Palmer council candidates to wrap up forum series

PALMER — If the forum for Palmer mayoral candidates is any indication, Thursday’s forum for prospective council members promises to be a lively, well-attended affair.

The Greater Palmer and Greater Wailla chambers of commerce are organizing the event, which is the last of a summer’s worth of political debates and forums in the Valley. The forum runs from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Palmer Train Depot.

There are four candidates on the official list from the city, but one, Tom Braund, has instead chosen to run for Mat-Su Borough Assembly. The remaining three candidates are Edna DeVries, Mike Madar and Kathrine Vanover. There are two council positions open, which means the election will be something akin to a game of political musical chairs — one of the three won’t get a seat.

EDNA DEVRIES

DeVries has had a long and varied political career in Alaska. She first worked for the city as treasurer, then held a seat on the council, then on the borough assembly. She was also elected borough mayor and then was picked to represent Palmer in the Alaska State Senate. After a stint as Republican National Committeewoman from Alaska, she moved back to the council.

DeVries has been out of politics since 2000 because she’s been living out of state caring for her husband’s mother, who died just a couple of months ago at 102. She came back to Palmer last September and has been attending city meetings and reading council minutes. She decided to jump back into the political mix when it was clear Mike Chmielewski was running for mayor instead of for council, she said.

“I will just go ahead and see if there are enough people around who remember me or thought I did a good job, or if there are new people who like my experience,” is how she explains her decision to run.

As far as issues go, DeVries said her background in accounting tells her she should be at least a little concerned about the city’s finances. She is interested in seeing if Palmer could put together a partnership with the Alaska State Fair to use waste heat from a gas-fired power plant on the fairgrounds in its sewer treatment facility.

She wants to make sure that the transition to a new city manager goes smoothly, and she thinks the old Matanuska Maid property should be developed, though she’s not sure the city is financially able to handle that project itself.

MIKE MADAR

Madar has been a Palmer resident since 1994 when he moved here from Sitka. He runs a boat and trailer supply company, Madar Marine Markets. This is his second run for the council. In 2004 he lost by just 12 votes.

“I thank God I did, because immediately after that I got on the Planning and Zoning Commission, which I’ve been on for six years, and really learned how city government operates,” he said.

With that experience under his belt, Madar is looking to take another step up the ladder at the city. He sees big issues on the horizon. He’d like to work on that power plant idea DeVries mentioned and says it could allow Palmer to expand into a regional treatment facility and use fees charged at the plant to eliminate property taxes.

The city’s downtown also needs to be bolstered, he said. Palmer should work to attract more corporate offices and maintain things like the Mat-Su Borough’s headquarters and the Valley’s courthouse.

Madar said he’s also a big proponent of growing the Palmer Ice Arena, which this year became home to the Alaska Avalanche Junior A hockey team. He’s done work there in the past, securing grants from the Mat-Su Health Foundation to improve handicapped access to the facility. That work is why he was proclaimed this year’s Palmer Citizen of the Year.

“It was a humbling experience,” he said of the award ceremony, at which he met U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski and got the key to the city. “I was pretty choked up.”

KATHRINE VANOVER

Vanover is the only incumbent in the race — the other seat coming open is Chmielewski’s — and said she enjoys serving the city.

“The fact is I really enjoy it. I enjoy making decisions for the city of Palmer,” she said. “I’m proud of being from Palmer and I’m proud of the Valley, and I’m proud of Alaska.”

She is a retired Mat-Su School District business manager who is co-director of the food service ministry for First Baptist Church in Palmer. She’s also a newly appointed board member for the Alaska Farmland Trust.

As far as big issues for this coming term, Vanover said that decisions need to be made about downtown Palmer. There are railroad tracks the city is trying to figure out what to do with. There’s also the old Matanuska Maid property.

“Here in Palmer it’s typical of a Midwestern small town. We all know each other and we really care what happens to our small town,” she said. “You can be a small town without being small minded.”

She said the council’s job is to serve Palmer and also listen to the city’s neighbors, many of whom, even if they don’t live in city limits, consider Palmer their home. And if she doesn’t win one of the council seats, she said, the city hasn’t heard the last of her.

“If I’m not re-elected that doesn’t mean I just drop it. I will still go to meetings and be an active participant,” she said.

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