Mat-Su mayor vetoes decision to join redistricting lawsuit

ANCHORAGE (AP) -- Matanuska-Susitna Borough Mayor Tim Anderson has halted an effort to join a lawsuit challenging a state plan to redraw election district boundaries.

Anderson on Monday vetoed the borough assembly's decision last month to join the lawsuit. He said the vote was not properly advertised to the public.

The Assembly was scheduled to debate whether to file an amicus -- or friend of the court -- brief. That would have allowed the borough to state a position on the redistricting dispute without making it a party to the suit. Instead the Assembly voted to intervene in the suit, which gives the borough greater standing but is more expensive.

Anderson said he supports joining the lawsuit but added that the Assembly's decision could be struck down in court because of how it was made.