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Juneau’s new mayor, Beth Weldon, and three new assembly members will be sworn in at City Hall Monday night.
As the new elected leaders transition in, reporter Adelyn Baxter sat down with outgoing Mayor Ken Koelsch to look back on his time serving Juneau.
When I arrived at City Hall for a final interview with Koelsch, he insisted on giving me a tour of his bright blue office. He takes pride in the local art and historical memorabilia he’s filled it with during his term. Paintings and photos cover the walls — things donated, gifted or brought from Koelsch’s home.
He gestures to one wall lined with portraits.
“Then we found all the former mayors since unification, and put their pictures up one by one. Some of them have come in and demanded that we switch out their pictures for better ones.”
Koelsch is 74 now. Before he entered Juneau’s political arena, he was an English teacher at Juneau-Douglas High School for years.
Then he worked for Customs and Border Protection before retiring in 2014.
I asked Koelsch what got him into politics originally. He leads me to his desk and picks up a wooden plaque with a quote from 18th century Irish politician Edmund Burke: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
“You can either talk about things, or you can do things,” Koelsch summarized.
Koelsch would be the first to tell you that the circumstances that led to his election were unusual.
After Mayor Greg Fisk died suddenly a little more than a month after taking office in 2015, the City and Borough held a hasty special election to replace him.
Not a lot of candidates were prepared to run at short notice.
“So it was one of those deals where, you know, (someone) needed to step up,” Koelsch said. “I had been on the Assembly for six years prior and just decided that, (I) did not want to just let it slide by without any competition.”
Koelsch won that election the following March.
Though he served a slightly abridged term, it was destined to be an eventful one.
Just after taking office, he oversaw the transition of a new city manager and found himself named in a lawsuit filed in federal court. That costly legal battle over tax revenue between the city and the cruise ship industry is still ongoing.
From there, Koelsch went on to see controversial votes on issues like banning the homeless from camping downtown and whether to put an advisory question about child care on the October municipal ballot.
Juneau has a weak mayor, strong city manager form of government. While the mayor gets a vote on the Assembly, it’s a largely ceremonial position — a lot of it is showing up at events and making speeches.
Still, Koelsch said he treated it like a full-time job.
He said he appreciated the civility of Juneau politics and hopes it continues.
“I think that’s extremely important. I hope we don’t become polarized or get sucked into this vortex that we have on a national level,” Koelsch said.
I asked him if there was one issue he would look back on as his proudest accomplishment as mayor.
He said no.
“Because I don’t think that you go into the office trying to establish a legacy,” Koeslch said. “You know, the legacy is that hopefully I’ve served and served well.”
When he announced his decision not to seek re-election in August, Koelsch said it was because he felt it was time for a new generation to step up.
“You work with the hand that you’re dealt and you try to make it better,” he said. “Even now there’s going to be a huge change in the Assembly and that will make a difference in how they attack issues.”
As far as what’s next, he’s content not knowing.
“That’s why it’s called retirement right? I’m not very good at retirement, so we’ll see how we do.”
At Monday’s Assembly meeting, Koelsch will take his leave along with Deputy Mayor Jerry Nankervis, who’s running for state House District 34.
The National Weather Service issued a flood advisory in effect until noon Monday due to heavy rainfall in the Juneau area.
According to the weather service, between 1.5 and 3 inches of rain had fallen in the last 18 hours as of 1 p.m. Sunday. Up to 5 inches were expected to fall by noon Monday.
Juneau lead forecaster Pete Boyd said we’re returning to typical weather for this time of year after an unusually warm and dry September.
“This is definitely getting into normal for fall. However, the rainfall rates, especially at this time, are rather high,” Boyd said.
Boyd said the advisory means they are monitoring water levels in Mendenhall Lake and Montana Creek, as well as other local streams.
Water levels in Montana Creek are expected to crest around 4 a.m. Monday. That could lead to several inches of water on the low parts of Montana Creek Road.
Boyd said Sunday the weather service had not received any reports of flooding. The Alaska Department of Transportation reported mudslides covering a portion of the Haines Highway Sunday morning.
The weather service warns that mudslides are possible in areas with steep terrain.
As for an end to all the rain, Boyd said any respite will be brief.
“As we get into kind of Monday night into Tuesday, there’s a bit of a break, possibly, before the next system moves in, and then after that we are just system after system,” Boyd said. “So we’re back to our typical fall, ‘Hey it’s dry for half a day’ and then we have more rain moving in.”
The forecast shows nothing but rain for at least the next week.
Summer and fall may be the off-season for Eaglecrest Ski Area, but things have still been busy for Juneau’s municipal ski area since the snow melted.
With the first snow appearing on top of the mountains, Juneau residents are starting to wonder what kind of winter it will be on the ski slopes.
The same goes for Eaglecrest General Manager Dave Scanlan and his staff.
They’ve been busy this off-season, and they can’t wait to see the crowds return to the mountain.
“Oh gosh, we’re just excited to be getting all these projects done and just having another great season under our belt,” he said.
Last year, after a snowy November, record temperatures in December and January and little precipitation in the beginning of February meant parts of the mountain didn’t open until almost March. There just wasn’t enough snow.
So Scanlan and his team have spent the last few months revamping the mountain’s snowmaking operation.
Eaglecrest relies on a gravity water pumping system fed by Cropley Lake, about two-thirds of the way up the west side of the mountain.
“We could make snow really good in the base area but we couldn’t connect the dots to where the natural snow base was deeper, you know, during warm weather,” he said.
Now, a new water pumping station and pipeline will provide the pressure needed to make snow on the mountain’s midsection.
“We’ve been making incredibly fast progress on the project up to date,” Scanlan said. “So, very confident we’re going to see that pipeline completed to the top of Hooter, we’re going to see that pump station come online this year.”
Scanlan said they hope to be able to extend the pipe to the base of the Black Bear Chair, too, before the start of the season.
They also bought six used snowmaking machines to expand their snowmaking abilities.
“We’ve got 10 guns in the fleet now, so really excited to also have that ability to move machines around faster, to be more mobile.”
Mechanical problems with the Black Bear Chair last year also kept the east side of the mountain closed for most of the season.
The solution is a new 250-kilowatt generator installed for Black Bear. Scanlan said they’re hooking up the wiring this week.
“It will also give us the versatility to power up our snow guns when we’re making snow at the bottom of Black Bear.”
Other new features this winter include a new ramp for the Ptarmigan Chair at the top of the mountain, a new entrance to the lower Nordic trails and, if all goes according to plan, beer and wine sales in the lodge for the first time ever.
The Juneau Assembly approved this new venture last year.
Scanlan said they’re finishing up the permitting stage now. They will need final permit approval from the Assembly in November.
They’re still renovating the new bar space and have a vendor lined up.
“It’s a third-party concessionaire agreement. Louie’s Douglas Inn is our vendor, so really excited with the Douglas Island connection.”
As for the snow outlook, that’s anyone’s guess right now.
Scanlan said a potential El Nino influence could bode well for upper mountain snowpack. The mountain saw its first dusting of snow at higher elevations last week.
“We’ll see how it goes,” he said. “I’ve also heard from longtime locals that following hot, sunny summers have been very snowy winters. So we’ll see if that connects up as far as some of the historical trends. Always keep the optimism up.”
Eaglecrest’s target opening this year is the first weekend in December.
In the meantime, the Juneau Ski Club’s annual Ski Sale will be Nov. 3 at Centennial Hall.
Eaglecrest will have a table there offering gear tune-ups and season passes. The deadline to purchase a season pass at the cheaper Tier 1 pricing is Sunday.
Six local candidates for state office met Tuesday night to discuss fiscal and social issues facing Juneau, Southeast and Alaska.
With three open seats in the Nov. 6 election, Juneau will have an entirely new legislative delegation come January.
Moderator and Juneau Empire reporter James Brooks started off with questions about the state budget, asking candidates to share their fiscal plans and examine what state services they would cut if given the choice.
They all agreed on the Legislature’s decision last session to cut Alaska Permanent Fund dividends to pay for state services.
Sara Hannan and Chris Dimond both said the draw was necessary, as is the need to establish a state income tax.
They’re competing for Rep. Sam Kito III’s seat in District 33. That district includes Douglas, Lemon Creek, Thane, downtown Juneau, Skagway, Haines, Gustavus and Klukwan.
However, Hannan and Dimond differed on how long that tax should stick around.
Dimond, an independent, would like to see that tax be a temporary solution until state revenue becomes sustainable again.
“I believe that if we keep it at a dollar and do not take that tax off of the books, it keeps future legislative bodies from spending out of control and it helps hold them accountable for our government.”
Hannan, a Democrat, said that she doesn’t see oil revenue returning to its former level and the state’s deferred maintenance backlog can’t wait.
“I think a 1 percent income tax last year would have generated $750 million. We wouldn’t have had to use the Permanent Fund if we’d passed that bill, House Bill 115.”
Brooks asked candidates about their stance on red flag laws, legislation letting families or courts restrict gun access for individuals who may pose a threat to themselves or others.
Democrat Andi Story and Republican Jerry Nankervis are competing for Rep. Justin Parish’s seat in District 34. That district includes the Mendenhall Valley, Auke Bay and out the road.
Story said she supports the concept of red flag laws, but has heard concerns about whether it does enough to identify mental health risks.
“I know we want to protect Second Amendment rights in the state of Alaska but we have to also balance, ‘How do we address our mental health needs?’”
Nankervis said he does not agree with the legislation because law enforcement already has the ability to remove weapons from the homes of at-risk individuals.
“There is that ability already in place and it’s being utilized throughout the state and it has been for many years,” Nankervis said.
Additional topics covered the state’s role in addressing climate change, affordable child care and health care access.
For his final question, Brooks asked candidates how they would increase the number of Alaskans voting in each election.
Statewide voter turnout was nearly 61 percent in 2016 during a presidential election, but 56 percent for the 2014 midterm.
Several candidates praised the state’s new automatic voter registration program when Alaskans apply for PFDs.
Senate District Q candidate Jesse Kiehl, a Democrat, said registration should be as close to universal as possible.
“It’s vitally important that Alaskans call the shots, not those of us with enough ego to put our names on the ballot. Alaskans need to be the check, and the decision-makers.”
Independent Don Etheridge, who is facing Kiehl in the Senate race, said he has seen the impact that negotiating time off to vote into union contracts can have.
“It really made a major difference in our turnout from our locals when you give them the time off to go do it.”
Early voting begins Oct. 22 at the State Office Building and the Mendenhall Mall.
Watch the entire legislative candidate forum below and find more general election coverage online.
Juneau’s municipal election results have been certified, solidifying the win for Mayor-elect Beth Weldon and three new assembly members.
The Canvass Review Board certified the vote Tuesday after reviewing more than 2,000 absentee ballots last week.
In total, 9,607 votes were cast in the Oct. 2 election.
Former assembly member Beth Weldon won the mayor’s race with a total of 4,553 votes.
In District 2, Michelle Bonnet Hale won a three-year seat and Wade Bryson a one-year seat.
Hale replaces Assembly member Jerry Nankervis, who opted not to run for re-election in favor of running for state House in the November general election.
Bryson takes Weldon’s former seat, which she resigned in August to run for mayor.
Carole Triem won a one-year areawide seat in the election. She replaces Norton Gregory, who also resigned his seat to run for mayor.
Incumbent Loren Jones ran unopposed for his District 1 seat.
Total voter turnout was 35.5 percent.
That’s the highest voter turnout since 2010.
The new mayor and three new assembly members will be sworn in at City Hall on Oct. 15.
They will also attend a training at City Hall on Saturday.
Current Assembly member Jesse Kiehl is running for Senate District Q on Nov. 6. His seat will also need to be filled if he wins.
