Editor's note: The below excerpt from this interview is not the full transcript and has been lightly edited for clarity and length. Listen to the full interview with Kathy Simpler by clicking on the audio link.
Kathy Simpler: Hi, my name is Kathy Simpler, and I'm running for Alaska State House District Five. The short answer for why I'm running for this position is because I care. I care about the people and the families that live in our coastal communities, but more importantly, I've lived a life of service. I grew up in Girl Scouts and volunteered in the local hospital when I was in high school, and then continued on to get my teaching degree and have been a teacher for the last 30 years in Kodiak, which I've just recently retired, and so I've lived a life of service, of giving back to our students and families, and running for this seat is the right thing to do at the right time.
Davis Hovey, KMXT: Well, talking about timing, and I'm sure you know better than most as a longtime educator, the timing for education in our state is dire. How would you sort of address the needs of our state right now across the board for education?
Simpler: We have to forward fund our base student allocation so our districts can plan. The money that the districts receive from the base student allocation is what they use to pay their employees. It's what they do to maintain their buildings. It's what they use to purchase supplies, and if it's flat funded, [like it has been], services decrease for our students, and it's not fair. So I would support an increase to the student base allocation.
KMXT: What are some of your other top priorities in general, would you say? I mean, I'm assuming obviously education is up there. As you mentioned, education has to be a priority, but what are some of your other priorities if you were elected?
Simpler: So fisheries is a priority of mine, and ferries is a priority. Along with the education that we just talked about. We've had some difficulty the last several years with getting some of our things funded, and I would like to see with our fisheries, I'd love to see our ADF&G fully funded so that they can study and learn from and manage our fisheries in the way that they know how they're to do that. And we have a board of fisheries that I would love to see fair representation on for all of our fisheries. In regards to ferries, the issue of retirement is a big one for our ferries. They're not fully staffed, but we also need to fully fund them as well so that they can be reliable for us. Our Alaska Marine Highway is our highway, and it improves our quality of life for all of our coastal communities. And when they don't run, then our communities really suffer.
KMXT: Switching gears, one of the big topics every election cycle is the permanent fund dividend. Should we follow the full statutory PFD or you know not? Where do you stand on that? And what's your perspective on the PFD?
Simpler: The PFD is important to our state. I'm not in favor of getting rid of it, but I'm also not in favor of balancing the budget on the back of something else so we can have our PFD. We have to invest in our safety, in our workforce. We have to. We need affordable healthcare and affordable housing, and a robust education. So those things are all important, and the PFD is, goes along with that….but I'm not in support of sacrificing something that we need to fully fund a PFD.
KMXT: As you know, here in Kodiak, we certainly struggle with the housing market and the lack of affordable housing, and there's a myriad of issues there with not enough land being open for development and not enough rentals for various workforce people. But of course, this is also affecting other communities across the state. So, what are some of the solutions you would offer if you were elected to the Legislature to bring down the cost of housing and also help develop more affordable housing?
Simpler: We also have infrastructure in our communities that we can reinvest in and bring up to bring back up to code to make to make that affordable housing for folks. That is an issue. As I've been knocking on doors and talking to people, that there isn't enough housing. And then I would see what land does the state have here that's available that we can open up to make that available for affordable housing as well.
Absentee voting has already begun at the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly Chambers, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the primary election is Aug. 18.
