A local election shake-up continues as longtime Juneau school board member Emil Mackey says he has decided not to run for reelection after a nine-year tenure.
Mackey said he changed his mind on running just this week.
“I’ve spent three terms on the board, including a consolidation process that was extremely taxing, emotionally and time-wise,” he said. “I think it’s time for somebody else to join the board, because I am just exhausted.”
His announcement comes just after board President Deedie Sorensen told KTOO on Thursday that she also is not running for reelection and will retire when her term ends this fall.
That means two full-term school board seats are open without incumbents for this fall’s municipal election. There’s also a chance to serve a partial term following former school board member Will Muldoon’s resignation this spring.
The last chance to file for an open seat on the school board or Assembly is Monday, July 28, at 4:30 p.m.
Voters first elected Mackey to the board in 2015. He was then reelected in 2018 and again in 2022. He has a Ph.D. in public policy with an emphasis in higher education policy and a master’s in education from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Like Sorensen, he played a critical role on the board during the COVID-19 pandemic and the decision to consolidate Juneau’s high schools and middle schools. Both Mackey and Sorensen faced some public backlash for their vote in favor of the consolidation and were the subjects of a failed recall attempt in last year’s election.
Mackey said he is far from being done with public service in Juneau, but needs time away to focus on his family and business.
“I’m coming out of the ninth round of a heavyweight fight, and I don’t feel like I need to start the first round of a new one,” he said.
He said he’s “scared to death” that no one will run for his empty seat because of the difficulty of the role and the tough decisions board members are likely to face in the coming years. He blamed the lack of funding support from the state and federal government as the root of most of the Juneau School District’s problems.
