New council member resigns

MAT-SU -- In one of the quickest turnovers in Palmer City Council history, a council member resigned only two days after being sworn in.

Fearing accusations of conflicts of interest, newly appointed Councilman Richard Best turned in a letter of resignation last week. Best is an employee of Hattenburg, Dilley and Linnell, an engineering and design firm that frequently provides services to the City of Palmer. During Best's first meeting as a councilman the firm appeared on the agenda twice, for ball field and water system improvements.

In his letter to the council and mayor, Best said he was resigning "due to public misperceptions that I might unknowingly sway or influence the city council or city employees to award public funds, contracts, and or projects to the firm for which I am employed."

Best went on to say he was concerned about the amount of time the city might have to spend defending itself against these accusations.

In light of Best's resignation, the council convened for a special meeting Tuesday and chose Brian Fish to fill the seat. Fish was the only other person to throw his name into the hat the week before. During the council's secret ballot voting, Fish had lost by one vote to Best after two rounds of tied votes.

During the council's interview of the two candidates at the time, it appeared Fish and Best had similar visions of mindful, guided growth.

"I believe in order for the city to grow; extending the boundaries is important," Fish said during the meeting. "It's important to provide recreation for kids in the community as well." He also said the city must provide adequate services, such as police protection and utility service.

Fish, an employee of the Matanuska Telephone Association, has lived in Palmer since 1998 and in Alaska since 1972. He graduated from Wasilla High School in 1990 and from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1996 with a degree in earth science.

Fish and his wife, Becky, have three children. Fish coaches sports at Palmer High School and said his involvement with youth athletics, combined with his work, has given him insight into the people and needs within the community.

"I am eager and willing to learn and look forward to having an opportunity to help the City of Palmer," he said in his letter of intent.

At Tuesday's special meeting, Fish won the city council seat by a 5-to-1 vote. The single opposing vote came from Councilman Steve Carrington, who said he would have preferred to reopen the process to other applicants.

"I would rather err on the side of being thorough," Carrington later said. He said he questioned whether other Palmer residents might be interested in serving, but simply hadn't applied in time for the deadline.

The council had 30 days to fill the seat after Diana Long announced Dec. 17 that she was resigning for personal reasons. When the deadline arrived the council had two candidates -- Best and Fish. While some council members said Fish's eventual appointment was just a continuation of the same process, Carrington said Best's resignation should have initiated a new process.

Fish will be sworn in at the council's next meeting and is expected to serve until October, when the seat will be up for election.