- District 1 Assembly
- Troy Wuyts-Smith
- Barbara 'Wáahlaal Gíidaak Blake
- Paul Kelly
- District 2 Assembly
- Kelly Fishler
- Michelle Bonnet Hale
- Mayor
- Beth Weldon
- School Board
- Kyle Scholl*
- Thom Buzard
- Will Muldoon*
- Ibn Bailey
- Aaron Spratt
- Elizabeth Siddon
- Amber Frommherz
Age
56
Family
I have a husband Greg, and two grown sons Cody and Tyler. Cody is a marine and Tyler’s in college. I have a dog named Gunner. He’s a lab pup that’s nine months old.
Politically, how do you identify?
Nonpartisan
How do you earn a living?
My husband and I own an auto part store. I’m also retired city employee.
What are some topics you’re an expert on?
I would probably never say I’m an expert on anything. You’re always learning something, so. I know quite a bit about firefighting. I know something about fishing because that’s what I grew up with. I’ve learned quite a bit about governing with this job.
Why are you running for office?
The reason I’m running for mayor is, like a lot of people as an incumbent, there’s just jobs left to do. We were going down a great path with childcare and visitor industry task force and trying to figure out solutions for homelessness and public safety. And then COVID hit us. I want to be mayor to finish up getting us back on track from COVID and also to start getting to the projects that we had put aside.
COVID-19
Regarding COVID-19, at what point, or under what conditions do you think Juneau should fully reopen?
Looking at our mitigation strategies, which you can find our website at juneau.org, we do have a green level in which I believe it’s at 97% of the population can be vaccinated. So as soon as the vaccination can come out for the children, and they have time to get vaccinated, I think Juneau should fully reopen.
Economy
Do you think the pace of development and economic growth in Juneau is too fast, too slow or about right? Why?
I think the pace of development in Juneau and the economy, is about right for the economy, although we are still in the recovery phase. And for development, I like to see a little bit more development in regards to housing. But that will take some time and we’re working through that at the assembly level doing what we can to help with zoning and opening up other lands.
Working together
What’s your approach for dealing with colleagues you disagree with on policy matters?
Since many of our votes on the Assembly are not 9-0, we often are dealing with colleagues that disagree with us. So I try to maintain a respectful environment on the Assembly, which is one of the reasons we use formal titles. And we just need to listen to each other, and try and see if we can come up to some kind of compromise. But sometimes we can’t and we just need to be respectful and realize we’re not always going to agree. But once the body makes a decision, that is the decision of the Assembly.
Hazard mitigation
City-hired experts produced new hazard maps for avalanches and landslides — how should the city balance responsible development with the needs of community members already living there?
The assembly is just on informational phase of dealing with the maps for the avalanche and landslides. So we still have a bit to learn. It’s gonna be a tough balance because these properties are on private properties. And hopefully we’ll be able to help them come up with ideas for mitigation, challenges, but we’re probably not going to be able to do much for liability. As far as newer development, we should look twice at whether we allow any further developments in some of these severe or high zones.
Serving Juneau
Which parts of Juneau do you think are underserved by the city administration and what will you do about it?
I think one of the areas that we have recently discovered that we think is underserved is the Lemon Creek area, which is one of the reasons that we put in money for a Lemon Creek bike path. So we’ll continue to look at that area. We had promised them a park so we need to work on a park and some other projects that we could probably do there.