- School Board
- Amber Frommherz
- Jenny Thomas
- Michele Stuart Morgan
- Will Muldoon
- Jeff Redmond
- Elizabeth (Ebett) Siddon
- District 2 Assembly
- Dorene Lorenz
- Emily Mesch
- Nano Brooks
- Mary Marks
- Maureen Hall
- District 1 Assembly
- Neil Steininger
- Connor Ulmer
- Mayor
- Beth Weldon
- Angela Rodell
Age on Oct. 1, 2024
64
Family (immediate/those you live with)
n/a
Occupation
Retired School Nurse
Previous government experience or community involvement
9 years serving on the Board of Directors, St. Vincent de Paul
Alaska School Nurse Association
1.75 years as State School Nurse Consultant – State of Alaska Department of HealthHighest level of education
Bachelor of Science in NursingDo you support ballot proposition 1? ($12.7M public safety bond)
Yes
Do you support ballot proposition 2? (Ship-Free Saturdays)
No
Do you support ballot proposition 3? ($10M Juneau Douglas Wastewater Treatment Plant bond)
Yes
Do you support the recall petitions for School Board President Deedie Sorensen and Vice President Emil Mackey?
No
What's your favorite restaurant in Juneau?
Zerelda’s Bistro
What makes you a good candidate for the Juneau Assembly?
As a retired school nurse and as someone who has raised a family here in Juneau — my four adult kids are here living in Alaska too, raising their families here. I’m a longtime volunteer for a major nonprofit in our community, serving the most vulnerable people. And, I feel like health care as a school nurse, I’m right at the intersection of health and education, which are two very big issues in front of the Assembly, and as well as the vulnerable population, the unhoused. I feel that I am right on the front lines of a nonprofit that is trying to address those issues in a very compassionate way. So, yeah, that’s why I decided to run.
The city is asking voters to approve adding nearly $23 million to the city’s debt for public health and safety improvements. What are your thoughts on the two ballot initiatives?
I am a vote “yes” on both our ballot initiatives – both for the water-sewer upgrades, as well as the upgrades to our EMS-type radios, and what-have-you, and phone system. I feel like it’s important to maintain the systems we have in place. My one concern – yes, I’m a vote yes – but is there money in the city budget to do this without incurring further debt? So, that is definitely something that needs to be done. But, going forward, I would want to really delve into, ‘Do we have the money to do this without incurring further debt?’
Do you think the Ship-Free Saturday ballot initiative will benefit Juneau residents? Why or why not? If so, how?
I’ve talked to many folks in our community regarding this initiative. I think in general, many of our citizens are feeling like, as one woman put it to me, that we’ve been kicked to the curb. I think being ignored on the building a new City Hall, and then now seeing cruise ship traffic rising at such a rate. However, I will be a vote no on this. I feel like this is not quite the right approach. I feel like the partnership between the cruise industry and our city, as well as concerned citizens, is working. I know myself, I live out by West Glacier Trailhead, so I see a lot of impact there and I’m very pleased with the mitigation that has been happening. And I think it would be very detrimental to the economy of our community.
Juneau has now experienced record-breaking glacial outburst flooding events two years in a row. What role should the city play in mitigating damage to residential property in the future?
I absolutely feel like the city should play a key role in coming up with the solution for this annual outburst. I do feel that a solution up at Suicide Basin is unrealistic, as the [Mendenhall] glacier is such a dynamic, constantly changing. So where the flood is occurring now might not be where it’s occurring in a couple of years time. Same regarding levees around the lake, the whole environmental process of getting it permitted would be years in the making. I do think the river, there’s city land right there, so it would be a much cleaner process to make some modifications to the river to help prevent future flooding, or be able to absorb the water that is coming down the river.
The city is moving forward with a redevelopment plan for the Telephone Hill neighborhood in the coming years. How should the Assembly balance the need for more affordable housing downtown with the costs the city may have to shoulder to get those requirements in place?
I think it’s definitely a need of more affordable housing downtown. However, with so many empty buildings, is Telephone Hill really the place that we want to try to achieve affordable housing? I think it would be a very expensive place to develop, and I think that there are probably many other properties that we could achieve having that balance with more affordable housing.
What do you think are the most important issues facing Juneau right now?
I’d say the number one issue facing Juneau right now is our workforce. I see the baby boomers leaving the workforce in mass needing ever-increasing amounts of care and services. You know, we are missing so many of our medical specialists that would enable them to remain in our community. We have wings of Wildflower Court that aren’t fully opened, as well as Riverview [Senior Living] is having trouble staffing. We have 60 vacancies at the Juneau School District. Our hospital has vacancies, our police force. So I would say, anything we can do to make our community affordable and for young families to come back here, and also the absolute necessity of preparing for the Coast Guard. So housing and workforce development would be my two biggies.