Palmer council race draws 3

PALMER — The deadline to file to run for city council passed on Friday, and when the day ended, three somewhat familiar faces had entered the race.

Only one incumbent is running in this election, though all three candidates have experience in the city’s government.

The council has two open seats this year, and the way Palmer works, the two top vote-getters will be seated.

In alphabetical order, the candidates are:

Mike Chmielewski

Chmielewski is a veteran of the council, having served one term before he chose to run for mayor last year. Asked why he wants to return to the council, Chmielewski offered a joke: “At my age you forget quickly, and so a year has passed and I forgot what it was like.”

But, seriously, he said one of his reasons for running is to make sure the race has some spirited debate. If only two names were on the ballot, he pointed out, there wouldn’t be much reason for either candidate to spend a lot of time discussing issues as both would be assured a seat.

“Those times when there are two seats and two candidates not much happens,” he said.

An Air Force veteran, Chmielewski holds three higher education degrees — two master’s degrees and a doctorate. He has worked as a teacher and in the Mat-Su school district as a counselor and setting up the district’s record keeping system. He’s currently involved in a number of nonprofits, including Radio Free Palmer, Wasilla Area Seniors Inc. and Friends of Mat-Su.

As for issues he wants to address if voters choose to return him to the council, Chmielewski said there really aren’t any.

“I’ve been around the block a number of times now and I’ve won and lost,” he said.

He said he’s learned over time that he’s not so much an issues guy as he is a process guy. He just wants to help the council run smoothly and give city residents what they want from their government.

“I’m not running against people and I’m not running to fix something.”

Linda Combs

Combs is a familiar name to observers of Palmer politics. It belongs to the current mayor’s immediate predecessor, John Combs. Linda is his wife.

Combs said she started her professional life working in telecommunications. She later worked to computerize the Valdez School District and on computer projects at First National Bank.

Combs is also active in a number of nonprofits, including the committee that oversees Palmer’s Sister City relationship with Saroma, Japan. She also has been the bookkeeper for St. Michael’s Parish Church in Palmer.

“Because I have a background in nonprofit accounting is probably why I get invited to sit on boards,” Combs said.

She said friends tell her that her ability to think like a bookkeeper would be useful on the city council.

“At budget time, it would be nice to have someone whose eyes don’t glaze over,” Combs said her friends have told her.

Brad Hanson

Hanson, who didn’t return a phone call seeking comment by press time, is among the longest serving current members of the Palmer City Council.

According to the city’s website, either Hanson or Katherine Vanover is the current longest serving member on that body. The website says Vanover joined the council in 2001 and Hanson in 2002. But there are apparently some years missing from that accounting. In 2008 Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman story announcing his candidacy Hanson said he’d already served a decade on the council.

He is also a stalwart of Palmer High School athletics, where he’s coached for both the football and hockey programs. He’s been head coach of the hockey team for about five years.

In the 2008 election profile, Hanson said he holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and a master’s degree in business administration.

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