Applications for candidacy in the Oct. 6 regular borough-wide election closed on Monday. Candidates have filed for all available seats, with those on the Wrangell School Board in contest.
Among those open to the polls this year are two 3-year seats on the City and Borough Assembly. Incumbents David Powell and Becky Rooney have both filed to run again and are uncontested.
Incumbents John Martin and Clay Hammer have also filed to retain two 3-year seats on the Port Commission.
On the Wrangell Medical Center Board, Woody Wilson has filed to retain his seat and Maxlyn Wiederspohn to fill the vacancy left by Dorothy Hunt-Sweat, who will not be running for re-election.
Two 3-year terms are open on the school board, for which three candidates have filed. Among them are incumbent board members Tamara Groshong and Aleisha Mollen, along with candidate Rolland Howell. A one-year term left by the resignation of Cyni Waddington this summer will be contested on the ballot by candidates Beth Comstock and Pamella McCloskey.
As part of its coverage of the upcoming election, the Wrangell Sentinel will be presenting a more detailed look at candidates in subsequent issues.
Those still wanting to run as write-in candidates need to submit an application to the Borough Clerk’s office during regular business hours by Oct. 2. All applicants must be United States citizens at least 18 years of age, a resident of Wrangell and a registered voter in Alaska for at least 30 days before the election.
Following the election, a number of board- and commission-level appointments will need to be made. These include two seats on the Planning and Zoning Commission, two seats on the Parks and Recreation Board, one seat on the Wrangell Convention and Visitors Bureau, three seats on the Economic Development Committee and two seats on the Nolan Museum/Civic Center Board.
Two propositions will also appear on October’s ballot, with simple yes-or-no questions presented to voters. Voter information sheets were distributed to residents’ postal boxes last week, presenting factual information pertaining to the two propositions.
Proposition 1 is a charter amendment, which reads: “Shall the Home Rule Charter of the City and Borough of Wrangell be amended to repeal Section 11-2, Thomas Bay Power Authority, as set forth in Ordinance no. 900?”
The proposition was approved for inclusion on the ballot by the Assembly in April and is a housekeeping change eliminating reference to the now-defunct Thomas Bay Power Authority. Operations of the Tyee hydropower facility were transferred from TBPA to Southeast Alaska Power Agency in July 2014, and the authority’s board has since been dissolved.
Proposition 2 asks: “Shall the municipal officers and candidates for elective office of the City and Borough of Wrangell be exempt from the requirements of the State of Alaska Public Official Financial Disclosure Law, AS 39.50?”
In May the Assembly approved the proposition’s inclusion on the ballot after a pair of public hearings. Currently, the mayor, city manager, and members of the Assembly, School Board and Planning and Zoning are required to file financial disclosures under Alaska Statute 39.50.
Assembly members were concerned the state-level documentation was too intrusive into the financial assets of applicants for public office and hoped that scrapping the requirement might boost residents’ involvement in local government.
Voters are advised to check that their address is correct on their State Voter Registration. City law requires voters to be registered in the precinct in which they seek to vote in the municipal election. Those registered in another city have until Sep. 6 to update their information in order in the Oct. 6 election.
With the political campaign season underway, the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT) has issued a reminder to state residents of laws regulating political advertising. The state voted in 1998 to keep outdoor advertising limited, barring campaign signs from being placed in the state’s road and highway rights-of-way and keeping advertisements at least 660 feet from the nearest edge of such places.
Specific questions on rights-of-way in the south coast region can be directed to the ADOT office in Juneau at 465-2838.
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