KIB Assembly Election Profile: James Turner

James Turner is running for a seat on the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly, and as a write-in, he almost slipped under the radar. Turner, who is the plant manager at Ocean Beauty, says he turned in his paperwork a little bit late.

“I had plans on bringing in the paperwork on time, but got a little busy that day on the day that I planned to do it with salmon. So, unfortunately, it’s been a slow salmon season, but on that particular day it got a little busy. So, with everything going on, I showed up a day late, so that’s why I’m a write-in, so I’m not officially on the ballot.”

This salmon season has been a demanding one and taken a toll on the members of the fishing industry. Pink salmon numbers are at the lowest they’ve been since the ‘70s, and Turner says cannery workers have been forced to look elsewhere for jobs.

“We’ve had a lot of people move out of town because of what’s going on in the fisheries right now. The insecurity of not knowing what’s gonna happen a week from now, a month from now, a year from now has made people rethink what they’re doing in this town.”

Turner says the lack of housing also means cannery workers are crowded into small spaces.

“They get together as multiple families and either rent out a two bedroom or a three bedroom, and then you’ve got three or four people in one bedroom, and having an entire family of four sharing a two or three bedroom home with two or three other families – it’s very taxing on the mental state of anybody.”

These are the community members that Turner wants to represent. He says he hears the issues cannery workers and fishermen experience with housing and roads…

“Just the miscellaneous issues that they brought up over the last few years and that’s one of the reasons why I’m running is because a lot of these guys are just too timid to step forward and run, so I figured I have the ability to take part, I might as well throw my hat in the ring and try to help them as much as I can.”

Turner is a write-in, which means he won’t be on the ballot. To vote for him, residents will need to put pen to paper and enter his name themselves.