Homer Alaska - Business

The Homer Electric Association Board of Directors filled two vacant seats at a special meeting held Jan. 27. Both seats are in District 3, the lower Kenai Peninsula area south from Kasilof.

Mike Wiley of Clam Gulch was selected to fill the seat left vacant by former board member Mike Pate and Bill Fry of Homer was selected to fill the seat left vacant by former board member Brian Hirsch.

Pate, a 21-year board member, resigned in December, saying he no longer had enough time to dedicate to the position. Wiley will serve the balance of Pate's seat until May 2011, when an election for that seat will be held.

Hirsch resigned last June after being appointed to head the Alaska office of the federal Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which advised Hirsch that he should resign from the HEA board to avoid potential conflicts of interest. Hirsch now lives in Anchorage. Fry serves until May, when an election for his seat will be held.

The HEA board interviewed 15 people who had applied for the seats, said HEA spokesman Joe Gallagher.

Wiley is a 40-year HEA member and owns and operates a family setnet site in the Clam Gulch area. Wiley also has worked as a field engineer, laborer and educator. He served on the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly, the Kenai Peninsula School Board and is now on the board of the Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association.

A 34-year HEA member, Fry and his wife own Bear Creek Winery in Homer. He worked 20 years in the North Slope oil field and also has worked as a water well contractor.

Nominations are now open for the seat filled by Fry as well as seats in District 1, the Kenai-Nikiski area, and District 2, the Soldotna-Sterling area. Members vote only for candidates in their district. Members interested in being on the ballot must fill out a nomination packet that requires the candidate to gather at least 15 signatures from valid Homer Electric members who live in the district the candidate would represent. The nomination forms are available at HEA offices in Kenai and Homer and online at www.homerelectric.com.

The deadline to submit the nomination packet is 5 p.m. March 5. Completed nomination packets can be dropped off at either the Kenai or Homer HEA office.

Ballots will be mailed out to HEA members on April 2, and the results will be tabulated at the annual meeting on May 5 at Kenai Central High School.

Michael Armstrong can be reached at michael.armstrong.@homernews.com.