Schools win, roads lose in election

MAT-SU — A turbulent economy appeared to be a key reason why voters turned back road and school athletic improvement bond issues, according to a Thursday sampling of Mat-Su Borough residents who voted in the municipal election earlier this week.

“There’s a lot of people not having an easy time of it,” said Jim Turner, a former borough assemblyman who voted against a $32.5 million road bond proposal and $9 million school athletic improvements bond issue on the ballot. “I suspect people are starting to make critical judgments about whether bonds are really critical now. I see this as a good sign, that they’re prioritizing, not just giving blanket approval of things thrown at them. When you vote on bonds, you’re not voting whether the government spends money. You’re voting whether to put your personal property up as collateral for a loan for the government.”

One bond proposal received approval from Mat-Su residents on Tuesday. They voted 5,542 to 5,037 to approve a $34 million bond issue that will replace roofs, upgrade fire alarms and clear asbestos at aging school buildings throughout the Valley and replace a boiler at Swanson Elementary School, among other maintenance projects. Voters considered and rejected an identical school-bond proposition last year by a 544-vote margin when it appeared on the ballot alongside a borough sales tax proposal that proved to be a spectacular failure.

Funds from road bonds would have paid to extend Mack Road from Wasilla’s Curtis D. Menard Sports Center south to Knik-Goose Bay Road, upgrade safety at the Lucille Street-Seldon Road intersection, extend Trunk Road south to Nelson Road and extend Dogwood Avenue and Felton Street in Palmer in anticipation of the Bogard Road extension.

Turnout for the borough election was 18.36 percent of 58,583 registered voters. Of those voters, 10,756 voted at the polls, 500 cast questioned ballots and 1,571 people voted absentee.

Mat-Su School Board member Erick Cordero said Thursday he believes people think it’s important to make sacrifices to have safe, well-maintained school buildings.

“I heard from some people last night at the board meeting that they just care about schools. That was the comment they’d make when talking about the bonds,” he said. “They felt it was important. Everyone realizes there’s a need for new schools to be built. It’s important to maintain the ones we currently have, especially the older ones. It’s as important as building new ones.”

Another former borough assembly member, Michelle Church, said she believes the road bond proposal failed to pass because the state should be doing the work on the roads in question.

“My take on it was that these are state projects and that the state should be stepping up to the plate” to provide 70 percent of road funding for the borough’s 30-percent match, Church said. “We already said we would put our money where our mouth was and our delegation never brought anything forward. That’s why I didn’t personally support them, because they’re state roads and the state needs to do their job. I think overall people are just saying no to everything, but recognize schools need to be maintained, that it’s an investment. Maybe that’s why people voted to support that and not the others. You gotta fix those roofs.”

In Palmer’s city election, unofficial vote tallies for Palmer’s $3 million bond issue for purchasing the fomer Matanuska Maid creamery properties and adjacent parcels on that block remained extremely close Thursday, with 348 votes for the proposal and 372 against. About 20 percent of Palmer’s 3,886 registered voters cast ballots.

“Right now there’s a 24-vote difference and we have 138 votes to be counted — absentee, by mail, early voters and questioned,” Sara Jansen, Palmer’s deputy city manager, said Thursday. “It’s a pretty close vote. I think it’s a lot to ask people to bond for something that is not very specific. We’re just going to listen to what the voters have to say. The canvassing board meets [today] and hopefully will have results by the end of the day.”

See Page B1 for a story about the failure of the school athletic improvements bond proposal.