Meet Jamie Bursell, the newest Juneau Assembly member

jamie bursell
(Photo courtesy of Jamie Bursell)

Jamie Bursell was recently sworn into the Juneau Assembly to replace Karen Crane after Crane stepped down to run for mayor. Bursell has lived in Juneau for 20 years. In 2001, she was awarded the Outstanding Faculty of the Year award from the University of Alaska Southeast, where she taught human anatomy and physiology. She now works at the Southeast Alaska Surgery Center as a fluoroscopy technician and owns a triathlon training business.

Bursell will serve in her District 2 seat until mid-October when the position is up for election.

KTOO’s Elizabeth Jenkins interviewed Bursell on Feb. 29. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

On why she wanted to be on the Juneau Assembly:

Friends of mine encouraged me. I hadn’t really thought about it until fairly recently, but I had some friends that got together with me, and we talked it through, and I talked to my husband. And I felt like I was a good person for the position because I have a lot of time, and I really have the energy to put into looking at all of the issues–which I find to be very interesting. There’s a huge variety of issues that we have to tackle. I feel like I have a lot of good life experience, and I enjoy Juneau. I know a lot about the different aspects of Juneau: the facilities, the people and outdoors.

Her thoughts on education: 

I’ve actually worked at all the [grade] levels in Juneau. I worked from preschool, all the way through high school as a para-educator. So I had that experience. And then, because both of my boys were in school here in Juneau all of those years, I volunteered at whatever level they were in. I know firsthand, that we need to keep funding education to the max. We have to keep our kids in school, and we have to do everything we can to help them get a good education and to finish school.

I’m also very much in support of education for young children. At the preschool level, we really need to make sure that we get our kids in there and get them a good start in a good, healthy environment. And that early reading program is especially important in the mix.

How she wants to spend her time on the assembly:

We have to focus on all [of the issues] as assembly members. There are some very, very serious issues. The opioid problem is terrible, and there are groups that are addressing that right now. I’ll always be in support of finding ways that we can help our kids stay away from drugs and help the young adults — anybody who does become addicted — help them with the best resources that we have. And I think we have a need to grow those resources, too. We really need to get people help here in Juneau as soon as we can. We can’t just can’t take people who have very, very serious issues and shipping them out. I think we need to address them here, and we need to have the facilities and the funding available for that.

Her secret penchant for junk food:

I think people would be surprised to learn that I love baking, and I love eating sweets. Because — especially in my triathlon coaching business — I’m always promoting clean eating, trying to integrate the best foods into your diet. But one of my favorite things is to have roasted marshmallows.

Editor’s note: An earlier version stated Jamie Bursell works at Juneau Medical Center. She works at the Southeast Alaska Surgery Center. 

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