Sports arena, new mayor are milestones for 2002

WASILLA -- The city of Wasilla starts 2003 with former council member Dianne Keller now serving as mayor. Keller campaigned as a self-professed conservative and once in office she kept all the major city department heads from the administration of former mayor Sarah Palin.

Keller became mayor of the city with 402 out of 877 votes. Her nearest competitor was Faye Palin, a retired Matanuska Telephone Association executive who received 256 votes. Mat-Su Borough Assembly member Dan Kelly received 179 votes.

On election day -- Oct. 2 -- Keller said she was surprised by the number of people she met while campaigning who didn't know what day local elections took place, and by others who didn't know Wasilla had a strong mayoral form of government rather than a city manager.

"I like the strong mayor form of government, because if I do a bad job it's easy to vote me out," Keller said. "But I don't think I can do a bad job because of the people we have in there. The staff is dialed-in."

Wasilla had a voter turnout of about 24 percent for the city election. In the same election, council member Noel Lowe ran unopposed to retain his council seat and the seat vacated by Judy Patrick attracted no candidates at all.

In the weeks prior to the election, five candidates filed an intent to campaign with the state of Alaska and a write-in race was underway. On election day newcomer Rob Sande finished with 70 votes and a 17-vote lead over Pat Hjellen, a veteran of Wasilla politics. Hjellen finished with 53 votes. David Terrill finished with 24 votes, Bernadette Rupright finished with 21 and John J. Rodgers finished with 5.

Vote to build

In March, Wasilla voters went to the polls for a special election and approved a bond for $14.7 million for a sports arena and a sales-tax increase which began in July, raising the sales tax from 2 percent to 2.5 percent. The half-penny increase will expire in 10 years or when the bonds are paid off, whichever comes first. The special election drew a 14-percent voter turnout, and the arena bond package and associated tax hike passed by just 20 votes, 306 to 286.

While hardly a political mandate, the yes votes were just enough to propel the city into its most ambitious building project ever. In a press release, then-Mayor Sarah Palin wrote that the results confirmed what she knew about Valley voters.

"It was a close election, and it confirms the fact that we are fiscally conservative out here," Palin wrote. " … The close vote also motivates us to make sure this facility is built and operated in the best possible manner for our community."

Palin then hired former borough manager Don Moore to manage the construction project for the city. The city has hired Anchorage architecture firm Kumin Associates to oversee the design-build job and local construction contractor Howdie Inc. as the general contractor.

Each time Moore has come to the council for approval of the major contracts, council member Noel Lowe has expressed keen interest in the project and questioned Moore extensively. Lowe has said that he's not against the project, but feels it's the council's duty to watch it closely.

When the Howdie Inc. contract came before the council for approval, Lowe was the only member to vote against the contract award. Howdie Inc. was selected by committee.

"I would definitely like to say that I'm not second guessing the work of the committee that did that, but I am going to do that," Lowe said. "I feel [the council has] the responsibility to at least understand how the committee arrived at the solution or the outcome that they arrived at."

Lowe's questions for Moore and Kumin architect Blaze Burkhart were interrupted after about 20 minutes when freshman council member Diana Straub called the question to a vote.

Straub -- who was appointed in October to Mayor Keller's former council seat -- said later that one reason she called the question was because she didn't think the public appreciates long meetings.

"I've been the member of the public whose had to wait until 11 o'clock in order to be heard," Straub said. "I guess I just have a thing with that."