Sitka Police Sergeant and local wildlife charter business owner Lance Ewers is the third candidate to file for one of two-open seats on the Sitka School Board. KCAW spoke with Ewers about his interest in the position and priorities if he’s elected:
KCAW: Why have you decided to run for a seat on the school board?
Ewers: Well, I’ve always wanted to be on the school board ever since I was a young boy. I remember my father was on the school board when I was a boy, and I thought, ‘Wow, that’s kind of an awesome position.’ And now that I’m old enough, and I’ve raised five children here, and I have one one left in the nest, everybody else has flown off, but they’ve all been through our Sitka School District. So I thought, ‘Yeah, now is the time.’
KCAW: And what are your priorities if you’re elected, and what issue kind of, is there an issue that pulled you in, or not?
Ewers: No, I think my priorities would be to be there to help. I have so much respect for our school district. I’ve, like I said, raised all five of my children through the school district, so I know a lot of the employees. I have a lot of respect for all of the employees, so I’m hoping that I could be in a position to help if I need it.
KCAW: And do you have any kids in the school district currently?
Ewers: I do. Yes, my youngest daughter is in a junior in high school. Bristol, state champion.
KCAW: As far as serving on the board, any relevant experience you’d like to make note of?
Ewers: I’ve been in public safety for you know, public service really, my whole life. Right after high school I joined the military and had the opportunity to travel around the world with the military, and then became a deputy sheriff in the beloved state of Montana, and worked on the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Indian Reservation there for 10 years, and then came up here and was an Alaska State Trooper. And now I’m a Sitka Police officer. So I started my career in law enforcement in 1999 1998 and even before that, I was in the military. So just, you know, public service.
KCAW: You also are kind of a public figure in the role that you’re in in Sitka and and with that comes, obviously, some supporters and name recognition. It also comes with critics. And so I’m curious, if you were confronted with a voter who was on the fence about voting for you, what what you would say to them?
Ewers: I would say, you know, we’re lucky, because we have two seats available and three very competent people to pick from. I think both of the other folks that are running are going to be good at it if they get elected. So, I mean, that’s great for Sitka. So Sitka has just got a great school, schools, multiple schools, and it’s just a great place to raise children, and I’m confident that, because they’re running, their hearts are in the right spot, too. So I would just, yeah,
KCAW: The school board recently hasn’t had a lot of…there have been a lot of no contest elections. This year, there are three folks running, and I think that part of the reason for that is it’s, it’s a difficult time, I think, to serve on a school board, and there are a lot of questions about what the budget is going to look like. There are some questions at the state level about what the budget is going to look like. What’s the school board’s role in your mind in developing a budget?
Ewers: You know, I think a couple thoughts on that. I think that, historically, there hasn’t really been a huge problem with our schools. So I think that kind of is reflected by the fact that there hasn’t really been a huge interest in folks trying to get on the school board to fix something, right? In my mind, the schools always run like a fine-oiled machine, and there’s always a hiccup here or there or whatever, but it’s very competent group of people whose hearts are in the right spot.
When I’m confronted with a tough question, because there are some, definitely, I’m sure there’s going to be decisions that need to be made, and they’re going to be tough decisions. My philosophy is, I’m going to seek counsel from people who it’s going to affect the most, with the underlying foundation of providing a safe learning environment for children, all children, and then making these decisions on how it’s going to best, what hard decision is going to best affect the people who do it full time, the teachers, right? So I’d seek counsel from the teachers, and I’d seek counsel from friends who I know from town, and kind of get guidance from how the community, what the community is thinking, and how we want to move forward with certain hard decisions.
KCAW: this campaign is, you know, six weeks long or so. Why should Sitkans Vote for you in the October 7 election?
Ewers: I’ve been in Sitka since 2009 and I’ve raised five children here through the school district. And, my passion is, you know, just being there to help, you know, make tough decisions and seek guidance from the people that it’s going to affect, but I think everybody who’s running, I think, has got that in mind. I don’t think there’s any kind of people have a hidden agenda that want to try to do something, you know? I think they just want to help.
