Stalemate; Vacant Palmer City Council seat remains unfilled

PALMER — Following a special election to fill a vacant council seat at the Palmer City Council meeting on Tuesday night, the seat remains unfilled.

Of the four applicants, three were present, and two candidates received three votes, locking the vote in a tie. The two candidates receiving votes were Richard Best and Jill Valerius. Following a lengthy selection process, neither candidate received four votes and the council ultimately moved to postpone the selection of a temporary council member until their meeting on Aug. 6.

Deputy Mayor Pete LaFrance vacated his council seat on June 26 to move his family to Switzerland, giving the remaining six council members 45 days to elect a replacement. As the council moved into the committee on the whole to discuss the issue after tending to the council’s prior business, the possibility of a gridlock vote was brought up as Mayor Edna DeVries read the code mandating that the seat be filled within 45 days.

After posting the open council seat, the meeting began with five candidates. Richard Best, Imran Chaudry, James Cooper, Larry Hill and Jill Valerius all applied for the position. Hill withdrew his name and Chaudry fell ill, leaving three qualified candidates before the council. Each of the three candidates was asked four identical questions prior to the first vote.

Cooper served as Palmer’s Mayor from 2001-2004 and moved to Alaska after after being stationed here with the Coast Guard on four separate occasions. Cooper and his wife owned the Just Sew sewing store in downtown Palmer from 1993 to 2016 and served on multiple boards. Cooper was president of the Chamber of Commerce, on the Planning and Zoning Commission, chair of the Palmer Economic Development Committee and was awarded Palmer Citizen of the Year. Cooper answered the question of the most critical issue facing the city by speaking about improving quality of living issues and urban revitalization, a movement that has already laid paint on Palmer’s crosswalks. Cooper then used his question assessing any recent council decision to criticize the council for not speaking out against Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s budget cuts formally. Despite all of his qualifications, Cooper did not receive any votes.

Best served as a member of the council less than a calendar year ago and was voted out in the November Election when LaFrance and rookie candidate Julie Berberich received more votes. Best is an experienced public servant, currently serving on the Airport Advisory Commission, and is a former member of the Planning and Zoning Commission for four years, the Board of Economic Development and 12 years on the council where he served as Deputy Mayor.

“I believe that I am the most qualified,” said Best.

Best asked multiple followup questions of DeVries, but DeVries was unable to extrapolate further, keeping the line of questioning identical for each candidate. After the initial round of four questions and the first vote, council members added questions they wanted to ask each candidate. Of the five additional questions asked, three had to do with current employment. Valerius runs her own private practice in family medicine. Best recently left his job as an engineer of over 25 years to serve as a legislative aide to Rep. Ben Carpenter (R-Kenai). Carpenter was one of the legislators that chose to meet at the special session at Wasilla Middle School that began on July 8.

“Do you feel your current employment or profession will prohibit you from attending council meetings in person on a regular basis?” asked Councilwoman Sabrena Combs.

“I do find the question odd seeing how there are two members appearing telephonically,” answered Best.

Best answered subsequent questions about his employment by noting that a sitting council member serving as a legislative aide would not be new. Sen. Jesse Kiehl (D-Juneau) served as an aide to former senator Dennis Egan while also serving as a member of the Juneau Assembly. Best also came prepared with a written opinion from Legislative Legal allowing his service to both bodies.

The two remaining candidates were then asked a final question about their opinion on term limits. Best felt that if the council were to adopt term limits, it should go to a vote of the people first, while Valerius took the other side, saying that refreshing members of the council more often could be positive.

After the two candidates had answered each of the additional questions, the remaining six council members cast their votes the same way. Mayor Edna DeVries, Steve Carrington and Linda Combs voted for Best. Sabrena Combs, Julie Berberich and David Fuller each voted for Valerius. After the vote, the council sat in silence for more than two full minutes, waiting to see if anything would change. Ultimately Linda Combs moved to postpone the decision until a special meeting of the council on Aug. 6 at 6 p.m.