A handful of candidates have filed to run for public office in Haines and Skagway.
Jerry Lapp and Margaret Friedenauer have filed for three-year seats on the Haines Borough Assembly.
Lapp is a former Haines mayor and borough assembly member. He is currently retired but works part-time for Constantine Metal Resources. Friedenauer is a former KHNS news director who now works for Southeast Alaska Conservation Council.
Joanne Waterman and Dave Berry Jr. currently occupy the two Haines borough assembly seats opening this fall.
Three Haines school board seats are also up for election; those are now held by Sara Chapell, Tiffany Dewitt and Mike Wilson. So far, Wilson has filed for re-election. He is a retired educator who was appointed, along with Dewitt, to open school board seats last year.
In Skagway, incumbent Mark Schaefer and Roger Griffin have filed to run for mayor, which has a two-year term. Schaefer was elected mayor in 2013 and before that he served on the assembly. He works for White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad. Griffin is retired from the U.S. Forest Service and runs a marine repair business.
Two Skagway assembly seats held by Steve Burnham Jr. and Gary Hanson are up in the coming election. Burnham filed today for re-election. He has served on the assembly since 2012 and he works for White Pass.
Two Skagway School Board seats occupied by John Hischer and Stuart Brown are also up for election. Hischer has filed for re-election. He is a licensed clinical social worker at the Dahl Memorial Clinic who has served on the Skagway school board for three years.
Skagway’s filing period closes Aug. 17 and Haines’ closes Aug. 20. The general election is Tuesday, Oct. 6.
Skagway residents will also vote on whether to ratify a 35-year lease between the municipality and White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad. The borough assembly recently voted to repeal the special election they had scheduled for August 25th and move the lease question to the October election.
