Ketchikan Borough Election
|
||||
 |
I"m running for Ketchikan Gateway Borough to get a new younger perspective in government and to connect with citizens through community engagement. Being born and raised in Ketchikan has shown me that through investing and serving time in my community, both important aspects of being an active representative for the people, can help make positive change in my community. I’ve dedicated myself to this community by volunteering for nonprofit organizations, participating with various committees, and attending fun local events. If elected, I will carry with me these important attributes and represent the citizens of Ketchikan.
Education:
- Ketchikan High School 2013 Graduate
- Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from the University of Alaska Anchorage
Employment:
- Youth Coordinator at Ketchikan Youth Court
- Customer Service Representative with the Inn at Creek Street
Community Engagement:
- Strengthening nonprofit collaboration committee
- Ketchikan Youth Court
- Ketchikan Community Concert Band
Age: 24
Throughout my years as a borough resident, I have seen our island based community exponentially grow into a flourishing travel destination for tourists and a stable home base for long-term residents. The unique environment our town provides such as of a sense of community, creates local residents who are committed and engaged in the betterment of our neighborhoods, schools, and citizens. This tight nit social fabric has had a significant impact on my life up bring by investing my personal time in community service. Since pursing higher education and re-planting my roots back in Ketchikan, I’ve noticed a few areas in which our community needs to focus and build upon in order to create a stable community based environment. Economic and social cohesion are the building blocks of a society in which our local government needs to invest in to attract entrepreneurship and provide a safe environment for local residents to prosper. Economic development is the backbone of any community, which fosters long-term employment and a healthy local business environment. I believe it’s the duty of our local Borough to facilitate private-public partnerships that establish new jobs for residents and attract locally based business opportunities. By investing in tourism, fishing, healthcare, shipyard expansion, and nonprofit organizations it will spur long-term economic growth for local residents.
Our local borough is charged with leveeing property taxes to support local schools, which creates a healthy educational environment for parents, teachers, and students alike. Public education is paramount to our students by equipping them with skills for higher education, civic knowledge, and employment abilities. By investing in educational programs such as trade skills, higher learning classes, and native languages, it will allow our students to have marketable employment proficiencies. Furthermore, with economic and educational development comes the need for quality of life improvements to the community. We should acknowledge that Ketchikan has a housing deficit due to limited land usage. This creates an affordability issue for elderly placement, seasonal workers, and residents looking to purchase homes. Assessing housing prices and population density will help shed light on what our local government can do to meet the needs of affordable housing.
The decisions that are made on the local level have always directly affected the citizens that reside in that community more so than other levels of government. By participating in local elections, campaigns, and politics, citizens have a greater say and voice in the decisions that surround them. I have always been fascinated by the idea of representative government and selfless civic service to ones community. Electing a good representative that focuses on future issues, takes assessment of their constituents concerns and ideas, makes a transparent and responsive government to the people. For these reasons, I humbly seek to run for Ketchikan Borough Assembly in order to participate in governmental decisions and be a voice for Ketchikan Gateway Borough residents. If elected, the issues outlined here will be the focal point of my campaign and the basis in which I affect change in our community.
Paid for by: Austin Otos – Candidate for the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly – 440 Forest Park Drive – Ketchikan, AK, 99901
* SitNews does not charge any local candidate for publication of candidate's statements. This service is provided to all local candidates as a public service to the community. The free service is available to all candidates and it is up to each candidate if they chose to participate. No money has been paid by the candidate for the publication of their candidate's statement.
Questions for the Candidates: Click Here to Participate in the SitNews Online Forum.
This is the 16th year, Sitnews has provided FREE web exposure to all local Ketchikan candidates to provide information for consideration by their constituents.
|
SitNews ©2018
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska
Articles & photographs that appear in SitNews may be protected by copyright and may not be reprinted without written permission from and payment of any required fees to the proper sources.
E-mail your news & photos to editor@sitnews.us
Photographers choosing to submit photographs for publication to SitNews are in doing so granting their permission for publication and for archiving. SitNews does not sell photographs. All requests for purchasing a photograph will be emailed to the photographer.