Paul Honeman, a former police lieutenant, and Adam Trombley, a corporate account manager whose mantra is "limited government," are fighting for an East Anchorage Assembly seat in Tuesday's city election.

Trombley works for Champion Technologies, an oil-industry related company. He said the fact that he hasn't spent 25 to 30 years working for the city is a strength.

"I think people who have, have the same concept" of taxing and spending, he said. He wants to pare local government and taxes to focus on what he considers essential city services: police, fire and infrastructure like roads.

"When it comes to non-essential services, I'd like to open some of those departments up to competition," he said. Parks, for example.

Honeman sees his years of public service as an Anchorage police officer as an asset and says he doesn't think his opponent has "the service mentality."

"Business is in business to make a profit. You don't want government to make money," he said, adding that if you contract out government services in the end you often pay as much or more.

Honeman said he doesn't believe city government should spend every dollar it can get -- for example, he thinks spending money to turn part of E Street downtown into a brick-like street was poorly thought-out. But he does want more police funding "to get us back to the levels we were when we were making progress in many crime categories."

Thomas Purcell is a third candidate for the three-year seat representing East Anchorage on the Assembly, which writes city laws and approves budgets and property-tax levies.

ENDORSEMENTS

Sheila Selkregg, the incumbent, decided not to run for re-election.

Selkregg endorsed Honeman, whom she got to know when they both ran for mayor last year. "The biggest thing is I think he's very trustworthy. He can be relied on to do the right thing," she said. She characterized Trombley's views as "extreme."

But Trombley is among candidates in three competitive races across Anchorage who have won the backing of Mayor Dan Sullivan.

Speaking as a private citizen, Sullivan recently said Trombley represents a new generation that he'd like to see participating on the Assembly. And Trombley understands the need to rebuild the long-term financial health of the city, Sullivan said.

"What I'm looking for is people who have a sense of fiscal accountability," Sullivan said.

Having campaigned for mayor alongside Honeman, "I just don't think he's the better candidate in that race," said Sullivan.

HONEMAN: POLICE NEED MORE MONEY

Honeman, 49, started with the police department as a community service officer in 1986 and later moved up through the ranks from senior patrol officer to lieutenant. During his last three years, ending in 2008, he was the main spokesman for the department.

Also on his resume: As an assistant hockey coach at East High, he helped coach Alaska hockey great Scotty Gomez, and they still call and visit.

He is registered to vote as "other," and describes himself as non-partisan.

Honeman said his main concern for the Assembly race is with finances and the economy. The Sullivan administration, faced with deficits last year, did some necessary cost-cutting, he said. But now, he said, there's $10 million set aside in reserves. "If we're in surplus budgeting, why are we making all these drastic cuts?"

"Sullivan said he would go to public safety last, but that's not what he's doing," said Honeman.

City police won't be able to sustain efforts against gang violence and major drug dealing unless they can keep up officer staffing levels, said Honeman.

On another issue, Honeman said he likes the idea of a sales tax during tourist season to diversify Anchorage's tax base, which relies mostly on property taxes.

TROMBLEY: CONTROL CITY SPENDING

Trombley, 30, co-owned a business with his brother for four years, Premier Garage of Alaska, in which they remodeled garages into classier spaces with epoxy-coated floors and good cabinets.

But at 6 feet-9 inches tall, he decided it wasn't a good idea to continue crawling around floors. Now he is an account manager for a company.

A 1998 East High graduate, he was a star basketball player in high school and college. He was nominated to McDonald's nationwide All-American High School Basketball Team, his Web site says.

He is Republican.

Trombley campaigned last year on behalf of Proposition 9, a voter initiative with the goal of lowering property taxes. The proposition passed.

At a recent candidate forum, he said he thinks it's good policy for the city to spend less than the tax cap allows. He sees contracting out "non-essential services" such as parks maintenance as a way to introduce competition into city government, which he believes will lower government costs.

Another campaign issue: