PALMER -- A physician and pilot with a wide business background has joined the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly as its newest member.
The Assembly's six members on Thursday night unanimously approved Dr. Barbara Doty to replace former Assembly member Jim Colver, who resigned to serve in the Alaska House of Representatives. Doty, a longtime local family practitioner who co-founded a Wasilla medical clinic, was sworn in after the unanimous vote.
The seat is District 6, a broad and growing area that stretches from Hatcher Pass to Wasilla and Palmer.
Doty, who has lived in the Mat-Su area since 1986, owns Wolf Lake Airport as well as a construction company. Her husband, general contractor and fellow aviator John Eshleman, died in the August 2010 crash of a cargo plane at Denali National Park and Preserve.
In her application to fill the vacancy, Doty expressed her support for expanding the borough's "largely undeveloped" health services arena: skilled nursing, assisted living, rehab, drug treatment, behavioral health and specialty care. She also suggested protecting "sustainable farming, safe outdoor recreation, and preservation of the natural beauty of our region while adding appropriate industry development that will offer high paying jobs and improve the quality of life for our citizens."
The Assembly considered three other finalists: Palmer teacher and former lieutenant governor candidate Bob Williams; hydraulic repair contractor Gregg Hanson; and retired teacher and former Mat-Su school board member Neal Lacy.
Borough Manager John Moosey, in a statement posted on the borough website with Doty's resume Friday afternoon, alluded to the many babies Doty has delivered in the Valley region: "If you are one of our younger employees, she may have even helped you come into this world."