Transitions

Dear Friends,
It is with extremely mixed feelings that I announce I have accepted a position with California State University San Bernardino as Chair of their Public Administration Department beginning July 1. I have informed the Mayor that I will resign from the Assembly effective at the end of our May 23 Assembly meeting.

I have been so blessed by my time on the Juneau Borough Assembly. I have built relationships with people across the community that I treasure. I have put roots down in Juneau in a way I have not done anywhere else. I truly love this town and had not planned to leave.

However, as we all know, “life” happens. Without going into detail, there were significant issues in both my family life and professional life that took me in this direction.

I will continue to be active on the Assembly until I leave, particularly in the upcoming budget discussions. Juneau needs to be very careful about its financial commitments, given the uncertainty of the future, particularly state and federal contributions.

I feel incredibly honored to have been part of our government system over the past years. It feels like we have made some significant accomplishments. Now we are entering a time of transition. Over the next few years, most of the current Assembly members will reach their final terms. Our city manager will probably retire in another year. The Mayor completes his term a year from October. We need strong, dedicated Juneau citizens to step up and become involved with our government, be it on the Assembly or on our various Boards and Commissions. We need new leaders. Please give some thought to what you can do.

I will continue this blog over the next few months as we go through our annual budget cycle.

Thank you for your support and friendship.