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.
Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Cordova Center Community Room A. Early in-person voting is 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday until Monday, Feb. 28, at the Cordova Center.
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 incumbent Barb Jewell, 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.
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.
