• Why are you running for re-election?

    I’m running because there’s still more work to be done. I’m just finishing my first term, and a big part of that was taken over by COVID. I think we did some good things during that through it all, as a community and as an Assembly. But again, more work to be done. We know housing is an issue, we’re putting in a lot of focus and energy and resources to that. But there’s just other priorities I want to work on — we need to continue to make Juneau a good place to live for people of all ages, I want to help build more year-round tourism, need to focus on our solid waste issues, make Juneau more livable and cost effective for families, looking at things like taking sales tax off food. And then I think we have some climate goals that are important for us as a community.

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  • What are you most proud of from your current term?

    I think we had a good focus on helping businesses and residents during COVID and getting financial support out to them. We issued grants, credit loan program, did individual assistance, and while it was obviously super difficult, I think that did help businesses and people and families be able to make it through a really difficult year. I also think this Assembly has just had a congenial, good, hard working relationship and that we get along, we disagree, we look at what a priority is for the community, debate it and then come up with the solution. And I think that’s a welcome relief to maybe some of the political strife we see elsewhere.

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  • What do you hope to accomplish in your next term?

    Housing has been difficult and I mean, it’s complicated just due to Juneau’s geography and a number of other factors, but we need to continue to keep focus on it. We’re devoting resources to affordable housing. We have a grant program. We’re creating a tax abatement. Anyway, continued focus there clearly. I think we’ve done a good job so far of supporting child care, we might need to continue to do more. There’s some smaller things that I’d like to do — continuing to try to get more federal jobs to Juneau, including kind of increasing our Coast Guard presence here. I mentioned sales tax off food, climate change and sustainability and energy efficiency and those type of things I think are ways that can win for us as a community in terms of saving resources but also helps us be good citizens and stewards in our world.

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