In his 45 years in Juneau, Jeff Short has never run for public office. Now that he is, he’s doing his legwork.
Short, who intends to run for a seat on the Juneau Board of Education in the Oct. 3 election, has been asking Juneau-Douglas High School teachers what they would change if they were in charge of the school district.
“That’s a good way to get your ear talked off,” Short said before laughing heartily.
Mostly, teachers have been telling him they would try to give more latitude to the teachers so they can cater to the different learning styles of their students, Short said. In running for Board of Education this fall, Short hopes to bring these concerns to the forefront.
He wasn’t planning on running until he heard that current board member Sean O’Brien isn’t running for reelection this year. O’Brien was on the board from 2006-2009 and has been on the board again since 2011.
O’Brien confirmed to the Empire on Tuesday that he isn’t planning on running for re-election, for multiple reasons. Not only does he think it’s good to rotate members and get new ideas on the table, but he’s also looking to spend more time outside of Juneau in the coming years.
“I’ve been on the board for nine years and my wife and I are kind of getting to the point where we’re starting to do more traveling next year,” O’Brien said. “I think it’s really important for the board members to be present physically at those meetings.”
In addition to O’Brien’s open seat, Board of Education President Brian Holst is also up for re-election. Holst has filed his letter of intent with the Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC) and intends to run.
Voters will also vote on a District 1 Assembly seat, a District 2 Assembly seat and an areawide Assembly seat, in addition to whether to extend the 1 percent sales tax increase. Voters must register 30 days before the election, at an address within the City and Borough of Juneau. Voters can register at the State Division of Elections’ Office, the Municipal Building downtown or any BCJ library. Registration applications are also online at www.elections.alaska.gov, and more information is at the CBJ website.
Short said he wasn’t looking to unseat anybody, but with O’Brien’s seat opening up, he felt he could fit well on the board.
“That’s a big part of what prompted me to run for it,” Short said. “I’ve been pretty happy with what the school board’s been doing over the last few years. They are really, I think, dedicated to finding ways to improve the system, the district. When Sean made it clear that he wasn’t going to run, that left an open seat. I didn’t want to bump somebody off of there who was doing a great job, but now it’s an open seat. I ran out of excuses (not to run).”
Short formerly was a research chemist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Juneau, and also taught for a short time at the University of Alaska in the 1980s. He’s currently retired.
It wasn’t until recently that Short became heavily interested in the inner-workings of the school district.
His two children both have come through JDHS, and when his son Kyle Short joined Academic Decathlon a few years ago, both Short and his wife Wendy Whelan decided to help coach the team. Even since Kyle graduated and went off to Southern Oregon University, Short and Whelan have remained involved with the team.
In spending time with the students — who put in three hours of work every Saturday, Short said — he and Whelan developed even more respect for what the students and teachers accomplish.
“You see these people busting their butts, and it’s kind of hard not to really respect them,” Short said, “both the students and the teachers.”
Short has already started his campaign, registering with APOC in mid-July and adding former NOAA co-worker Bonita Nelson as his Campaign Chair and Whelan as Treasurer. The next step is registering with the CBJ when the filing period opens Aug. 4. Candidates can still register with the city until Aug. 14.
Short said he’s both excited and a little nervous about running a campaign, but is hopeful that he can put the advice he’s gotten from spending time with teachers and students to use.
“I’ve come to realize,” Short said, “that a really good school system is a foundation for a really prosperous community.”
• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at alex.mccarthy@juneauempire.com.
