The ballot for this fall’s city election is set. Six candidates, two of whom are incumbents, are vying for three open seats on the Assembly.
Before the candidate filing period closed Monday evening, former Assembly candidate Norton Gregory filed for the open area-wide seat. Gregory is challenging incumbent Kate Troll.
In 2014, Gregory ran for the other area-wide seat, which Maria Gladziszewski won. Gregory finished third in that race.
Now he’s back with a familiar pitch, but it’s still just as relevant as it was two years ago.
“We need to make sure that we keep our emphasis on housing,” Gregory told the Empire Tuesday.
And he thinks he’s well positioned to help the Assembly fight the high cost of housing in Juneau. Gregory has served on the city’s Affordable Housing Commission for six years. Troll serves as the Assembly liaison to the commission.
Gregory also works as housing services manager for the Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority, an organization that has been working for decades to connect Native and non-Native people with affordable housing in Southeast Alaska.
Gregory wants to expand housing options in Juneau for people of all ages. He wants to stop what he calls “the brain drain” — a creative term describing what happens when young people leave Juneau for college and then never return because the rent is too expensive here.
He also want’s to expand assisted-living options for Juneau’s senior population. He sits on the Assisted Living for Seniors Task Force.
Gregory’s bid also breaks up an otherwise monochromatic ballot. Gregory, originally from Kake, is Tlingit. The other six candidates — and all nine sitting Assembly members — are white.
“Right now we need some diversity on the Assembly,” Gregory said.
The Assembly hasn’t had an Alaska Native member since 2014, when Randy Wanamaker left.
Gregory would bring diversity to the Assembly in another manner. He is 37, which would make him the youngest person on the Assembly, too.
The area-wide seat is open to candidates living anywhere within the city and borough of Juneau.
Troll and Gregory both live on Douglas.
[Troll looks to hold Assembly seat this fall]
The race for the vacant District 1 seat is the most hotly contested on the ballot. Incumbent Mary Becker is fighting to hold her seat for a third term, but in order to do so she’ll have to hold off two other candidates. Arnold Liebelt and William Quayle Jr. are both challenging Becker.
[Former Assembly hopeful Liebelt announces bid against Mary Becker]
Liebelt applied and interviewed to fill Becker’s Assembly seat while she acted as mayor after former mayor Greg Fisk died in late November. The Assembly picked Barbara Sheinberg instead.
[Becker to seek third Assembly term]
Quayle is somewhat of an Assembly outsider, but he is not a stranger to City Hall. His bid is born of discontent with city government, which he has made clear at several Assembly meetings. He owns a pedicab that he is unable to operate due to the high cost of city permitting, he says. He is running, at least in part, to change this.
[Third candidate announces bid for D1 Assembly seat]
The District 1 seat is open to candidates from everywhere south of the Mendenhall Valley. The entirety of Douglas Island falls in District 1.
Becker and Liebelt both live on Douglas. Quayle lives downtown.
If the District 1 race is the most competitive, then the fight for the District 2 seat is certainly the least. Former firefighter and Glacier Auto Parts owner Beth Weldon is running unopposed for the seat.
[This ‘fourth generation Douglasite’ is running for an Assembly seat]
Jamie Bursell, who currently holds the District 2 seat, told the Empire that she isn’t running this fall because she didn’t have time to fundraise and run a campaign. The Assembly appointed Bursell to her District 2 seat in February after Karen Crane resigned in order to run against Mayor Ken Koelsch in March’s special mayoral election.
The District 2 seat is open to candidates who live in the valley, Auke Bay and further out the road.
The Assembly candidates will debate on Sept. 20 in the Mendenhall Valley Public Library at 5:30 p.m.
This fall’s city election will be held on Oct. 4.
• Contact reporter Sam DeGrave at 523-2279 or sam.degrave@juneauempire.com.
