By Steve Hirano

WASILLA, Alaska -- Much has been reported about GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palins experience as governor of Alaska and former mayor of Wasilla, but does that experience illustrate any significant support of public transportation?

Karen Walton, who served as executive director of Wasillas community transportation agency, called Mat-Su Transit (or MASCOT), said Palin was a conservative and fiscally restrained mayor who was not inclined to invest heavily in social services.

"She was not against us, but she wasn't for us," Walton said.

Walton explained that MASCOT was founded in 1999, during Palins term as mayor, as a private, nonprofit agency, not a city department. "She wasn't against the start-up of it, but she wasn't throwing money at it either," said Walton.

In fact, the city of Wasilla has not contributed any funding for MASCOTs operations, although it did donate five acres of land for the construction of a transit facility and acted as project manager.

The facility -- an 8,500-square-foot office building, dispatch center, training room and bus garage -- opened in 2006.

Walton, who left MASCOT last year to manage the University of Texas, El Paso, transit system for First Transit, spent almost six years at the Wasilla agency, from 2001 to 2007, and was generally impressed by Palin, who was mayor from 1996 to 2002.

"Shes a very competent, very smart lady," said Walton, adding that Palins modest interest in transit reflects Alaskas overall perspective.

"Alaska isn't a big transit state. Its mostly rural, and transit is just not a big priority. I don't think Sarah's mind was wrapped around transit," she said.

Walton said she was surprised to hear reports in the national media that Palin was responsible for obtaining a federal earmark to help fund the construction of MASCOTs transit facility.

The transit facility was constructed with the assistance of a federal earmark obtained by Walton and the MASCOT board, although the media has attributed the earmark to Sarah Palin.

"She never had anything to do with that earmark," Walton said. "My board of directors and I went after the earmark, wrote the grant and found the match."

Walton said the building was constructed with an FTA Section 5309 grant, a Rasmuson Foundation grant and a loan from the Community Transportation Association of America. She said the city of Wasilla acted as the pass-through organization for the 5309 funds.

"As time went on, and MASCOT became a viable agency with ever increasing ridership, the city of Wasilla became more and more our friend," Walton said.

Steve Hirano is president of TransitTalent.com, an information resource and job bank for the public transportation industry.