Borough Manager

John Duffy
907-745-9689

John Duffy was appointed Borough Manager by the Mayor and Assembly of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough in November, 2000. John has served the Mat-Su Borough for over 22 years, first as a planner, then as Chief of Planning, then Director of Planning, Assistant Borough Manager, and now Manager.

Background:

John served in the U.S. Army, has a B. A. degree from the University of Alaska, Anchorage, and a M.U.P.P. with a specialization in transportation planning from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

John is a certified member of both the American Institute of Certified Planners and the Society of Human Resource Managers. He is also a member of the Institute of Transportation Engineers. John also received the National Research Council, Transportation Research Board D. Grant Mickle award in recognition of a research program entitled “Management of Transit Bus Pre-Run Inspection”.

John presently serves on two federal advisory committees, both with the Environmental Protection Agency; the Local Government Advisory Committee, which addresses local government issues, and the National and Governmental Advisory committee, which addresses environmental matters associated with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The Borough Manager is responsible for implementing the Borough Assembly’s policy decisions and directives, managing and directing Borough operations, and developing an organization that results in effective and efficient service delivery to the residents and taxpayers of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.

Assistant Borough Manager

Elizabeth Gray
907-746-7405

Elizabeth Gray came to work for the Matanuska Susitna Borough in October of 2008. As Assistant Borough Manager, she serves as Acting Manager during the absence of the Borough Manager. In addition, Ms. Gray helps manage many of the different operations of the Borough, special projects as needed, she also supervises Human Resources and Animal Control.

Background:

Ms. Gray worked in local government since 1992, serving the City of Shawnee Oklahoma in various capacities. She enjoyed getting to know municipal government from the ground up with experience in utility billing, urban renewal and the manager’s office. She has previously been the Assistant to the City Manager and the Director of Operations for the City of Shawnee overseeing parks, cemetery, fleet, the solid waste contract and the local government access channel.

Elizabeth was born in Florida, but has resided in Oklahoma most of her life. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Oklahoma with a concentration in Administrative Leadership and is about to complete her Masters of Public Administration Degree also from the University of Oklahoma. Elizabeth is a Certified Municipal Official.

She is a member of the International City-County Management Association (ICMA), the American Society for Public Administration and Rotary International. In addition, Elizabeth was active with the local Chamber of Commerce, and the Oklahoma Municipal League.

Personal Interests/Family:

Elizabeth is married to her husband of 26 years, Michael. Together they have a daughter, Kara, who is a senior at the University of Central Oklahoma and two grandchildren, Orion and Genevieve. They share their home with two playful Boston Terriers, Taffy and Tux.

Away from work Elizabeth likes to read, fish, walk, explore and just enjoy life.