Nenana repeats the choice

The Nenana City Council met in a special meeting on Monday evening to consider complaints filed by four citizens.

The city code provides for an election challenge. Mayor Joshua Verhagen, who won re-election by 11 votes, posted about the challenges on his official Facebook page.

He wrote: “An election may be contested only if a municipal voter submits a written affidavit specifically setting forth the reasons for the contest.”

Under the law, an affidavit may be filed with the town clerk. The City Council then reviews the affidavit and hears testimony. The council may order a further investigation, order a recount of the ballot papers, call a new election or runoff election or declare the election campaign to be unfounded.

Verhagen reported that four affidavits were filed, from Rhonda Coghill, Megan Baker, Ricky Turner and Kari Irish. Turner ran for city council but lost that election.

According to Verhagen’s post, the city council met to deliberate and unanimously decided to hold a new election.

The election on October 1st^st was intended for mayor, two seats on the city council and two seats on the school board. Then-City Manager Nicole Shreve said voter turnout was high — more than 50%. Of the 345 voters, 197 people voted.

Verhagen wrote that he did not believe the decision to call for a new election was made lightly. He said: “It was acknowledged that several errors were made which could raise doubts about the integrity of the election.”

He wrote that council members have stated several times that they do not believe anyone involved in any part of the election process committed malicious intent or intentional misconduct.

The city manager, city clerk and mayor could not be reached for comment or did not return calls to KUAC Monday evening. However, this is a developing story, as Mayor Verhagen announced that the city is consulting with local government specialists this week and seeking legal advice before making any statements or taking next steps.

He thanked election judges, the city clerk and city manager and others for their hard work, which is easy to audit. And thanked the City Council and community members for their willingness to work to improve and refine the process.

Under city code, the City Council could call a special election with 20 days’ notice to the public.

The council will meet again on Monday 21st to discuss the details of the new election.