Assembly election: Hall, Sigler challenge incumbent Claman

April 02, 2010

Matt Claman is the incumbent member of the West Anchorage seat. (File/KTUU-DT)

by Jason Lamb
Thursday, April 1, 2010

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Three candidates are facing off for the Assembly seat to represent West Anchorage.

The district is bordered to the east by Arctic Boulevard and the south by 100th Avenue.

Incumbent Matt Claman is being challenged by Ernie Hall and Bill Sigler.

"It really takes a good year to really start understanding all the details of both the Assembly's role as a check and balance on the mayor, and also the budget process," Claman said.

One of his challengers, though, thinks Assembly members are too often taking sides.

"I think everybody really has the concern about us getting past partisanship and just working together as individuals to deal with the issues that we've got coming at us," Hall said.

Sigler says he's running at the request of friends who were unsatisfied with their alternatives.

"Three or four of my friends suggested there really wasn't really much of a choice with the current layout on the ballot, so they asked me to run. I didn't want to, one of my friends went and got the paperwork and it was there and I was like, well I can do that it's not a big deal," he said.

Sigler says the city needs to seriously reign in spending.

"I think the city spends money like a drunken sailor. Will Rogers or Mark Twain said something like giving money to the legislature -- the Assembly -- is like giving car keys and whiskey to a teenager. Something bad's going to happen," he said.

Claman says public safety is something the city should be more concerned with.

"What happens to the overtime budget in police and fire if you don't have training academies? That creates overtime pressure and creates delivery of service pressure if you're not regularly having those training academies," he said.

Hall says the Assembly can benefit from his experience as Fur Rendezvous director.

"We were able to turn that around and turn it into a profitable event that stimulates the economy, provides great entertainment for the community, (an) incredible opportunity for tourists coming in from Outside," he said.

The three candidates gave the current Assembly letter grades.

"Oh, C or D. I think they're just squandering," Sigler said. "You know, there's another $2 trillion in debt nationally that's going to come due that they're going to have to invent money for. People in Anchorage don't realize how scary we are economically right now."

"I generally give them A's. I think that there's times in which all of us would agree we should have looked into things a little more in depth, and on certain issues we would give us less than an A, but I consistently find when I get to the meetings that people on the Assembly care about this community," Claman said.

"Probably a B," said Hall.

"I think they recognize that everyone's investments are down, people are losing jobs, the cost of energy is going up. And I think they responded, bringing the budget in $10 million under the budget cap," he said.

The Assembly elections are next Tuesday.

Contact Jason Lamb at jlamb@ktuu.com

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