• Age as of Oct. 3, 2023

    38

  • Family (immediate/those you live with)

    Peter Flynn (husband)

  • Occupation

    Executive Transition Guide

  • Previous relevant experience or community involvement

    Juneau Assembly 2020-current; Juneau Commission on Sustainability 2015-2020; Blueprint Downtown Steering Committee 2018-2020

  • Highest level of education

    Master’s of Science, Fisheries

  • Do you support ballot proposition 1?

    Yes

  • What's your favorite spot in Juneau?

    Boys Scout Beach

  • What makes you a good candidate for the Juneau Assembly?

    I think the number one thing that’s going to make me a good candidate is that I have three years of experience serving on the Assembly. It definitely takes a long time to get up to speed on how the city works, what are the big priorities that we need to be focused on. We’ve done a lot of work on some pretty big issues, so I’ll be able to kind of start from that place of having that experience. I also think that I’m a bridge-builder, that I have experience working with people who don’t always agree, helping them find a common vision and then moving forward on solving big problems.

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  • The city is asking voters to fund a new city hall through a $27 million bond. What are your thoughts?

    I will be voting yes on the city hall bond. It just is the fiscally responsible thing to do. Our current city hall needs substantial work and it’s not meeting our needs. We are renting a lot of space right now for city employees. I think a lot of people understand that it’s cheaper to own rather than to rent, especially if you’re going to be in a building for a long time, which the city will be. We’re going to need a new city hall at some point. The sooner we build it, the more taxpayer money we’re going to save.

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  • Do you think the city should limit cruise ship tourism? Why or why not? If so, how?

    I think this summer has really shown us that we need to be doing more to proactively manage tourism in Juneau. When I hear that residents aren’t able to ride our city buses because they’re overfilled with cruise ship passengers, that makes me feel like we are over capacity. So I think we definitely need to work to slow the growth of the number of people coming into our community, as well as beefing up our infrastructure to support the people who are here. The Assembly passed a five-ship limit, which I think is a great place to start. That will definitely slow that growth. But I think we need to take more control over scheduling ships so that we have the right ship at the right dock at the right time to spread out our passengers and take control over scheduling at our own docks as well.

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  • What do you intend to do about Juneau’s housing crisis?

    We need a multi-prong approach. I think there are lots of different things the city can do to tackle housing and really to help build more housing, which is really the solution. We’ve seen some success providing financial incentives to property owners and to developers to make sure they’re building higher-density housing. I think we can be opening up more city land for housing projects. We’ve done some of that but can do some more. And then I think our codes and our zoning are really not serving us when it comes to building higher-density housing. I know people who want to put a tiny home on their property to rent out, and they can’t right now. So we need to clean up our code and our zoning to make sure that we can have a diversity of housing options.

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  • City-hired experts produced hazard maps for avalanches and landslides — how should the city balance responsible development with the needs of community members already living here?

    I’m not sure that the city can do a lot to tell people where they can and can’t live or where they should or shouldn’t build. But I do think the community needs a lot more education about the hazards. Landslides, avalanches and flooding are all going to increase in severity with climate change, and I don’t know that the public really knows enough about that risk right now. So I think we have a duty to educate people living in these hazard areas as well as future property owners about the risks that come with that choice to live or build in those areas.

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  • What do you think is the most important issue facing Juneau right now?

    It is definitely housing. I think housing needs to be the number one priority of our city. I think we have a lot of levers to pull to build more housing in Juneau. When you don’t have enough housing, you can’t grow your economy. I know a lot of people who are struggling to hire right now because the people that they’re hoping to attract to Juneau to work can’t find a place to live, and we have people living on the street, unfortunately. It affects everything that happens in our community if we don’t have enough houses for people to live in.

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