Wasilla mayor: What transistion?

WASILLA -- It's a new mayor and a new budget, but Wasilla residents shouldn't expect much change in their city government.

As Dianne Keller enters her first budget process as Wasilla mayor rather than councilwoman, she's striving to maintain the approach developed by predecessor Sarah Palin. This means a continued emphasis on small, accountable government, a familiar crew of city directors and a sustained tax rate of .5 mills.

"I'm hoping people won't notice a difference," Keller said. "I think it's my obligation to the people who voted me in." She pointed out that as a councilwoman she worked with Palin to set the city's direction. "And we want to continue on that process."

Earlier this week, Keller and her administration kicked off next year's budget process by presenting their goals and initiatives to the council. During the next months, the city's departments will develop their budgets based on these goals, and the council and administration will fine-tune them.

Unlike the rather tumultuous change of administration that occurred when Palin assumed the reigns from John Stein, all has been relatively quiet since Keller's win at the polls. Keller said she did consider the possibility of changing department leaders, but found that she was satisfied with their work.

"The directors have been doing a good job," the mayor said, adding that consistency can help a city government run more efficiently.

At the same time, Keller's budget goals remain unchanged from Palin's, word for word. Top and foremost on that list -- "Keep local government small, efficient and accountable to the citizens of Wasilla."

According to Keller and her administration, this includes keeping the mill rate at .5. The prior year under Palin's leadership, the tax rate was decreased 45 percent from .9 to .5 mills.

Keller also plans to continue to push government accountability by measuring the performance of city departments and tracking the cost of services provided by those departments.

Perhaps one of the few differences residents will find under Keller's administration is her approach to the multi-use sports complex.

Under Palin, Keller points out, the facility was primarily a conceptual issue. But with construction possibly slated for this summer, Keller emphasizes that is will soon be a practical matter for the city.

How will the city operate this new endeavor in a cost-effective manner?

"Under my administration, we'll be trying to button things down more," she said.

During the next budget cycle, the city will develop a business plan for the complex with the aim of having the new facility support itself to the greatest extent possible.

The multi-use complex spawned one of the other few changes to this year's budget process, with Keller calling for the city's first recreation master plan. The plan would look not only at the multi-use complex but also trails, bike paths and parks such as Iditapark as the city analyzes what it has, what residents want and how to provide that.

"As the city grows, quality of life issues are starting to come up," said Ted Leonard, Wasilla's finance director.

Another new item residents can expect to see in this year's budget is a $15,000 lobbyist to advocate for Wasilla in Juneau.

"This is a first for Wasilla," Keller said. With Wasilla sending a representative to Washington, D.C., the mayor said she has observed the difference a lobbyist can make, and she said the need has only increased.

"It's a new day. There's a new governor and new opportunities. I just think it's so beneficial," Keller said.

But Keller seems focused on continuing the work started by the previous administration. That includes encouraging economic growth, bringing in revenue from a variety of federal and state sources, providing the basic water, sewer, road and police and assuring these costs don't outpace the revenue.