SCVB director Tonia Rioux. (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)
The Sitka Assembly race is down to four candidates, for two open seats.
Sitka Convention and Visitors Bureau director Tonia Rioux withdrew from the race Friday (8-21-15). She says a combination of events in the last week means she needs to focus on her family in the next few months.
“Because of the way things worked out right now, I’m not exactly sure what I’ll be doing over the next couple months,” Rioux told KCAW. “Or that I’ll be able to focus my full attention to the office of an assembly member as required.”
But Rioux says she hopes to run in the future. And she says she hopes the candidates who are running will focus on affordability.
“I think one of the main things I’d like to see the Assembly pay attention to really, is the cost of living in Sitka,” Rioux said “And how it’s affecting families and younger people who love Sitka and want to make it their home, but are finding it increasingly challenging to afford to live there and afford to raise their families there.”
The four candidates still running for Assembly are current Deputy Mayor Matt Hunter; former mayoral candidate Orion Hughes-Knowles; former high school teacher and softball coach Bob Potrzuski; and write-in candidate John Welsh.
They are running for the seats currently occupied by Hunter and assembly member Michelle Putz, who is not running for reelection.
There are also five candidates running for two open seats on the Sitka School Board.
The Municipal Election will be held Tuesday, October 6.
