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Fairbanks Mayor Jim Matherly fended off former assemblywoman Kathryn Dodge and two other challengers Tuesday.
Oct. 1 marked election day for the city of Fairbanks, and with it the end of the battle for the mayor’s office, between conservative incumbent Jim Matherly, Democrat Kathryn Dodge, Lakesha Jordan, and Frank Turney.
In the end, Matherly narrowly beat Dodge with a 49% majority to her 43%– for 160-vote margin, with Jordan and Turney trailed with 75 and 10 votes, respectively. Matherly, who just completed his first 3-year term as mayor of Fairbanks, staked his campaign on claims that his chief opponent, Dodge, posed a threat to traditional values.
“Fairbanks is a pretty conservative town. I hope to emulate those conservative values.’
Earlier this year, the mayor stirred a furor for his decision to veto an LGBT anti-discrimination ordinance.
Matherly has kept strong on his prioritization of public safety and the persisting opioid pandemic that has troubled the Golden Heart City for years, as well as the accommodation of the growing demographic of citizens over the age of eighty in the coming years, and the cleaning of problem, or ‘nuisance’ properties throughout the city. in the wake of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s budget cuts, Matherly has said that he will push for a “balanced budget’ for the city in 2020.
For Dodge, a former assembly member known for a narrow defeat in her state house race in 2018, ‘uncertainty’ is no doubt among the great issues facing the city. “I feel the community is stalled,’ Dodge said in an interview with NBC WebCenter 11, calling for a more proactive initiative for the city of Fairbanks.
“I think it’s really dangerous for us to not have a plan, to not know where we’re going.’
Dodge, citing the opportunity her generation had found in Fairbanks, said “I want our current generation to find opportunity also.’ Dodge cited a comprehensive budget that “supports the city’ to be of top priority, as well as new perspectives for greater efficacy within the business and financial sector.
Jordan, a former New Yorker, who’s been living in Alaska for 17 years running the Empower Empire Empowerment firm and the Thrivalaska Early Head Start Program, campaigned on the same mantra of progressive unity for Fairbanks, and an expansion of community involvement in decision making. “I am running for mayor because I feel as if there’s a more productive energy that deserves to be included in politics–one that says that all members of the community do matter, and that we can do more as a unified community,’ she told WebCenter 11, citing “a toxic communication’ amongst those in politics, one that takes “the focus off the people in need of those quick decisions,’ whilst also acknowledging what can be done when a community “productively disagrees.’
Jordan said her first priority is to gather “as many people as possible to city hall,’ to “sit down and start constructing solutions to many of the problems,’ citing a potential million-dollar shortfall in the next fiscal year. That includes a city-wide focus on mental health. “People look at the behaviors of other people and call out those behaviors, and never the roots,’ she said, declaring her support for a community that is “respectful of differing perspectives,’ without conflict.
Jordan’s campaign website emphasizes support for “education and enhancement,’ as well as incentive programs that “reward local businesses and property owners that open doors for those that are at risk, and working to become productive members of society.’
Local handyman Frank Turney, a jury rights activist and perennial candidate still seeking his first win, called for a review of government involvements. “It’s time to re-examine, and let the free markets–or the privatization sector take care of it. I don’t get a bill from the fire department or the police department–it’s covered in the property tax, and I think they should do to the garbage, or let people opt out.’
In an interview with WebCenter, he reiterated his stance on anti-discrimination and diversity statutes in the city and state, regarding discrimination against native African American citizens in jury selection, Fairbanks being “the worst in the United States’ in that regard. Other concerns on Turney’s list: support for non-lethal weapons for the Fairbanks police, and the reopening the Schaeffer Cox federal conspiracy case. He also pushed for what he calls “Golden Heart Revenue Casino,’ which he predicts will “bring in more revenue than the cannabis industry.’