By Jake Dye

Special to the Homer Independent Press

Borough voters will be asked in November whether members of the local school board should be subject to term limits.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Tuesday unanimously approved a measure calling for the question to be brought during the upcoming Nov. 3 election. A similar measure was previously approved by borough voters in 2007, with around 53% of voters in favor, but a Superior Court judge found the measure illegal and invalidated it. A bill passed by the Alaska Legislature, which became law on Aug. 11, newly allows municipalities to set term limits for school board members.

Because it’s no longer illegal to set term limits for school board members, and because borough voters 20 years ago showed a proven interest in term limits for school board members, sponsor Dale Eicher of Sterling says it’s the assembly’s “duty to ask them the same question again.”

The question will appear as Proposition No. 1 on voters’ municipal ballots this year.

“In 2007, borough voters said that they did want school board term limits,” Eicher said during Tuesday’s meeting. “The law at the time prevented that from happening. The law has changed. The people should be allowed to decide if they would like it, again.”

Eicher was joined by Borough Mayor Peter Micciche and two other members of the assembly in sponsoring the enabling ordinance. If approved, school board members would be subject to the same term limits as members of the borough assembly — limits initially implemented in the same 2007 election. Under the proposal, members of the school board can serve two consecutive terms before being limited. They would be unable to run for an additional term until 180 days elapsed. 

Passage of the ordinance wasn’t a question of whether the school board should have term limits, Eicher said, but whether borough voters should be allowed to decide for themselves. Despite that, Eicher spoke at length Tuesday in support of term limits, citing reports that say incumbents have the advantage in elections and that there is more competition for elected offices in races without incumbents.

The assembly heard opposition to the move from Tyson Cox, a former assembly member from Soldotna. Cox cited election results from races for the local assembly and school board, saying that the majority of races are contested and that in the last 10 years the majority of contested races have gone to the challenger rather than the incumbent.

“This is not a record of a system where voters are powerless to change direction,” he said. “When credible alternatives have appeared, school board voters have shown they are willing to make the change without having term limits.”

Assembly welcomes new (and returning) faces

The borough assembly in the last month has added two names to its roster, following two resignations in July. 

For the assembly’s Kalifornsky seat, representing a swath between Kenai and Soldotna, Brent Hibbert was appointed last month to fill the seat vacated by Scott Griebel. Hibbert previously served in the Kalifornsky seat from 2017 until being term-limited in 2024. He also owned and operated Alaska Cab for more than 30 years. He will serve only until the next election, when someone will be elected to fill out the remainder of Griebel’s term through 2028. Two candidates have filed for the seat in the coming election; Hibbert is not among them.

The assembly on Tuesday filled its other vacancy, naming Nate Berga to the Central district seat representing Ninilchik, Clam Gulch, Happy Valley and Kasilof. Berga said he was encouraged by the district’s departing assembly member Michael Hicks to apply for the role. He’s also the only candidate filed to run for the seat in November, meaning he’ll fill the position through the end of Hicks’ term in 2028. 

Berga says he’s been coming to the Kenai Peninsula since 1999, and called it home since 2007. On his application, he listed three years of professional experience with the Alaska Salmon Alliance and says that he’s worked for the Peninsula Piranhas Swim Team since earlier this year — the Piranhas this year began to shift into a managing role for the Kenai Central High School pool. He said he hasn’t closely followed assembly business before, but that he’s aware of the challenges facing the borough and sees sitting on the assembly as “an opportunity to give back and serve.”

Berga and Hibbert both were appointed to the assembly by a vote of the sitting members.