The City and Borough of Juneau Assembly is whole again. Mayor Mary Becker announced today at the Business Roundtable Luncheon that the Assembly has chosen Jamie Bursell to fill the vacant District 2 seat left open when Assembly member Karen Crane resigned last month to run for mayor.
The Assembly chose Bursell out of a pool of seven applicants, all of whom Becker said were well qualified.
“It was a tough, tough decision,” she told the Empire this afternoon. “That’s why it took us so long. There were such good candidates, but [Bursell] is the one that the majority wanted. She came out on top for a variety of reasons.”
Among those reasons are her commitment to serving the Assembly, strengthening the city’s economy and “protecting cultural history and the environment,” Becker read from Bursell’s application.
At the roundtable luncheon, Becker called on all present to participate in Assembly decisions now that the Assembly is headed into budget season with two new members.
“Now we have two Assembly members who we have appointed without any experience on the Assembly, so your participation is more important than ever,” Becker said, referring to Bursell and Assembly member Barbara Sheinberg.
Sheinberg was appointed by the Assembly in mid-January to fill the vacant District 1 seat left open when Becker become mayor. Sheinberg’s term will end in March when Becker returns to her D1 seat after a new mayor is elected.
“It’s important that the community has a say in what we’re doing, but this is the first year of a two-year budget and with everything happening at the state, we will be impacted,” Becker said later in an interview. ”I think it’s important that community looks at what we’re doing and give us their input.”
Bursell will sit on the Assembly until the next regular municipal election in October.
