Christianson says experience is crucial

Thor Christianson has already spent nine years on the Sitka Assembly. He last served in 2013, and now, he’s back for more.

Christianson is one of five candidates running for two open seats on the assembly.

He says, if elected, he’ll bring experience, a centrist perspective, and a focus on education.

 

Thor Christianson first served on the Sitka Assembly from 1998 to 2004. He lost reelection that year, and then returned to the assembly in 2010. In 2012, he ran for Mayor, losing to Mim McConnell.

In 2013, he decided to take a break.

“Doing six years in a row straight really burns you out,” Christianson says. “I took a year off…you know, recharged my batteries, got my Tuesday nights back for awhile…I would recommend it. It makes you a better assembly person.”

Now that he’s running again, Christianson thinks his past experience is an asset – especially since the departure of assembly members Mike Reif and Pete Esquiro will leave only one continuing member, Phyllis Hackett, who has served longer than two years. (The other long-serving member is Mayor Mim McConnell, who is running for reelection.)

Christianson says continuity and experience are important.

“I’ve been around long enough, doing this enough, to where I can remember the last time we made the same mistake – and I may have made it,” he says. “And I’m hoping that I can help steer the city through some of those things, because, you know, I’ve seen it before, and have that knowledge, that, ‘Hey, this is going to get us in trouble, or this might be a better way to do it.'”

He says he sees himself as a “middle of the road” candidate.

“I understand why people don’t want to pay taxes and don’t want to pay higher fees, at the same time I can see we’ve got to provide services,” Christianson says. “I know that I just paid my tax bill, and it’s probably the biggest bill I pay per year, and it hurt. So I understand that. But at the same time I understand, we’ve got to try and keep the roads, at least from swallowing the cars, and we’ve got to try and keep the lights on and the water flowing.”

Christianson says that as an assembly member, his top priorities would be very clear: “public safety — police and fire — and schools.”

He says he favors funding the school district “as much as we possibly can.”

“It’s very fashionable to say that there are things we can do to make the schools better that don’t cost money,” Christianson says. “Unfortunately most of them don’t work without money.”

He pointed to the range of issues the district faces, from the Title IX complaint over Moller Field to the revised Alaska Standards that require new materials and teacher training. He says the assembly’s job is to make sure the district has the resources to meet those challenges.

“The assembly can’t deal with the minutiae, or actually any of the details of education funding,” Christianson says. “The only thing we can do is provide them with as much money as we can. And I think there needs to be a voice for that.”

Christianson’s wife, Jessica, teaches at Baranof Elementary School.

Beyond public safety and education, Christianson says the big challenge is how to handle a backlog of decaying infrastructure – from roads to water mains to sewer lines. He says that may mean finding cheaper options — like letting some roads go to gravel or building others without sidewalks — but it also might mean, yes, raising fees or taxes.

But he says that if the assembly does consider raising revenue, it must take the time to get buy-in from the community.

“One of the things I’ve learned is that if you are going to have some sort of fee or tax increase, you’ve got to have consensus,” Christianson says. “And you’ve got to make it to the point where a vote on it is almost a formality…so if we are going to make any major changes to how we fund things in Sitka, it’s going to have to be a long process that has a lot of buy in, or else it’s just not going to happen. And probably nor should it.”

Christianson has worked for Southeast Region EMS since 1999, training and equipping emergency medical personnel. He was born and raised in Sitka, and has two young daughters. And, he says, in the end, running for assembly is about making sure his hometown remains a place to be proud of.

“And hopefully, in forty years, when my daughters are having their kids here, they can say the same,” Christianson says. “And they can say that, you know, my dad was part of the solution. And that’s what I want to be.”

The Municipal Election in Sitka is October 7.  There are five candidates running for two open seats on the Sitka Assembly; two candidates for Mayor; and two candidates for two open seats on the School Board. You can find profiles of all the candidates, as they air, here.