John Welsh is running as a write-in candidate for one of two open seats on the Assembly. The municipal election is Tuesday, October 6, 2015. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)
John Welsh is a product of the West. Born in Wyoming, he moved Alaska to work in education. Along with his wife and three kids, he’s lived in Sitka for the past five years as a driver for Sitka Cab. And this year, he’s putting his name forth as a write-in candidate for the Sitka Assembly.
Even if you don’t know John Welsh, he probably knows you.
For the past five years, Welsh has been a driver for Sitka Cab, where he said, “I get to know everyone eventually.” Welsh spends hours a day talking talking about Sitka’s economy, taking the pulse of locals and explaining the issues to visitors. And it was in this milieu that he decided to run for Assembly.
“It came from the cab,” Welsh said. It came from people getting off a cruise ship and wanting a tour around Sitka and not to look at the bears, the raptors, and the totems, but to look at the shopping centers, the types of neighborhoods we have, and to ask about employment. In a way I run a little type of informal survey on lots of issues all the time.”
Welsh is retired, but had a diverse career path before coming to Sitka in 2010. He was a logger in California and traveled around Alaska as a school administrator, where he helped to reform literacy programs. He considers this experience valuable toward serving on the Assembly. If elected, he is especially interested in reviewing Sitka’s tax exemptions.
“For instance, there are approximately 30 tax exemptions that need to be looked at. Some of them are outdated,” said Welsh. “They go back to the 70s.”
And that includes reconsidering the tax exemption for senior citizens. Welsh asked, “About one third of the town qualifies for a senior exemption. Can we afford that?” Keep in mind that Welsh is over 65 and said, “I have the card and I am willing to lead and organize the tax card burning rally at some point.”
As a former education administrator and father of three, Welsh has been especially vocal about funding to Sitka’s schools.
“The minute the budget the crisis hit – I’ve been in education so long – that I knew it was very likely teachers were going to get pink slips,” said Welsh. He began a letter writing campaign to the school board and superintendent. “I immediately started defending [teachers] and pointing out that if you have a teacher, you have a school. If have a teacher, without a teacher, it’s nothing.”
When asked if he believes the school district should be funded to the cap, he said yes, but with the stipulation that they are given that funding over time. If elected, he said he would apply that thinking to other funding decisions before the Assembly.
“I was really in favor of Chamber of Commerce getting the Tourism and Convention contract. I thought that was a great idea. That’s exactly who should do that. Businesses can promote businesses,” said Welsh. “But I was amazed that the city just gave them the $300,000. It’s sort of like hiring someone to paint a big building and then giving them all the money first. Most jobs are paid in stages for performance.”
Welsh served briefly on the board for the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and is interested in development possibilities downtown. He considers Castle Hill, the site of the 1867 transfer of the Alaska territory, a prime location for setting up merchants booths to tourists or hosting events.
“I just see it was a tremendous opportunity, right in front of where the cruise ship people get in front of the lighters. We could have concerts and sales and more events,” said Welsh.
In 2013, Welsh finished a novel and applied to sell it on the lightering dock to tourists. When the City of Sitka said no, he sued. The case was dismissed after the city changed the language of the general code to allow Welsh to sell his book. Welsh said he’s not afraid to take on the system, when he feels something needs to be changed.
“I think I may be useful in this budget problem era,” said Welsh. “I’ve got a private sector ethic of hard work and being a little bit hard-headed about problems. Somebody needs to bring that to government in Sitka right now. Everybody here is very nice. Very civil. And some of the problems we’re facing actually require tough originality and actions that may not be popular.”
For Welsh, Sitka is already poised to solve its own problems by looking inward for solutions.
Our economic development is wide open. Our imaginations can have very strong play because of that dam – the hydroelectric project,” said Welsh. “We’re all upset that we’re having to pay a little bit more or in some cases, quite a bit more right now. But if you look at all the coal burning states and the states where global warming is having a disastrous effect, that’s not going to touch us. We are situated for clean industry to come in here and take advantage of all that power.”
And for that, Welsh thinks the Assembly needs to continue doing what he does day in and day out in the cab, “talking to people and listening to people and finding out what everyone else thinks.”
There are a total of nine candidates for municipal office this year — four running for two seats on the assembly, and five running for two seats on the school board. All are three-year terms. Raven News will feature a different candidate each day between now and the election on Tuesday, October 6.
