KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
Mitch Borden/KMXT
There are eight people running for the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly this year. To help our listeners get to know the candidates, KMXT will be airing profiles of them every Tuesday and Thursday leading up to the election. KMXT sat down with Sandra Katelnikoff-Lester to discuss her campaign for the borough assembly.
Sandra Katelnikoff-Lester wants to be on the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly to make a difference.
“I would like to be in a position where I can help make some positive changes for our borough and that includes every community on the island including Kodiak.”
She was born in Karluk and has lived in Ouzinke, Larsen Bay, and now Kodiak. Katelnikoff-Lester is confident she’d be a good representative for the borough’s outer lying communities.
“I know how the people think, what the people think, and I don’t think they have enough representation.”
There are a lot of issues Katelnikoff-Lester would like to focus on if she’s elected. Like keeping schools open in villages, encouraging more recycling, and making sure the borough is taking care of its fisheries.
Right now, Katelnikoff-Lester says she works with her husband running their vending company, which services vending machines across the island. She says the reason she’s running for a seat on the assembly this year because she feels prepared for the job.
“There’s a right time for everything and I believe I’ve reached a certain level of maturity and I think I’m ready, capable, and able to find solutions to the problems we have here on the island.”
Having open lines of communication with those she’d represent is important to Katelnikoff-Lester.
“I’m like to think I’m a candidate of the people. I would hope that anybody has a comment would call me and talk to me. If there’s a solution, I’ll try and help find it.”
The election for the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly will be held on October 3rd. You can vote at your local polling place.
