Mokie Tew defeated in borough assembly race, road bonds pass two-to-one, school board incumbents sweep

The big news from the Tuesday, Nov. 7 Mat-Su elections was the defeat of borough assembly member Mokie Tew in Assembly District 5. The lesson here was that if you rub enough people wrong for long enough it catches up.

That appears have been the case with Tew, a local contractor who promoted more gravel pits in a region where some people think there are already too many.

Tew took on controversial issues but was also tainted with allegations, fair or unfair, that he mixed business interests too closely with borough assembly business. The truth of that will never be known but in politics appearances are everything.

Bill Gamble, a retired firefighter and state emergency services worker, defeated Tew 751 to 529, with seven votes in favor of write-in candidates.

Meanwhile, assembly member Bob Yundt was reelected to his seat in Assembly District 4, although he was unopposed. There was no other candidate on the ballot, although there were a few write-in ballot cast.

This underscored that Mat-Su residents didn’t care much about a large U.S. Environmental Agency fine against Yundt for illegally dumping fill into Wasilla Lake.

Yundt also benefited from community good will gained through several years of support for community groups and youth sports, some observers said.

Meanwhile, incumbent assembly person Dimitri Fonov defeated three challengers to win reelection in Assembly District 6. Fonov received 1,021 votes against Stafford Glashan’s 426 votes, Kerman Coman’s 227 and Jackson Abney’s 179.

Four assembly members, Dee McKee, Tim Hale, Stephanie Nowers and Ron Bernier were not up for reelection this year and will remain in their seats.

Mat-Su residents also showed again Tuesday night that they love their roads. A ballot proposition to assume $38.5 million in new general obligation debt, which is on local taxpayers, easily passed.

Voters approved the road bonds two-to-one with 5,916 ballots cast in favor and 2,855 votes against.

Road improvements are still need in the Borough after several years of new construction, and voters showed they are willing to reach into their pockets to pay taxes to pay for the bonds.

It helped that the borough’s bonds are conditioned on the state picking up 50 percent of the total cost of projects on the ballot, or about $76 million. The amount of road work on the ballot was $38 million, or half of the total.

If the state Legislature fails to appropriate the 50 percent share, or if less than the full amount is approved, the bonds or at least all of them will not be sold.

In the event of partial-funding, the Borough can schedule the work to make maximum use of funds that are available.

It’s also possible, or perhaps likely, that other funding sources such as from the federal government can be tapped, which would reduce the need for the local bonds.

This happened in 2021when local voters approved bonds for road work even without a state match but the borough was able to raise money for the construction without having to sell bonds, even though voters had approved them.

In the race for two school board seats, Kathy McCollum defeated challenger Sydney Zuyus with 995 votes for McCollum to 484 for Zuyus, and three and three write-in votes cast for a seat in School Board District 3.

In School Board District 6, Ole Larson won against Dianne Shibe after a contentious race, with 1,125 votes for Larson against 826 for Shibe and five write-in votes cast.

Incumbent school board members Tom Bergey in District 1, Kendal Kruse in District 2, Jubilee Underwood in District 4, Ted Swanson in District 7 did not stand for reelection this year and will remain in their seats.

As previously announced, Jacob Butcher, who had held the school board seat for District 5, resigned Monday after moving out of the state. On Wednesday, the Mat-Su Borough School District announced his vacancy, putting out a notice for interested residents from District 5 to apply for the vacant spot.

The duties include preparing for and attending twice monthly meetings and occasional special meetings; studying all material presented with the agenda prior to attending meetings; participating in the discussion of any items that come before the Board; voting on all motions and resolutions, abstaining only for compelling reasons; being prepared and willing to devote a sufficient amount of time to the issues.

Applications will be taken from now until Wednesday, November 22.

The decision ultimately lies with the school board, who will convene candidate interviews during the December 6 meeting, and is expected to select and swear in the new member that same night.