In a recent letter to the Juneau Assembly, outgoing member Kate Troll listed the people with whom she said it was “an honor serving alongside.” Not everybody on the Assembly made the cut.
“To those Assembly members — Jesse Kiehl, Loren Jones, Debbie White, Maria Galdziszewski, and Jamie Bursell — who stayed out of my race (remaining true to the norm of having nonpartisan local elections), I would like to say it’s been an honor serving alongside you,” Troll wrote.
Noticeably absent from that list were Mayor Ken Koelsch and Assembly members Jerry Nankervis and Mary Becker, all of whom contributed to the campaign of Norton Gregory, Troll’s challenger.
Becker and Nankervis each gave Gregory $100, and Koelsch gave $250. Gregory defeated Troll, claiming her areawide Assembly seat, in this year’s municipal election on Oct. 4.
Koelsch also attended at least one of Gregory’s campaign events and was pictured in a group photo that Gregory used in campaign materials.
As Troll pointed out in her letter to the Assembly, sitting city representatives don’t typically weigh in on local elections, but this isn’t always the case. During the special mayoral election in March, Troll donated $150 to Koelsch’s opponent Karen Crane, a former Assembly member who served with Troll.
During the same election, sitting Assembly members Becker, Nankervis and Debbie White donated a total of $450 to Koelsch; Becker and Nankervis each gave $200, and White gave $50.
Troll wished Gregory and Beth Weldon, who also won a seat on the Assembly during the most recent city election, good luck in her letter.
“Find your own voice, do your homework, engage in active listening, ask critical questions and weigh the merits of each issue, issue by issue, and I’m sure you’ll serve the community well,” she wrote to the Assembly’s two newest members.
Troll also thanked the leadership team of the City and Borough of Juneau.
• Contact reporter Sam DeGrave at 523-2279 or sam.degrave@juneauempire.com.
