Lynette Moreno Hinz is running for the U.S. House of Representatives because she believes incumbent Don Young, R-Alaska, is not sensitive to Native concerns.
“He’s too rude and he’s too arrogant and he’s a bully,” Hinz said during an interview in Haines this week, returning from Juneau’s Celebration event.
Hinz drove a cab in Anchorage for 34 years and works as a wheelchair assistant at the Anchorage airport. She supports a federal minimum wage of $15.
A Tlingit born in Sitka, Hinz is a Democrat and the only Alaska Native seeking the seat, she said.
“I would represent the Native view more than anybody. I have the Native perspective. These issues are very dramatic – alcohol, drug abuse, suicide,” Hinz said. Wal-Mart’s departure from Juneau was another blow to villages in Southeast, she said.
“They need to bring back Wal-Mart. They really do. There are a lot of villages in Southeast that took advantage of that,” she said.
She said the state Department of Fish and Game “still works against” Native people.
“When a family is hungry and a moose goes across their land (but moose hunting is not in season), some of those families, what are they supposed to do? Susbsistence (harvest) is still 2 percent of the total take. That should be 10 percent at least,” Hinz said.
She supports developing wind and solar power in villages and would work to promote agriculture in villages to promote wellness and reduce cost of importing food. “People could sell their own vegetables or provide to their community through a community-based co-op.”
Hinz acknowledges she has little money for campaigning. “It’s a David and Goliath thing. That’s what I’m going as. I’m doing it to bring Native issues and Native views to the forefront.”
Hinz is a past president of the Anchorage chapter of Tlingit-Haida Central Council, ANS Camp #87 and the Anchorage Cab Drivers’ Association.
Hinz can be reached at 907-301-5435. Her email address is [email protected].