On Aug. 20, Alaska’s primary election day, two officials from Pilot Station will be in Bethel Superior Court to answer to charges of felony interference with elections in their tiny community at the edge of Alaska.
Acting Mayor Arthur Heckman Sr. and City Clerk Ruthie Borromeo are facing eight felony counts each for violations of election laws in October 2022 and 2023.
They are charged with offenses such as using force, threats, intimidation, and bribes to induce an election official to fail in his duties. They’re charged with delaying the mailing of required election materials and intentionally failing to perform their duties. They are charged with tampering with the election results.
Pilot Station, located on the Yukon River in Western Alaska, was incorporated in 1969 and is home to about 600 people. It’s a second-class city that has six city employees and is part of the Lower Yukon School District. It holds its regular elections the first Tuesday in October.
Pilot Station is a 95% Yup’ik village dependent upon a fishing and subsistence lifestyle. Former Mayor Nicky Myers died after falling through the ice on the Yukon River in on April 29, 2022, while on his snowmachine. Heckman Sr. became acting mayor and the first instance when these felonies occurred were in October of that year.
Pilot Station is represented in the Alaska Legislature by Sen. Donny Olson and Rep. Neal Foster.
