Mat-Su Borough Election This Tuesday

Voters in the Mat-Su Borough will head to the polls Tuesday to choose two assembly members and two school board members. Also on the ballot are three area-wide ballot questions.

Both Mat-Su Borough Assembly seats up for election are outside of the Upper Valley. In District 2, Deputy Mayor Matthew Beck is running unopposed. In District 1, former Planning Commissioner Brian Endle is challenging Assembly Member Jim Sykes.

In the races for Mat-Su Borough School Board, Donna Dearman is running unopposed for the seat that includes the Upper Valley. This year is the first in which school board seats are divided into districts instead of being available to anyone in the borough.

Two of the area-wide ballot questions deal with commercial marijuana. Proposition B-1 is a proposed ban on commercial retail, cultivation, and testing facilities for cannabis in the unincorporated areas of the borough. Voters seeking to ban commercial marijuana will vote yes, and those who wish it to be legal will vote no.

Proposition B-5 is a sales tax on marijuana sold in the borough. The tax is set at five percent, but a limited exemption is proposed for areas with a sales tax. That includes Houston, the only municipality to legalize commercial cannabis, which has a two percent sales tax. Voters who want the tax will vote yes, and those who do not want the sales tax will vote no.

Proposition B-4 covers improvements to recreational facilities and trails in the Mat-Su. It is a $22 million bond package, the majority of which would go to pools in Palmer and Wasilla as well as the Brett Memorial Ice Arena. Other community facilities included in the bond are the Willow and Talkeetna ice rinks, Willow Community Park, a parking area at Fish Lake in Talkeetna, and the Trapper Creek Park and Community Center. Voters who are in favor of the bond will vote yes, and those who oppose it will vote no.

Polling places for the Mat-Su Borough election are Talkeetna Elementary, the Upper Susitna Senior and Civic Center, Trapper Creek Elementary, and the Willow Community Center. Polls are open Tuesday from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm.