PUBLIC HEARING
SEPTEMBER 23
CITY MANAGER
TYPE GOVERNMENT
ALASKA HISTORICAL
LIBRARY
_JUNEAU _
The Frontiersman
PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
VOLUME 10. NUMBER 47
PALMER. ALASKA THURSDAY. SEPT. 19. 1957
PRICE TEN CENTS
City Manager Plan
To Be Discussed
George Shannon, Anchorage
city manager, and Mel Peterson,
former member of the Anchorage
city council, will be in Palmer
next Monday evening, Septem
ber 23, to attend the public meet
ing being held for the purpose
of discussing city manager form
of municipal government. The
Anchorage men were invited to
attend the meeting because of
their experience in this type of
government.
All Palmer voters are urged
to attend the meeting which will
be held in the high school cafe
teria starting at 8 p.m. The meet
ing is being sponsored by the Ma
tanuska Valley Chamber of Com
merce as an opportunity for all
voters to hear the pros and cons
of this type municipal govern
ment—so that questions may be
answered and the proposal of the
city manager form of govern
ment for Palmer may be thoro
ughly explained and understood
prior to the election date Octo
ber 1 when voters of the Palmer
area will be asked to vote yes or
no on the proposal.
Members of the Chamber excu
tive committee will hold a special
meeting tomorrow morning dur
ing which plans for the meeting
will be finalized. It is hoped that
all Palmer city officials will be
*9 attendance at the public meet
ing Monday night.
Chamber members have made
it clear that they are definitely
not taking sides in the issue. By
sponsoring the public meeting
they hope to get as much infor- ■
motion to the voters as possible
before the election which will be
held a week from this coming
Tuesday.
When the proposal of a city
manager form of government
was first brought up by Mayor
Charles W. Wilson at a city
council meeting he pointed out
that more and more cities are
finding this the most economical
type government and that more
and more cities are switching to
this method. In speaking to the
Chamber of Commerce members
a few weeks ago Mayor Wilson
also pointed out that the present
type of municipal government
has bgen found to be thoroughly
inadequate by many cities and
that in recent years this form has
been .discarded by city after *fcity
and virtually no new adoptions
of th.js form of municipal gov
ernment have been adopted. He
edded that the present type of
government has not proven suc
suocessful for a number of rea
sons one of which is that it does
LOCAL SPUD GROWERS
REPORT GOOD YIELDS
Potato growers in the Matan
uska Valley and Anchorage areas
are reporting yields 10 to 15 per
oent .higher than last year and
better maturity according to Al
aska Market News. Producers in
the Tanana Valley report drastic
cuts in yields due to lack of
moisture , during the growing
season. The total production in
-Alaska is expected to be short of
the demand the report shows.
Tired of the same old hair-do?
Let us restyle your hair for
the winter
VALLEY BEAUTY SHOP
X.AVONNE JOHNSON
>. Phone 2041
ATTENTION! j
; CERTAIN GARMENTS
2 for the 4
price of I
ON LIKE GARMENTS
Oash and Carry
BROWN’S CLEANERS
fe,': fcj:_ _j
not provide successfully for com
petent department heads and
lacks a unifying, responsible,
single executive head.
Voters are urged to attend the
meeting and to show no hesita
tion in asking questions regard
ing city manager form of munic
ipal government.
JAN KOSLOSKY
INJURED IN
GUN ACCIDENT
Jan Koslosky, local business
man and a member of the Pal
mer City Council, escaped seri
ous injury this week when a gun
he was firing to attract the at
tention of his hunting companion
exploded, sending parts and
pieces through the air.
Koslosky said he and Bill Ren
frew of Anchorage had been
hunting on Montague Island and
had separated to walk around a
meadow. Returning to their take
off spot Koslosky shot his rifle
to attract Renfrew’s attention.
It was then that the gun blew
up. Although Renfrew heard him'
and answered, Koslosky was un
able to hear him because the ex
plosion of his gun had temporar
ily deafened him. After apply
ing a tourniquet at his wrist he
eventually made his way back
to the lake where he and Refrew
had moored their aircraft. In the
meantime Renfrew had taken his
craft to the air in search of Kos
losky and arrived back at the
lake about the same time. The
men decided to leave Koslosky’s
ship at the lake and Renfrew
flew Koslosky to Anchorage in
his plane. He was hospitalized at
Providence hospital where he
was found to have lost the tip of
his index finger on the right
hand as well as lacerations in the
palm of the same hand. He was
discharged from the hospital last
night but will require further
treatment.^ Some damage was
done to his left ear-drum "he
said.
NO FILINGS YET
FOR SCHOOL BOARD
Although qualified residents of
the Palmer Independent School
District have another week in
which to declare their intention
of seeking the five-year term
which will be open on the Board
of Education, no one has yet
made any declaration, according
to William Zahradnicek school
superintendent.
Declaration forms are avail
able at the high school office.
It is not necessary that a candi
date for the school board posi
tion circulate a petition, all h«*
needs to do is sign the declara
tion of intention to seek election.
Persons interested in seeking
the office are reminded that de
clarations must be signed by 5
p.m. next Thursday, September
26. Anyone 21 years of age or
older who is a U. S. Citizen, has
had continuous residence in Al
aska during the past year and in
the Palmer Independent School'
District 30 days before election
(October 1), and can read and
write the English language is
eligible to seek the office on the
Board of Education.
SPORTS EQUIPMENT
RECEIVED BY C-D
A limited supply of sports
equipment, including several
pair of ski boots, has been re
ceived by the local Civil Defense
organization, according to A1
Hagen, Greater Palmer CD direc
tor. Eligible organized groups
are invited to contact Hagen re
garding acquisition of the equip
ment.
FOR FAST RESULTS TRY A
FRONTIERSMAN CLASSIFIED
REMINDER
-Any type of construction, remodeling, or
moving of buildings within the city, re*
quires a City of Palmer Building or Moving
Permit. Persons planning such actions
jfj; should contact the City Clerk.
Signed BUILDING OFFICER
City of Palmer
AREA’S FIRST
TAX SALE TO BE
HELD IN OCTOBER
Parcels of land advertised in
this and in the next four issues
of The Frontiersman have been
ordered sold by the Palmer City
Council or the Palmer School
Board after the necessary Dis
trict Court approval was receiv
ed, according to William Wake
land, tax. assessor. Each sale is
a separate action, he pointed out
and will be held on separate
dates.
Owners of the property adver
tised or anyone else may pay
these delinquent taxes up to 5
p.m. of the day before the sale,
but they must be paid in full,
Wakeland stated.
The sale will be a public auc
tion for cash to the highest bid
der. Receipts will be issued, and
later Certificates of Sale will be
given to the purchasers. The
starting price will be the total
of delinquent taxes, penalty, in
terest and costs plus delinquent
personal property taxes, plus an
auctioneer’s commission, the tax
assessor explained.
A tormer owner or otner party
proving an interest in the pro
perty, may redeem it during a
two-year interval by paying the
Certificate holder the full amount
the property sold for plus 15%,
plus all taxes the Certificate
holder paid after the sale.
The Certificate holder has full
rights to the property, including
all rents, royalties, etc., Wake
land said. After two years, if
not redeemed, a tax deed will
be issued. Neither the taxing cor
porations or the Assessor can or
will guarantee in any manner
the title to the property he said.
That is the responsibility of the
buyer he pointed out. However,
he added, where the description
is correct, a tax deed will clear
up many past clouds on the title,
and in sbme cases, is. virtually
the only way title can be cleared,
he explained.
Interested parties may inquire
at the Assessor’s office for more
information and may see where
the parcels are located on the As
lessor’s maps.
M.T.A. Launches
Subscriber Campaign
The IMatanuska Telephone As
sociation will launch a sign-up
drive on October 10 for new sub
scribers in order to achieve fuller
use of the new $696,000 automatic
dial system recently built here
with the aid of an REA loan.
“Good progress has been made
toward completion of our basic
system,” said President Eugene
Reid in announcing the cam
paign. “About 650 farm families
and other subscribers in the val
ley area already have new or
improved service over our lines
and we are now in a position to
take care of 250 more subscrib
ers. In these modern streamlined
days, rural families cannot afford
to be without good telephone ser
.vice to keep them in constant
-touch with their business asso
' elates and social and civic con
tacts,” he said.
Reid pointed out that the Ma
tanuska Telephone Association
system was set up to provide the
community with good telephone
service at the lowest possible
rates.
“Although the new system has
been in operation only about six
months many pleased subscribers
have called up to report that
their dial telphones have already
repaid them more than their orig
inal investment in equity and
saved them much more than
their service charge each month
in time, trips and worry,” the
president said.
As a part of the sign-up cam
paign, subscribers are being ask
ed to tell their unserved friends
and neighbors how much the new
dial telephone service means to
them.
INTERNAL REVENUE
OFFICER TO BE
HERE SEPTEMBER 27
Jatnes I. Moore, collection offi
cer with' the Internal Revenue*
Department will be in Palmer
throughout the day on September
27. He will be at the office of
U. S. Commissioner Dorothy B.
Saxton in the theatre building.
Persons wishing to discuss in
come tax problems with Moore
are invited to stop in at the office
during the day. I
VALLEY CHAMBER
HOSTS AKCHORAGE
GROUP AT MEETIHG
Famous agriculture products of
the Matanuska Valley were fea
tured at the Anchorage Day din
ner held by the Matanuska Val
ley Chamber of Commerce this
past Monday. Over 50 residents
of the neighboring city attend
ed the dinner which was held at
Elks hall and catered by women
of the Northland Pioneer Grange.
Speakers at the dinner were
men who have played a major
part in the development and
progress of the Matanuska Val
ley. Anchorage Mayor, Anton An
derson, told dinner guests that
it was “just like coming home,
to visit in the valley”. Mayor
Anderson was a resident of the
valley for several years during
the early days of the coloniza
tion. Keith Lesh, with Barrett
and Lesh, a firm which operates
Alaska, told his listeners of the
a number of grocery stores in
great progress shown by the
processors, and distributors of
valley produce. “We are going
to continue with this ‘progress”,
he said, “and joint meetings such
as this do much toward helping
us go forward and progress.”
George Jackson of the Alaska
Dairy, explained why the price
of milk, per quart, costs the
housewife about double th#
price she was paying in the
States. His statistics showed that
*he farmer ends up with only
about'$1.20 per hour for his
daily, year-round job. He pointed
out that the man transporting
milk to the market takes home
only about $2.25 an hour and
that milk cartons which cost 2%
cents are sold to Alaska dairys
direct from the manufacturer,
without going through a jobber
as is done in the States, and as
a result are a lesser expense.
The meeting was opened by
Stewart Durrant, local Chamber
president, and followed by an
opening prayer offered by the.
Rev. Bertran Rutan of the United
Protestant Church. Forrest Ro
han of the Anchorage Chamber
acted as master of ceremonies
and introduced Richard Km
nard, newly elected president of
the Anchorage Chamber who in
; turn introduced other members
of the board who were present at
the dinner. President Kinnard
expressed his appreciation to the
local Chamber for their hospital
ity and stated the Anchorage
Chamber will continue to work
with the valley in all endeavors
and problems. He extended an
invitation to valley Chamber
members to attend a dinner be
ing held in Anchorage this Sat
urday.
William Zahradnicek of the
Palmer City Council welcomed
the guests on' behalf of Mayor
Charles Wilson who was out of
town.
Anchorage Chamber manager,
Francis Mcllhargey, invited the
local Chamber members to at
tend Senate Interstate and For
eign Commerce Committee hear
ings to be held in Anchorage
September 30 and October 1, re
garding transportation regula
tions within Alaska and between
Alaska and the States. Senators
Andrew F. Schoeppel and Nor
ris Cotton will be in attendance
at the hearings.
HOSPITAL TABLE
FUND OVER $600
Mrs. Frank Clark, president of
the Valley Hospital Auxiliary,
announced this week that two ad
ditional money gifts have been
received by the Auxiliary toward
the purchase of a new O.B. table
for the delivery room at the hos
pital. The two donations now
bring the total to $607.15, which
might be about half way towarc
the necessary figure. Mrs. Clark
said she has not yet received def
inite figures on the acquisition
cost but is sure it will run better
than $1200.
The Homesteaders Homemaker
club of Sutton donated $100 to
the fund and the Altar Society of
St. Michael's Catholic Church
has given $10 toward the piece
of equipment.
Additional donations are being
sought from the valley-area or
ganizations, interested individu
als, and firms. The new table will
replace the antiquated one now
being used which has served it’s
“time” and is now greatly out
dated in view of its efficiency.
Persons wishing to make con
tributions are . Risked tq send
checks to 'the Hospital* Auxiliary/
care of Mrs. Clark. Contribution
should, be marked for the special
table fundt - - .
No Contest Indicated
In City Election
Unless there are some last
minute filings late this after
noon or before 5 p m. tomorrow,
it appears there will be no con
test in the October 1 city elec
tion. To date only three persons
have filed for the three offices
open in the city.
Kenneth Lynn, manager of the
Palmer Piggly-Wiggly store, last
Mayor-Council Plan
Abandoned as Cities
Seek Administrators
Almost every week some Am
erican city abandons the mayor
council plan of municipal gov
ernment and substitutes the
council-manager plan according
to Richard S. Childs of the Na
tional Municipal League.
Frequently, Childs points out,
the Change is made easily and
without much argument, at the
instance of the mayor and other
city officials simply because run
ning a modem city is too big a
job for part-time amateurs.
The League representative
states that the trouble with may
•or-council government almost
everywhere is that it is two
headed and so organized as to
encourage quarrels. The council
can pass an ordinance but the
mayor can’t vote; the mayor can
urge a project but the council
can refuse the funds; the mayor
gets complaints of poor service"
and complains in turn that the
council does not give him enough
support. Taxpayers find it con
fusing.
Able citizens are hard to in
duce to run for mayor because,
being able, they have business
or professional interests of their
own which are too valuable to
sacrifice for a few brief years
of service in city hall. A new
mayor, confronted with highly
technical modem municipal prob
lems, learns as fast as he can
and probably goes out of office
soon after he feels at home in the
job.
Able men don’t want to serve
in the council either, where their
opportunities for usefulness are
too limited to justify devoting
their valuable time to public of
fice.
How the Manager Works
The council hires a city man
ager from anywhere in the coun
I try; 75 per cent of all the 1954
I appointments were from out-of
I town. A city’s first manager is
almost always a man who has
made a success as manager of a |
small city. The manager serves
1 full-time and then some. He ac
quaints himself with all depart
ment heads, uses their technical
or professional knowledge to the
best advantage, and set up sys- I
terns that give him secure fiscal
control within the annual bud- |
get.
He develops orderly- public
works programs and prepares
the first draft of the budget for
council consideration- Presently
the council, assembling for meet
ings, finds its agenda well pre
pared and the city manager on
hand with supporting data to ex
pound the needs and present the
facts.
The council’s, job is to check
him if he goes too fast and too
far, for the council members are
in a position to know what their
fellow townsmen and old neigh
bors will stand for and what
they won’t. And the councilmen
must take responsibility in the
end for everything since they
selected the manager and are re
sponsible for whatever they let
him do.
week indicated his intentions to
seek the office of mayor when,
a petition carrying the required
number of qualified voter signa
tures was filed.
Since then petitions have been
filed for Sam Cotten, local drill
ing company owner, and Bert
Duff, of Motor-In Service Sta
tion, who will be seeking the two
three-year terms open on the city
council.,
Persons interested in seeking
any of the three offices are urg
ed to file their petitions as soon
as possible so that signatures
may be checked before the 5
p.m. deadline. Petitions must
carry signatures of at least 25
qualified voters. Persons sign
ing the nominating petitions are
reminded they may sign petitions
for only one person for each of
fice open. That is, if a person has
signed a petition for the mayor
opening, he is not eligible to sign
another petition for someone
else seeking the same position
Because there are two seats open
on the council, qualified signers
may sign two such petitions.
Petitions must be filed at the
office of the city clerk before
5 p.m. Friday (September 20).
Forms* for the nominating peti
tions may be obtained at the city
clerk’s office.
The terms of Mayor Charles
Wilson and Councilors Alfred V.
Hagen and Robert Peterson will
expire on October 7. The three
city officials declined nomina
tion for re-election.
In addition to Hagen and Pet
erson other members of the coun
cil are William T. Zahradnicek,
Jan Koslosky, Charles Logsdon,
and Ray Lancaster.
PROSPECTOR FOUND
DEAD IN WILLOW AREA
Funeral services will be held
Sunday September 22 at 1:00
p.m. at the Church of Christ in
Wasilla for Henry DeJohn, 82,
long-time valley resident who
was found dead on a trail in the
Willow area on September 18,
Officials believe the well-known
prospector died of heart failure.
He had been reported missing,
from his cabin near the Lucky
Shot mine, to U. S. Commission
er May Carter at Wasilla earlier
in the day.
Born in Italy January 9, 1875,
Mr. DeJohn was a naturalized
U. S. citizen and leaves no
known survivors.
ivir. uejonns Doay was dis
covered by Lynn Crosby and
Earl Paine who were in the
mountain area on a hunting trip.
They reported their finding to
Carl Schlichtig, territorial police
officer and Joseph Loyer, Palmer
police officer, whom they knew
to also be? hunting in the arda.
U. S. Commissioner May Carter
of Wasilla was notified and auth
orized the removal of the body
to the Palmer Funeral Chapel.
Mr. DeJohn was very active for
his age and was well known
throughout the valley area. He
first came to this section of Al
aska in 1904 and was affiliated
in the Premier coal mine and
had worked in various other coal
and gold mines in the area. It
was believed that he was hunting
at the time of his death as a ptar
migan which had been shot was
found near his body.
Funeral arrangements are be
ing handled by a number of Mr.
DeJohn's friends and interment
will take place in the Wasilla
cemetery. Pall bearers will be
Vic Cottini, Jim Cottini, Tom
Conelly, Don Conelly, Pete
Briggs, and Bill Betts, all of the
valley.
New Shipment
DAFFODIL BULBS
also new BONE CHINA CUPS
MAUD'S FLOWER SHOP
Theatre Bldg. Phone 3601
■ « I
New Shipment
Ivory — Jade — Black Diamond Jewelry
China Souvenir Cups
Costume Jewelry
Open Thursday Evening ipl 8:00 p.m.
Thrifty Variety
PHONE 3061 PALMER, ALASKA BOX 1812