Sterling and Funny River have a new representative on the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly. Leslie Morton was appointed to the body Tuesday. She replaces Soldotna Republican Rep. Bill Elam, who was elected to the Alaska Legislature last year.
In an interview ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, Morton told assembly members she thinks her experience would make her a good appointee.
“I really enjoy digging into budgets and long-term planning,” she said. “And then, I believe that to – for a community to thrive, you need active and engaged people. And I believe that I’ve been trying to be an active and engaged person since I moved to this community 22 years ago.”
According to her resume, Morton formerly served on the executive boards of the Tsalteshi Trails Association, the Kenai Art Center and the Kenai Watershed Forum. She’s also been a substitute teacher for the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District and a natural resource manager for the U.S. Department of Defense.
The assembly picked Morton out of a pool of eight applicants. She received majority support – five votes – after only one round of voting. Multiple assembly members said they were impressed with Morton’s resume as they welcomed her to the assembly. And they thanked the other candidates for applying. Here’s Kalifornsky representative James Baisden.
“Ms. Morton, congratulations for joining the team,” he said. “Sometimes you get what you ask and now the work starts. I want to thank everybody who put their name in for the Sterling seat. All of you are qualified. Do it again if you get a chance.”
Morton closed out her first assembly meeting with a word of gratitude.
“I just want to thank you all for the opportunity you’ve given me here,” she said. “I’m really excited and I know it’s going to be a lot of work, but I’m ready for it, I think.”
Morton will serve until the borough’s next election in October, when she’ll have the opportunity to run for the seat. Whoever is elected in that race will serve the balance of Elam’s term, which expires next year.
