Assembly, school board candidates face off in forum as city mails ballots to voters
- Mark Sabbatini
- 21 hours ago
- 4 min read
Impacts of tax-related ballot propositions, other issues discussed during forum broadcast on KTOO and available online
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
This is a developing story. It will be updated with the discussions by each group of candidates.
All eight candidates in Juneau’s Oct. 7 municipal election made their cases in a forum Friday evening, with Assembly and school board hopefuls facing off in separate discussions lasting about 30 minutes each.
The forum hosted by the League of Women Voters was broadcast live on KTOO public media and is available online.
The forum occurred on the same day the City and Borough of Juneau mailed ballots to eligible voters. Ballot dropboxes are also now available.
The event began with the four Juneau Board of Education candidates who are seeking three open seats. The two candidates with the highest vote totals will get full three-year terms and the third-place finisher will fill the remaining two years of a member who resigned earlier this year.
The only incumbent is Steve Whitney, who was appointed to the board in May to temporarily fill the vacancy resulting from the resignation. Challengers seeking seats are Melissa Cullum, Jenny Thomas and Jeremy Johnson.
The range in their differences on some issues was seen in their responses to a question about how to attract and retain teachers, since sizable workforce shortages have been a district problem for years.
Thomas said teachers are feeling undervalued and she would like board members to be directly involved in contract negotiations. Johnson said he’s heard teachers are concerned about paying significantly more for health coverage, so that should be addressed in contract negotiations. Whitney said state law prohibits board members from those negotiations and a key remedy is overcoming the chronic shortage of funds from state lawmakers over many years. Cullum said the state funding situation is likely to get worse, not better, so examining partnerships with other entities should be considered.
A somewhat more common set of responses was given to one of the two questions asked by local high school students. Sam Lagerquist, a senior at Jueau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé, asked "Who should have what role in saying what material is available in classrooms, such as banning books?"
Whitney said parents have the right to pull kids from classes in many instances, "but it should be up to the teachers and the staff to decide what's appropriate" overall. Cullum, noting districts typically approve what’s available, said she favors allowing teachers to determine classroom materials and opposes banning items from school libraries. Johnson also said he’s against bans in general, expects teachers to communicate with librarians on suitable materials, and kids should also be allowed to not read books they’re uncomfortable with. Thomas, on a somewhat different note, said "parents do have the ultimate choice of what they want their kids to be exposed to" and alternative materials should be an option, and suggested sensitive materials could be in a special section of the library for students who have their parents’ permission.
The discussion by school board candidates was followed by a video overview of the three tax-related propositions on the ballot and then the Assembly candidates — who were asked right away about those propositions because of their potential impacts on the city’s finances.
Proposition 1 would lower the property tax cap to nine mills instead of 12, which in real-world terms would have cost the city about $1 million this year in a roughly $200 million municipal budget (excluding school and hospital operations). Proposition 2 would exempt food and utilities from the city’s 5% sales tax, at a projected revenue loss of $9 million to $11 million annually. Proposition 3 would change the sales tax to 3% between October and March, and 7.5% from April to September, which city officials estimate would roughly cover the lost revenue if Proposition 2 passes.
The only competitive Assembly race is District 2, with two-term incumbent Wade Bryson facing challenger Nathaniel "Nano" Brooks. Areawide Assembly Member Ella Adkison and District 1 Member Greg Smith are unopposed.
All three incumbents say they favor the combination of Propositions 2 and 3 passing so a greater portion of tax revenue comes from tourists, while opposing Proposition 1 because the lower cap could mean not being able to collect sufficient funds for emergency or unanticipated situations such as flood relief. The incumbents also warned significant budget cuts to popular programs may occur if Proposition 2 passes, but Proposition 3 doesn’t.
Brooks said he favors Propositions 1 and 2, while opposing Proposition, because the combined tax cut will benefit residents who are struggling with Juneau’s high living costs, and the city needs to exercise better financial discipline.
An early question to the Assembly candidates was what they will prioritize — and cut if necessary — in order to pass a balanced budget. Adkison, Smith and Brooks agreed quality-of-life items such as recreational programs would have to be targeted for cuts over needs such as emergency services. Bryson also noted "there's nothing that the city does that doesn't have a user group" when it comes to reviewing programs and services during the budget process, and how much revenue is needed to pay for those.
Brooks, as the challenger, differed from the incumbents when asked about protective measures after three straight years of record glacial lake outburst floods from Suicide Basin. He said dredging of Mendenhall Lake should be done to increase its holding capacity if a flood occurs, although federal officials have said such projects would require detailed and lengthy study since the lake is a U.S. Forest Service area.
The incumbents said they believe HESCO barriers placed along the Mendenhall River this year are proving to be a generally effective — if not perfect — solution, and they are working with federal officials on mid- and long-term solutions for the coming years.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
