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Incumbent mayor Bruce Botelho has considered running for a higher office but decided instead to run for re-election. He believes City Hall is where he can make the most difference.

"In many respects, local government is where the rubber meets the road and it's an exciting place to be," he said. "It can be terrifying at times and I guess one has to be careful not to get run over sometimes."

Botelho, who has served two consecutive terms as mayor and held another three-year term from 1988 to 1991, said he enjoys the intellectual challenge of working with the Assembly members toward a common vision on complex community issues.

"I love the job," he said. "I love the problem solving - the challenge of it."

Botelho has been working on numerous hot-button issues in the community during the past six years in office, some that have been resolved and others that he hopes to complete in the next three years.

"One of my long-term issues, of course, is trying to get recycling instituted in the community in a much more fundamental way, and that's really led to a broader issue of waste management," he said.

Although he would have liked to see curbside recycling instituted by now, Botelho wants to be able to deal with the garbage and recycling issues properly.

"I think we have been systematic but we have been slow," he said. "The very next step is the hiring of a waste management coordinator for the city and we are in the final stages of that."

Port development is likely an issue that the Assembly will have to deal with in the next three years, and Botelho wants to help work toward a compromise for how the city moves ahead in the future.

"That tends to generate heat when that topic comes up, particularly if that involves increasing the number of ships that come inside," he said.

Botelho also would like to see Juneau create more state and federal research opportunities, citing the Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute as a prime example of what the city can offer. He would like to continue working to assist the U.S. Forest Service in building a laboratory adjacent to the University of Alaska Southeast campus.

"There is a lot more potential here," he said. "Working that vision is important to me."

Botelho feels he has helped provide the city with leadership through a number of community issues in the past six years, including the April 16, 2008, avalanche that disrupted the power from the Snettisham hydroelectric dam, as well as helping influence the replacement of Sen. Kim Elton with Sen. Dennis Egan. He also aided the revision of the city's comprehensive plan and the completion of Thunder Mountain High School.

"There are some people that are still unhappy with that decision, but I think overall we have made the commitment and the community is moving ahead," he said.

Affordable Housing also has been an issue the Assembly has wrestled with during the years Botelho has been in office. The Assembly has set up the Affordable Housing Commission, changed codes to accommodate different housing configurations and directly supported a full-time housing coordinator through the Juneau Economic Development Council, he said. The Assembly continues to work with the housing commission on steps that the city can make to help solution, but the city has its hands somewhat tied when it comes to making a dent in the housing market, Botelho said.

"We are a policy-making body, and the reason I underscore that is we can set a general direction but we are not for micromanagement of the issues," he said.

Botelho said he wants to continue building ties as mayor to ensure the capital remains in Juneau. The city's focus has generally been on making sure the Legislature convenes in Juneau, but during the past several years, there have been a number of important jobs that have migrated to other communities, he said.

"We need to be making more concerted efforts and striking our ties with any administration and make sure that as much as possible that upper leadership in the state, especially the elected officials, live in Juneau," Botelho said.

Botelho, who served as Alaska's attorney general from 1994 to 2003, enjoys international folk dance, reading and traveling with his family in his free time. He also has been heavily involved with the Juneau World Affairs Council, serves on the board of directors for the Alaska Immigration Justice Project, and is a commissioner on the Alaska Rural Justice and Law Enforcement Commission.

• Contact reporter Eric Morrison at 523-2269 or eric.morrison@juneauempire.com.