 Ketchikan City Council Candidate 3 year term (two seats vacant) Published: Monday
I'm a 26 year resident and have managed Ketchikan Title Agency during that time. My wife Bridget and I have two sons that are now both at Kayhi. I've enjoyed coaching baseball, basketball and soccer over the years..
Experience: I served two terms on the City Council from 1994-2000. After taking a year off from politics, I was appointed by the Council to fill a 7 month remainder of a council member's term and then was elected to serve out the last one year of that term last October.
Local Issues: There are some very important issues at hand including the intertie project, port facility upgrade, Ketchikan shipyard improvements, the library and museum projects as well as keeping city services affordable. We must complete the Swan Tyee Intertie to ensure our future power needs, the port facility is in the process of design and upland Master planning as part of the Port Improvement Project which will eventually become an additional T-pier and better disburse passenger related traffic. This is a must when you consider that we could have 1.2 million cruise ship passengers visiting Ketchikan by 2015. The Ketchikan Shipyard is another priority as it is now clear that a second shiplift is a real possibility. With AIDEA having the ownership of the shipyard it appears that Alaska Ship & Drydock has the potential for enlarging their operation at the Shipyard which would mean more jobs for our community. I'm very much on favor of making that happen. After years of sharing the same Centennial Building, both the library and museum are moving ahead with plans that will give them their own spaces. The library will soon be looking at finding a new location to build a facility while the museum looks to remodel the Centennial Building to house its relics the way that they should be. After a great deal of planning, it appears that Ketchikan could finally have these two separate facilities to be proud of. As an added note, I'd also like to voice my support for the Arts Center which would also be a focal point for Ketchikan. All of these projects are years away and subject to potential funding via bond issues, etc. However, I support the efforts that are being made to make these capital projects a reality. The City of Ketchikan is doing its best to keep taxes down while providing essential services. The city mill rate has stayed at 6.4 over the past decade while the Borough mill rate is now at 7.0. It is obvious that the need for consolidation is past due and can only improve our economic future. Let's hope that this time it will occur. In the meantime I can assure city residents that we are doing the best we can to keep services affordable and property taxes as low as possible.
Comments/Statement: These are not easy times in
which to live in Ketchikan or Alaska where we have been constantly
surrounded by declining revenues. We live here for the quality
of life, which easily surpasses the rat race in the lower 48.
It is my concern that we will be able to offer jobs to our children
and grandchildren in the future that will keep them here. There
is a lot of hard work ahead to keep Ketchikan a viable place
to live and work. I don't have all the answers but I will do
all that I can to responsibly represent you on the City Council.
Please vote for me on October 7th.
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