Anchorage Daily News

PALMER -- The candidates running for Mat-Su mayor are a mostly conservative bunch, although when it comes down to the details of their beliefs, they differ widely.

Take the ferry, for example. It's a ship being designed by the U.S. Office of Naval Research in hopes it will be the next new mode of transport for armed forces, but Mat-Su struck a deal with military officials to get title to the ice-breaking catamaran after the testing period.

In exchange the borough has to pay for furnishings and track its performance over several years.

Candidate Steve Menard, son of former Mat-Su Mayor Curt Menard, said at a recent candidate forum that he applauds the ferry as part of a needed tool for economic development at Point MacKenzie.

He said he sees it as a way Mat-Su can diversify its tax base without resorting to a sales tax to do so. Local funding for the Mat-Su budget comes mostly through property taxes.

"One of my father's great visions, and for people before him, was Point MacKenzie. We own everything out there. The potential is endless," Menard said.

But former Iditarod musher David Straub said Mat-Su should focus on the basics, like producing enough food to feed its residents.

"You're not going to be able to eat that ferry," he said.

Straub, Menard and four other candidates took part in a candidate forum held at Sophia's Kafe Neo on Thursday. Candidate John Leiner did not take part.

The group of seven is running to be Mat-Su mayor for three or four months. The special election will be held June 9. The seat was left vacant when Curt Menard died in March.

Candidates will have another chance to share their views at a noon forum June 3, hosted by the Greater Palmer Chamber of Commerce at the Palmer Moose Lodge.

WEAK MAYOR, STRONG MAYOR

In addition to split views on the ferry, candidates differed over how the borough should be run. Four said they believed the borough should be governed by a mayor with the power to manage day-to-day activities. Two favored the current system of a ceremonial mayor and an Assembly-appointed manager who handles business.

Among those favoring a change is former Mat-Su Assemblyman and recently resigned state attorney general Talis Colberg.

"I do think it would be appropriate for the borough to look at a strong mayor form of government," Colberg said.

Colberg said to stay employed, the borough manager must stay in the good graces of at least four Assembly members, a voting majority on the seven-member body. But Colberg said the political will of the Assembly shifts with each election, and the manager's stance on issues shifts to follow.

"I just don't think a strong mayor would be a good deal," said former boxer Emil "Butch" Fondahn, who said he prefers having a mayor with limited powers such as the ability to break ties and veto Assembly actions.

Bruce Walden, a former military man and member of the Butte Community Council board of directors, said he's a strong proponent of a strong mayor elected by voters.

"The issue is, is it constitutionally right to have somebody you didn't appoint or vote against running our lives? I say no, it's time for a strong mayorship," Walden said.

Frank Shor, a former farmhand and first-time campaigner, said he believes "management has too much power in the borough without having to go to the borough (residents) and say 'Do you agree with this?' "

Straub told the audience he wasn't running for mayor to win the seat, but to promote his plan to shift the form of government to one run by a strong mayor.

"We shouldn't be represented by someone who makes $100,000 a year," he said.

Menard said that three years ago he thought the same way. But he's since changed his mind.

"When my dad ran for office, we were motivated to change the system -- until you get into it and see how much it takes to run our borough," he said.

LAND FOR SALE?

Even less common ground was found when candidates answered a question about land-management issues, such as whether the borough should sell borough land and how land-use rules should be enacted.

Some candidates, including Walden and Straub, advocated selling land to encourage development and build the property tax base. Walden proposed opening up land across the Little Susitna River near Fish Creek for farming. Straub proposed selling land so businesses such as Matanuska Electric Association would have a spot in the Valley to build a power plant instead of in nearby Eklutna. Both proposed limited restrictions on development.

Shor said the borough placed too many restrictions on private landowners and should let residents use their property as they see fit.

He proposed careful property sales, aimed at keeping farmland farmed and allowing residents to use the land.

Fondahn didn't weigh in on borough land use rules, but said borough residents should dictate how land owned by the borough is used.

Menard's view was the strictest: Sell no borough land. Land-use policies such as whether to have zoning or not should be dictated by the market, he added.

"I can tell you as a (Alaska) Railroad board member, you never sell your land. You keep it and you get the revenue off it, because growth is not going to stop," he said.

Colberg proposed a moderate view.

The borough had hastily sold land it owned in the populated area between Wasilla and Palmer several years ago and is now buying land for schools, he said.

Before selling more land in the northern areas of the borough, he said, it should keep parcels large enough for schools or other public buildings.

Colberg also said having clearly stated land-use rules may have prevented cases where the Assembly has quickly passed restrictions on new kinds of development, as happened when a company proposed drilling for coal-bed methane gas in 2001.

"It would have been a lot clearer to be upfront with everyone about the rules in the first place," he said.

Find Daily News reporter Rindi White online at adn.com/contact/rwhite or call her at 352-6709.

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