2024 Juneau Municipal Election
With hundreds of more students at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé this year, issues with the lack of parking have been a hot topic. What more could the district be doing to mitigate that?
- What makes you a good candidate for the Juneau Assembly?
- 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?
- Do you think the Ship-Free Saturday ballot initiative will benefit Juneau residents? Why or why not? If so, how?
- 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?
- 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?
- What do you think are the most important issues facing Juneau right now?
- School Board
- What makes you a good candidate for the Juneau school board?
- What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the Juneau School District right now?
- Last year, the district had to solve an abrupt multimillion-dollar deficit in a matter of months. Not all residents were happy with the decisions made and it prompted a recall effort this election for two of its current members. Moving forward, what role does each school board member play in ensuring that the district remains on firm financial footing?
- The school board voted to consolidate Juneau’s high schools and middle schools this past winter. And, with the uncertainty about education funding in the state and the district’s declining enrollment, do you think more school consolidation will be necessary in the future? If so, how will you tackle that situation?
- With hundreds of more students at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé this year, issues with the lack of parking have been a hot topic. What more could the district be doing to mitigate that?
- Is student achievement where it should be in Juneau? What can the district do to improve reading and math scores as students grapple with major shifts in their school environments?
School Board
Amber Frommherz
Candidate for School Board
I think this parking challenge for the high school is very important. Any barrier for school is a barrier. And I think the Juneau School District could be working with CBJ more and possibly the state and the state’s transportation department to identify more areas for students to park, and maybe even implementing a parking system and permit system for our students. Thinking on the fly here, maybe prioritizing the senior class and then working the way down or alternating parking days for students. It’s very unfortunate for them. I feel for them, but this is a problem that everybody needs to come to the table to solve for our students.
Jenny Thomas
Candidate for School Board
That’s a great question. They knew this was going to be an issue. I mean, it was an issue when I went there in ‘96, so the parking downtown is an issue regardless. I really think that they need to look at trying to find an agreement with UAS across the street, with that overpass. I mean, maybe the Marie Drake parking, we could share that with the city. I mean, because in the winter, it’s going to get even worse, and new kids from the Valley that aren’t used to driving downtown with the snow berms where they can’t see over them. It’s going to be a hazard, and the city needs and the school district needs to realize, ‘Hey, it’s going to be an issue, it’s dangerous,’ rather than, ‘Oh, it was fine back in my day, you know, they’ll have to live with it.’ It needs to be taken seriously.
Michele Stuart Morgan
Candidate for School Board
I’ve heard a lot of this from a lot of parents already. I had three sons who went to JDHS before we had Thunder Mountain. And I think there’s a lot of parking that can be utilized across the street at the UAS [University of Alaska] building. I know that we did that before. I know that people were very unhappy how it got surprised to them on the first day of school. You know, they issued tickets. They did retract those but along with everything else that’s going, I think just really communicate to people what’s happening. And look at some of those parking spaces across the way, because the kids that were going to Thunder Mountain were used to having their own cars and driving and not having a problem. So that would be how I would do it, to just kind of look around that area and see how we can expand the parking for the students.
Will Muldoon
Candidate for School Board
So it’s definitely a hot topic item. We’ve received a substantial amount of feedback on this. I also do serve as the liaison to that school right now, and parking is generally managed by the City and Borough [of Juneau] and implemented by the police department. And I just think there was perhaps a misunderstanding or differences in view there. And I think what more we could do is – we’re extremely limited in that role. You know, we don’t dictate to the borough how to implement and follow through on their policies. I think that what the administration did is adequate, where we reached out to the borough immediately, and city leaders – I, myself, also made some phone calls – and I think that that is the appropriate measure. But as far as you know, being able to change parking, that’s it’s a tricky one with where the location is.
Jeff Redmond
Candidate for School Board
Well, as a parent, I did get an email from the district that they wanted to squash the idea of a parking garage there. I guess there was a rumor about a parking garage that, according to the email from the district, is not true. But anyway, I mean, it’s a hard one, because there was not much planning ahead. Again, they have a bus that does a park-and-ride from the Valley. Good concept. I don’t have a high school student. I have middle school students in elementary but I didn’t hear anything about alternate options for them until the second week of school. So again, it’s just planning ahead, looking a little bit into the future. What, physically, what can be done? I mean, there could be some improvement in parking, maybe sharing with the university across the highway. I mean, I don’t know, but planning ahead would be the emphasis.
Elizabeth (Ebett) Siddon
Candidate for School Board
I think it’s important to note the district has really no role in parking or issuing parking tickets, but we have been in communication with the city and with the police department in trying to find creative solutions. That also includes our partners at the University [of Alaska Southeast] for available parking spaces across the street.