Current assembly member Thor Christianson has filed to run for a chance at a sixth term on the Sitka Assembly. Christianson sat on the assembly from 1998-2004, 2010-2013 and 2019-present. KCAW sat down with him to learn more about his decision to run again, and some of his priorities if elected.
KCAW: So first of all, you’re wrapping up your fifth term on the Sitka Assembly. What keeps bringing you back?
CHRISTIANSON: Well, there’s always issues. Every time I run, it’s been something different. But I think right now we have a mixture of some real challenges, but we also have some very exciting things that may help Sitka in the long term. And honestly, I think we have a very good working assembly right now. We have obvious differences of opinion, but we’re respectful with one another. We’ve had some really good discussions where there’s been disagreements, but people listen and sometimes change the way they do or adapt, and I’d like to see that keep going. And it hasn’t always been that way on the assembly, and I think that there’s a lot coming up in the next few years that are going to make a big difference to a lot of Sitkans, and I would like to be there to help facilitate that.
KCAW: Can you tell me about maybe a piece of legislation that you’ve sponsored in this recent term that you’re most proud of?
CHRISTIANSON: Right before I started running last time, the haulout. I sponsored putting it on the ballot, and now we’ve been working to get it there. We are very close to hauling our first boats or ships, hopefully, before the election, it’s that close, and I’m very excited about that. I’ve also been working with some members of staff and with other groups trying to get some of the city land on the market to help with housing. And that’s a very long process. Right now we are in engineering, and it’ll be a multi-year process, but it’s one that requires attention constantly. But if we do it right, we could, I don’t know if we can lower housing prices, but we can maybe keep it from going up much. And maybe trying to focus in on things for more affordable size lots…trying to avoid having large lots that require million dollar houses to have more lots of small lots. And again, that’s more of a more behind the scenes, but trying really hard to push on that, I guess.
KCAW: You mentioned a lot of important issues facing Sitkans. If you are elected for another term, what’s your top priority?
CHRISTIANSON: Well, I’m not sure I could pick one top priority, but ongoing finding the balance between the summer tourism and Sitka life. Working on trying to help with the childcare situation is one of the top ones there, and then trying to work on ways to try and reduce the cost of housing, or at least make it stabilize. You know, one of the things that’s hard to admit when you’re on the assembly is the lack of power. Sometimes you have to nibble around the edges and try and do the best you can. But we’re limited in what we can do, so a lot of the times, to get things done, it’s more of a collaborative process, and it’s more of a working with other organizations, working within the assembly, working with city staff, to try and find solutions that can help, that may not be splashy ordinances, but more bringing people together to try and find solutions.
KCAW: Is there anything else I should have asked you, or you’d like to share?
CHRISTIANSON: Well, I think experience matters. [I’m] just wrapping up five terms on the assembly. And it’s really interesting how many times things come up that we ran into 20 years ago. And I can say, ‘You know, we tried X and it didn’t work out so well’ or ‘It worked really well.’ And oftentimes people are surprised. The institutional memory is lacking in the city, you know, it’s the nature of the beast. You’re going to have turnover and things. But I think it’s important to have a mixture on the assembly. And you know, when I was first elected, I think I was the youngest person on the assembly, and I’m not sure, I think I might be the oldest now, which is fine. I’m 61. I’m not that old yet, but I think it’s good to have that experience, and one learns. And you know, in a way, it gets easier, because you kind of know what to expect. It’s a lot easier for me to read the agenda now than it used to be. And so I hope that if the people elect me again, I can put that experience to use for people. Anybody who knows me knows they can always call me, and they do, and that’s just fine. And we’ll talk things out, and we’ll try and keep going and trying to make things a little bit better every day or at every meeting, and hopefully at the end of the day, it’s noticeable.
Sitkans will be voting to fill two open seats on the Sitka Assembly and two seats on the school board in the upcoming municipal election. Both assembly seats and one school board seat are three-year terms, and one school board seat is a two-year term. The filing period to run for a seat is open until 5 p.m. on Aug. 8. Sitka’s municipal election is Tuesday, Oct. 7.
