As of Wednesday’s 5 p.m. deadline, five candidates had filed for two open seats on the Haines Borough Assembly.
Residents Jerry Erny, Ron Jackson, Joe Parnell, Mario Benassi and Mike Case will appear on the ballot Oct. 7 vying for three-year seats held by assembly members Debra Schnabel and Jerry Lapp, who are not seeking re-election.
Interested candidates can still file a letter of intent to run as write-ins up to five days before the election.
Incumbent Mayor Stephanie Scott and former Mayor Jan Hill will vie for the borough’s top spot.
Although three, three-year seats are open on the Haines Borough school board – currently held by Anne Marie Palmieri, Brenda Josephson and Brian Clay – only Palmieri and Clay filed by deadline.
If an additional board candidate doesn’t emerge, the board will fill the seat by appointment.
Five assembly candidates is an improvement over last year’s turnout, which drew only two candidates for as many seats before the filing deadline.
Erny, 59, is a retired police officer and 10-year resident. He previously worked at the Elks Lodge and served on the Southeast Alaska State Fair Board. He participates in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program.
Erny ran for assembly and lost three years ago against Schnabel. A new election system that uses a roster instead of pitting individual candidates against each other for specific seats is a “really positive step,” Erny said.
“I think it automatically makes the whole campaign a little cleaner,” Erny said.
Recent borough developments, such as passage of a motor vehicle registration tax, purchase of property at Picture Point, and construction of a sled hill on Mount Riley Road have irked Erny.
“I would not have approved this whole sled hill thing,” he said. “I just don’t understand that. I’m very community-oriented, but there’s a point where government doing too much becomes very inefficient, and I certainly think we’re there.”
Like Erny, Benassi, 51, has thrown his hat into the ring for assembly before. Benassi ran as a write-in last year and lost.
“Last year, I didn’t get my act together and really realized I wanted to run when it was too late to be on the ballot. This year I knew I wanted to run for sure,” Benassi said.
Benassi is a freelance cinematographer and eight-year resident. He also works as an educator for Takshanuk Watershed Council and an interpretive naturalist for the Kroschel Wildlife Center.
“I want to bring some balance to our assembly. We’ve got a one-sided assembly at this point in time. They aren’t considering all the alternatives in decision-making,” Benassi said. “I just feel like the borough is kind of myopic in its vision and I’d like to bring a different perspective.”
Parnell, 52, has lived in Haines 15 years and has worked as the borough’s assistant harbormaster, a tour guide, a bus driver and a lifeguard. He serves on the Chilkat Center Advisory Board.
“I don’t like trailers in the center of town, and I don’t like the bureaucrats breeding, and I don’t like that they took away my right to a fair hearing when I got fired,” Parnell said. He was fired from his assistant harbormaster position last winter.
Parnell said he also has a problem with how Haines has been managed. “(Former manager) Mark Earnest, who couldn’t blow his nose without (executive assistant to the manager) Darsie Culbeck holding his Kleenex, put a GPS tracker on my harbor truck. I don’t think that’s how you should manage (personnel),” he said.
Parnell’s not fond of the plan for a “muniplex” to house borough offices and other facilities. “I would like to see the muniplex idea go away. We can fix the buildings we have.”
Jackson, 73, a retired forester, moved to Haines in 2000. He serves on the Facilities Master Plan Steering Committee, Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee and Haines Senior Center Board.
“Most of my life in the Forest Service I have worked on teams, and I view the assembly as a team basically that works together to make the borough better,” Jackson said. “I’ve got this long background of management in the federal government with budgets and people management, and I think that perspective might be useful on the assembly.”
Among Jackson’s goals are to further promote tourism and recreation in Haines.
Case, 81, has lived in Haines for more than 15 years and served on the Haines City Council prior to consolidation, and then as borough Mayor when the city and borough consolidated in 2002. He also served on the borough planning commission.
Case is retired. He previously worked for the Sealaska Corporation and the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. He is president of KHNS and serves on the Friends of the Library and Lynn Canal Counseling Services boards.
Economic development, particularly resource development, is a major area of interest for Case.
“We’re in the process of hiring an economic development director, and I think there are going to have to be some code changes and perhaps new code that facilitates responsible economic development,” Case said.
“Some people are worried there will be economic development at the expense of the environment or our small town way of life, and those are legitimate concerns, so I want to help craft the code where it is necessary so we do have good, responsible economic development.”
Case, who referred to himself as a “gadfly,” said if elected, he would also like to help new manager David Sosa. “I think we’ve got an exceptionally strong manager now, and I’d like to be there to help that manager in any way I can and provide guidance where it’s needed.”
Mayoral candidate Scott owns Outlier Farm, a flower business. She moved to Haines in 1973 to teach special education. She also worked for the borough under contract as the Energy Sustainability Coordinator from 2008-2010.
Hill, who served as Mayor before Scott defeated her in 2011, is a lifelong resident. She also served as Mayor for the third-class borough.
Hill owns House of Beads, which recently moved into the Hair Shop building on Main Street. She has served on several local and statewide boards and committees.
school board incumbents Palmieri and Clay also ran unopposed for three-year terms in 2011.