There will be six candidates on the ballot for the 2017 Homer Electric Association board of directors’ election. According to a release last week from HEA, association members will have the opportunity to cast their ballots later this spring.
Board members represent their home districts served by HEA and are voted in by members of those districts.
The candidates for District 3, which covers Kasilof south to the Kachemak Bay area, are Jim Levine and Doug Stark, both of Homer.
Levine was previously an HEA board member from 2009-2014 and was reappointed to fill a board vacancy at the end of last year. While on the board he served as deputy secretary and also as chairman of the renewable energy committee. He currently works as a project manager with Jay Brant General Contractors in Homer and has worked on projects including on the Coast Guard base in Kodiak.
Levine said his goal, if elected, is to find new and better ways to provide power to HEA members and to minimize rates. While on the board previously, he worked on ocean power generation and founded the sub-committee for renewable energy, according to his candidate profile.
Stark is a registered civil engineer who has worked as a city manager in Petersburg, Alaska, and San Marcos, Calif. He worked as a capital improvements planner under Alaska governors Wally Hickel and Keith Miller. He has previously served on the Northwest Public Power Association Board, the Chugach Electric Association Board, and the Homer City Council.
Stark said in his candidate profile that his goal, if elected, is to make it difficult for additional rate increases to happen.
In District 2, which covers Soldotna, Sterling, and Kasilof, incumbent Richard “Dick" Waisanen is running against Daniel D. Furlong, both of Soldotna.
Waisanen currently serves as the HEA board president. Before that he was the secretary and treasurer. He has worked as a teacher, school principal, and owner/operator of a bed and breakfast, according to his candidate profile.
Furlong currently serves as the board director of the Soldotna Rotary Club and is a member of the Alaska Airmen’s Association. He has worked in commercial glazing and spent ten years as the director of millwork operations for the Alaska region of Spenard Builders’ Supply.
Finally, the candidates for District 1, which covers Kenai, Nikiski, and parts of the Soldotna area, are incumbent Kelly J. Bookey, of Kenai, and Soldotna’s Kate Veh.
Bookey has been an HEA board member since 2011. He has also served on the board of the Alaska Electric and Energy Cooperative and the Boys and Girls Club of the Kenai Peninsula. Before retiring, he worked as a truck driver and commercial fisherman.
Veh has served as a member of the Homeless Connect Planning Team and the Kenai Resilience Steering Committee. She has worked as a special education teacher, orthodontic assistant, and water system manager.
According to a release from HEA, ballots will be mailed to association members on April 3. Voting members may either send their ballots back by mail or vote in person at the HEA annual meeting. The meeting is scheduled for May 4 at Soldotna High School.