A week ago the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly said goodbye to its president, Assemblymember Kelly Cooper of Homer.
Cooper served six years over two terms, and due to term limits, is barred for seeking reelection to the assembly for a full year. She received praise and thanks from her fellow assemblymembers -- all of them men. In fact, Assemblymember Brent Hibbert pointed out the loss of Cooper’s perspective.
“I want to thank Norm, Hal and Kelly for what you all brought to this assembly, especially Kelly, the woman's perspective,” Hibbert said. “And I think that we're not going to have one. We're not going to have a lady on the assembly.”
When Lane Chesley replaces Cooper as the Homer area assembly member, that will fill the assembly with only men.
Assembly member Brent Johnson said he would miss serving with Cooper.
“I want to extend my thank you to Kelly for the great job you’ve done as president,” he said. “I've appreciated you and your sincerity and hard work and, really, getting to the bottom of issues. I really appreciate that.”
Cooper became a little emotional saying goodbye.
“I would like to, I wish I could, give thanks to every single staff person and director that I've dealt with over the years,” Cooper said. “Everyone that I served with, you were my friend. And even when we didn't agree, it was always so refreshing to see how we would come together afterward. And so when people talk about how ugly politics are, I really wish they could have seen how we all interacted.”
Cooper now turns her sights towards Juneau, as she campaigns to unseat Republican House District 31 Rep. Sarah Vance in November’s General Election.
