Woodruff has her vote

To the editor:

Ladies and gentlemen, there is a new game in town and it is Wasilla Area Seniors Inc., familiarly called WASI.

It is no longer that old place where an atmosphere of rejection and unfriendliness would hit you in the face when you walked in the door and everything is secret or confidential. Now when you enter the building, senior members and staff are likely to have smiles on their faces and the whole place feels more relaxed and friendly. Though not perfect, the whole organization is now run in a more open and transparent way. Should a WASI member or visitor make a request of one of the staff, the request is more likely to be fulfilled with a smile and in a timely manner, rather than the former haughty “call the office and make an appointment.” And instead of WASI board meetings being held behind closed and locked doors, they (mostly) are held as open meetings, and WASI members and the public are invited to attend and (generally) given the opportunity for public comment.

Dianne Woodruff, candidate for mayor of Wasilla, was among a group of WASI members who were proactive in encouraging these changes. One of her major contributions was negotiating over several months and finally obtaining WASI financial records, then spending more weeks examining those records in order to determine if the operating grants WASI received were being effectively — and legally — utilized. All this effort was made to enable her to decide, as a member of the Wasilla City Council, whether to support or reject WASI’s application to the city for funding.

I appreciate and admire her for this effort from two perspectives. First, being so persistent about examining WASI records, as well as certain issues raised by others, seems to have encouraged the board to start looking closer at some of the daily operations for which it is responsible, resulting in major changes being implemented at WASI. For her part in this, I thank her as a member of WASI.

Secondly, she was willing to expend the time to review WASI’s financial records, which enabled her to make a responsible decision as a custodian of city revenues. For her part in this, I thank her as a resident of Wasilla.

If you are a senior, or interested in senior issues, I encourage you to vote for Dianne for Wasilla mayor on Oct. 4. She has certainly shown this senior that she not only is a most gracious person who is truly interested in furthering the business and social climate for all residents of Wasilla, including those of the older generation, but also is a shrewd and knowledgeable businesswoman quite capable of successfully guiding our city as its mayor.

Lois M. Wier, retired

80 years young

Wasilla