One-Year School Board Seat Attracts Crowd

Jay Barrett/KMXT

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 7^th, 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 10^th.

I’m Jay Barrett.

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