Six candidates running, maybe auditioning for 2, maybe 4 seats, in Wasilla race

WASILLA — A number of moving parts make Tuesday’s vote for Wasilla City Council, one part election for two contested seats and, essentially, auditions for two more that are likely to come open by year’s end.

For Seat E, sitting council member and current deputy mayor Gretchen O’Barr looks to hold her seat against local business owner Debra Barrett, while four are competing for Council Seat F.

James Harvey enters that race as the closest thing to an incumbent, having been chosen by the council to fill the seat vacated by Brandon Wall back in July. Harvey bested four other interviewees for the interim position, including former city council member Alvah Buswell and Glenda Ledford, who are running against him. Christopher Anderson rounds out the four vying for Seat F.

Winning Tuesday’s election is only one way to ultimately wind up on the council, however. David Wilson is running unopposed for State Senate, and Colleen Sullivan-Leonard is a favorite to win her November race for a seat in Juneau, which would leave two additional open spots on the Wasilla Council, which likely will be filled by the interview process again.

“I didn’t know a whole lot about politics going into it, and I’m probably about average (knowledge) right now of the whole process and how everything is done,” said Harvey, who works full-time as a corrections officer at Goose Creek. “I have thoroughly enjoyed it and knew I’d be interested in it. That’s why I put in for it.”

Buswell, who was defeated by sitting council member Tim Burney in a 2015 run, did not agree with the city’s decision to go with a less-experienced choice in Harvey.

“He was the least experienced of everybody volunteering for that position — that’s my take on it,” Buswell said. “There were people there who’d been on the planning commission before that they overstepped and didn’t consider.”

Buswell said the biggest issue facing the city is finding ways to come up with new revenue.

“They need to figure out how to raise some money instead of worrying about cutting stuff,” Buswell said. “We’ve cut the budget the last four years and the only thing saving us right now is the fact that the sales tax is staying pretty good because of the increase in business. If they don’t do better than that, we’ll be in trouble.”

Ledford, a two-term member of the planning commission and current member of the Centennial Committee, says she’s running because, as a business owner for more than 20 years, she knows how to weather hard economic times.

“It’s not that I want to see things done differently — I think now we have a very healthy city and I want to make sure it stays that way,” said Ledford, who ran for city council six years ago. “Right now we have a zero mill rate and I think that can continue as long as we are conservative with cutting the budget… and I think it’s highly important to keep the city open for business.”

Anderson, who works in Anchorage on the tech side of a simulation lab at Providence Hospital, said he got in the race to fulfill ideals his father instilled in him.

“My message is I’m an independent candidate that can take each issue as it comes, can listen to both sides and make a strong decision in each individual case in hopes to keep city costs low, essential services up and efficient and keep taxes low,” Anderson said. “My dad was an active community member in Palmer for a long time.”

O’Barr spent most of the summer believing she’d be running unopposed, but hours before the filing deadline, Barrett, who owns a local insurance company and has been on the planning commission for more than a year, threw her hat in the ring.

“I really like Gretchen, and I’m going to be happy either way,” Barrett said. “If Gretchen remains, I’ll support her and do what I can to help her, but I do understand budgeting… I’m just going to be a new face and a new direction.”

O’Barr points to her reputation as one who builds bridges on the council and looks at things practically make her deserving of a second term.

“I’m very friendly and compassionate to everybody’s side. I have a positive mental attitude coupled with common sense and reality,” O’Barr said. “I work well on both sides of issues. I think I have a good balance between human needs, quality of life and fiscal policies.”

O’Barr said her biggest concerns for Wasilla’s future involve infrastructure.

“Our sewer and water system is becoming very ancient — it’s not a good system,” she said. “And we have traffic problems, too.”

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

Precinct 1 is at the Wasilla Senior Center, 1301 Century Circle; Precinct 2 is at Wasilla City Hall at 290 E. Herning Ave. and Precinct 3 is at the American Legion Post 35 at 4180 W. Tweed Court.