Today, Aug. 1, marks the beginning of a new month and the opening of the candidacy filing period for local offices in the City of Kodiak and Kodiak Island Borough. Interested candidates have roughly two weeks to file for one of several municipal positions.
The upcoming election includes two seats on the Borough Assembly and School Board, as well as two City Council seats.
Nova Javier, the Borough clerk, said there are certain qualifications an interested candidate must meet in order to run for local government.
“They must be qualified voters of the borough and residents of the borough for at least one year prior to filing. They may not serve simultaneously as Mayor and as a member of the assembly, or as Mayor and member of the school board, or as a member of the assembly and member of the school board,” Javier explained.
Javier adds that all borough office, and declared write-in candidates, such as assembly or school board members, must file a Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC) financial disclosure statement with the borough clerk when they file for office.
For the Borough Assembly, Scott Smiley and James Turner’s terms are ending. And for School Board, Dave Johnson and Judy Carstens’ seats are expiring as well. Johnson, who is the current President of the School Board, previously told KMXT he would not be seeking re-election this year. Each of these seats involves a three-year term.
There are also multiple Service Area seats that are up for election in October, including Sean Rauwolf and Fred Roberts’ seats for Bay View Road Service Area, John Parker and Paul VanDyke's seats for Fire Protection Service Area, two vacant seats in Monashka Bay Road Service Area, Jay Baldwin and Paul Hansen’s seats in Service Area No. 1, and William Roberts and Travis Ray Cooper's seats in Womens Bay Service Area.
Javier said if no one files as a candidate for some of those service area seats, then someone can be appointed later to fill the vacancy.
“If nobody files for the seats, let’s say for the service areas, then what happens to those is that after the certification of the election we will advertise the seats and they will be filled by the assembly," Javier stated.
Any borough residents wanting to run for office can pick up a filing form from the Borough clerk’s office or go online to their website either by email or in person.
On the city side of things, Councilmembers Terry Haines and Richard Walker are up for re-election in the fall. Full disclosure that Haines is a staff member at KMXT, although he had no role or influence on the reporting of this story.
Registered city voters will also weigh in on a ballot proposition to decide if future city managers will be required to live within city limits or outside the city within 12 road miles. An election pamphlet with all relevant information will be mailed to registered city voters and posted online on the city’s website leading up to the election.
Both the city and borough elections will take place on Oct. 1, election day.
