Juneau Gearing Up for New Administration

Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO

    Gov.-elect Bill Walker and Lt. Gov.-elect Byron Mallott will be sworn into office on Monday at Juneau’s Centennial Hall. The public inauguration ceremony begins at 11:30 a.m. and is expected to last about an hour.

    Lindsay Hobson, Walker’s daughter and a campaign spokeswoman involved in the transition, says they’ve reserved hundreds of seats for invited guests alone.

    “Between the band, the performers, the people on stage and their families, you know, the governor and the lieutenant governor-elect’s family and friends that are traveling, it’s close to 500.”

    There will be seating available in the main ballroom for nearly a thousand people. Overflow seating and viewing for hundreds more will be available in the Centennial Hall lobby and at the Juneau Arts & Culture Center.

    Alaska Airlines is adding an extra Anchorage-to-Juneau flight on Monday morning to accommodate inauguration traffic, the campaign said in a Thanksgiving press release.

    “This is the first time in state history where we have had both an Alaskan-born governor and lieutenant governor serving together. …You know, I think there’s going to be a lot of energy, a lot of excitement. And also, it is our first nonpartisan administration in Alaska history. And the only nonpartisan governor in the United States right now. So it will be certainly one to remember.”

    Live Gavel Alaska coverage of the ceremony begins at 11:30 a.m. on 360 North.org. KTOO’s Casey Kelly and former APRN capitol correspondent Dave Donaldson will host the coverage.

    After the ceremony, Hobson says Walker and Mallott will head to the third floor of the Capitol building to physically assume their offices. Walker plans to stay in the Governor’s Mansion Monday night.