COMMUNITY TO INCORPORATE, SELECTS CITY COUNCIL

From the Anchorage Daily News, Saturday April 14, 2001, "Alaska Digest."

Residents of Adak have voted overwhelmingly to become a city, according to state elections officials.

The count Friday from the April 3 election showed a 61-6 vote for incorporation as a second-class city, according to Janet Kowalski, director of the Division of Elections. The votes were mailed to Juneau for tallying by her office.

For the state to accept the city, voters also had to pass two accompanying tax measures, which they did. A 3 percent sales tax was approved 57-10, and a 2 percent fuel transfer tax was passed 54-12.

Along with the incorporation, voters picked a seven-member council from eleven candidates.

Top vote-getter was Patty A. Vessel, who received 48 votes. Also elected were Ben Misikin, with 45 votes; Agafon Krukoff Jr., 44 votes; Adrian Melovidov, 43 votes; Cynthia R. Galaktionoff, 42 votes; Richard L. Pollen, 41 votes; and Ricky D. Sloan, who received 40 votes. Other candidates got 31 votes or less.

Adak had six thousand residents before the Navy closed its base there. Now the population on the island 500 miles west of Unalaska is estimated at roughly 300.

There are 424 registered voters on Adak, Kowalski said. Many are likely no longer active voters, but federal laws make it hard for election officials to purge voting rolls.

-The Associated Press

Reprinted on orneveien.org with permission from Anchorage Daily News. Anchorage Daily News holds the copyright.