Wasilla hires former Palmer mayor

WASILLA — A new face at the city will be familiar to many who follow Valley politics Monday when former Palmer mayor John Combs begins his new role as Wasilla’s Recreation and Cultural Services manager.

Combs, a former Palmer City Council member and two-term mayor who left office in October 2010, replaces James Hastings, whose last day is today. Hastings had filled the post since Aug. 3, 2009.

Most notably, the city’s Recreation and Cultural Services manager runs the day-to-day operations at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center.

When contacted by the Frontiersman, Combs confirmed he begins Monday, but said he wanted to consult with Mayor Verne Rupright before making a more detailed statement. After contacting the mayor, who is in Juneau this week, an official city release about his hire will be issued next week, Combs wrote in an email.

For Hastings, the decision to leave was simple. A retired U.S. Army veteran and former manager at Mat-Su Resort, Hastings said he’s “back to being retired,” adding he’s going to focus on volunteering and working with local nonprofit groups.

“I’m going to spend all my time this summer working with Alaska’s Healing Hearts and the Wounded Warrior Project,” Hastings said.

He said he’s also proud of the progress at the Menard in making it a diverse community venue.

“The mayor asked me (when he began) if I could come on and see if we couldn’t make some changes and improvements at the sports center, and we did,” he said. “We did the important part of it, and that’s to expand the use of it and getting more people in the doors. We’re up this year. By the end of this fiscal year we’ll see 230,000 people pass through the doors of that facility.”

Now it’s time for somebody smarter to take it to the next level, he said. Hastings said he also leaves impressed with city leadership and the team of administrators and staff Wasilla has assembled. He said he’s been part of good teams before, including in the military, and “this team stacks up with any of them.”

In terms of managing the public’s money, Hastings said the city is “eating rib eye on a hot dog budget.”

Unless negotiations for the position dictate differently, Combs is set to start with an annual salary of $88,977, according to the most current city of Wasilla non-union salaried pay scale.

Contact reporter Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.