November 30, 2013
Saturday PM

A day has passed since our national observance of Thanksgiving.   I write this letter with heartfelt gratitude for the fact that my 55 years on this earth have been spent as a citizen of the United States and that the last 45 have been spent as a resident of Ketchikan and southern Southeast Alaska.   I, like the majority in this country, have been blessed by abundant freedom and opportunity.   Much of that opportunity originates from our founding fathers, who believed in the simple, but revolutionary concept of "government by the people for the people.”  I still believe in that concept today. Ketchikan has been a wonderful place for me to grow up and a wonderful place for my wife Lori and I to raise our children.  There is a very real sense of community in Ketchikan that is becoming more rare in our country as time progresses.  Anyone who has experienced dealing with a family member’s major illness in Ketchikan can attest to the outpouring of love and support from people of all religious, social, economic and political backgrounds.

I believe that getting elected to political office is still an undertaking that can be achieved by ordinary citizens with the gumption and initiative to work hard while enlisting the help of friends and supporters.  Hence, I have decided to file as a non-partisan independent for election to the Alaska State House of Representatives.    If I'm fortunate enough to be given this opportunity by the residents of southern Southeast Alaska, I publicly pledge to listen first and represent the viewpoints of those residents.   My "party" will be the good people of Hydaburg, Metlakatla, Saxman, Wrangell, and Ketchikan.   Government by the people, for the people, is still a simple, but revolutionary concept.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Dan Ortiz
Ketchikan, Alaska

Received November 30, 2013 - Published November 30, 2013

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