Cordova residents go to the polls on March 1 to elect a new mayor, city council members and school board members and to decide on a $2 million ballot proposition to help finance rebuilding of the city’s South Harbor.
Candidates for mayor include Wendy A. Ranney, who owns and operates Orca Adventure Lodge with her spouse, Steve; and David Allison, a member of the Cordova City Council.
Candidates for Cordova City Council seats include incumbent Tom Bailer for Seat A, Kristin Carpenter for Seat F, and Molly Mulvaney and Kenneth B. Jones for Seat G.
Candidates for the two Cordova School Board seats are incumbents Barb Jewell and Tammy Altermott, and Theresa (Terri) Stavig, Chris Bolin and Stephanie Rusinski Bernard.
Annie Linville is the lone candidate for one of two seats available on the Cordova Community Medical Center.
The last day to register as a candidate was Jan. 31. The deadline to register to vote in this election was Jan. 30. The total number of registered voters for the 2021 city election was 2,103 people. The average number of ballots cast at regular city elections over the past 12 years (2010-2021) was 553, said City Clerk Susan Bourgeois.
Ballot Proposition 1 is for a $2 million low interest loan from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. If approved the funds would be used to supplement the South Harbor rebuild by replacing the current creosote pilings with steel pilings and installing a waste handling station.
Cordova qualifies for this loan because these changes would improve water quality in the harbor basin and surrounding areas.
The loan would free up other South Harbor rebuild project funds, allowing the city to incorporate a drive-down dock into the rebuild. Backers of the ballot proposition said the drive-down dock would be a major convenience for fishermen, allowing welding trucks to remain stationary to boats for on-water repairs and facilitating much faster loading and unloading from vehicles. Without this loan it is unlikely that the city would be able to afford to incorporate a drive-down dock into the rebuild, they said.
The loan would be paid off exclusively with harbor revenue.
