Ketchikan City Council member Jack Finnegan filed to run for reelection in the upcoming municipal election. There are three 3-year seats and one 1-year seat up for grabs on the Ketchikan City Council.
The council serves as the city’s legislative power, and is responsible for creating ordinances and approving the city budget. It’s made up of a mayor and seven council members.
KRBD spoke with candidate Jack Finnegan about his goals and priorities if reelected to office.
Finnegan: My name is Jack Finnegan. I currently serve on the Ketchikan City Council. I’m completing a three-year term. It’s my second term. I was first elected in 2022 for a one-year seat, then re-elected in 2023 for a three-year seat, and now I have put my hat in the ring again for another three-year seat.
Morrison: And why are you running?
Finnegan: Well, why am I running? That’s, you know, an excellent question for any candidate. I think when I first ran, I had sort of a two-pronged answer to that question. One was I wanted to serve my community in a meaningful way. And two, I saw service on the city council as an excellent way to develop a better understanding of how the municipality functions, where its strengths are, some of the challenges that we face. And now having been on the council for almost four years, I will say that it has been a very stark education, very instructive as to what some of the great strengths we have are and where we have room for improvement. I see a lot of value in that education with respect to making decisions about everything from the budget to some of the policy matters that come before the city council. So at this stage, now running for my third term, which if I were to be elected would be my limit, I get to apply the lessons that I’ve learned over the last four years of service toward the decisions that I’ll be making if I am reelected to the council for the forthcoming budget cycles and other policy matters.
Morrison: Could you talk a little bit more about some of your priorities?
Finnegan: Sure, priorities for me certainly include some of the longstanding infrastructure needs that we’ve been trying to address. You know, we’ve got portions of our infrastructure that are years, sometimes even decades, past their given service life, and we have been extraordinarily fortunate to have such committed staff who have dedicated so many of their working hours, and you know, weekend hours and overnight hours toward keeping the lights on. For example, if we have a power outage or keep the telecom systems working if things go south, I would really like us to move past the reactive nature we’ve had to a lot of these aged infrastructure needs. You know, we’re often literally or figuratively putting out fires with respect to some of this machinery and some of this outdated serviceware, and I’d like to see that become a thing of the past. It’s a pretty steep reach with respect to the fact that we’re operating at a deficit. We’ve been in a deficit for some time, and there’s not going to be any simple way to get out of that deficit. And a lot of these projects for infrastructure upkeep, replacement, and repair are incredibly expensive, and we face a challenge in that we have a slightly contracting population right now. We don’t have new rate payers for the utility specifically, you know, on which to disperse the revenue generation. So that’s one of the reasons that we’ve seen increases in in utility rates in recent years, and we’re anticipating increases in utility rates in future years, and I think part of the challenge there has been since we’re using this aged infrastructure, we don’t have a lot of flexibility with respect to things like power generation, and I’d like to see us get to a place where we’re not as burdened by those those costs, and would, you know, give us an opportunity to kind of rebuild for the future.
Morrison: What is something that you’re most proud of during your tenure on the council?
Finnegan: You know, it’s hard to pin to one specific item or issue. I will say, you know, when you serve on the council, the most proximate issues are those that tend to be before you. I will say that I have been very grateful in my years on the council to serve on the library advisory board, which in recent years, and even this year, is facing some – there’s some uncertainty around the library, its funding mechanisms right now, and whether or not the borough is going to assume library powers. But I think, you know, I see the library as a critical community resource, and having had the opportunity to be the city council’s liaison to the library advisory board has given me a much deeper understanding of the library’s function and its value, and I am very pleased to have been able to advocate on the library’s behalf at those board meetings, and then as a council member in budget meetings, for example.
Morrison: Outside of your tenure on the council, what other leadership roles do you think sort of help your duties on the council?
Finnegan: That’s a great question, and I will say I have been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to take advantage of the many offerings that Ketchikan provides. And that’s long been my sort of informal slogan for Ketchikan and what it does. Ketchikan provides, and it provides opportunity. It provides community. It provides boundless opportunity for adventure. And in my time living here, I have been able to get involved with various nonprofits. I serve on the board of the Ketchikan Agricultural Producers Association. I serve on the board of First City Players. I’ve worked with numerous nonprofits. I work in the tourism industry. I have a charter operation of my own. I’ve worked in the schools. You know, my first several winters here, I was a regular substitute teacher, and I’ve worked with youth in various capacities through most of my life, and by virtue of the experience I’ve had with the youth of our community, with the tourism industry, with various nonprofits here in town, I feel like it’s given me a pretty well-rounded understanding of what some of the needs are for our community, where people are hoping to see some some new growth or some changes. And then again, with respect to the years I’ve served on council, I feel like that’s given me a sharper understanding of the city’s own needs. And so, by virtue of that collection of experiences, I think it makes me a pretty well-rounded city council member.
Morrison: And aside from what you’ve sort of already talked about, what is something that you would like listeners to know about you?
Finnegan: That I’m not rigid in my thinking on any one matter, and I am eager to hear what your thoughts might be. City council members have phone numbers and email addresses on the city website, and you’ll often hear if you watch or attend a city council meeting, you’ll hear city council members talk about the number of calls, texts, emails, in-person discussions they’ve had with residents of the city, talking about various issues. I can do better work as a city council member if I hear what you, as the residents of the city, think about any matter that comes before the council, or a matter that should come before the council, so I am eager to have those conversations. Don’t hesitate to call. Feel free to text. Please email me. I want to hear what you think, and I’m going to listen. Listening to what our constituents have to say is really first and foremost in the job. I mean, we have serious decisions to make at that table, on many of the meetings that we have, and I can make better decisions at that table if I know what the people of the community think and want.
Hunter Morrison is a Report for America corps member for KRBD. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution.
