My goals

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Many Alaskans in the Interior are spending an enormous percentage of their income on utility costs.  This contributes to outmigration and adds to the overall hardship of the cold winters.  Households with children or animals requiring heating systems are further impacted with additional electricity demands.  

With an end-goal of affordable clean energy and responsible budget allocation, I support projects and initiatives designed to reduce and stabilize energy costs in the Interior.  

A strong community begins with a strong educational system.  Our Alaska Constitution places the onus of public education on the state, and we cannot afford to continue under-funding our schools, our educators, and our student services. These children are Alaska's future, and it's time for us to invest in our future by keeping schools adequately funded to keep pace with inflation.  Schools throughout District 34 have been shut down. Losing public schools in Salcha and Two Rivers has long-term financial impacts on the rural families and communities these schools served.

The increased focus on recruitment and retention for jobs in the public safety sector has hit an all time high.  

Watching many of the best Tier IV firefighters I trained throughout my career leave Alaska to work towards a pension-style retirement in another state has convinced me we need a change to be competitive.  The real impacts to quality service delivery, costs of training recruits, and energy devoted by leadership towards constant recruitment could be massively reduced by encouraging retention with a defined benefit system.  We are the ONLY state without a DB system for public safety, and the costs to our state and local government of our employee turnover reflect that.