Eight candidates are vying for two open seats on the Sitka Assembly this fall. One of them is Frederick Olsen Jr. KCAW’s Katherine Rose spoke with Olsen to find out why he’s throwing his hat in the ring:
Frederick Olsen Jr. moved to Sitka two years ago, but he grew up in Southeast Alaska.
“I was born in Ketchikan, lived there through the 8th grade, and then my family moved to Juneau. I graduated from Juneau Douglas High School, then I went to Seattle University,” he says. “My Haida name, K’yuuhlgáansii, it means ‘Place of One’s Own.’ On my dad’s side, our family is Haida, and in the Kasaan area go back time immemorial.”
Professionally, Olsen leads the Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission– a coalition of 15 federally recognized tribes that’s tasked with addressing major industrial development across borders- specifically mining in British Columbia. Olsen says the goal is to both collaborate with the industry and push for changes.
“We’re working against very old laws that are very favorable to the industry, but you know, now it’s 2020, and we know that we live on this little place in space, and we need to take care of it,” he says.
And Olsen has some experience in government too. He moved to Kasaan on Prince of Wales Island when he was working on a project to preserve Native languages, but he ended up running for local office. He served several terms on the Tribal Council of the Organized Village of Kasaan and served three terms on the Kasaan City Council, and he took one big lesson away from those experiences.
“You really need to listen- that’s one of the things I really learned,” he says. “You have to listen to the other people on the council, but then you really need to listen to the people that you’re working for, you know, the citizens.”
But he ended his last city council term in Kasaan early when he moved to Sitka in 2018, which he says he did for love. He’s engaged to Blossom Twitchell, who’s running for a full term on the Sitka School Board.
Olsen says if he’s elected, he won’t come to the assembly table with any preconceived notions- he knows it’s a tough job. He says his biggest priority is to listen and to be willing to collaborate.
“We can work together– we don’t have to fight,” he says. “That doesn’t mean we can’t talk about difficult things– but you don’t have to be difficult.”
Olsen says the coronavirus will make serving in a local leadership role more challenging, but he says he wants to help out as the city navigates uncharted waters in the coming year.
“It’s a very important time to work together,” he says. “This is not a time to only think of ourself or our own families. We do have to look out for our families, but we need to work together for all of our families.”
Olsen is running for one of two open assembly seats being vacated by members Richard Wein and Steven Eisenbeisz. Sitka’s municipal election is October 6. The deadline to register to vote in the election is September 6.
Editor’s Note: Olsen is a volunteer at Raven Radio, and in accordance with FCC regulations, is on a hosting hiatus until after election day. Raven Radio will provide continuous coverage of local elections in the coming weeks, including interviews, candidate forums and questionnaires. The KCAW 2020 Election Hub will go live, on our website, on September 10.
