Kodiak Borough: Assembly Special Work Session of July 16, 2026

All right. I will call the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly Special Work Session of Thursday, July 16th to order. This is primarily to conduct the interviews of the Borough Assembly applicants for the seat vacated by Ms. Susan Johnson. There is two of me.

But first, we will take citizens' comments. For those who wish to call in, the local number is 907-486-3231. Toll-free number is 1-855-492-9202.

Please turn off your radio or any listening device to prevent feedback. For those in the room who wish to speak under Citizens' Comments, please come to the podium and sign in. Turn on the microphone and make sure the green light is on before speaking and speak directly into the mic. And please state your name for the record, address all remarks to the Assembly as a body and not to any member there.

Thereof. Good evening, Mr. Mayor, assembly members, staff. Thank you for the privilege to have this special meeting tonight. My name is David Davis. I live here in the borough.

Uh, I just wanted to voice my support for Mr. Viscoccio for the opening, uh, seat upon the, uh, borough. I've known him in multiple levels of community service and as well as the state of Alaska. So I just want to put my two cents in for him. Thank you. Thank you.

All right, good evening, Mayor, members of the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly. My name is Rich Gonzalez. I serve as a fire chief of the Kodiak Fire Department and head coach of the Kodiak High School football team. I'm also a retired lieutenant commander from the Coast Guard after 31 years of service. Um, throughout my career I've worked alongside leaders in positions of public trust.

I'm here to offer my wholehearted support for the appointment of Mark Vizcocho to the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly. I've had the privilege of working alongside Mark in several capacities, and when Mark commits to something, he gives it everything he has. A perfect example was when we began to establish the Kodiak Youth Football League. I reached out to Mark and asked if he would help create a program for the youth and families of our community, and there was no hesitation. He jumped in with both feet.

He committed his time, his energy, his leadership, and became instrumental in turning that vision into reality. And this was on top of all kinds of other things that he's always involved in, fully involved in. Uh, that willingness to step forward, accept responsibility, and serve without hesitation is exactly the kind of leadership you can expect from Mark on the Borough Assembly. Mark's adult life reflects a commitment to service. He currently serves as president of the Filipino American Association of Kodiak, president of the East Elementary School PTA, and vice president of the Kodiak Booster Club.

He also previously served as the vice president and coach with the Kodiak Youth Football League, one of the more popular coaches, I can say. Uh, these are more than just titles. They represent countless volunteer hours supporting children Strengthening schools, helping families, and bringing people together. Mark also works for NWFF Environmental as a HAZWaste 3 technician, a position that requires technical knowledge, sound judgment, attention to detail, and trust. Others must depend on him to follow procedures, make responsible decisions, protect coworkers, and safeguard the community and the environment.

He also brings valuable local experience Mark's appointment to the Kodiak City Council in 2012 taught him important lessons about public service, listening to residents, working collaboratively, and making the difficult decisions. That experience, combined with the leadership roles he has held, has prepared him well to serve on the Borough Assembly. As a longtime Kodiak resident, Mark understands what it means to live, work, and raise a family here. He knows the challenges our residents face and the unique difficulties in living on the, on the remote island community. Mark is a dedicated husband, devoted father, and respected member of our community.

Everybody knows Mark. He tells me everybody's his cousin. Um, he believes good public policy should be centered on helping the people who live and work in Kodiak. Mark Vizcocho has consistently demonstrated integrity, responsibility, humility, and the willingness to serve. I respectfully ask you to appoint him to the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly.

Thank you for your time and your consideration. Thank you. And we have a call, so we will take a call. We are now answering a call from the queue. Assembly special work session, you are on the air.

Please state your name for the record.

Okay, maybe they will call back. Julie, go ahead.

Yes, hi, good evening. Good evening, Mayor and members of the Assembly. My name is Julie Matwayu, and thank you for the opportunity to be here tonight to speak to the appointment of the vacated seat. I'm here also to express my personal support for the appointment of Mark Anthony Vizcocho. I'm speaking this evening as a private citizen.

The comments I'm making are my own and do not reflect the views of my employer, Alaska Sea Grant. I've known Mark for about 5 years or so through involvement with the Filipino American Association. I have been on the FALAM Education Committee since about 2012, but I became much more active and involved with the group since Mark became president. During this time, I've had the opportunity to observe his leadership, dedication, and genuine commitment to serving others. Mark is a hands-on leader.

He is actively involved in meetings, community events, and the work that happens behind the scenes.

Sorry.

I knew that wasn't me.

Mark doesn't just lead the organization, he works alongside the volunteers. He listens to people, he follows through on his commitments, and he really brings people together in a respectful and with humility, in a respectful way. He cares deeply about the association, the Filipino community, and the greater community of Kodiak. The Filipino community has been an integral part of Kodiak for generations and remains a significant part of our borough's population, workforce, business, and civic life. I believe our local government is stronger when it reflects the diversity and perspectives of the community it serves.

Mark brings the perspective of a long-standing leader within the Filipino community while again recognizing the entire Kodiak community. He understands what it means to live and work here. I think he'd be an excellent member on this assembly, and I respectfully encourage you to appoint Mark Vizcocho to the vacated seat. Thank you. Thank you.

Yeah, we'll try again. You are now answering a call from the queue. Assembly meeting, you're on the air. Please state your name for the record. Marie Antoinette Vizcocho.

Okay, go ahead.

Um, I was just calling to support my brother.

Would you like to add anything else?

No, I, I thought that this line was for me to be able to listen in. Oh, okay. No, I'm sorry. This is to call in for citizens' comments, but you can listen in on the YouTube stream. Oh, I'm so sorry.

No problem. I apologize. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening, Assembly members and Mr. Mayor. My name is Beata Daley, and as a resident of Kodiak, I first want to say how encouraged I am that there were 4 community members willing to step forward to fill this vacant Assembly seat. That willingness to serve speaks well of our community and gives me hope for Kodiak's future. Of those candidates, there's one who makes me especially hopeful, and that is Filipino American Association President Mark Vizcocho. I've had the privilege of working alongside Mark in many different capacities through PTA, youth sports, community conversations about the future of our schools and the vision our community has for them.

And even on several hiring committees, Mark and I have worked side by side. In every setting, I've been impressed by the same qualities. Mark listens first. His comments are thoughtful and well considered. He seeks to understand before offering solutions.

He's a devoted learner, a quick study, and his heart for this community is as big as you can imagine, all qualities which would make him an ideal candidate for the seat. Perhaps most importantly, Mark brings a perspective that has been missing from this assembly for some time. As president of the Filipino American Association, he represents and serves a community that makes up nearly half of Kodiak's population. Representation matters. It ensures that lived experiences and perspectives that might go otherwise unheard have a seat at the table.

Representation and the need for it in governing bodies was a driving force in our country's independence. And here we are, 250 years later, scenarios a little bit different, but that shared perspective is the same. And that principle that a representative government functions best when the perspectives of that people being governed are present in the decision-making process is here tonight, and it's in your hands to carry that principle forward. I believe you would find Mark to be collaborative, respectful, and a thoughtful colleague, and I hope you'll give him the opportunity to serve alongside you over the next 3 months. Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

No calls?

Okay. All right. We will move into our only agenda item for the Special Work Session. And keep in mind, we do have a regular meeting to follow afterwards. This is to interview Borough Assembly applicants for the Assembly seat vacated by Mr. Dave Johnson.

So the Borough Clerk's Office advertised the vacancy per Borough Code on June 26th and July 3rd. The application acceptance period was from June 27th to July 11th. The following applications were received by Mark Anthony Viscoccio, Sean Brecky, Caleb Callahan, and Alexander Sweeney. So if you could please come down and find any one of the seats down here and we'll begin the process.

Two will have to share mics.

Yeah, we can try it. So, to the listening public, we're setting up microphones.

Pro tip for our applicants, I would advise you, if you haven't already, go ahead and open up your water bottles now, because, you know, when you open it up, The water will come splurting out.

All right. So welcome, everybody. My name is Mayor Jared Griffin, and I will be the one asking the questions while the Assembly takes notes and considers your responses. What we will do is I will ask the question, we will go down the line, so we will start with Mr. Callahan here, and then the second question will begin with Mr. Sweeney, third question will begin with Mr. Brecky, and so on. So we'll just rotate so everybody will have a chance to go first and last and in between.

So let's begin. So a couple of short questions to begin with. Number one, so we'll start with Mr. Callahan here. Are you currently a registered voter in Kodiak, and have you been a resident of Kodiak for at least 1 year?

Yes. Yes, I have. Okay. Mr. Sweeney? Yes, I have.

Mr. Brekke? Yes, sir. Mr. Viscoccio? Yes, I have.

All right. For Mr. Sweeney, do you hold any compensated borough office or borough employment or elected position in the state or federal government? No, I do not. Mr. Brecky? Mr. Viscoccio?

No, I do not, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Callahan? No, I do not. Okay. Um, all right, so, uh, number 3.

Mr. Brecky, what interests you in serving on the Assembly? A chance to actually do something from the inside.

Oh, is the mic not on? Sorry. Just a chance to do something from the inside rather than from being from the outside watching.

Okay, Mr. Vizcocho, same question. What interests you in serving on the assembly? Well, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Well, Kodak is my home, and I'm here because I want to give back. If appointed, I will work to represent every member of our community with integrity, respect, and a commitment to to listening.

And as a Filipino American, I also recognize the importance of ensuring that a community where nearly half the population has Filipino heritage sees itself reflected in its local government. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Callahan, same question. What interests you in serving on the assembly?

Um, yeah, I was, uh, born and raised here, and, uh, I, uh, worked several jobs throughout, uh, since 14, and I left the island to go do my studies and graduate, and I wanted to come back and serve my community and learn a more in-depth and meaningful way to make impacts locally.

Okay, thank you. Mr. Sweeney, what interests you in serving on the assembly? Well, like all the applicants here, I care about our community. So I'm here to help shape policies that are going to help all of our citizens, not only now but for future generations going forward, uh, to raise my family and their families. All right, thank you.

Uh, Mr. Viscocho, we'll start with you on the next one. Um, what traits do you believe are necessary for being an effective assembly member?

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I believe as the leader of the community You have to be able to be approachable, and you have to have an open mind. And you got to learn how to solve the problem, figure out what the problem is, and have the right tool to fix the problem. And—. But the number one thing is you need to be approachable by the community so that they can talk to you about what needs to be done in the borough and what they feel.

That the Bureau needs. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Coughlin. May I interject?

Can we have a brief pause after each answer to record notes? For sure. Just a slight pause. Thank you. We will give you a little wait time.

Just going to make them wait longer.

Mr. Callahan, what traits do you believe are necessary for being an effective assembly member? Integrity, an open mind, respect for finances and where that money comes from, and a commitment to public service, showing up on time at all meetings. That is possible and doing the homework required before those meetings. All traits that I intend to uphold.

Mr. Sweeney, same question. What traits do you believe are necessary for being an effective Assembly member? I think you would need to— you need to be able to communicate effectively. You need to be invested in the community. You need to be able to make sound reasoning and logical decisions.

You need to be organized. You have to be on top of everything that comes across your desk, and you need to have a knowledge of the community.

Thank you.

Mr. Brekke, what traits do you believe are necessary for being an effective assembly member? I don't know, but I do know who I am. I'm not a politician. I don't know about all the other stuff. I can tell you what you want to hear, but I think we need to have some, uh, oversight, critical infrastructure, managing risk, solving problems, transparency.

Approachability is very important, but also being honest, being true to who you are, saying what you really mean, not sugarcoating it if it doesn't need to be sugarcoated, and just being honest to people. I think transparency is probably number one. I think that might make a good assembly member.

Thank you. Thank you.

Okay, next question. This one's for Mr. Callahan, and we'll go down the line. What governing board, committee, or leadership experiences do you have?

Um, I, uh, during part of my studies at the University of Fairbanks, I took the— I had the pleasure to take the opportunity to do the Ted Stevens legislative internship. During that time, I worked as a Senate staff for one of the senators at the state level. I, so I got to really, got to have an intensive experience learning about the process, how things get done, how to carry a bill. I carried a bill from draft all the way into law, and I nego— and I talked with each stakeholder to make sure everything is good and that everything looked— was agreeable with the legislation. After that, I got hired as a Senate page where I finished off the last of the 33rd legislative session with a better than front row seat of how all those— that legislation got passed out of the legislature, and I am looking forward to learning more about how it works on a local level and getting things done in the community.

Thank you. Mr. Sweeney, what governing board, committee, or leadership experiences do you have? Admittedly, this would be my first. I don't have a lot of formal experience leading a board or anything like that. What I do have is an experience of leading a team of professionals in my line of profession, which is insurance underwriting, and we manage day-to-day operations of our overall book of business while introducing new clients and underwriting new business risks.

So I am looking to take those attributes in my day-to-day life and help introduce them and help establish existing relationships that community members have and going forward learn more about how the Borough Assembly is functioning, organized and planning to move forward in the future. Thank you. And Mr. Bricky, what governing board, committee, or leadership experiences do you have?

Well, I've been married 30 years. I got 5 kids.

Married my high school sweetheart. I was a volunteer firefighter EMT in California and Nevada. I spent 30— the last 30 years of my adult life as a millwright welder fabricator. I helped bring Unit 2 online for Golden Valley Electric Association in Healy. I was a millwright for them, mechanic, industrial mechanic, and I was also a control room board operator.

People underneath me, I was a union steward for the IBEW. I negotiated contracts and de-escalation skills, stuff like that. Experienced in estimating contracts, preventative maintenance, and troubleshooting a lot of infrastructure stuff. Lots of certificates and licenses in industrial mechanics. Um, right now I am an elder for my church, um, a sophomore in a Christian-based college, um, for Christian leadership and a Bachelor of Science for Biblical Arts.

Um, I think some of my best leadership roles, probably just being a father.— and a husband. To my wife Bernadette.

Thank you. Mr. Vizcocho, what governing board, committee, or leadership experiences do you have? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'm trying to figure out which one of— where do I All right, so as a city council member, um, I learned through that experience that a simple yes and a no can either build a city or destroy a city. So that has taught me to always— with that experience has always told me to always listening to the people.

Because that's the reason why they vote for us, is we are for the people. Um, also experience-wise, I've been the feeling president for the last 4 years now, and as of right now, we are reconstructing our bylaws. That is number one, um, that we're doing so that we can gather all Filipinos in the community, even though it is known to everyone that the majority of CODAC right now is Filipinos. It is hard to gather all Filipinos right now because of either one, they all gather while they're at work, or they all gather because their family is big. So it's very difficult for a field president to gather everyone, but we are trying to reach out to them, and that is one of our main goals this year is Maybe one day we can get a hall so that we can gather all Filipinos and for them to call it their own.

Also, I believe that my experience working as a hazardous waste tech in the base has taught me to read regulatory rules and also to be always in compliance. And I think having that experience would also help me as one to be an assembly member, to remember about the compliance and to always remember that there are rules to follow. Thank you. Thank you.

All right, Mr. Sweeney, we'll start the next round with you. Um, what do you believe is the proper role of an Assembly member, and how should the Assembly work with the mayor, the borough manager, the staff, and the public?

I think the, the proper role of an Assembly member is to carry an open mind in all decision-making and to explore all available options, evaluate the risk and reward situation for all those options.

And the second part of the question is there—. How should the Assembly work with the Mayor, the Borough Manager, Borough staff, and the public? There should be open lines of communication between all lines of those people. We should be in constant contact. The left hand should always be talking to the right hand, and those same attributes go with those communications as well.

It has to be open-minded, it has to be respectful, it has to be realistic, and it has to be something that's the best for the community. Thank you.

Uh, Mr. Brekke, what do you believe is the proper role of an assembly member, and how should the assembly work with the mayor, the borough manager, the staff, and the public? I feel like assembly members, each individual probably has their own constituents of types that they deal with on a daily basis, probably different ones that everybody else is dealing with. Taking that information and getting it corralled down to a smaller, more manageable piece for you to chew on as the mayor. Seems like that would be a part of what an assembly member would be doing and then reporting back to the people that they're speaking for.

Um, I think that that's probably a big role in that, and identifying problems and maybe putting out smaller fires before they get to a bigger level by speaking with people, getting information, going back to those people able to speak to the community and for the community.

Thank you.

Mr. Viscoccia, what do you believe is the proper role of an Assembly member, and how should the Assembly work with the mayor, the borough manager, the staff and public. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I believe as a borough assembly member, you are the ears to the community and the voice for the community to speak to the borough mayor, to, to reach out to the, to the borough clerks and the borough manager so that we as a team can figure out a way how to solve the problem in, in the borough. Um, I believe, uh, the responsibility of an assembly member is very difficult because one, he is for the people, and at the same time he is with his assembly members and for the mayor. And it's kind of difficult sometimes when you have a lot of emotional citizens coming to you asking for help, but at the same time when you go to your counterparts, your partners in assembly, it's kind of difficult because everyone has their own committees that they have to deal with on a daily, daily basis.

So as an assembly member, you always have to be kind of like a sponge, a sponge, be able to absorb and be able to let it go, but at the same time to find the answers that the mayor or your fellow borough assemblies looking for. Thank you. Thank you. And Mr. Callahan, what do you believe is the proper role of an assembly member, and how should the assembly work with the mayor, the borough manager, the staff, and the public? Yeah, I'll, I'll kind of echo my response to the, the second question about what it means to be a good assembly member.

Integrity, working with that community, having that transparency and having an open mind. So an assembly member should work quite closely with all levels, whether it be the mayor, another assembly member, the staff, and the community member at whole. But that's also not just on the Kodiak Road system, but also with our 6 Kodiak villages. Making sure that as many voices are represented as possible, because that's what— another thing I would add is respect for partisanship and process. There's a way that this works, and everybody is going to have Typically everybody has very different opinions and that should be discussed, but at the end of the day we're all working together with good intentions to uplift Kodiak.

Thank you.

Okay, moving on. Um, this one, this round, we'll start with Mr. Brekke. Assembly members are often asked to make decisions on difficult issues where reasonable people disagree. How do you approach making those kinds of difficult decisions?

These questions are easier when you don't go first.

And you can absolutely take time to think about your response.

Well, I think that's the nice part about having an assembly and a group of people, being able to throw it back and forth at each other. Talk through it, get help with that. As I've learned, as I've gotten older, there's nothing new under the sun. Somebody's probably dealt with it before, and there's a lot of experience in here.

It's important to rely on that experience. And are you asking if that would be an off-the-cuff, like out in public or during an assembly meeting, or is there more of a specific time that you're—. No, um, um I don't think so. I don't think— not, not a specific time. I think you could even talk generally about what does it take for you to help make difficult decisions with, with other people who reasonably disagree.

Yeah, I think it's important to know who you are and how you feel about certain subjects and understand that that's a personal thing and that there's other thoughts that are out there. And identifying people that might be a good balance to you and throwing things back and forth with with them is very important. Kind of snuffing the ego, if you have ego or whatever, just kind of keeping that under control, listening to other people, and just digesting what other people have to say about the same subject. Thank you.

All right, Mr. Viscotcho, same question. Assembly members are often asked to make decisions on difficult issues. Where reasonable people disagree, how do you approach making those decisions? Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Difficult questions.

I'm a type of person that I have to get all the resource, and all the resource needs to be exhausted for me to make a decision because The reason being for that is we cannot just go with our emotion. We have to control our emotion and keep that intact because people depend on our decisions. So before I make any difficult decision, I usually exhaust all the resources that I have. And when I say that is I'll talk. I won't take a month, but if the matters needs to be done within the end of the week, then I will definitely call you to my counterparts.

Maybe I'll call you or set up an appointment with you to discuss about the situation, because I'm the type of person that I was trained to get all the sources first before you make a decision, because your— this— our decision depends on someone's livelihood, the way of living. So that's, that's how I would handle that. Thank you. Thank you.

Mr. Callahan, assembly members are often asked to make decisions on difficult issues where reasonable people disagree. How do you approach making those decisions?

I'll—. So at my time at the legislature, at the Senate, that was such an impactful time because I got to be a part of one of the only bipartisan coalition in the entire United States and watching how they were working together during intensive partisan times for Alaska. And that was just such a beautiful thing to witness and to learn from. Some of the strategies that they used, because each of the 20 senators knew that a lot of— there was a lot of difference in opinions and whatnot. And so how they got around that partisan partisanship was prioritization based off of what the community and people were telling— or their constituents were telling them what they wanted and what was important to the constituents.

And using that, they were able to prioritize more local and Alaska-based issues rather than taking up a whole lot of time discussing things that have a 50-50 vote, and like, it just takes more time. There's a lot of critical issues, and sometimes it's just better to just knock out the stuff that we agree with, and then if we have time and there's less crisis, active crisis going on, then let's negotiate some of the high-partisan, a lot more thing that takes a lot more thinking and discussion and ultimately time because a lot of the stuff happens fairly slowly.

Yeah. All right, thank you.

Okay, finally, Mr. Sweeney, assembly members are often asked to make decisions on difficult issues where reasonable people disagree. How do you approach making those decisions? I think it's really important to just be honest and know where you stand, but you have to evaluate the risk. You have to take a step back and be able to understand that we're all experts in our own perspective, but we have to see it through through the eyes of others. And by making those tough decisions, you're not going to be popular, and you have to understand how those decisions are going to affect people who may not benefit.

You have to study the history. You have to see what's worked and what hasn't. It's important to rely on that history, and it's really important to use all available resources to gather your knowledge. There's a wealth of information out there about just about everything, and it's so important to just know that you've exhausted all resources and that you've done everything that you can in order to make the most informed decision possible.

Thank you.

While the assembly is writing, so we'll have one more kind of substantive question, another one more kind of scheduling question, and then opportunity for closing comments from you. We'll give you about 2 2 minutes to make any closing comments that you want to give.

Okay. Um, this set will begin with Mr. Viscoccio. Um, what do you believe should be the Assembly's highest priorities over the next 2 years, and how would you contribute to addressing them?

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I believe that, uh, school, youth— we need to focus on our youth and we need to focus on our school, because without education, it's going to be hard to have a society. So we need to focus on school. We need to teach our kids that education is very important. If we don't show them that, then they're not going to live— they're not going to grow into great leaders or the next leaders for the future.

I'm going to repeat it again. It is important that we have school program.

That should be our priority. We should be teaching our kids how valuable it is to have an education. I myself, I'm at the age of 46, but I'm still taking college classes, and I'm telling that to all my kids that I coach, that education is important. I'm fortunate enough that I grew up in an era to where you can keep going and find jobs. Work at McDonald's, work in the cannery.

But nowadays, because we got the world now is all about technology, if you don't have an education, it's hard to find a job. But also, as a borough, the borough needs to support school, not only school but education. Thank you.

Thank you.

Mr. Callahan, what do you believe should be the Assembly's highest priorities over the next 2 years, and how would you contribute to addressing them?

You know, I mean, there's a lot of things that require the borough's attention. I tend to not be like a single issue kind of focus. I tend to see things from more of like a holistic standpoint.

Now, like, but I guess one specific issue that needs a lot of attention is ultimately the workforce. Now, this, that can That, that, but that also ties into housing, that ties into the education system. It also ties into the transport. How are we going to get to work? Transportation.

It ties into what jobs and industries are we supporting here in Kodiak and what, what framework are we, are we laying out to provide opportunities for the future?

And the second part of that question was how I intend to support.

This is— I mean, it's a— this is a 3-month appointment.

And with that said, because it's an appointment and not an elected position, I don't— if I got this, I wouldn't anticipate leading the charge on, uh, on our advocate, like advocating for big policy changes or anything like that because I didn't— I wasn't elected, so I wouldn't feel comfortable leading the charge on, on anything, um, yet.

Down the line, 2 years from now, I, uh, I've I've been working as an economic development specialist. I've just finished drafting a 5-year comprehensive economic strategy for Kodiak, so I am really looking forward to, to learning a lot more about how we can take advantage of the opportunities that are here in Kodiak, leveraging The— and finding out how to— trying to find— trying to showcase different economic opportunities that are available and how to support those according to the stakeholders that are going to make it happen.

Thank you.

Mr. Sweeney, what do you believe should be the Assembly's highest priorities over the next 2 years, and how would you contribute to addressing them? I think it would be remiss not to bring up education. It's—. I know that's not this Assembly's direct focus, but it is something that the community that weighs heavy on the community, and it is something that is thought about each day.

I think that establishing new revenue sources to fund the infrastructure that we have now and to help plan for improvements to go forward is really important. I think we need to focus on opening housing. We need to look at what has worked in the past, and we need to modify our plans so that what hasn't worked may have a better chance going forward. What I can do to help the assembly with this is, is just bring a knowledge, a different perspective, a way of looking at the world and listening to those who, who have common problems and, and how they see those problems, where they stand in their lives.

And just using sound economic reasoning, just trying to— common sense approach to everything.

Thank you.

All right. And Mr. Brekke, what do you believe should be the Assembly's highest priorities over the next 2 years, and how would you contribute to addressing them? Mr. McCallum. Well, I too agree that education is important. Kind of seems a little bit like low-hanging fruit.

But let's get down to the brass tacks of a lot of these things here. We got deferred maintenance of infrastructure, St. Herman Harbor replacement, Russian River, Bell's Flats erosion, housing and Coast Guard growth, fisheries and economic resilience, village water and wastewater systems. So when I looked at just checking out the McDowell Report from 2021. Um, since 2014, Kodiak has actually had a population decline of 9%. So now we're losing our taxable people, our infrastructure is failing, and you look at the gap between the money that we have for repairing the infrastructure and what we need, we're kind of losing ground there.

So we need to develop a way that people become more able to stay in Kodiak. Education is very important. Skilled trades are very important. We need people, men and women, that can perform these duties, these jobs, getting skilled trade, getting trained in the, in the field here, working with the CT directors at the schools, maybe summer intensives, developing programs where we can get students that are getting their hands dirty. There's a lot of guys out there and women that want to do that type of work, and they're not— maybe they'll go to college later like me at 48 years old.

But getting in and learning a trade, you know, some of the best engineers in the world are the ones that started out swinging wrenches. Those guys are easy to work with. They're in the ditches. They're with us. We need to be looking at that.

We need to be looking at reform for people that have made mistakes, working with local charities such as nonprofits such as Salvation Army, stuff like that, establishing ways for these these people to get jobs, get education in the workforce, some kind of development there. These things all need people to work on them. It's— I think it's a shame when we have to bring outside contractors from outside Kodiak. If we're, if we're losing contracts to outside contractors, we need to be looking at that. We need to be working on the infrastructure here with local hire if we can, and keeping that money here, getting more people to come in.

Now the Coast Guard is growing and bringing more people people in. We just don't have the housing. So now we need carpenters, we need people building houses, we need this stuff here on the island. We need something to keep some of these young people busy. And we need to look at drugs, the drug problem, alcohol problem in Kodiak.

It's ruining the young folks, it's ruining people. I'm watching it myself. I've had employees— I've lost an employee that overdosed on it. And it happens. And I work with people and I have success is in my life too with people that I've trained and taught and sent out into the world, and I get reports back from them.

They're doing well, getting married. So we just need people that can stand up and do that. We need to support small businesses that want to do that, that want to take on people, that want to bring the young people in. It costs a lot of money for a small business to train a young person up to be somebody. There needs to be some kind of kickback on that, help with the small businesses doing that.

If somebody wants to do that, I think that should be encouraged. And I think that could be something that the borough could really look into. And I named off a lot of the different issues here, and we all know that those are very popular amongst the fishermen and other people in the community. Infrastructure, St. Herman Harbor, Russian River Bells Flat erosion, that's a big one, right? We got to get that one figured out.

You know, people getting stranded and, um, our fire departments, we got to support those. We got to do different things. But one of the things that I think is overlooked the most, and I got to admit, I've overlooked it myself until my wife became disabled. My wife is in a wheelchair probably 90% of the time now, and it doesn't seem like it's going to get better, is the disabilities and helping people with disabilities in the community. What's the borough doing for things like that, making sure that there are trails that are accessible for handicap, making sure that there's— did you know you can't get a ride from the CATS program from out in the flats into town if you need it?

I mean, we, we got to figure there's people that are disabled that are out there that can't get in. There's people with, uh, special needs that need to get addressed. These are all just things that are, that are very passionate to me, which drove me here. Should have probably been answered my— the first question, but I went first and I blew that one out. Sorry about that.

But these are all the things that bring me to this table. Um, however, I think our youth and our— is the future of this world, of Kodiak for sure. We need to protect our youth, and education is very important. But let's not get lost. Let's not forget that skilled trades are very important as well.

Right. Thank you. Yeah.

Okay, last question before we open it up to you for closing comments. Mr. Callahan, do you have— excuse me— do you have other time commitments that will impact your ability to meet the attendance requirements of serving on the Assembly, including committee assignments? Dependence? Uh, nope. I'm a young guy without dependents.

The only thing I depend on is a full-time job. I will intend to make it to every meeting, definitely more than 50%, and then, um, yeah, I, I do the homework ahead of time.

Thank you. Mr. Sweeney, do you have other time commitments that will impact your ability to meet the attendance requirements of serving on the Assembly, including committee assignments? It would never impact or prevent. I have a family like everybody else. Family life gets crazy.

But no, I am a year-round resident. I, I'm here full-time. I work remotely, so I have a relatively flexible schedule, so I'm able to meet even all throughout the day. So I have no time constraints. Mr. Brekke, do you have other time commitments that will impact your ability to meet the attendance requirements of serving on the Assembly, including including committee assignments?

Probably at times. I do have a lot of people that count on me. I have a big group of people that I help out. But I noticed that Mr. Woods isn't here tonight, and I imagine that was planned. He's probably busy, and you guys all fill in.

And I bet that happens with everybody here and there. I mean, we got lives, we got family. Septics overflow, things happen. I mean, there's just things that you can't avoid. So I can't lie to you and tell you no, but I would make it as much as I can possibly make it, and it would be communicated, barring, you know, family medical emergency or something like that.

But yeah, that's it. Thank you. And, uh, Mr. Viscoccio, do you have other time commitments that will impact your ability to meet the attendance requirements of serving on the assembly, including committee assignments?

I know from the start there is a lot of, uh, I have, I'm part of a lot of, uh, organization, but in all my organization, from the FILAM to the basketball to the booster club, I am training all my vice presidents or more board members to take lead once I do get the opportunity to be a borough assembly member, just because that I want to be part of the borough assembly, not just because my father who passed away 3 years ago, but because I care about Kodiak.

Every single piece of rock in this island I care about. I'm from San Diego, but Kodiak is home to me, and I will definitely make time so that we can— I will definitely make time for the meetings.

And like everyone else said, You know, when the wife says let's go on vacation, we got to go on vacation. But that would be the only time, and I am pretty much sure that we can work around that with the scheduling of the meetings. Thank you. And thank you, everyone, for your patience for these questions. Now we are going to turn it over to you.

Try to limit it to about, you know, 2 minutes or so, any closing comments that you have. And we will start with Mr. Sweeney. Well, first I'd just like to thank everybody for the opportunity. I know the vacant seat was not ideal, but we're here and we're moving forward, and I think that's really important. Like everybody here, I'm here because I care about the community.

I want to help bring the ideas that are going to help shape the growth of the generations to come. I want to explore some, some new potential revenue-generating ideas. I understand that taxation is a delicate balance You know, you— price is too high and people can't afford and move out. We need to diversify those revenue sources. I bring an open mind to all my conversations.

I try my best to see the perspective from all sides of the conversation. It's really important to try and understand that your perspective is individual to you and you have to keep an open mind. I have a wealth of knowledge. I'm a fast learner. I don't make mistakes twice.

And I thank you for your time and your consideration. Thank you, Mr. Sweeney. Mr. Brekke.

I just appreciate you guys' time allowing me to come in here and state what I've been saying. It's very important to me. When I heard about the position coming open, I did think it was a great opportunity to come in and just kind of get involved in local government, local, local things that are going on. If I'm not appointed to this position, I'm going to run for this position. I'm going to pay attention to this because I think this is something as I get older that I need to do.

I spent, you know, the first part of my adult life just working and fighting. I've been a fighter, I've been raising a family, and I've done well at it. And now as I get older and pain set in and the joints hurt, I need to start slowing down a little bit more. So I'm chasing education and I'm trying to do other things with my life, but I want to share what I've— what I've gained in the knowledge that I have with other people, but I also want to learn from other people. So the opportunity for me to come in here and even speak tonight on what I've said has been very, very good, and it sits well with me.

I moved to Kodiak because there's work here, the type of work that I can do. I was traveling a lot. I was working on the slope. I was working all over, whatever I needed to do, working in power plants, working lots of hours until my wife got sick. And the treatments are available here on the island, whereas where we were living, we had to drive 4 hours.

In the interior of Alaska to get her there. So that's an opportunity, right? That's such a good thing. Providence Hospital over in Anchorage saved my son's life when he was 8 years old and had cancer. So I have a— I have an attachment to Providence.

I like what they were doing, and I like that Kodiak has that. But I see as the population of— again, as the population of Kodiak is going down, the tax burden is getting spread out over a smaller and smaller population. So I feel like it's my obligation to do something in the community, try to fix those things if I can do it. And, and I think that it can be done. And I—.

Keep going. Was that my time? No, it's fine. You can keep going. Sorry about that.

And I think it can be done. However, I'm not, I'm not well-versed at what you guys do yet, but I'll get there. Thank you. Great. Thank you, Mr. Brekke.

Mr. Vizcocho. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Um, thank you, Mr. Mayor, and the members of the Board Assembly for this opportunity to speak with you this evening. I am honored to be considered for this appointment. Having deep roots in Kodak, I understand both the challenges we face and the opportunities that lie ahead. I believe effective leadership begins with listening, listening to our residents, understanding their concerns, working together to find practical solutions that serve the entire community. If appointed, I will be committed to transparency, collaboration, and thoughtful decision-making.

I will strive to ensure that every decision reflects the values and best interests of the people of Kodiak. Together we can strengthen our economy, protect our environment, support our local businesses, and create opportunities that allows families, children, and seniors to thrive. My wife and I are raising our 7 children here because we believe in Kodiak and its future.

I would be honored to give back to the community that's given much to my family.

I told my mom, who passed away last year, that I wasn't going to get into politics and follow my father's footsteps. I told her at the age of 50 because she was concerned about my kids. She wanted me to spend more time with my kids because when I was in city council, it took a lot of my time. But because my wife supports me and my daughter supports me, my son supports me, who is— one of my sons who is deployed right now in— who is deployed, they all support me.

I believe it's time—.

Keep going—. To be part of the solution, especially when the future of the children are being affected.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Vizcocho. And finally, Mr. Callahan, any closing comments?

Um, I actually want— I like actually Excuse me. I will echo one of the comments made from the community members earlier, uh, how awesome it is and hopeful it is to have 4 very strong applicants on, uh, for this position. Um, it makes me feel good that a lot more people are getting involved. Um, uh, another thing is I, I know, I know I like kind of look very like white collar, but I've also gotten my hands fishy. I've started my work— I started work, uh, working with seafood processing, did some commercial fishing, but ultimately found my passion with learning and the deep problems and the nuances around issues and discussing those in depth with people.

I genuinely believe that everybody is a master of me, or like every individual is a master of you in some capacity and has an opportunity and has something to— can be learned from. I also believe that criticism is important. Criticism is a sign that you're thinking, and sometimes, I mean, thinking is just all you can ask for at some points. You know, if I had to give myself like a little mission statement or something, I mean, my head's at the youth. I hope to be able to add a youth voice to the assembly.

I mean, I directly feel the pressures of kind of feeling like like, I don't know, like young people are almost getting priced out of our community, and I just, I don't want to see that happen.

Thank you. Thank you, everyone, once again. Mr. Callahan, Mr. Sweeney, Mr. Brekke, and Mr. Viscoccio for coming out. I've been in that seat 2 times. Mr. Whiteside has been in that seat.

Ms. Roberts has been in that seat. So We all understand that it's, you know, it's an act of bravery to come out and put your name forward like that.

So with that, what we will do during our regular meeting is we will have time to consider. There's an opportunity for us on the agenda during the regular meeting to consult. The Assembly can consult and take a vote. Recommend you stay around if you can. But the Assembly might also decide to postpone the vote until next week, and we have to decide before this time next week anyway.

So just— I let you know how the rest of the process goes. But we are going to— so that concludes our work session, our special work session. We need, what, 5 minutes? A 5-minute break and we will begin our regular meeting. Thanks again, everyone, for coming out.

Appreciate it.