• Age as of Oct. 3, 2023

    39

  • Family (immediate/those you live with)

    Kyle McDonnell (husband) Olivia McDonnell (daughter)

  • Occupation

    Small Business Owner

  • Previous relevant experience or community involvement

    My genuine admiration for this community, fueled by a deep rooted desire to see it succeed for the long-haul, has driven my engagement in the areas I believed I could have the most impact. These experiences include serving as a member of the Economic Stabilization Task Force during the pandemic, a co-chair of Protect Juneau’s Future, the Chamber of Commerce board of directors, where as incoming president I chaired both the housing & development and government affairs committees, the Alaska Chamber board of directors, and CBJ’s Blueprint Downtown committee. I have been honored to serve my community as a Rotarian with the Glacier Valley Rotary Club, a coach with Girls on the Run, hosting and supporting numerous food drives to support SEAFB, and delivering holiday meals with St. Vincent DePaul.

  • Highest level of education

    MBA from University of Alaska

  • Do you support ballot proposition 1?

    Yes

  • What's your favorite spot in Juneau?

    Any beach, rain or shine, with my family, our dog, and a hot cup of coffee.

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

    I think what makes me a good candidate for the Juneau Assembly is that I have a different voice to offer than what we’ve currently got sitting on the Assembly. I’m a small business owner, and I’ve been born and raised in Juneau. I’ve got a small child here and I think it’s important to mix up the perspectives and bring a little bit of a different view on board. My experience with the small business community and our economy is just a little bit of a fresh take to add to the mix.

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

    First of all, I really wish this issue hadn’t become so divisive. I feel like almost as if this is becoming a one-issue election and I think that’s really unfortunate because we don’t have the luxury of just worrying about one issue. We have a lot of issues to worry about in this community, a lot of issues that are frankly more important than this one. It’s unfortunate that we got here and I really understand how we got to this place. I think everybody’s concerns are pretty valid, especially those folks who are frustrated and feeling unheard. But just from a point of fiscal responsibility, I will be voting yes for a new city hall because we’ve got to move forward and stop renting and own our own property, and have a long-term vision for Juneau that we’re proud of. I do have a long term vision for Juneau. I’m proud of this capital city and I think we need to put our best foot forward. But we also have a fiduciary responsibility to the people to spend their money wisely, and this is the best way to do it.

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

    I think the five-ship limit that’s going to take effect in 2024 is a huge step that we should be celebrating. It’s the first move of its kind where the industry and a municipality have come together, listened to the needs of the community and actually made a change on this magnitude. I think before we step in and start limiting things from a legislative standpoint, we should see what this five-ship limit looks like in 2024. Also, we need to let our infrastructure catch up a little bit. We haven’t really enacted a lot of the recommendations from the Visitor Industry Task Force, so I’d like to see what this first step looks like. It’s going to have to be fluid. The ship sizes are changing. It’s a really dynamic market. But this five-ship limit that’s already coming into effect should have a big impact and I’d like to see what that looks like first. 

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

    This, obviously, is a huge topic that’s not a new one. I’ve learned a lot about this market just from serving on the housing and development committee with the Chamber of Commerce for the last couple years, so I’ve really spent a lot of time listening to both the development community and also the CDD – the planning and development department with the city. This is a really nuanced issue, but the really easy answer is we need more housing. We need more housing at every level. We need more housing at every single price point, and anything we can do to develop more housing to loosen up this market and make more space for folks to move around is going to be helpful. We need to incentivize builders, we need to incentivize development, we need to look at what kind of red tape we can pull back to make the permitting process easier. We are in a housing crisis and we need to treat it as such, so I think any ideas should be on the table, but the main thing is we’ve got to move quickly.

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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 think ultimately what we can do is offer all the available information to the people and, at some point, it’s going to have to be their decision. For folks that have been living there for generations, I certainly don’t think we can force anybody to leave, if that’s their decision to stay. But we do need to make sure that everybody has all the information to make their own decisions. What’s going to get tricky is moving forward, depending on what happens with those hazard maps, you have to consider financing for future home sales in those areas and what do potential home-buyers need to go through in terms of acquiring insurance and financing. It’s a really complex issue, but I think ultimately it needs to be up to the people and where everybody feels comfortable living is going to have to be up to those individuals.

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

    That one’s easy for me – it’s the economy. Our economy is dynamic. It’s changing quickly. We are not the same city we were 10, 20, 30 years ago and neither is our economy. I think if we are very mindful of that, we can help maximize the changes in our economy, but if we aren’t quick acting, we’re going to find ourselves left behind from economic opportunity. The economy to me is everything. If we have a healthy economy, that’s how we take care of the vulnerable people in this community. That’s how we fund education. That’s how we solve our child care crisis and our housing crisis. We can’t meet the needs of this community without a very strong economy, especially with state funding dwindling away as it is. So for me, the number one most important thing we need to focus on is a vibrant and sustainable economy.

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