Sitka’s mayoral candidates gathered at Harrigan Centennial Hall on Wednesday evening (9-23-26) for a forum hosted by the Greater Sitka Chamber of Commerce.
For an hour, the three candidates took turns answering questions about the top issues affecting the local business community. Questions ranged from how they’d work to increase the supply and attainability of workforce housing to what types of economic development they’d like to see Sitka pursue over the next five years.
Candidates were also asked what barriers to business development city government should address, and if elected, how they’d use their leadership role to move a solution forward. Thor Christianson said housing is a top barrier that he believes the city can make an impact on.
“You’ve heard me talk already about some of the city land going on. We talked about ADUs,” he said. “But being open to non-traditional housing, being open to changes in code and zoning to allow higher density, allowing ideas that we don’t know, and being open to that.”
Lisa Lane also said housing and how land is zoned are some of the biggest barriers, and agreed the city will have to get creative.
“I’m not sure what the solutions are,” she said. “I’m trying to resolve some of those in my own head, and if I had all the answers, I would have married better and divorced more times for more money.”
Following the Chamber’s pre-provided questions, the candidates answered questions from the public. One question concerned the increase in local government jobs and salaries despite Sitka’s steady population decline over the past decade. They asked how the candidates would justify the increase to constituents who are facing an every-increasing cost of living.
Candidate Kevin Mosher said one factor that plays into the job increase is state and federal unfunded mandates, which require the city to update or pay for infrastructure without giving them money to do it.
“And the other part was before, when we had lower staff wages, the positions weren’t filled,” he said. “And when positions aren’t filled, infrastructure projects aren’t being managed, permits aren’t being approved. So once we increased them, a lot more positions were filled. We’re getting the police positions filled, things like that. So the city services required need staff, so we had to meet the market.”
Candidate interviews, questionnaires, and a sample ballot can be found on our Election Hub. Sitka’s municipal election is October 6.
