- District 1 Assembly
- Troy Wuyts-Smith
- Barbara 'Wáahlaal Gíidaak Blake
- Paul Kelly
- District 2 Assembly
- Kelly Fishler
- Michelle Bonnet Hale
- Mayor
- Beth Weldon
- School Board
- Kyle Scholl*
- Thom Buzard
- Will Muldoon*
- Ibn Bailey
- Aaron Spratt
- Elizabeth Siddon
- Amber Frommherz
Age
38
Family
I have a wife, Rikki, son, Brayden, and daughter, Preslee.
Politically, how do you identify?
I’m a registered Republican who considers himself independent.
How do you earn a living?
I work for the State of Alaska at the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission and Executive Director of the Juneau Sports Association.
What are some topics you’re an expert on?
I’m huge into sports. I wouldn’t say I’m an expert at anything — I’m always willing to learn new things. I recently enrolled in an online course for constitutional law. I wouldn’t say I’m an expert, just trying to learn more about it.
Why are you running for office?
I’m running for office because my son is now starting into the school district, and I just want to make sure that he’s getting all the education that he deserves, and even all the other kids who are going as well. You know, with COVID, it has been a struggle for everybody. And I kind of don’t like the way it’s going for my personal reasons. That’s why I’m running.
Education policy
What’s something in Juneau’s standardized test data that informs an education policy you want to implement or action you want to take?
You know, I’m not familiar with how it is now. I’m just going by what I know about 20 years ago when I took it. But I feel like the standardized testing should kind of hone in on all subjects. That way we know kind of have more of an idea of their skill set, so to speak, and not just keep it down to the three that I was familiar with.
COVID-19
What do you think of how the district has handled COVID-19 in schools so far? Would you like to change anything?
With COVID, as we all know, it was a tough situation for all. You know, I do like some of the stuff that the school district is doing and has done. I’m not a huge fan on the masks, as they tend to cause other health issues other than keeping COVID out. But I like to meet in the middle. You know, I, myself and other parents have sent in information and research and stuff and felt like the board kind of, you know, looked past it. You know, there’s parents that don’t like it, there’s parents that like it — we just need to meet in the middle and have a compromise.
Working together
What’s your approach for dealing with colleagues you disagree with on a policy matter?
I mean, everyone’s gonna disagree with me on probably everything. As we know, in politics and stuff, people can’t get can’t agree on anything until it’s — I just gotta meet in the middle and work together and compromise with each other and kind of just look at the bigger picture. Not just what we want as a group or an individual, but what is better for the whole community?
School involvement
What is your relationship to Juneau’s schools? Are you a parent?
I am a parent, and I did go to the Juneau School District for 12 years when I was younger.
Serving Juneau
Which parts of Juneau do you think are underserved by the school district, and what will you do about it?
When I was at the football game, the Huskies football game — and I know I’m not too familiar with how the board as a whole is in with sports programs. But when I was a kid, we would have games Friday night. It was packed. And the last couple I’ve seen and been to, the seats are half full. Hardly any kids. And that’s kind of one of my main focuses is to work on the sports programs and help any way that I can to get that back up. Because I strongly feel that sports in a small town like this is really important for the kids.