WASILLA, Alaska — Though Sarah Palin depicts herself as fighting good-old-boy politics, in her years as mayor she and her friends received benefits more typical of small-town politics as usual, an Associated Press investigation shows.

When Palin needed to sell her house during her last year as Wasilla mayor, she got the city to sign off on a special zoning exception — and did so without keeping a promise to remove a potential fire hazard.

She accepted gifts from merchants: A free “awesome facial” she raved about in a thank-you note to a spa, and fresh salmon to take home.

That year, records show, she tried to help a neighbor and political contributor fighting City Hall over his small lakeside development. Palin wanted the city to refund some of the man’s fees, but the city attorney told the mayor she didn’t have the authority.