Yesterday was municipal election day all over Alaska. Polls were open for most of the day, but many residents chose to vote early.
Residents in Ketchikan have both a borough election to vote in and a city election. For the borough, the unofficial count of ballots was at 2,060. The city counted 1,057 ballots. That’s around a 21% and a 19% voter turnout, respectively.
Here are the unofficial results of the election.
There were 5 races in the Ketchikan borough election, all of which were contested. Longtime borough assembly member Austin Otos won the race for borough mayor against candidate and fellow assembly member Jaimie Palmer by 270 votes.
The borough assembly will see new assembly members: Rodney Dial and Glen Thompson for two-year terms and Dan Ortiz for a one-year term.
The school board will also see new members, including Shari Montgomery who won against Paul Robbins Jr. by 367 votes for a two-year term. Melissa Reed and Lindsey Johnson won against Steven Thomas and Jon Schleiff for three-year terms.
On the city council, Abby Bradberry and Janalee Gage beat out candidate Robb Arnold for three-year terms.
One revenue bond on the city ballot that passed approved $15 million in improvements to Ketchikan’s wastewater treatment system. That money will go to improving the city’s main sewer infrastructure along the Tongass Highway corridor and installing a new disinfection system at the city’s Charcoal Point Wastewater Treatment Plant facility.
All six of the changes to the city charter were approved.
The sole proposition on the borough ballot, which asked voters to approve an extension of the school capital projects sales tax, also passed. The 0.5% sales tax that goes toward financing bondable school capital improvement was set to expire in 2027, but has been extended to 2032.
KRBD’s Hunter Morrison contributed to reporting.
