School board seeks candidates to fill vacancy

PALMER — The Mat-Su Borough School District is seeking applicants for a school board seat left vacant in the wake of the fall legislative elections.

Lynn Gattis, who currently sits in school board Seat G, was elected to serve in the state House of Representatives in October 2012.

She will represent a newly created “lakes” district comprised of parts of Wasilla and land between Wasilla and Palmer. She initially seemed to want to keep her board seat and a ruling from the district’s attorney said that was OK.

But when the House leadership put her in charge of the House Education Committee, Gattis has said that would have been a conflict of interest and she opted then to step down.

The last time the borough had an unexpired school board term to fill was in 2009 when Brian Sullivan resigned, making way fro Erick Cordero. The process then took about a month from Sullivan’s resignation to Cordero’s installation.

Since Gattis was due to stand for re-election in October 2013, the appointment is only to serve for a matter of months.

The district is accepting applications through 4 p.m., Jan. 15. To apply, mail a résumé and a cover letter to the school board at 501 N. Gulkana St., Palmer, AK 99654, fax it to 761-4076, or email it to Stacy.Escobedo@matsuk12.us.

Candidates will be interviewed publicly at a board meeting, after which the board will pick a candidate.

Qualifications to hold the position are the same as those to vote in Mat-Su Borough elections, which means you have to be registered to vote in state elections at an address in the borough.

Gattis wasn’t the only school board member voters picked to promote to higher office in the Legislature. Mike Dunleavy, formerly the board president, also was picked to serve in the state Senate.

Dunleavy chose not to run for his seat, thus his vacancy was filled in the fall elections with the selection of Deborah Retherford.

Cordero, who is currently the board’s vice president, went on from his appointment to Sullivan’s unexpired term to win election to that body. He is set to serve on the school board until October 2014.

Cordero, who managed Gattis’ campaign, has taken a job working with her as part of her legislative staff. He has said he decided to keep his school board seat while he serves on her staff and that he does not see it as a conflict of interest.

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