Dianne Keller
Mayor Dianne M. KellerMayor Dianne M. Keller was twice elected to the Wasilla City Council, Seat B. She was previously appointed to serve a one-year term from 1996-1997, and was elected to serve a full term from 1997-2000. Her Council term ended in October 2002 when she ran for and became the Mayor of Wasilla. Dianne was re-elected as Mayor in 2005 and will serve until 2008. She has been a member of the AML Legislative Committee from 1996 to 2004, and the Alaska Conference of Mayors from 2002 to present.
In addition, she is a member of the Alaska Resource Development Council, Mat-Su Resouce Development Council, Alaska State Chamber of Commerce, Alaska Miners Association, Alaska Moose Federation, and the Mat-Su Youth Court.
Dianne also volunteered on the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) from 1998 until December 2005. Most recently, Dianne was appointed by Governor Frank Murkowski to serve the state residents on the State Emergency Response Commission (SERC). Dianne is also an active supporter of the Boy Scouts of America and the Blood Bank of Alaska.
Dianne was born and raised in Anchorage and has lived in the Matanuska-Susitna valley since 1983. Dianne and her husband Dave have lived in the city since 1992 and their son Seth was born in Wasilla in 1994.
Investigation into Mayor Kellor and Meritage Dev.
Wasilla City Council selected Denali Law Group to head an investigation into the actions and communications between Meritage Development Group and city administration. The law group has began the interviewing process of its probe.“So far I haven’t met with any opposition and the interviews have been very fruitful,” said Richard Payne, an attorney with Denali Law Group. After the council selected the local law partners for the investigation, the city provided many binders full of information, he said. With all of the paperwork perused, the investigation is moving forward and staying on track.Payne expects to report his findings by the council’s June 23 deadline. The only thing that could jeopardize meeting that deadline is if interview subjects present opposition. Although it’s possible, opposition is unlikely considering the cooperation so far, he said.
Councilman Steve Menard was the original sponsor of the probe. He said the need to look into communications and actions of city administration and developer became apparent after certain city documents were uncovered. One of those documents has become known as the “Aug. 24 Letter.”
The letter was sent to the owners of the Windbreak Café and Six Robblees after the two local businesses declined to sell their property to Meritage to help make way for its planned Creekside retail development near the Parks Highway. The letter, signed by Mayor Dianne M. Keller, uses what the businesses and some on the city council consider threatening language to communicate that the city could take parts of the land to create access for the Meritage project.
With that letter and other questions about the city’s relationship with Meritage, Menard said an independent review and report is the best way to proceed.
“I felt there was enough there that didn’t pass the initial smell test and I wanted to bring it to the council,” Menard said.
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LAWSUIT: Deborah Luper says Mayor Dianne Keller cost her a public relations job.
A former political campaign manager and public relations professional, Luper today is a correctional officer. It’s a return backed by 20 years in law enforcement, albeit to a lower paying career.She filed a civil lawsuit May 11 in Palmer Superior Court alleging Keller badgered Luper’s former employer, Matanuska Electric Association, until Luper lost her job in public relations.She said publicity from her fight with the city over the 18 Shetland sheep dogs she keeps at her south Wasilla home made her damaged goods in the field of public relations.
“You have to have a stellar name and no blemishes,” Luper said. “Just the … negative publicity alone was enough to put me in the can. The governor’s race went on without me, as did a number of important races that normally I would have been involved in.”
In 2002, Luper managed Loren Leman’s successful electoral campaign for lieutenant governor. She afterward went to work at MEA, where she managed company relations with its 120 largest customer accounts for more than three years.
Before 2002, she was business director for Eklutna Inc., an Alaska Native Corp., and she also ran a campaign for state Sen. Fred Dyson, a Republican from Eagle River.
After her departure from MEA, she spent 11 months unemployed, liquidated her retirement account, got behind on house payments and watched her credit rating evaporate.
A city lawsuit against her threatens fines of $1,000 per day for violating the three-dog limit. Luper said more than $750,000 in fines hang over her head. No lenders will extend her credit, she said.
Wasilla attorney Tom Klinkner said the fines are hypothetical; the city has never asked the court to collect.
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