Ahead of the Oct. 5 municipal election, the Empire is also partnering with the League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan organization that does not endorse parties nor candidates. Candidate bios and answers to six questions that the league developed will appear online as well as in editions of the Empire. School board candidates Thomas Buzard and Wiljordon V. Sangster did not respond to multiple messages seeking responses to the league’s questionnaire. In cooperation with the Empire and KTOO, the League will hold a virtual candidate forum at 7 p.m. on Sept. 8. This biography and questionnaire is for City and Borough of Juneau Assembly candidate Michelle Bonnet Hale
• Name: Michelle Bonnet Hale
• Date and place of birth: Juneau, Alaska, 1961
• Length of residency in Alaska and Juneau: Aside from college Outside, I’ve lived in Alaska for my entire life
• Education: My high school was home schooling through the State of Alaska’s Centralized Correspondence Study as we lived on a remote island in southern Southeast Alaska. I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and a Master of Science in Software Development Management.
• Occupation: My 30-year professional career has been in water quality. My work has ranged from working on the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill to managing a private lab, working as an environmental coordinator at the Kensington Mine, to working for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation Divison of Water. The last position I held at DEC was Director of the Division of Water.
• Family: I am married to Jim Hale and have five stepchildren.
• Community service: Rotary although I attend rarely these days with my Assembly workload. In the past I have served on the Symphony board and played with the Juneau Symphony, Juneau Student Symphony, and Juneau’s Marching Band. My primary community service now is my Assembly work.
• Other experience: Assembly committees: Chair of Public Works and Facilities Committee, served on Lands Committee, Liaison to Hospital Board, Liaison to Coalition on Housing and Homelessness, past Liaison to Juneau Commission on Sustainability, Juneau Commission on Aging. I fished when I was young and still hold a hand troll permit.
Assembly Candidates’ Questions
• In the long term, how would you develop Juneau’s economy if elected?
With Juneau’s population projected to remain flat over the next couple of decades, I would focus on what we can expect with a stable population. We have a significant population of retired seniors in Juneau. This cohort represents an opportunity to expand the health education programs developed at UAS and career opportunities for our young people. Building assisted living housing and helping UAS enhance educational programs are both ways of developing this sector of our economy.
Continuing to support and balance the four pillars of our economy – mining, government, fishing, and tourism – is critical. Having worked in all four areas, I have a deep understanding of where the Assembly should step in to help – and where we should stand back.
• What strategies would you advocate/undertake to be sure Juneau has sufficient renewable power to meet our goal of being 80% renewable by 2040?
Juneau is well-positioned with its hydroelectricity, but must take concrete steps to get us to 80%. Through my chairmanship of the Public Works and Facilities committee, I have integrated check-ups on Assembly goals into regular meetings to monitor progress on this goal. Achieving the 80% renewable goal will take complex steps and actions, and cannot be accomplished solely by volunteer efforts though these often pave the way for broader efforts. PWFC is working with the Juneau Commission on Sustainability and the Public Works department to develop a step-wise plan. With the federal emphasis on infrastructure and renewable energy coupled with our own renewable energy strategy and this plan, CBJ will be ideally suited to turn the goal into reality.
• What more can we do to make ours a more sustainable community, in particular assuring the health and success of locally owned businesses?
As a business owner, I am attuned to business success, particularly as we emerge from the pandemic. I know to listen to our business owners, paying particular attention to removing unnecessary barriers to development and continued business success. We need to ensure that our public process guarantees an opportunity for the public to be involved in development decisions, without allowing that process to itself create roadblocks.
We can build on the Supreme Court decision to allow taxation of internet sales and encourage residents to buy locally rather than order online since there is no longer a tax advantage to buying online. Gradually, we can rebuild Juneau businesses that have lost business to online sales.
• How would you respond to pressure to continue to increase cruise ship passengers while striving for a livable community for Juneau’s residents?
The Visitor Industry Task Force looked hard at these and other questions, and the Assembly is taking up the report by that group after the delay imposed by Covid. I believe the VITF conclusions provide the best opportunity for us as an Assembly and as a community to achieve a better balance. While the conclusions do not point specifically to limiting cruise ship passengers, many if not most of them speak to better management of cruise ship tourism. I believe that the timing is right to work with industry to implement these recommendations as well as arrive at the “right” number of tourists for Juneau.
• What strategies do you recommend the CBJ undertake to support the availability of affordable housing for Juneauites of all ages?
Provide tax incentives where appropriate, like the downtown incentive to develop multi-family units that we recently passed. Continue to focus on providing senior and assisted living facilities, assisting with tax and other incentives where feasible; as seniors move into assisted living facilities, homes will become available. Juneau should take the experience of the Pederson Hill development and apply what was learned there to further development possibilities in that area: Can lot sizes be smaller, for example? We also need to remain attuned to homes being converted to bed and breakfast-style houses; while these are good for Juneau’s tourism economy, they do take homes off the market for renters or buyers.
• What issue/perspective do you have that is likely different from other candidates?
My years of managing with the State gave me a solid understanding of governing and public process. That prepared me well for my Assembly position, and now I have added three years of Assembly work to that experience. I’ve learned the Assembly process and know how to introduce and move legislation, and how to balance the needs of various citizens and user groups. I’ve chaired the Public Works and Facilities committee since I first was elected three years ago. I understand the committee process and see ways to improve it to make the overall Assembly process more successful. I’ve done this job and I love this job and I want to continue to help Juneau succeed in all ways.
