Seat G candidate throws support against incumbent

MAT-SU — There are three seats up for election next month and all but one announced candidate for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District’s Board of Education are on the trail.

One candidate, Gilbert Lucero, has dropped out of the race for Seat G, throwing his support to Talkeetna resident Sandra White in hopes she can unseat incumbent Dan Contini and give the Upper Susitna Valley and Talkeetna some representation. The school board is presently comprised of Palmer and Wasilla residents.

“I didn’t think Mr. Contini was doing a very good job, but I’m stepping aside and letting Ms. White run,” Lucero said.

Lucero said he feels Contini loses track of issues before the board. Because the decision comes late in the election process, Lucero’s name is still on the ballot.

Seat G incumbent Contini said he is looking forward to meeting Lucero, isn’t acquainted with him and never saw him at a board meeting. Other candidates often attend.

“The name don’t even ring a bell,” Contini said. “Everybody has an opinion. God didn’t make everybody happy, and I don’t think I can either.”

Contini has been the Palmer fire chief since 1974 and an Alaska resident since 1952. He’s had five children and three grandchildren who have attended school in the Mat-Su Valley and teaches fire science and school bus safety in the schools. He’s been on the board for 12 years.

“I enjoy being a school board member and being part of the Valley education program,” Contini said.

Contini’s lone campaigning opponent, White, manages Talkeetna Air Taxi Inc. The Talkeetna resident has lived there 39 years and has two daughters at Su Valley Jr./Sr. High School near Talkeetna. She has 17 years of management experience, has been a substitute teacher and is active with the local Parent Teacher Student Association. A Su Valley graduate, she has also been president of the Mat-Su Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.

“I thought this would really be a way to give back to a community that has given me a lot,” she said.

White said she knows the race won’t be easy against an incumbent. Funding is one big issue before schools, but White said she also wants to make sure the schools are “providing inspiration to kids. That’s probably the biggest challenge to any district you go to.”

White said she wants students to understand the value of the education they’re receiving.

Seat C incumbent Larry DeVilbiss faces a challenge from former schools nutritionist Susan Pougher.

DeVilbiss, a resident since 1956, is school board president and a graduate of Palmer High School. He served as director of the Division of Agriculture from early 2005 until early 2007. DeVilbiss also serves on the Matanuska Electric Association board. He’s been active in farming since 1956.

“I am a graduate of the district and have put a couple of kids through the district, so I have a vested interest,” he said.

DeVilbiss is “concerned about the values we’re passing along to our next generation,” and said he has the experience necessary to enter into negotiations with three major employee unions who will open talks with the district this fall. Working with three unions at once is unusual.

Pougher said she brings a parent’s perspective to the race as well as a commitment to teamwork and support for new district superintendent George Troxel. She wants to get more people involved with the school district and believes new blood is needed.

“I think one of the main reasons I’m running is that parents of children going to school right now don’t have representation,” she said. After 12 years or more on the board “you lose some of your objectivity. You just kind of go along. You know the administration better than you do your constituents.”

Pougher was the district’s nutrition services supervisor until recently. Before that she worked for the dietary department at the Alaska Psychiatric Institute. Prior to that she spent nine years working in the federal WIC food program in the Valley. She has lived in Alaska since 1989.

School board Seat F is the only one with no incumbent running for re-election. Colleen Hamblen and Don Zoerb are the candidates.

Hamblen has a master’s in education in guidance counseling and has been a high school counselor, a teacher and is presently principal at Matanuska Christian School in Palmer.

Hamblen said that after attending board meetings she decided there are many “nice people” sitting on the school board, but “there are not a lot who have a history in education. I felt there needed to be somebody with a background in education on the school board.”

She has lived in Alaska for 11 years.

A primary theme in her campaign is communication between the Borough Assembly and the school board, and spending tax money wisely while not just going for the lowest cost alternative.

This is Zoerb’s second race. The former member of the district’s Budget Advisory Committee said he wants to get the maximum possible value in the classroom and safeguard the taxpayers’ cash.

“I feel a calling to continue to perform community service on the school board,” said Zoerb, who is chief financial officer and assistant general manager of Matanuska Electric Association. He is a 34-year Alaska resident.

Contact John R. Moses at 352-2270 or john.moses@frontiersman.com.