220We're just doing what the bylaws direct us to do,” Babcock said.

Tucker said Babcock told him, too, that the bylaws are what call for putting candidate addresses on ballots.

&#8220But they follow them one way one time and follow another way another time. There is no consistency, and the inconsistencies are to [MEA's] advantage,” Tucker said.

Would Tucker take legal action should Palmer voters brush him aside?

&#8220It has been discussed,” Tucker said. &#8220Can I confirm? No. There's been enough lawsuits generated, I feel bad spending more association money.”

A similar inconsistency occurred on the Eagle River

ballot.

In a notice to members of MEA, a glossy publication mailed to members earlier this month listed Tom Staudenmaier, Eagle River district candidate, with an Anchorage address. On the ballot, he is said to live in Eagle River.

This left Will Alteneder as the only candidate listed outside of Eagle River. Alteneder lives in Chugiak. In another area with strong hometown pride, Eagle River voters may be unwilling to vote an outsider onto the board.

Tucker said this amounts to an MEA bias against Alteneder, who has made no secret of his desire to change how the cooperative does business.

Another complaint Burchell and Tucker have is the prominent display of board incumbent and candidate Dallas Massie's signature and name on the cover of the glossy member notice.

The signature appears to authenticate an announcement for MEA's annual meeting, March 17 at Colony High School.

&#8220That information doesn't need a signature,” Tucker said.

He said the display of Massie's signature was deliberate.

&#8220Somebody [at MEA] had to see that. This is not something that happens entirely by accident,” Tucker said. &#8220I believe MEA administration, with cooperation from board members, script everything that

happens.”