Assembly member Ben Aultman-Moore is stepping down a year early. The remaining year on his three-year term is one of three seats up for grabs in the October municipal election.
He said the decision was recent and driven by a number of things – but the biggest factor was time.
“I make the majority of my money in the summer, like so many people in Haines. So, really, the quality and quantity of my time fluctuates a lot during the season. And, of course, borough business goes on in the summer,” he said.
Aultman-Moore is a carpenter in town and runs his own business doing all sorts of things like cabinetry, framing, anything woodworking-related. He’s also building his own home.
“I live in a dry cabin. So, I don’t have a lot of great amenities to come home to,” he said. “The amount of time my life takes outside the assembly, it’s already pretty full.”
Aultman-Moore said he talked to previously elected officials about the assembly’s workload before he decided to run for office. But he decided it’s hard to know how possible – or impossible – something will be without trying it.
“I don’t want to be one of those people that just skims the issue and maybe talks to one person about it. I feel a lot of responsibility to be super informed about what’s going on; I wouldn’t feel good about voting otherwise,” he said. “I found I just don’t have the time to do the kind of job I’d want to do in such a position.”
The time crunch has also gotten harder for him to handle since he started the job in 2022.
He pointed to the volume of special meetings the assembly has in addition to its regularly scheduled ones now.
“Looking back, I think we had maybe one special meeting under [former mayor Doug Olerud],” he said. “I don’t know how many special meetings we’ve had under Tom [Morphet, current mayor] but it has been a lot. Maybe five or six so far.”
He also pointed to the number of regular meetings that run past 10 p.m.
“The whole scenario where we’re voting every other meeting to go past 10 p.m., that’s a grind. It comes with some dread,” he said. “After you deal with so much dread, it’s realistic to start thinking about alternatives.”
Aultman-Moore said he’d also like to see a broader swathe of the electorate participating in borough government.
“Haines is kind of famous for having the same 20 people on every single meeting,” he said. “You know, I think more people that were actually involved in democracy – beyond just voting and calling it a day – or calling it a year rather – I think that would help too.”
Aultman-Moore said it’s something of a structural problem with local government that people like the idea of having a working Assembly – that is members who do the job in addition to their other responsibilities of full time work or parenthood – but the pressure is difficult to manage.
“In some ways, I do feel like a retired person is quite well-suited because of that,” he said. “Part of my decision came down to the fact that I really admire the work that several assembly members are doing. Their dedication, the amount of time and energy they put into their work – I thought ‘wow, what if there was another one of those kinds of people in my seat instead?’” he said.
He said he enjoyed his time serving and plans to continue being involved in public service in Haines. His seat and two others – currently held by Natalie Dawson and Debra Schnabel – are up for grabs during the next election.
The deadline for filing for assembly seats is Tuesday, August 20. The municipal election is held on the first Tuesday of the month in October, which this year falls on October 1.
Aultman-Moore said his last day in office will be in October before the new assembly gets seated.