Mark Flora

Candidate for Ketchikan City Council
Two Year Term (One Seat Open)

October 06, 2020 - Tuesday
Ketchikan Regular Election

Received: September 10, 2020
Published September 10, 2020

“The fair and unbiased representation of everyone in the city of Ketchikan”. This is my responsibility as a council member for the City of Ketchikan.

My name is Mark Flora and I am running for the two-year seat on the Ketchikan City Council.

I was not born here, but got here as soon as I could. I have been in Ketchikan 36 years. I am married with two adult children and two adorable granddaughters. I have owned or operated businesses in our community since 1985. The majority of that time I have been self- employed.

I completed two years of college with a specialty in automotive science.

I am running to continue my public service as a council person because our community is faced with an abundance of very challenging issues. The upcoming budget, the port, the hospital, infrastructure, homelessness, the economy and water filtration are some of the big topics the next council will need to contend with.

I believe the two most crucial issues in the city right now are the port and the hospital. I have been very active on both of these matters serving as a member on the hospital steering committee, The berth IV negotiation team, and the ports and harbors board. Other boards I have served on include the Fire Apparatus Committee, Cooperative Relations, and Grants.

On the matter of the RFP I have not yet decided as all of the facts are not yet at hand. Decisions made in the absence of facts is neither objective nor in the best interest of the community. This matter will need to resolved in the near term and I would like to be on the council to see it to the conclusion, whatever that may be. Since serving on the council I have advocated for more of our local financial burden to be carried by the tourists who visit our town. This can lessen the tax and fee burden on locals. I want to be sensitive to the needs of the tourism community and understand that any mechanism we employ cannot cause harm to our primary economic driver. I am also keenly aware of the quality of life impacts this industry has brought with it, and want to represent those who have legitimate concerns of tourism impacts. There is room at the table to represent both equally.

The hospital lease is being renegotiated and I have been an advocate for our community to be better served by the hospital the citizens own. In network ER providers, an urgent care facility, improved billing, pricing transparency and provider recruitment and retention are just some of the many areas I would like to see addressed so our community can obtain the quality care and compassion they deserve. Our local healthcare providers take very good care of us, let’s give them the tools they deserve to make that care even better.

I am asking for your help so that I may serve our community in this capacity for two more years. I am willing to put in the work and time it takes. I want to make the best decisions I can based upon the dispassionate analysis of the facts at hand, yet understand that these decisions affect my friends, neighbors and local businesses. These have been and will continue to be my guiding principles if I earn that opportunity from the citizens of Ketchikan.

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