KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
The city of Kodiak is looking ahead to the upcoming municipal elections this fall, starting with nominating petitions for the mayor’s seat, as well as two city council member seats. The positions that will be up for election are currently held by Mayor Pat Branson and City Council members John Whiddon and Charlie Davidson.
According to City Clerk Nova Javier, so far the only two petitions that have been submitted and accepted are from two of the incumbents.
“So far we have one nominating petition accepted for the mayoral seat. And the application was from Mayor Pat Branson,” Javier said last week. “And then we also have one city council nominating packet submitted. And that’s from John Whiddon.”
This week that list was extended to include Charlie Davidson, also an incumbent on the city council.
Requirements for mayor and city council are pretty similar — nominees have to be qualified voters of the city of Kodiak and the State of Alaska, and they have to be a city of Kodiak resident for at least one year prior to the election. The only difference is that mayoral candidates must be at least 30 years old, while city council candidates have to be at least 21 years old.
To qualify as a candidate, all applicants have to pick up a nominating packet from the city clerk’s office and collect at least 10 signatures from residents registered to vote in Kodiak.
The city council term is held for three years, and the mayor’s term is held for two years. Current mayor Pat Branson has retained the position since 2011.
On the borough side, there are also a number of positions open, including the borough Mayor’s seat and two Borough Assembly seats. According to Borough Clerk Tara Welinksy, so far only one person has applied for the borough mayor’s seat, that’s Sandra Katelnikoff-Lester. Scott Arndt and Duane Dvorak have applied for the two open assembly seats, currently held by Assemblymember Arndt and Assemblymember Scott Smiley.
A seat on the school board is open, but currently does not have any applicants. Multiple service area board seats are also open and without applicants. A full list of open seats is available at the borough website.
The deadline to return petitions for both the city and borough seats is August 15 at 4:30 pm, and the election will be held October 1.
