Familiar faces in race to replace Wilson

Candidates for the newly renumbered State Representative District 36 say jobs and connections were among the key issues for Southeast.

Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly member Agnes Moran, Wilson legislative aide and small business owner Chere Klein, and Ketchikan Visitors Bureau president and CEO Patti Mackey will all appear on the ballot for the Aug. 19 Republican primary. The victor will face independent candidate Dan Ortiz in the Nov. 4 general election.

Retiring legislator Peggy Wilson (R – Wrangell) will not seek re-election, and the primary candidates are all from Ketchikan. Moran and Mackey both ran campaigns against Wilson in the 2012 elections.

Moran, an electrical engineer by training, has been on the borough assembly since 2010 and said her experience with borough governance and involvement with numerous community organizations led her to pursue the District 36 seat.

"I'm on our local borough assembly," she said. "That's how I kind of got along on this path."

The top issue Southeast faces is job creation, Moran said.

"The real big issue for Southeast Alaska is jobs," she said. "You need to have jobs that are family-supporting. To do that, we really need to get access back to our natural resources. We need to get the timber folks working, we need to have an environment to bring the mines here, and we need to really pay attention to what's going on in our fisheries. We need to expand that base. You guys have a shipyard, we have a shipyard. We need to ensure that the boats don't just keep passing us on their way to Seattle, that the work that can be done here is done here."

The legislature has already taken some positive steps to spur job growth in the region, Moran said. She cited Senate Bill 99, which allows the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) to issue bonds to finance the construction of the Ketchikan-area Bokon-Dotson Ridge rare earth mine and issue a loan to the Sitka-area Blue Lake Hydroelectric project.

"I think that was a very good step that said 'Yes, we're open for business and we're going to encourage you,'" she said. "I think we need to continue with that type of cooperative relationship, that type of cooperative building, with us creating an environment for business here, when it's appropriate."

"That's the type of legislation that's a good model for going forward," Agnes answered.

When asked to cite a specific Wrangell connection, Moran offered her position on the First Bank Board of Directors, which fosters a charitable attitude that carries down to the local branches.

"We have a vested interest in southern southeast Alaska," she said. "If the area prospers, we prosper. We have a strong commitment to the communities that we operate in."

Moran downplayed potential competitive points between Ketchikan and Wrangell.

"Southern Southeast Alaska is an integrated community," she said. "I think we all need to work together because if Ketchikan went away, the whole area would suffer, and if Wrangell went away, the whole area would suffer."

"We need representation in Southeast Alaska that can work with the majority to get our needs addressed," she said.

Democratic representation in Juneau exacerbated population disparities between Southeast and rail-belt Alaska, Moran said.

"I think we need to have strong representation on the majority side so Wrangell doesn't get left out, so these smaller communities aren't overlooked," she said.

Moran was born in Ketchikan, is married and has a son and daughter.

Moran and Mackey both ran campaigns against Wilson in the 2012 elections.

Mackey echoed the overall campaign emphasis on the economy but focused on infrastructure government can provide amid a general reshaping of Southeast identity.

"One of our biggest issues is that we are in the midst of – not reinventing ourselves – but looking at ways of diversifying and strengthening our economies," she said. "While we are fortunate to still have a foot in the door to some degree with the timber industry and we've got a solid commercial fishing economy, tourism is perhaps better established in some communities than others, and people I know in Wrangell have been interested in trying to grow the tourism there, all of those things need basic services and that includes everything from energy to good schools that will attract people who will work in the jobs that industry will provide with us."

Mackey pledged to work with legislators from other parts of the state to accomplish legislative goals, a theme echoed by the other candidates.

"I also happen to think we will continue to be challenged with our population numbers and the need to make sure that we can draw support from other legislators from other parts of the state to help us be successful in the legislature to make sure we can be successful in the legislature when it comes to projects and funding," she said.

Her primary objective was to work with the Republican majority and seek out relevant community assignments, Mackey said.

"I certainly believe in developing relationships and working collaboratively with other legislators. My agenda is, quite frankly, to get elected to office, to be accepted into the house majority, to seek committee assignments that are going to reflect on those priorities, whether it's energy or transportation or fisheries. Those are things that are all important for a legislator from our area to participate in," she said.

Her interest in the legislature reaches all the way back to childhood, Mackey said.

"This is something I've been interested in for a long time," she said. "I've been interested in the legislative process for my whole life."

Mackey briefly served as a legislative staff member to a Ketchikan representative in the early 90s. She also cited active participation advocating for tourism and travel in Southeast Conference as a connection to Wrangell.

"All of this is a process that I find interesting, and I believe I have the leadership capability and the relationships established to be effective for the district," she said. "I already have established relationships with a number of people in Wrangell, through my participation in activities like Southeast Conference. I would hope that the district is the district, and it's not just about Ketchikan. I would make frequent visits to Wrangell. With communication the way it is now, I don't have any doubt that citizens in Wrangell would be able to keep in touch with me."

Mackey is married with two adult sons.

Klein is the relative newcomer of the bunch, though she boasts the most recent work within the state legislature as Wilson's aide. She's contemplated a legislative run for several years.

"It's something that I've been looking towards for many years," she said. "I've worked for (Wilson) for many years. When she stepped down, I didn't feel that there was anyone that was going to be representing the business side of our communities, so that's really why I stepped forward. I want to make sure that we have someone who has some business background in that voice, which is going to be very important for all of our communities."

She and her husband own Ketchikan Ready-Mix & Quarry, which performs construction in the area, as well as a business specializing in sand and gravel dredged from the Stikine River Delta. In addition, Klein has worked in finance and medical services and owns and operates a wetland delineation business.

Economic development also ranked at the top of her list of issues in southeast.

"We have to bring new jobs and industry to all of our communities," she said. "For the state, energy is huge. In Southeast, it's important but it's not nearly as big of a deal as it is for the rest of the state. We're pretty lucky to have decent energy in Southeast. Developing our resources is huge. We're a resource state."

Sustained economic development will require regional cooperation, Klein said.

"One thing that we don't do very well in our communities in Southeast is work together," she said. "We have a big shipyard in Ketchikan, and we should be working together and offering those opportunities to Wrangell. If there's a convention that wants to come to Wrangell and you guys don't have enough space, maybe send them to Ketchikan or Prince of Wales. I just think we need to work together a little more throughout southern Southeast to help each other as well."

Like Moran, Klein said she favored a general approach aimed at loosening regulations over specific legislative measures.

"Not immediately, other than to make sure that the regulatory climate is open and that businesses are able to operate openly," she said, when asked if she had specific legislative plans.

In general, she would encourage Alaska not to pursue federal money in exchange for at-times onerous regulation. She cited a Commercial Drivers License regulatory change brought up during the previous session as one example.

"There was one representative that said 'What if we don't do this? Are they really gonna cut the funding?'" she said. "I think we need to do that a little more and question, are we really gonna get cut?"

"Possibly standing up and just saying no, like the drug issue," she joked.

Klein is married and has two college-age daughters.