Maria Gladziszewski

Why are you running?

Why are you running?

I’m running because I’m concerned about the future of Juneau and I have experience that I think will be useful as we navigate these next few years. I know that I’ve made a difference in the last few months regarding how the city responded to this, you know, once in a century event, global health crisis, economic crisis. I’d also say that the entire Assembly really stepped up to lead through this event, and I’d like to continue with those colleagues as we continue to work our way through these really challenging times. None of us imagined we’d be navigating a global pandemic, and I’m not gonna lie, it has been incredibly difficult. 

But I think, fellow Assembly members stepped up, city staff stepped up and community members really rallied to help get through this and I’m proud of how we have done. You know, I’ve always said that I worked for all of Juneau, not just for those who agree with me or who voted for me, and I’d like to continue to do that in the next few years. 

Pandemic response

Do you think the city’s response to the pandemic has been adequate?

Well, someone asked actually the other day, what grade would I give the Assembly? And I said, “An A for effort.” I think we’ve worked quickly with ever changing information — imperfect information — always with the health and well–being of Juneau in mind. But we actually won’t know until this is over how Juneau comes out in the end. And we have done everything we can to make sure that when someone writes a book in five years about communities and navigating the pandemic, that Juneau is on the “did a good job” list and not on the “did not do a good job” list. So, so far, I think we have done everything we could. We tried to listen to public health guidance and it’s ever-evolving, because the science is ever-evolving. And we also established an economic task force to help guide some of the economic responses as we have tried to navigate some of the, more the health responses. So I think we’ve done everything we can. 

2021 Cruise Season

How should the city prepare for the 2021 cruise ship season?

Well, we know the 2021 cruise ship season won’t be anything like the 2019 cruise season, which is the last we had. One thing we are working on is getting testing capacity just in case we’re still in the middle of (the) pandemic and need testing. We’re trying to get some more capacity for the hospital. But the last summer’s –– not 2020, but last summer’s numbers – caused many in the community to question whether we were finally bumping up against a capacity limit, and could we handle and did we want to accommodate those visitors? So, (we) established a visitor industry task force and they provided, you know, 10 pages of recommendations. We will obviously see a very different ‘21 season and we’ll be very happy to welcome visitors back to our community, and eventually we’ll continue to have that conversation about how we want the cruise industry to be in our community. 

Housing and Homelessness

What role should the Assembly play in addressing housing and homelessness issues in the city?

The city has worked on housing for a long time. Housing prices have been and housing stock have been difficult for years, for decades in fact. So continuing to work on the housing issue to try to reduce the cost of housing, have there be more housing so that people can have more choices and the prices can come down. And the homelessness issue is, you know, been a long time in the making and if there was a quick fix, we would have done it already. The city helped with Housing First, two phases. One phase is completely moved in. The second phase folks are moving in, in fact, right now as we speak. So that will provide another 30 or so people with a place to live. That is good. But we will still have something like 75 to 100 unsheltered people that we will still need to work on more options for them. And permanent supportive housing is the goal. Campgrounds and warming shelters are not really a long–term solution. 

Racism

Does Juneau have a problem with racism? If so, how should the Assembly address it?

Yes, Juneau has a problem with racism just as every other community in the nation does. In fact, the phrase used by advocates recently in the last month when there was a march talked about, “Juneau is not immune.” And I think that’s right. And we started with establishing a systemic racism review committee and begin to work our way through these issues. They’re difficult, they’re long–term and we have to begin addressing them.

You know, the filming of the murder of George Floyd was only the most recent example of the sorts of treatment people of color have endured for generations. The only new thing is that it’s being filmed and now I can see it. And we need to do better.