Mayor, Assembly Members sworn in

The Mayor and three new Assembly Members were sworn in tonight for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. The results of the October 6 election were also certified.

Mayor Talis Colberg returns to his seat. Mayor Colberg garnered the most votes of any mayor in the Borough’s 35-year history with 10,260 votes. The late Mayor Curtis Menard had garnered the second highest in 2006 with 7,150 votes.

Ron Arvin now represents Assembly District 3. Arvin received 1,051 votes. Listen to Assembly Member Arvin address the room on right.

Schoolboard Member Jim Colver is now Assemblyman Colver again. Colver now represents District 6. Colver garnered 940 votes.

Former Borough Planning Commissioner Vern Halter will now be the Assembly Member for the northern District 7. Halter garnered 1,203 votes.

Listen to Assembly Member Halter on right.

Assemblyman Tom Kluberton did not run. Kluberton gave an insightful farewell.

Geri Keeling, Chair of the Canvass Board, gave a report on the election. Keeling said a total of 14,095 ballots were cast, some 24.63 percent of the total registered voters, a "considerable improvement" over the June special election turnout of 8.73 percent. Keeling said 1,260 absentee ballots were processed, of those 1,234 were fully counted. Canvass Board Members counted the absentee and the questioned ballots among other election duties. Members include: Chair Keeling, Tereasa Thompson, Fran Strother, Beth Zobel, and Norma Christiansen.

Tune in to the Mayor's Minute Wednesday to hear Mayor Colberg's insights on serving as an elected official.

The results of the election are found under the Clerk's page of the Borough web site.

Large image pictured left to right: Mayor Talis Colberg, Assembly Member Ron Arvin, Assembly Member Jim Colver, and Assembly Member Vern Halter.