An opportunity to "serve the public, serve the borough and to continue to set the borough on a path for prosperity" are among the reasons Tom Clark of Anchor Point put his name in the hat as a candidate for the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly, District 9, representing the southern Kenai Peninsula, excluding the city of Homer. It is a three-year term.

"I think that keeping taxes low, keeping spending limited is vital to future economic growth of the borough," said Clark.

Clark has served five years on the borough planning commission and two years on the borough's board of adjustment. In addition to that, the Anchor Point businessman said the opening left by the departure of Assembly President Milli Martin, who currently represents District 9 and is not qualified for reelection because of the borough's term limit, offered an opportunity for him to be involved at a deeper level. "It opened up for some new, young, different people to run for it and state their case, to have an opportunity to participate," he said.

What sets Clark apart from the other candidates running for District 9 is being "fiscally conservative," he said, adding, "I believe in private property rights and the rights of citizens to make their livings the way they see fit."

Keeping borough spending under control tops Clark's list of priorities. "I feel revenues are going to decline over the next few years," he said. "I think we need to continue to limit the amount of spending and not add on new divisions, new departments, additional positions and to really focus on the basic needs of the public." Among the public's basic needs, Clark lists roads, education and waste.

Asked whether or not he believes the southern peninsula is fairly represented, Clark said he believes District 9 does have fair representation, but that it is "an extremely large area for one person to represent and there are many diverse groupings within the district. That does make it unique."

Among District Nine's qualities that set it apart from other areas of the borough, he noted Seldovia, Nanwalek and Port Graham, communities "not on a road system."

"There are big Russian (Old Believer) villages that have unique needs. And there's Anchor Point. We have a very tourism-based economy, a resource-based extraction economy," he said, adding that the southern peninsula has unique qualities "that need to be strengthened and developed. Especially compared to some of the central peninsula, which is more compact, more urban, more developed as far as infrastructure."