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What had
been the ugly duckling of election races is now the belle of the ball. When the
deadline to declare candidacy for the one-year seat open on the Kodiak school
board passed, not a single person had signed up for it. Now, with three
candidates waging a write-in campaign, it's the only contested race in the
district, or the city or the borough.
Jerry Lampl
(lampul), Petal Ruch (roosh), and Jana (jan-ah) Turvey have all declared their
intention to seek the once-neglected office.
Lample
works at Kodiak Motors, Ruch is a vocal coach and substitute teacher, and
Turvey is senior vice president of Kodiak corporate affairs for Afognak Native
Corporation. They told KMXT this week why they'd like to serve.
First Ruch:
-- (Petal 1 25
sec "I
actually had ... potentially nominated as a write-in.")
And Lampl:
-- (Jerry 1 13
sec "Well
I've got two girls ... and input from them too.")
And Turvey:
-- (Jana 1 34
sec "I
have actually considered ... up with the borough, so.")
The major
issue with the schools right now is the initiative that will be before voters
on the same ballot as the school board election. If passed, it would authorize
the sale of 115-million-dollars in bonds to build a new Kodiak High School. The
three write-in candidates have somewhat different opinions on the topic.
Ruch, who
has spent significant time in the school teaching and in musical productions,
says there is no question a new school is needed, but the funding may be
troublesome:
-- (Petal 2 47
sec "The
need is there ... with the rising cost of fuel.")
Lampl says
other sources of funding should be sought:
-- (Jerry 2 46
sec "I
know people aren't ... have property to survive.")
Turvey went
through the Kodiak system, and sees a new high school as an investment in the
future:
-- (Jana 2 42
sec "I
am in strong support ... future, in our students.")
The
25-thousand dollar figure she mentioned is approximately the amount of taxes
the owner of a 200-thousand dollar home on Kodiak Island would have pay over
the life of the 30-year school bond.
The
municipal election will be on October 7th, however, according to
Borough Clerk Nova Javier, the results for write-in candidates will not be
known on election night, or the day after. She said the earliest she will have
results would be the following Friday, October 10th.
I'm Jay
Barrett.
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