On Sept. 8, six of the eight candidates running for four seats on the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly participated in the candidates forum hosted by KMXT, KVOK, and the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce.
The six that attended the forum included: Scott Arndt, Shawn Brekke, Kaleb Callahan, Alexander Sweeney, Mark Anthony Vizcocho, and Jeremy Williamson. The two candidates not in attendance were Steven Ames and Adam Powers. Powers was not able to attend because of a conflicting School Board work session, but he provided a one-minute opening statement, which is included below.
Assembly member Caroline Roberts, who initially filed to run in this year's election, told KMXT she is withdrawing from the election and did not attend the forum.
Editor's note: This transcript has been edited for clarity, however candidate answers and statements are transcribed in their entirety.
Opening statements, one-minute each:
Scott Arndt: My name is Scott Arndt. Been a resident of Kodiak for 62 years, and been involved with local government for the last almost 50 years, so different formats. Interested in getting back on the assembly primarily because I feel there's been some time wasted on certain things that should never have been brought up. So, hopefully, spend the time that the Assembly has on more important issues for the community. Thank you.
Shawn Brekke: Shawn Brekke, Kodiak resident, I think for seven years now, from the Interior before that. I'm here to either get elected, or at least hold people accountable. Transparency, straightforward, in your face kind of talk, get to the bottom of stuff, and I think that's something that people are desiring and wanting to see.
Kaleb Callahan: My name is Kaleb Callahan. I was born and raised here. My main purpose for running is to be a role model, set an example for young adults, and showing that civic engagement is possible, but probably even encouraged. And if I'm elected to this position, I look forward to showcasing some of my knowledge in economics and making things happen. So, Callahan, Calla-CAN.
Adam Powers: Kodiak is worth fighting for, and the people who live here year-round should not be the ones always covering the shortfall. I work in the schools as Director of Maintenance, so I see every day what deferred repairs, energy waste, and a tight budget actually look like in a building. That is why I would start with costs, not new taxes on residents. We can share work with the city and the school district, make our facilities more energy efficient at no cost to us, make the assessment process something a homeowner can understand, and work towards a two mill cut rate over two years. That only happens if the savings are real and if the visitors and federal growth pay their way. I would support small legal homes and responsible development for both working people and for seniors who want to stay. I'd like to make ADUs easier and stop short-term rentals from eating the rooms the fishing fleet needs. We need to build the landfill fence now and support KEA and power development. It's the constraint that will decide whether this island can grow. We are one town, and if you believe Kodiak is worth fighting to, I would appreciate your vote on this October 6.
Caroline Roberts: I recently made the decision to withdraw from seeking another term on the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly. Because the deadline to withdraw has passed, my name will still appear on the ballot this October, and I wanted to make sure the community was aware that I am no longer actively seeking the seat.
Serving on the Assembly over the past year has been an incredible experience, and I am truly grateful for the opportunity. I have learned so much about our local government, our community, and the people who work hard every day to make Kodiak a better place to live.
Ultimately, I came to the decision that this next year, my family needs more of my time. I have always tried to give my full commitment to the Assembly and to the responsibilities that come with serving our community, and I don't feel that I could continue to give the position the time and energy it deserves while also being as present for my family as I want to be.
I am incredibly appreciative of the support and encouragement I have received throughout this experience. It has meant more to me than I can say.
If there is one thing I hope to take away from my time on the Assembly and share with others, it is how important it is to be involved in local government. I encourage everyone in our community to attend meetings when you can, look through the agendas for both Borough and City meetings, ask questions, and stay engaged. For me, hearing from the public during comment periods has been incredibly impactful, especially when making decisions that affect our entire community. Those perspectives matter, and they can bring forward things we may not otherwise hear or consider.
While I am no longer seeking the seat for the next term, I want to be clear that I will continue serving through the completion of my current term. I will continue doing the homework, reading through the agendas, asking questions, and giving each decision the same time and consideration I have throughout the past year. I am committed to finishing my term with the same level of dedication with which I started it.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me and given me the opportunity to serve Kodiak this past year."
Alexander Sweeney: My name is Alex Sweeney. I am a born and raised fourth-generation Kodiak resident. I graduated high school here in 2007. I've held a lot of different jobs around town, including out at the golf course and down at the boat harbor. I'm currently raising my family here. I have two young daughters. My oldest, who just started kindergarten today, which is pretty terrifying. I'm running to just help with our civic duty. I think we're all inclined to be involved in the betterment of our community, and so I'm here trying to do just that. That's it.
Mark Anthony Vizcocho: Good evening, everyone. My name is Mark Anthony Vizcocho. 34 years here in Kodiak. I am running for Borough Assembly. Since being appointed to the Assembly this past July, I've learned that serving our community is a responsibility that takes more than a few months to fully understand. In these short months, I have gained a greater appreciation for the work of the Borough and for the challenges our community faces. I have also learned something very important: our community needs to stay engaged and reach out to our elected officials. Good government starts with listening. It starts with understanding the concerns of our residents, and working together to find practical solutions. I'm running because I want to continue learning, listening, and serving Kodiak. I want to be a voice for our residents, and make decisions that strengthen our community and create opportunities for our families. Thank you.
Jeremy Williamson: Hello, everyone. My name is Jeremy Williamson. When I came here in 2001 to start fishing, I knew Kodiak was a place where hard work could be a real life. 13 years later, I transitioned into civil contracting to ensure I was there for my family. My family is my driving force, and they are exactly why I'm standing before you, running for Borough Assembly right now. Our housing market is squeezing out our young adults. If we want our kids to stay in Kodiak, we have to make it possible for them to buy a home. I believe the solution isn't more government programs; it's economic reality. We must increase development and reduce the regulatory red tape that dries up building costs. I'm running to aggressively push the Borough to open up land for housing, so the next generation can afford to build a life here, just like my family did.
What connections, skills, and experience would you bring to the Borough Assembly that would otherwise not be represented by current members or your fellow candidates?
Arndt: Well, first off, I've served three different times on the Assembly and one time as mayor, so I feel that I do have that background. So thank you.
Brekke: I'm not really sure how I compare to the other candidates as I don't know them personally. But I can speak to my skills and experience as a union steward, as a father, a husband of 30 years. I've spent over 30 years of my life getting to this point in my life. I'm not afraid to speak what's supposed to be done, what needs to be done, and how it needs to be done, stand up to the people that are trying to push over and take over a conversation just because they're louder. We have constituents that we speak for. I know I don't run into any of these people here in my day-to-day life, and they probably don't run into a lot of each other, so each one of us has separate type of individual that we speak for. So when we speak, and we're speaking for other people, we need to realize that we don't need to be hushed up because it might not be the most popular thing in the room to be said. But we don't work in the room. We're speaking for people in the public. So I think that's what I could speak to. As far as what the other fellow candidates bring, I can't really tell you. That's up for them to say.
Callahan: So I don't have a very long track record, but I have a pretty solid one going so far. I graduated here, and when I graduated high school, I graduated with my associate's degree at the same time. I went to finish that education off at University of Fairbanks, and there I also got to do the Ted Stevens legislative internship. So I have a decent bit of experience with state level politics, working as a Senate staff. During that time, it was super valuable. I learned a lot. I learned how to work with people, how to look at the nuances within different economic issues and policy issues. I also bring a background, again, a fairly short background in economic development for my current employment, working as an economic development specialist. That's for the whole region, which includes Kodiak City and the outlying villages as well. I've gotten to do public conversations to get an understanding of what is important to the public, what kind of things and developments they want to see, and and opportunities to make things like that happen.
Sweeney: Well, I've lived here a long time. As I said, my family's also lived here a long time. I know a lot of people in this town. I went to school with a lot of people. I run in a lot of different circles, but I'm really just, I'm running on a platform where everybody should be involved in our community decisions. Any and all ideas are good ideas, and [sic] as long as they're moving in the right direction. We want to try and face issues proactively and not reactively. That's how I face my life as a commercial underwriter, I assess risk for for a living. I also learn quickly. I don't make mistakes twice, and I'm coming here with no preset agenda. I have nothing that I am trying to accomplish, other than betterment of the community, working together with everyone. And that's it.
Vizcocho: So, as you all know, I wear multiple hats in the community, and one of them is I am the Fil-Am president. So that would be one of the connections that I have over some candidates because of the Filipino community here in Kodiak. But I also am one of the parents in Kodiak that's trying to juggle around the schedule to get their kids in practice, in school. I've been working a lot with a lot of our organizations, such as the Fil-Am, the Booster Club, coaching in school. So my experience through those organization [sic], I can put my two cents in with my Borough Assembly members. And again, like Mr. Sweeney here, I don't have no agenda. I just want to be a voice for the people that can't speak, or to be a voice [sic] the people that want to be heard. That's why I'm running for Borough Assembly.
Williamson: I have a strong contracting and civil construction background. Also was a commercial fisherman here in Kodiak for 13 years, and prior to that, an additional four or five years. So we're facing a lot of issues in Kodiak. The Borough is facing multiple facility maintenance issues, which I feel my background will help navigate those rough waters. Kodiak is facing major economical [sic] issues with fishing across the board, and I think that I have a little bit of insight in that, even though I am out of that career path. So I think I have a little bit to offer. Thank you.
Commercial fishing has been the main economic driver in Kodiak for decades but that industry has been facing significant challenges in recent times. What other sectors or revenue generating measures, such as new taxes, would you focus on to offset dwindling economic output from fisheries?
Brekke: So I like this question because it hones in on what the backbone of Kodiak really is, and always has been, is commercial fishing. That's my bread and butter. It's a lot of our bread and butter, I think commercial fishing. I work on a lot of boats in the maritime field here. However, Kodiak is changing with aerospace, with the Coast Guard growing. I think it's important that we don't trample the fisheries as we move forward with that stuff. We need to really protect our fisheries. We need to protect the infrastructure of our fisheries, the electrical grid down at the harbor, we need to work on the harbor.
So we need to really focus on protecting the fisheries as we move forward. Kodiak's going to change. There's going to be some economic developments coming in, but it's going to be on a federal level, and they can do what they want. And I think it's important that we get to the table with them and start getting what we can from them. Have them greasing our palms a little bit. They're coming into our yard, they're coming into our hometown. And just take care of us and make sure that we take care of the fisheries. And we need to be talking with the captains, we need to be talking with the fleet managers, we need to be talking with the processors. We need to protect that. It's been the backbone of Kodiak forever, and it still needs to stay a backbone. It's a fishing community.
Callahan: I think you're right. Fisheries are a backbone and will remain being our backbone as long as there's fish out there, and I don't think the fish are going away for the most part. So when it comes to fisheries policy and taxes and stuff like that, it's not necessarily the entire domain of the Borough. There's, the Borough doesn't necessarily have authority on fisheries policy and direct fisheries taxation. But the Borough does have a responsibility to provide a foundation for a strong economy and a stable economy, so that if and when the fisheries do have a a setback or a slower season, that they're still able to afford their basic living expenses, they're still able to have backup options within the economy.
And I think one of the strategies that the Borough has been doing, and Kodiak in general has been doing, has been diversification. So especially as there's ebbs and flows in fisheries, some other industries can provide a little bit more stable revenue. But to the other point, without offsetting the fisheries, right? So I think we need to work with our partners to focus on our backbone to improve the infrastructure of our fisheries and our harbors that support fisheries, which then vicariously give us more diversification options. So an example of that is we have fishing ports. We have very strong ports here that opens up doors for new tourism opportunities. That opens doors up to new ships coming, and just having that infrastructure available. And yeah, that's where I'd leave it there.
Sweeney: I think it's no secret that we live in a beautiful place. I think we just recently had one of, if not the best cruise ship tour seasons. I forget the exact number of ships, but that number has been greatly increasing each year, and I think we really need to embrace that as a new future of revenue sources. But I think we need to go a step further and not just target specific tourism industries. We want people to come and stay and spend money. We need to also look at the aerospace industry. We have an epic opportunity with the property out there at Pasagshak. I think it's important that remains private, which would help commercial development around town, infrastructure. We need to keep diversified revenue sources, so where we do have struggling fisheries, we're not so reliant on property taxes. And we're not leaning on the shoulders that have bared the brunt of the weight for a long time, and that's where I think we should go.
Vizcocho: Thank you for that question. So yes, fisheries has [sic] been the backbone of Kodiak. What other revenue? That is one of the matters I would like to do more research on, just because property taxes I am not for. I don't think we should put more taxes on the Kodiak community. I think there's other resource out there that we can generate revenue from. It's basically, I would like for the community to reach out to their elected officials so that we can brainstorm and figure out what we can do: not my plan, but what we can do as a community to figure out a better revenue generating for our community. Thank you.
Williamson: This is a big thing that I'm about: development. I believe that the best way to fight our way through this is developing. It's the only way we can keep Kodiak growing and accommodating our children. The fishing is going to be around, I don't think it's dying. Is it going through challenges in different times? Yes. I believe that is never going to change. We're always going to have issues with fisheries. Things are going to change, and we have to be willing to accommodate that. The tourism sector is great; it's growing here, and I think we should welcome that, as as well as the aerospace industry. To accommodate that, let's go back to it: developing. There's lots of development available out there in Pasagshak that would benefit the community by creating new taxes. You know, property taxes go up with development. That helps and it helps the aerospace industry by providing opportunity out there. There's lots of things that are needed. There's no property available. That's what I've got. Thanks.
Arndt: First off, I've seen many different cycles in the fishing industry over the 62 years that I've lived here, and we'll get through this one too. It's already started on some of the prices coming back. Unfortunately, it was kind of a perfect storm. We had dwindling supply in the sense of quotas and dwindling price for that product, which was a double whammy for the boats because fuel sure didn't go down and groceries didn't go down, nor did maintenance on boats. But I'm not in favor of increasing the property tax. I'm in favor of lowering the current mill rate on property. The property owners have been the one carrying the burden for a long time. I want to say, 2018 when I got on, we were 10.75 mills, and I said we needed to lower it. And assembly members said no. I showed them how we could lower it, and we did lower it two mills, but it still needs to go down more. Some of that is in spreading it around and looking at everything, but, and that's something that we need to work at again.
The other big thing that could affect us because, unfortunately, that the Payment in Lieu of Tax by the federal government and the state government is inadequate for the amount of property that they control in the Kodiak Island Borough. Those are the kind of things that I was pushing for, along with Rodney Dial, the mayor of Ketchikan. We were both on the National Association of Counties, and we were pushing for an increase in that PILT money that comes from the federal government. The other thing, as Jeremy said, development. We need to make land available.
The Kodiak Island Borough School District is struggling with declining student enrollment and years of underfunding from the state, leading them to request more money from the Borough Assembly each year. How do you plan to vote on KIBSD’s upcoming request in 2027 and what’s your approach to fund the local school contribution?
Callahan: Yeah, so there's been quite a bit of setbacks that we've had to our education system. As all of you guys know, we've had closure of schools, and I think tonight they're discussing closure of more schools. So it's not looking great, but that doesn't mean we need to be pessimistic about it. I think there's still options on the table and things that we can make happen. KIBSD is upcoming [sic]...
Yeah, when it comes down to the funding and stuff, I am not necessarily for or against large cuts or large increases. I think we need to focus on more attention to the students and the teachers doing the things, rather than, I don't know, I want to say streamlining and stuff like that too. But it's something I'm going to be looking into a lot more during this time, and I don't have a complete plan right now, to be honest with you.
Sweeney: Well, I'll start with saying that I would never have a predetermined vote without physically reviewing something and going over it. I think the devil's in the details. We need a detailed, itemized budget. We have to see where the money is going. It's really hard to say no to giving money for kids. I don't care if you have them or not. It just is. We always have to remember that we're raising our next generation here. Do we want them to love their experience? Do we want them to want to raise their families here? Addressing underfunding from the state and leading our schools to ask for more and more money, I think that's a broader scope that needs to be addressed with larger figures in state government. I think we need to look at to see what other communities are doing. We're not the only one in this position. What solutions have other communities in the state and in the lower 48 found? And what's working? What's not? Let's not reinvent the wheel. Let's look for some solutions that have proven track records, and let's pursue those.
Vizcocho: Well as everyone knows, I don't really vote on anything unless I have exhausted all my resources, and the pros and cons have been presented to me before I vote on anything. What's your approach to fund the local school contribution? You know, that issue is really going to go back to, 'Have they done their research? Have they thought of the foundation?' You know, we have to figure out how to go back to the foundation. That is the way I think that the school [sic]...
I believe that's what the school budget should go to, is go back to the foundations, because from the foundations you can see what needs to be done. Basic. You don't need to do no upgrade, no making it all fancy. You just gotta go back to the foundation, and then from there you can figure out what to do next. Also, the Borough should support in requests, I mean, the Borough Assembly should support the Kodiak Island School District once they have presented a very detailed request, not just 'I want to request this much money,' but there's no backup. I believe that, again, without resource, without exhausting the full resource, it's hard to support that, but if you present something to me with all resource exhausted and it makes sense... (time ended for Vizcocho's response)
Williamson: Well, the Kodiak Island Borough School District has hired a new school superintendent. It'll be interesting to see how he does with the money that he has to spend. With that being said, we have no idea what they're going to ask for. I'm not a fan of raising taxes to spend more money. I believe that we have to be fiscally responsible, and that goes for everyone. With that being said, we don't know as of right now what they're going to ask. The student enrollment is constantly changing because we can't raise young families here, it's too expensive. So, again, if we increased development in Kodiak Island Borough, that would increase the funding for these schools. That's what I would love to see.
Arndt: Well, first off, can't say how I'll vote until I see the budget and the detail that comes with that. Second, the state has done, through the governor's office, done a piss poor job of funding education statewide, and unfortunately, that trickle down has caused the Borough to have to contribute more money each year, even with declining enrollment. And I think that I am optimistic that with the new administration in the governor's office, that that is going to have an effect on money for education. The other thing is, we have to look at, the school district is receiving approximately $3 million [sic] new money that they don't need this current year. I hope they sure save that for looking at next year's budget, because they fully funded their current year's budget with what they received from the Borough, and then their additional $900,000 they miraculously found. So, we'll have to take a look at the budget before I can tell you. I don't think we're in any position that we have to raise taxes, nor do I feel they need any additional new money. Thank you.
Brekke: So let's pick this question apart. We'll start at the top there—struggling with declining student enrollment. What does that mean exactly? Do we have less students? Where are these kids going? Are they being homeschooled? Are they just not here? Do we have a birth rate problem in Kodiak? Are we losing population as the McDowell report shows? That's one question that needs to be answered. The next question that needs to be answered is why is the state not funding them? Because they have less enrollment. So maybe we should look at that, find out if that's true, find out if there's any duplicity in some of the fundings. If there isn't something that overlaps, that's something that can be taken from here, put to there. As Mr. Arndt brought up, they got a bag of money. We hear it all the time, 'This bag of money is for this, not for that.' Well, that doesn't really help things when we're sitting there looking at taxpayers paying more to help fund the school. It just seems like it creates this habit of asking for more money because the state does this. So it's easy to say, 'Well, the state does this.' Well, I say don't wait for these people to bring you information and show you a budget. Go to them and ask. Prime your cannons. Get ready to go. Go there and talk to them. Sit down with them. Find out what they're gonna ask for. Why waste time waiting? Being optimistic is great, for the new governors and all this other stuff. But we do that, we sit and wait, then we find out they're not gonna do what they need to do. Our children are the ones that are suffering. Our schools are suffering. Our taxpayers are suffering. Go sit with them. Find out what they're going to want, what they're going to ask for, work through it before it even gets this far.
A lack of affordable housing has become a major issue over the last few years, especially since there's not enough land open for development, property assessments are going up, and there is a growing number of short-term rentals here in Kodiak. What should the Borough Assembly do to help alleviate the housing crisis?
Sweeney: Well, it's a tough question. There's no right answer, there's no one right answer. I think you need to look at it multifaceted. We need to look for multiple answers that address the needs currently and in the future. We need to, whatever we do with housing, we need to consider infrastructure supports to continue so that housing is available. And there's the, we need to focus on what we have also in addition to what we're looking at building forward. Let's look at low hanging fruit. I think there's a lot of open and vacant lots and underutilized Borough properties and private properties, that could be, with incentives or tax breaks, reduction in demolition costs, that could be promoted for property owners to build additional housing. We should also look at ADUs, accessory dwelling units. That's a growing trend statewide, and there's again a lot of communities that have had a lot of success in implementing some of their new strategies. Let's look out to them. Let's see what's worked well with Ketchikan, let's see what's worked well with Sitka, and take that back. And most importantly, let's ask the community again. And the community is always welcome to join our meetings. Reach out anytime, if you see somebody on the street, toss an idea. Talking about it gets the ball rolling.
Vizcocho: That's a great question. Once I figure out the answer, I'll let you know. All jokes aside, I think, I believe the Borough should start exploring, reaching out to other communities. Yeah, like this is a hard question, just because we do have land, is it near the road system? Is it accessible to sewers, water line, electric? You know, we build houses, but then it's gonna cost more to build housing if you gotta build a line for that house. So I really think that the Borough should start doing more research on things, and also maybe reach out to the Coast Guard, you know, to the military on, [sic] I mean they are bringing two more icebreakers in town. So hopefully we are able to somewhat work together to figure out how we can support the housing crisis in Kodiak. I mean, it's just not us living in Kodiak. We do have other, you know, the military, the other government entities that are building their structure here. So I really think that the Borough should just be willing to brainstorm with other corporate partnerships, with other developers, or talk to their, you know, local organization [sic] and local Tribal leaders. This housing crisis should be a community solution, it should not just be on the Borough Assembly. We can plan all we want, but if the community doesn't support us or doesn't give their ideas, then how is that..... (time ended for Vizcocho's response.)
Williamson: This is a great question, and I'm not going to agree—I think a lot of people won't agree with me on this: I love the short-term rentals. They're a great way for people to make additional income. Kodiak is a tough, tough place to live. Everything is very, very expensive. Homes are very, very expensive, and a lot of people are buying homes, building ADUs, and renting out those ADUs as short-term rentals. I think it's great. It's been like that since I came here in 2001. There were lots of B&B's, lots of short-term rentals the whole time I've lived here. I think it's great. The development, I love this. This is, this [sic] more of an answer. I think. We need to start developing land. Property should be sold. The Borough has an abundance of property: in town, out of town, all the way out to Chiniak. Let's sell some. Let's see what happens. There's just none being sold. We have developers that want land, we have developers that are completely out of land. Let's sell some land. Let's start building houses. Let's start building multi-unit houses. Let's fix this crisis before it gets worse.
Arndt: First, off, I'm going to say I agree 100% with Jeremy. Everything he said, and then I'll add to that a little bit. Housing's never been affordable in Kodiak in the 62 years I've lived here, and it's not going to get affordable. You make choices. I started out in a trailer. I started renting first, then got a trailer, before I moved up towards the house. It takes time. To think that you're going to get into a house immediately as you're starting is a fallacy, unless you have parents that have money or are willing to help you with that. But what the Borough needs to be doing, and what I was pushing while on the Assembly, and it just doesn't grab much traction, was we need to be selling some of the land that the Borough owns on the road system. First off, being with sewer and water. Second, Bells Flats, there's additional property to develop out there. Yes, we got to build a few roads. There's property the Borough owns out at Chiniak. Yes, we got to build a few roads. You don't have to dump a whole lot of property on there, but let's get some parcels around town here out that are going to have to be developed, because the Borough is not in the developing business. But you got to sell it before it can be developed. And then you sell some out at Bells Flats, and you sell some out at Chiniak. See what the market is on there. I hear lots of things, but I feel that there's a demand in all three of those places. And there's been some preliminary work on it, and that needs to be continued. And that's why I feel it's been going slow, and as an Assembly member, you get to vote. As a mayor, you don't, unless it's a tie that you're breaking. So it's time to vote again, and that's my push. Thank you.
Brekke: Well, I think Mr. Arndt brings up a good point. I don't think there's ever been affordable housing in Kodiak, and I think another great point is, having people with the history that he has, and understanding that, where we're moving forward [sic], is pretty valuable. And speaking with him in those terms, I think we do need to identify what the Borough can let go of, what the Borough can sell. And if it is a matter of infrastructure, then we tackle those things ahead of time, before that becomes a problem. Once we build roads, we got to maintain roads, so that's creating jobs. I like it. I'm loving everything about that. I think I'm so on board with it. I think Jeremy nailed it on the head with the short-term rentals, and I understand that there's a short-term rental tax that's going to go up possibly. I've heard a little bit about that, so maybe that'll encourage people to want to maybe go long-term on that. I think some of the short term housing, or not the short-term housing, but the affordable housing, what we call affordable, is probably the sliding fee type stuff and the starter houses for people. And I think that's where Mr. Arndt was talking about, starting out small and moving forward, so making a decision. However, I see a lot of people do get in that housing and they want to stay in that housing because it works for them. There's no encouragement to get out of that housing, to want to buy a piece of property or something like that. It's just a distant dream that a lot of young folks aren't going to have unless we make it where they can see it. But then we also have a problem when we don't have enough kids going into the school, so maybe our housing problem is going to take care of itself if we don't take care of that first, right? So we need to look at that and just kind of nail that down. Where does all this fit in together? These are all moving pieces that we need to look at.
Callahan: Oh boy, there's no way I can answer this question in two minutes, but okay. So it was mentioned earlier that there's a squeeze happening, a financial squeeze, and I couldn't agree more. The squeeze is happening one with our elders or retirees who are living on a fixed income, but they've been having their property taxes increased. And the other squeeze happening is with young working-age adults trying to get into the housing ladder via ownership or even rental. So when I say there's no options for a low to middle income earner to get on there, I mean that literally as in there's super sparse availability, and because of that sparse availability, the prices get higher because of that. Now, it was also, another thing is, [sic] it was mentioned that Kodiak has never had affordable housing. It doesn't have to be that way. I'd argue today we probably do have some affordable options in terms of the low income resident housing. We saw a lot of development of what KIHA has been doing that provides a solid foundation for people to get a path to start working in their community. What I want to see is development so that people can move up. It's like a ladder, right? Like the average home buyer, the median home buyer these days is 40 years old. So when we're talking about getting ownership to the people that are going to be developing houses, it's not going to be me, young people. It's going to be that middle demographic, which is actually the demographic that is pretty populous here, is that 30 to 40, 50 year old. So another thing is, it's the really high cost of transportation, right? That's a big obstacle that we see to development. But that's also because.... (time ended for Callahan's response.)
The Borough owns several undeveloped and/or vacant properties across the island, such as the old mental health buildings. What ideas do you have to better utilize the Borough's underdeveloped or unoccupied facilities and areas?
Vizcocho: That's a good question...Well, like I said, we gotta find developable for that building. Any property of the borough, we need to figure out a way if we can reuse it for something else that the community can use. Such as, this is an idea, you know, the Fil-Am organization is looking for a building to call their own. Maybe they can rent it out, or not only the Fil-Am, but other organizations out there that are trying to find a building that they can call their own. Also, maybe we can build a rec center so that we're not always fighting for gym space in the school, That's one thing that I would like to bring up, is to build a rec center for the community, so that all the kids can go to a place to play basketball, volleyball, or work out. Or a place for a family to go to to have events. Because knowing in our small town, it's very hard to either get a gym space or find a place to celebrate a birthday, a Fil-Am organization or an ALMA organization or a Native corp, you know, Native tribal celebration, we don't have that here. So maybe one of those buildings that are vacant or property that are vacant right now, we can build a structure on that vacant lot. Thank you.
Williamson: Well, I'd look at the comprehensive plan and see if some of these properties the Borough has, do they need to keep them? If they're surplus properties, we should sell them to either residents or developers. The mental health buildings are a tough one. It's property that the Borough, honestly, I don't think the Borough should let that property go. I don't think the Borough should, definitely not build residential units in there. I really don't have a plan for those buildings personally. It's definitely important to take public input on that, but I think that the public has put a lot of input into it, and I haven't seen any ideas that really caught my eye. So I don't have an answer for that, but the undeveloped properties are definitely an issue at hand, and I think that they should ultimately be sold. Thanks.
Arndt: First off, like we said before, need to look at selling the property that the Borough has. So, if it's undeveloped on there, it's, as I pointed out, the areas we need to start looking at disposing of part of that. The mental health building need [sic] to be torn down. There's structural deficiencies. Let's just get to the point. It needs to be torn down and removed. I am not in favor of selling any of the property on Borough Hill here to anyone. Borough needs to, as the stewards, keep that. I can't tell you what things are going to look like in 40 years, but there's a damn good chance that sometime in the future we're going to need that. So, but the buildings are structurally a problem, deficient, as I said. That's on the record. So it's time to get rid of those. Sell the property that we can start unloading in bits. Don't dump everything, but make it so other people can...the 10-10-and-10 was very effective for the Kodiak Island Borough for the last 60 years, and need to continue that. The unoccupied [sic], and I think that takes care of your question.
Brekke: What Mr. Arndt said, I agree with. I mean, if they need to get tore down, they need to get tore down. But I think we need to look into workforce development. I think we need to look at further education, blue collar jobs. I've said this before. I'll tell you what guys, I'll say something that I think Kodiak can hang their hat on. Stick a feather in this. I've been all over this country welding, fabricating, working in the industry: the North Slope, Alabama, the East Coast, West Coast. Kodiak has some of the best welders and fabricators I've ever seen. There's no reason for boats to be leaving this island to go anywhere. They can all be done right here. We need to start encouraging that development, and these young children coming out of school, young people coming out of school, get them in the blue collar stuff. Let's look at what Seward's doing with AVTEC. Let's do something like that here, where people are coming here to learn how to become welders and fabricators that can go all over the world. I'm telling you, the skill set here when it comes to metalworking, fisheries, is probably top notch. The problem I see with AVTEC over in Seward is everything over there is kind of based on 'Let's get these guys up and ready for the pipe hitting.' Not really maritime fishery type stuff. We have a specific set of skills here on this island that we can really use. Now we have more taxpayers. We don't need more taxes. And I think that's a golden opportunity for the Borough to look into.
Callahan: I'm going to continue my last question because it directly leads into this question. So I was saying, part of the, another reason why costs for development are high here is because there's not as much development happening. So what I think is what we need to do as an island is do more development, so that development gets cheaper through more bulk orders coming to the island to develop things. Now, what could that look like? That could look like doing land sales, that could look like working with organizations, particularly larger organizations, because here I want to do workforce housing. Again, I was talking about, we want to get onto that ladder so that we can one day afford to buy a house in my 40s or something. So workforce housing, I think, is probably the short-term solution to that. And how we can develop that...these old mental health buildings, are you talking about the BIA buildings, like that used to be next to the high school there, right over here? Okay, yeah, demolish them. I think they had asbestos or something in it, but basically they're ill suitable. I work in economic development. I help put these some of these projects on tables and stuff like that. But I also say if we're going to do workforce housing, there's gonna be, they're large developments, so it needs to happen with the work of the Borough, developers, and other organizations. So like, the state just passed workforce—the AIDA—they can, they changed AIDA's mission statement to include workforce housing. So that's another option. Big organizations in Kodiak, from like multiple organizations, from what I've heard in the work, in the community, is workforce housing is a big concern. Everybody's concerned about retention and workforce. We need houses and workforce housing. Rallying the big entities in Kodiak to make it happen.
Sweeney: The mental health buildings, I think it's clear if they're not good buildings, rip them down. I think on top of that, we need to identify why there's such a hindrance to moving forward with a decision that seems to be pretty black and white. We need to look at low-hanging fruit. Look at what's market ready. What's what's ready to be sold right away. Let's look at properties that need a little bit of improvement. Let's identify what needs to be done to get those market ready, but let's do it in a way that we're developing the land responsibly. Let's just, let's reach out. Let's make sure that neighbors are touched, and discussed, and consulted with. Let's look at being stewards of the land. And I think that's all I got on that one.
Bears breaking into the Kodiak Island Borough's landfill have been a persistent issue for the last few years. How would you like to see that situation handled, and what solutions can the Borough Assembly implement to prevent bears from accessing the landfill going forward?
Williamson: Ooh...I believe that there has been a lot of talks with Fish and Game and Fish and Wildlife, and there are professionals that are involved. I think that we need to work with the state people that are in charge of that, and try to come to an agreement together that works for the Borough and the enforcement. I don't think that ignoring enforcement works, and I don't necessarily think that we can jump through every single hoop that's thrown to us. So that's how I feel. There's got to be some middle ground that we can make, we can get there, and that's what we're going to have to do. We need to get back to where it was about 10 years ago, where you couldn't go to the landfill and see bears. Right now, you can go out there any day of the week, and watch bears if you'd like. Thanks.
Arndt: Well first off, I agree with what Jeremy said. It's very well put. The second thing is the Borough Assembly had an executive session on there and gave direction to the manager, and the manager is working through that. I'm not going to second guess them because I don't have all the information. Thank you.
Brekke: Okay, I've done a lot of thinking on this one. I do know what not to say—the ultimate outcome—so we're going to skip that, but that is something. I think the question needs to be asked: What happens if we're successful in keeping them out? Where do those bears go? Have we even thought about that? The other question is, the other point is, they're going to keep moving the goalposts on us. It really does feel that way. We put up a fence, we put it underground, we do these things, and then the bears still get in. We still get cited. I mean, it's getting—we need to bring these people to the table, like Jeremy is saying. It's exactly my thoughts. Bring these three entities together: DEC, ADF&G, Kodiak Borough, have them help own the problem. So it's not just finger pointing. As long as they're on that other side, staying aloof, and we're over here fighting back, we're never going to get anywhere. We do need to get this settled. But what happens if we do get it settled? What happens? If you look through the Fish and Game books, it talks about what happens to habituated bears and why this happens. It's because they get dangerous, and we had a Borough Assemblyman bring that up, and he caught a lot of flak over that. That's in their paperwork.
I think this is an opportunity. Kodiak has a very specific type of bear, nowhere else on the planet, right here. Let's get together. Let's write the book on it. Let's be the one that we can go around looking at what other people are doing and trying to figure it out. But maybe, it probably ain't gonna work. These bears are habituated. They've been fed. There's no difference between me leaving my trash outside and the dump being right where it's at, bears are going to want to get in there. There's been studies on blue lights. Blue lights seem to stop bears, but does it really work? We don't know. We don't really know what the study shows. They showed a blue light during hazing would stop the bear, but was there a cheeseburger there? Because maybe that would change things. But we can't go throw taxpayer money at something that might not work, hoping it's going to work, and they keep moving the goalposts. We need serious at the table entities working together to figure this one out.
Callahan: Yeah, it's kind of a funny one, cuz I think we should phone, I think it's time we phone some of our friends from Old Harbor and Port Lyons. They deal with this daily, and they've been dealing with these issues, for as long as I can recall. And look, I mean, when it comes down to infrastructure, and we needing, and if we're trying to get back on track to keep building our population and having it grow, we're going to come down to needing a new landfill eventually. So this is a big thing. So I think we need to coordinate with the state. Another problem with the landfill is the e-waste. Alaska gets a lot of exceptions for our landfills because of our rural conditions, like having bears and having transportation hurdles. And so we really have to look and work with our state partners, and then also probably phone a friend from our villages to see what are some of the strategies that they've developed, because they don't even have a fence for some of the villages, so, yeah.
Sweeney: I think it was a Yosemite Park Ranger that said that there's a fair bit of overlap between the smartest bears and the dumbest humans. I think part of the problem starts there. We all need to do just a little bit better part individually on making sure that we're not leaving deterrents [sic] for our furry neighbors. There was the report was just released today that obviously our fence is not adequate. The state is not happy. We obviously have to look at beefing up those current fences, putting in new fences. But we have to be cognizant of the issue: is who's going to maintain those fences? We're losing a fair bit of experience out there at the landfill with retiring employees and whatnot, we need to make sure that that knowledge of what they've seen work and not work is not lost. We need to look at other communities, not just here in Kodiak, but we need to look in Canada. We need to look in other parts of the state. Yes, we've got big Kodiak bears, but bears are bears, and we need to take what's worked and see if it'll implement here. In the, in the immediate, we are being asked to implement hazing and and other deterrent methods to keep the bears out. I work with the Karelian, I work with the Wind River Bear Institute as one of my insureds in my book of business, and they specialize in the hazing and deterring of bears at places like this. They have a proven track record. It's an affordable option, and it's something that looks to, it's a solution that looks to be one that is that will that will continue to be effective and not only work in the current time.
Vizcocho: I'm going to go with what Mr. Arndt said. The, what I will say though is that the the team that is handling that issue right now, they are doing a good job. And it shows us [unintelligible]. So, like I said, I'm going with Mr. Arndt on this one. Thank you.
During the summer to fall months, when bears are more active, tourists and locals alike descend upon the Russian River Bridge. Bear viewing around the area has caused traffic jams and major safety concerns for both drivers and pedestrians. What would you do as a Borough Assembly member to ensure that people are safe while viewing bears in that area?
Arndt: I have a little bit of an advantage on this because while I was on the Assembly, this was an issue that came up. And one of the things that Kodiak Island Borough was trying to entice the state into doing, as part of the the highway and bridge replacement out there, is to put what I'll call is a walkway similar to Potter's Creek in Anchorage there, so off of the road, and then increase the parking. It's not a Borough problem; it's a state highway there. They control that, it's their decision as to how that's handled, but we've encouraged that in the past, and I think that that's the stand that the Borough is still taking right now. So I'll leave it at that. Thank you.
Brekke: Well, there, a lot of them are breaking the law. And that needs to be enforced first and foremost. And I think Denali Park, they kind of nailed it down. Your vehicle has to be completely off the road. You can't be hindering traffic. You can't be putting people in danger. The other problem is, is no matter what we do, by doing that, we're habituating that bear. We're encroaching on its territory, and we're making it comfortable with humans, human scents, and that ends up being a dangerous bear. That's already spelled out in Alaska Department of Fish and Game. I don't know how I feel about a walkway out there. I feel like, liability, there's some liability to it. I live out in that area, and it's it's horrible sometimes to get out there. However, I do know that the bears are something that people want to see. I don't know what the answer is to it, but now we got tour buses showing up out there, tour vans showing up, bringing people out there to see them. I guess as long as they're not taking them to the dump, those probably aren't as good of pictures.
But it is, I do get why people want to do it. But man, they got their little kids out there running around. There's people in the road, and they're not even paying attention. They run right out in front of you. It's 55 through there, and we got this going on. We got people trying to work, we got aerospace coming in, they're going to be back and forth. We got a Coast Guard cutter coming, we got heavy equipment moving, Jeremy's going to be pulling dump trucks and stuff up and down that road nonstop. It's gonna, it's a powder keg. Something's gonna happen, and we already had a bear attack a couple weeks ago on that area. We can't say that was because of that, but we can't say it wasn't either. Habituated bears are dangerous. That's what Alaska Department of Fish and Game has been telling me since I was little.
Callahan: Yeah, it seems like some of the tourists are treating Kodiak like an open air zoo, and that's, yeah, it's not working, and it's not gonna, it's only gonna cause a problems down the line. Because it's just a potential disaster waiting to happen, and if something does happen, it's probably going to involve multiple people because of how much it's stacking up. It's getting a little out of hand. What can we do about it infrastructure-wise? I mean, we could improve the road. Like, well, it's also state road. I mean, like ideally, if we had, like a lot of areas where like you can drive to pull off of the road and park and have a nice view. I mean, I think that's also leveraging one of Kodiak's best traits, is that, I love the fact that you can pull off the road anywhere and have a parking space looking over an island or the bay or something like that. If we had more actual areas for that to happen, but maybe rather than it being over the bay view, it could be over a popular Russian or bear viewing area like the Russian River. Yeah, that's all I have to say about it right now.
Sweeney: I think the best way to try and solve this would be enforcement. I mean, if we have rules, that's great. But if there's nobody out there to enforce it...the trouble is, we don't have anybody to enforce it. We can't rely on the Alaska State Troopers to do everything for us. So that's a really tough one. I think we need to put out feelers. We need to get some ideas on on how we could potentially enforce, what rules and and provisions we we come up with. I think we need to be an active partner with working with the state for when they do the highway improvements. I think with all the flooding and whatnot, it's just a matter of time. My wife is actually works for an engineering firm that's working with the state, and the preliminary ideas and plans for that area of the highway for improvements. So let's have an active voice in that development. Kodiak Island Trail Network has been awesome with doing everything. Let's pull them in the conversation. Let's see what they've got for ideas. The the town to flats trail is such a great idea, and I think pursuing that would help alleviate part of this problem. But again, I think it comes down to enforcement, and what we do for enforcement is tough. We need to look at any and all options.
Vizcocho: So first off, I don't know what the Borough can do because it is a state highway. But what I would suggest for safety purposes, it's kind of like when you go to the zoo. What is the first sign you see in front of the monkey cage or the lion cage? What does it say? Do not feed the lion. Do not feed the monkey. I don't know what kind of signage we would need for that area, but I think there should be a sign that says a warning that it is a state highway. It is not a street where kids are walking around. This is a highway where a lot of 10-wheelers, vehicles going. So maybe having the signage up saying 'Don't park your vehicle here,' 'Don't view the bear on this side.' Maybe down the road more, have a parking lot where you can view. I'm pretty sure around that corner after you pass the Rendezvous, there's an area where you see where the bears walk around. I think to keep the the tourists and our fellow Kodiakans safe, I think there should be a sign there, letting them know that you can't park your car, you can't view the bear on this bridge.
Williamson: Man, I'd like to use my lifeline on this one. I'd probably call a DOT friend. Since this is a state road, we're going to have to get the help of DOT on it. There are definitely some signage that should be put up. It is a major safety issue, and as Brekke said, we do have heavy trucks going by there, and there's been several occasions where people are standing in the middle of the road, and those heavy trucks are just barely able to stop. And then there'll be cars that stop in the middle of the road there, and they have no idea that they're on a highway. And the visibility is terrible. DOT, their budgets cut and they don't have the the funds to to keep the brush clear. So yeah, there's some major issues, and I would like to phone a friend on that, see if we can get some help.
According to Borough Code, assembly members cannot "vote or participate in any official action in which he or she has a substantial direct or indirect financial interest." They also cannot be "a party to a personal services contract with the borough." What potential conflicts of interest do you foresee for yourself, and how would you handle them if you are elected?
Brekke: Fortunately, I don't see any conflicts for myself. I don't have any contracts as a small business owner. I'm not the only small business owner up here, so just speaking for myself, I don't see any. I have witnessed some work sessions and some Borough Assembly meetings where certain people recuse themselves, and I think that's probably discussed a little bit beforehand. I think you need to understand that that's going to happen. It's a small community. I think the community is growing. Opportunity for work is coming, so I could see there being a conflict. But just being smart about it, recusing yourself, and also I think if you're sitting in the Borough Assembly, if you're doing a three-year, you take a three-year hiatus from it. You got to figure out why you're in the Borough Assembly, what you're trying to do, if you're in it for a sprint, or it's a marathon. If you're in it for a marathon, you step back, you cut your contracts, you protect your ability to help the community. Once those three years are up, you go back to work, you do some things, come back a few years later. Or work with other Borough Assembly people. If your job, your livelihood is dependent on the Borough and the jobs, then you step back and you support a Borough Assembly member, and you just kind of work in the wings and you just kind of talk with them and help them and stuff like that. There could be some conflict of interest there too, but I think that there's some things that we just got to navigate and be cautious about. Because it is a small community, and we only got so many people to go around.
Callahan: Little to no conflicts of interest here. My employment is with KANA, the Kodiak Area Native Association. I work as an economic development specialist there. I make sure they check the boxes, make sure everything's good with them. They're a nonpartisan organization, so I'm keeping business strictly separate and all that. And I would plan to withhold my vote if it came down to voting on something that would impact KANA, because that would be a conflict. As far as ownership, I don't even own property, so not many conflicts there. I own a couple of investments. I have Alaska Airlines, I guess I would sell my Alaska Airlines stock before I voted on something, I don't know. But I'll just use my last couple of seconds to say I really prioritize contract competition. If we do land sales, I want there to be a lot of competition for those contracts. And I'm not a fan of backdoor deals.
Sweeney: No conflicts of interest for me. The bank owns my house, I'm working with them. One piece of property. I don't own a ton of property all throughout town. I'm an honest person. If I have a conflict of interest, I'm going to recuse myself. Work with other assembly members, keep your knowledge in the pool, and don't let it get lost.
Vizcocho: I don't own no business or land, but I am part of organizations, and I work for a company that deals with the the Borough. So, if it does come that I have to excuse myself from the discussion, I will, just to keep both parties happy and safe, so that there's no conflict of interest happening. Like I said, I don't see any issues coming up in the future, especially with the Fil-Am. Because if I do get elected, I will be stepping down as the president of the organization, and I will be focusing more on the Borough Assembly. And for my company, I will excuse myself with any discussion or contract that comes with my company.
Williamson: If my company is involved in anything that's at the Borough Assembly level, I would be recused from taking part in the conversation. I wouldn't be in the room. I'd be in the back room. I don't see there being any issue. I've been doing business with the Borough for 13 years. I had previously had a two-year contract with two one-year additions that lasted for 12 years, so I think I have a pretty good track record. I just don't see any conflict that way. Otherwise, I mean, it's really easy to recuse myself.
Arndt: If there was a direct or indirect financial interest on an issue, one would declare that to the mayor and the Assembly, and the mayor rules on that. I don't see a problem. I haven't had a problem with that because I haven't done business with the Borough.
What are your priorities for the Borough's budget? What programs and departments do you believe are over or underfunded?
Callahan: At the end of the day, we come here for one job: passing a balanced budget. Preferably even under budget, but that rarely ever happens. So fiscal responsibility is the is the number one thing on my mind when it comes to the finances, because we have to realize where that money comes from. It comes from the people, and at the end of the day, we have to represent them and and not make overly costly decisions. Other priorities and programs, departments I believe are under or over funded: nothing really stands out. I look forward to diving a little bit deeper to find out the nuances which each budget comes from. From the Assembly meetings that I have had, even when some cuts do come to the table, there's also some perspectives that can arise. We don't always understand the full scope of what cutting means or how much damage it can do. But we do know the full damage of not passing a balanced budget is, and that's the fact that we're putting more burden on the taxpayers.
Sweeney: I think the devil's in the details. Just seeing where the money is going, paying attention to not just the budget, but the audits that follow them. I think we have a duty to show our taxpayers where their money is going. As far as what programs and departments are over or underfunded, that's a tough one. I would need to familiarize myself a little bit more with the actual dollar amounts for each program. But ultimately, I think the the goal is to use the money to build a great community to live in. A self-sustaining community is the goal, and working with community members.
Vizcocho: I'm going to answer the second question: What programs and departments do you believe are over and underfunded? That is something that once elected, I will look into. But the first question: What is my priority for the borough's budget? I would focus on the school, the road system, and the landfill. Because if you focus on the school, that means you're focusing on the family in Kodiak. If you focus on the road, you are making sure that the road is safe for every family, they can go to their work, they can provide for their family, and their kids are safely going to school. The reason why I say landfill is because, as we all know, all humans generate waste. We need to make sure that we have that under control, so that we can live accordingly. But yeah, those would be my priorities: is the school, the roads, and the landfill.
Williamson: I really don't have an opinion on what programs are over or underfunded. I think a very important thing that we have to consider as Assembly members are facilities maintenance issues. There's been a lot of things that have been put off, and that has to be a priority moving forward. The landfill's definitely a priority. The bear fence is definitely an issue that we have to deal with. There's no question. Thankfully, most of our roads are all covered by separate funds, service area taxes that that tend to handle them pretty well, so we don't really have to worry about that. So yeah, that's that's where I stand. I think the big thing is is facilities maintenance, and that's what I would be all about.
Arndt: It's actually two questions, so I'll answer the first one: What are your priorities for the borough's budget? First thing is we need to have land sales. Second thing is we need to lower the mill rate. Then the second question is: What programs and departments do you believe are over or underfunded? The answer to that one, in my opinion, is that borough staffing is fairly lean, and not much room for cuts. But each year the Assembly looks at the budget and looks at what the staffing. Like I said, very lean in my opinion and needs to be looked at every year.
Brekke: My priorities for the Borough budget is to get that budget bigger, to get more taxpayers on this island. Not more taxes. We need more bodies here. We need more people here. That's coming. We got state entities coming in. A lot of them probably aren't going to be paying taxes. The military doesn't pay taxes, so the other thing that I think we should do is look at workforce development. I don't know if I might have mentioned that earlier. I think workforce development is important, but also I think one of our underfunded departments, or entities, or whatever you want to call it, would be rehabilitations: training for young people, giving business owners a tax break, possibly for hiring young folks and training them. It costs a fortune for us business owners to train somebody in a skill set that they can take with them the rest of their life. Then we need to keep them here in Kodiak and encourage them to stay here in Kodiak. Apparently, our schools are underfunded. So I'd like to look into that. I think we need to look at again duplicity. Make sure that we're not having overlapping things. See if there is any kind of things that we can cut back on that we don't need. Are things antiquated? Do we need to relook at things? Are we investing in things that don't have a bright future? Have we been spending money on something that's not working? I'm sure all of these things have already been addressed and looked at. So some time with some other people with that information would be great. Sitting at the table with them. But I also think it's our responsibility to go out and look for that stuff. Go to those entities. Go to those people. Find out what we can do. Is there ability to do this? But again, I think we need to invest in workforce development.
Closing statements (one minute each):
Williamson: Thank you, KMXT, for giving us this platform tonight, and a sincere thank you to everyone listening in. This community thrives when hardworking people can afford to live here. My wife and I were fortunate to plant deep roots in Kodiak. But under our current housing crunch, the next generation simply cannot compete. The solution isn't complicated. We must increase housing supply by aggressively opening up rural land and scaling back burdensome regulations. I am not a career politician. I'm a civil contractor and a formal commercial fisherman who understands the value of an honest day's work. I know what it takes to develop land and build the foundation for a growing community. I want to build a Kodiak where young adults see a future, not a dead end. Let's cut the tape and let Kodiak grow. I would be incredibly honored to have your vote in this election.
Arndt: Well, thank you for this opportunity. Ellen, thanks for the call. Like I said on the last question, we need to to look at getting land out there for sale, and one of the things that's worked well, like I said in the past, is the 10,10, and 10: 10% down, 10 years to pay, it allows people to get in. There's no qualifications. You got to come up with the 10% on there, and either you make or you don't. And if you don't make it, you default, and it goes back out to sale for someone else. But it gives an opportunity because banks don't like to loan on bare land. So this is an opportunity for people to get ahead. The outcry auction is the best way. Find out what the need is there, and so appreciate your vote.
Brekke: I don't have anything prepared for this. Hopefully, most people listened and found out where I stand on this, and I'd like to thank both radio stations for this opportunity for us to get out here. I'm very encouraged with the candidates that are up here. I mean, dude, we got some some people who seem to really care, and I appreciate that so much. So I'm pretty sure there's no such thing as a wasted vote in this in this go around. So I encourage people to get out and vote. I would appreciate a vote for me. I'm not going to sit down and wait for things to come to me. I don't need budgets brought to me. I'm going to go find them. I'm going to go look at people. I'm going to ask the hard questions. I'm going to call people out, and I'm going to speak for the people. And I think as long as we keep that in mind as candidates, if we get elected, that we're speaking for people and not for ourselves, we'd have a little higher voice in the room. I think candidates appreciate that, and I think they appreciate honesty. I think it's important that we look at workforce development for Kodiak.
Callahan: I'll echo again what I started saying in my introduction. My main ambition for running here is to do not a summary statement, but a call to action. Kodiak's voter turnout is really low, and now we have an awesome opportunity to increase the voter turnout with eight political candidates for these seats. So as voters, you guys have options, and I love that. It's a very strong ballot. I'll also reiterate there's a financial squeeze going on. Economics is a ladder, and we need to get people on that ladder to start climbing. We can increase the budget through personal prosperity, we don't have to increase the budget through taxes.
Sweeney: I'm really appreciative of the opportunity. Please go vote. Anybody, just please go vote. My name is Alex Sweeney, and I would appreciate your vote. I've lived here a long time, so has my family. I've seen what works, what doesn't. I'm for pursuing low-hanging fruit while we're planning for the future. Let's get some easy stuff accomplished while we're looking ahead, 15, 20, 25 years down the road. Let's responsibly develop land. Let's see that it goes where it's best used for community and commercial and residential, and let's invest in the assets that we already have. We can't forget what we have because we need that to roll forward.
Vizcocho: Thank you, KMXT and KVOK. I would like to encourage everyone in our community to go out and vote. Each vote represents an opinion, a concern, a voice. Your vote is an opportunity to show what kind of community you want to live in, and what you believe is important for the future of Kodiak. I am asking for your support because I believe effective leadership starts with listening, understanding our community, working together to find solutions. Since being appointed to the Borough Assembly, I've learned that there's still so much to understand, and that our community is strongest when residents are engaged and involved. So whether you support me or another candidate, I encourage you to exercise your right to vote, make your voice heard, participate in the process. Our community, our families, and especially the future of our children depend on the decision we make today. Thank you for your time, your trust, and most importantly, go out and vote.
