SITKA, ALASKA

/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:””;
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}


Garrison has served one term on the school board. He’s the operations manager for the Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association, where he first began work in 1988.

           

Garrison has a bachelor’s degree in Fishery Biology from Colorado State University, and a master’s degree in Fisheries and Wildlife from the University of Vermont.

           

Garrison has two daughters. The oldest, Mehgan, recently graduated from Sitka High, where she served as the student representative on the school board. His younger daughter, Maggie, will be a senior this year, and will also serve as the student representative on the board.

           

Lon Garrison’s seat is the only one up for grabs in this year’s election cycle. Currently, he is the only candidate to have filed for the board.

 

John Stein is one of two candidates so far for the mayor’s chair. Stein was until recently the executive director of the Sitka Sound Science Center, the non-profit organization which operates the former Sheldon Jackson Hatchery and the Ahlgren Aquarium.

           

Stein was city administrator in Sitka for two years beginning in 2005, and prior to that the mayor of Wasilla.

           

Stein originally came to Sitka in 1959 when his father, the late Tom Stein, helped build the Alaska Lumber and Pulp mill. He is a 1962 graduate of Sitka High School. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Management from the University of Oregon.

           

In addition to his work as municipal administrator, Stein has also served as Sitka’s assessor, as a planning commissioner, and as an assembly member.

           

One of his four sons, Reber, holds a seat on the assembly. The younger Stein, however, has declined to run for reelection to local government, and instead is running as a Democrat for the seat representing House District 2 in the Alaska Legislature.

           

John Stein joins sitting assembly member Cheryl Westover in the race for mayor. Current mayor Scott McAdams is running for the Democratic nomination to the US Senate. He has not yet announced whether he’ll also seek reelection to the mayor’s chair. Under Alaska law, candidates are prohibited from running in more than one partisan election at a time. Since local government in the state is non-partisan, McAdams could lawfully run for both re-election as mayor and for the Democratic nomination to the US Senate.

 

Additional assembly candidates who announced last week include political newcomer Michelle Putz and two-term incumbent Jack Ozment. A third candidate, Terry Blake, filed this week.

           

Blake is a physician’s assistant in the urgent care outpatient department at Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital, where his wife Suzi is a physician. The couple moved with their two sons to Sitka in 2006 from Texas. He has a bachelor’s degree in Emergency Medical Care from Loma Linda University. Blake was a Combat Medical Specialist in the US Army from 1972 to 1975, when he was honorably discharged as a sergeant.

 

Filing for municipal office closes at 5 PM this Friday, August 6th. Candidate packets are available at city hall in the municipal clerk’s office.
© Copyright 1970, Raven Radio Foundation Inc.