Petersburg’s municipal election is next month. Several candidates are running for seats on the Petersburg Borough Assembly.
Incumbent Jeigh Stanton Gregor, age 49, is running for another 3-year term. He moved to Petersburg in 2008 and co-owns True North Counseling & Consultation, a local private practice counseling business.
Stanton Gregor has a decade of experience serving on the Assembly and is currently the vice mayor.
He sat down with KFSK’s Olivia Rose to talk about why he decided to run for reelection to the Assembly.
Listen here:
Petersburg’s municipal election is Oct. 6. The Assembly is the only contested race. There are two 3-year positions, and a single 1-year term, up for election this fall.
Of the six candidates, four people, including Stanton Gregor, are running for a 3-year seat.
Find more election info on KFSK’s Voter Guide.
TRANSCRIPT:
This interview transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
STANTON GREGOR: Why am I running for reelection to the Assembly? There’s several reasons. One is over the course of the last year, I’ve had people that I like and respect of varying political views, ask me to run again.
I also think we have very hard financial times coming in Alaska. I think I’m good at thinking long-term about what will be sustainable for our community, and I like trying to tackle budget issues. I really like working with our finance department.
I try to learn from everybody I work with. And if elected again, I hope to keep learning from the people I serve with.
ROSE: What have you done in the past that makes you qualified for the role?
STANTON GREGOR: I think my body of work as an elected official makes me qualified to run again. I work very well with Borough staff and department heads.
I’m open to hearing from everyone. We need different opinions, different voices.
I’m a public figure, so I’m pretty easy to find. People can grab my phone number and call me anytime. And of those of you who have, you know I’ll get back to you.
Also I’ve worked really well with our state delegation. When JKT was a representative, I worked well with him. I’ve worked with [Sen.] Bert Stedman through the years. Right now, we have Rebecca Hemschoot as our representative, I like working with her.
On a national level, when [former U.S. Rep.] Don Young was still alive, I was on the Assembly during that time, and we worked together on several different issues. I’ve worked with Sen. Sullivan very specifically about substance abuse issues and addiction issues in Alaska. When Mary Peltola was in the House, I worked with her.
Meaning, I’m a pretty easy person to work with. I have good relationships with our delegation and whoever is elected this fall on the national level, I look forward to working with them, too.
I like to think I’m a reasonable person, and I’m easy to approach, so I try to keep a pretty level head. And I think those are important traits for an Assembly person.
ROSE: So Jeigh, what would your priorities be if you were reelected to the Assembly?
STANTON GREGOR: If reelected, my priorities are going to be, as they are now, to think about the long-term financial stability of Petersburg. How to encourage business, to have a good economic base in our community, and a diverse one at that.
But it takes very careful financial planning to be able to manage all these things. I don’t like paying more taxes than I have to. No one likes doing that. So the way we spend those tax dollars, it needs to be wisely and prudently. And I know working with staff, that’ll be one of my priorities moving forward.
ROSE: Can you tell me about one time you think the Assembly got something right in the last year or so, something you agree with?
STANTON GREGOR: Over this last year, the Borough embarked on a new project, with Sig and Ambre Burrell (Rock & Road), for housing development up Skylark [Way], a [subdivision] expansion. And that involved a public-private partnership; the Borough sold some lots at a reduced negotiated value to provide [cheaper]affordable housing [options] in Petersburg. I think we nailed that one, but it took a lot of work.
ROSE: Now, what about a time in the last year or so when the Assembly got something wrong that you disagreed with?
STANTON GREGOR: That’s a great question, Olivia.
As many have been following, Title Network filed an application to purchase a piece of land behind the Fire Hall. We had nine, 10 months of meetings, public hearings, et cetera. And when it finally came before the Assembly to sell that piece of property, it failed. And I think we got that one wrong.
I’ve said this before on the record, and I really stand by it. I don’t think it’s the Borough government’s role to stand in the way of businesses when they’re following the rules.
As a bookend, it did come before the Assembly [again] afterwards, and it was approved later on unanimously. But on that initial vote, I thought we overstepped our boundaries. And to be clear, I thought it needed to be approved.
So personally, I think we got it right in the end, but I was a little disappointed it took us a couple tries.
But we got there, and local government can be messy sometimes, and that’s okay.
ROSE: In a nutshell, what do you want for Petersburg?
STANTON GREGOR: I, like many people, want to see Petersburg thrive long-term. I think thriving can mean a lot of things to a lot of different people, but I think we have some pretty core agreements on what thriving means:
Jobs for people, well-paying jobs, opportunities for people post-college to come back home and apply their wares in their chosen field. Or people who’ve, let’s say, attended AVTEC [Alaska Vocational Tecnical Center] and acquired some very valuable skills, can bring them home and contribute to our community.
Doing our best to, of course, support our existing fisheries while looking for new ones. Maintaining good and accessible medical care, and a high-quality school system. Without that, you don’t have a thriving community.
I want us to continue to invest in the infrastructure that makes this place thrive.
