Municipality of Anchorage — April 7, 2026 Election
Meet the Candidates
Explore voter guide responses from candidates running for Anchorage Assembly and School Board in the April 7th, 2026 municipal election.
ⓘ Not an official government site. Data compiled from publicly available candidate filings and campaign materials.
Assembly District 1
District 1 · 1 seat
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- Age
- 32
- Years in Anchorage
- 24
AI Summary Generated from voter guide responses · Not an editorial opinionA nonprofit organizer running on housing, education, and revenue diversification. Scout wants to regulate short-term rentals, increase housing supply, and explore a sales tax or income tax to reduce dependence on property taxes. She supports the education levy and says Mayor LaFrance's administration has made progress on homelessness and shelter.
Campaign WebsiteVoter Guide Responses
- Why are you running?
- I'm running for the Anchorage Assembly because I believe in Anchorage, and I know that our community does, too. I bring my skills in organizing and community outreach and deep connections with this community to the work and a vision for Anchorage that is future focused and still protects and embraces all that we love about our community as it is today.
- Biggest problem facing Anchorage?
- Right now, we are facing a housing shortage and crisis, and I think that is rippling out throughout the community and impacting all of the other pieces of the work of our municipality, whether it's reliable services, safe streets, strong schools. We need to increase the housing supply. We need to put regulations on things like short-term rentals that are taking houses off the market for residents. We need to also, beyond that, look at ways to diversify the budget in our municipality so that we're not just dependent on property taxes.
- How would you address outmigration?
- We need to invest in our public education system, which again, goes back to budget and funding, both at the local level and at the state level. We also need good jobs. Again, this comes back to having enough housing in our community. Employers are not going to want to set up shop here in Anchorage if their employees aren't going to be able to afford a place to live. So we need to increase the housing supply, we need to improve our public infrastructure to support our current and increasing population as well.
- How would you address homelessness?
- We need to provide housing for people. That's the top priority for me. I think Mayor LaFrance's administration has done a great job building out our shelter capacity. I just heard recently that there are no existing major encampments in Anchorage at the moment, which is huge and hasn't been true for many years. So, we need to keep that momentum going, housing people providing wraparound services and support with folks to help them get on their feet.
- How would you address the housing crisis?
- We have a lot of dilapidated housing, unused buildings, unused lots across the municipality, and particularly in North Anchorage that I think need to be revitalized. We also have a lot of great housing in Anchorage already that is being used for short-term rentals that are not currently regulated in any way. We need to improve the existing infrastructure that we have that should be used toward housing, and also build more housing in places where it makes sense.
- How would you address the fiscal cliff?
- It's clear to me that our local government has done a really good job trimming the budget wherever possible, and I feel very strongly that we do need to explore other kinds of taxes. I would love to see the state Legislature allow local governments in Alaska to collect income taxes. I am in deep listening with my community about the concept of a sales tax here in Anchorage. I also would love to see more corporate taxes, more oil taxes, and explore opportunities for revenue generation through things like short-term rental taxes and through clean energy projects here locally.
- How would you address public safety?
- The public safety issue that worries me the most in Anchorage is bigger picture — just our staffing shortages and the conditions that we're expecting our public safety professionals to work in. Right now, the firefighters are understaffed. The national standard for workers on a fire truck is four. In Anchorage, our standard is three. Within that, the calls that they're receiving are increasing every year, and we've hit records within the last six months.
- Support or oppose the education tax levy?
- Yes.
- What grade would you give Mayor LaFrance?
- A
- What is your neighborhood known for?
- South Addition, in the Safehaven housing cooperative.
- Most underreported issue facing Anchorage?
- Clean energy
- If you had a magic wand, what would you change?
- More housing
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- Years in Anchorage
- 10+
- Prior office
- Event Co-Chair, Board of Directors, Fur Rondy Festival, 5 years; Vice President, Anchorage Fairs & Festivals; Downtown Community Council
- Responses via
- Anchorage Citizens
AI Summary Generated from voter guide responses · Not an editorial opinionA community board member and longtime Fur Rondy Festival co-chair running on safety, housing affordability, and new revenue from tourism. Powers wants to expand the Crisis Prevention Team and revive neighborhood watch programs, streamline permitting and zoning to unlock more housing, and fund city services through a souvenir tax on tourist purchases and a bed tax increase from 12% to 14%. He supports the education levy as a short-term measure but says the school board needs structural reform, and gives Mayor LaFrance a B+.
Voter Guide Responses
Responses submitted directly to Anchorage Citizens · Not from the Alaska Public Media / ADN voter guide- Why are you running?
- I am a Neighbor and a concerned citizen and resident of Anchorage, looking to improve the city and bring people back to Anchorage with reasonable and common sense ideas. I moved here over 10 years ago from the lower 48 and fell in Love with Anchorage the moment I arrived. I have noticed a continual change in the city over the past few years from the number of people moving away to safety issues in some of our neighborhoods. I am looking to improve the city on three issues I feel are very important, Safety for our residents, Funding for the City, we need to build back our revenue assets and Full String City Services Police & Fire at the start. I want to bring the voice of the regular Anchorage Citizen to the Assembly. I am very community minded, having served as the Event Co-Chair on the Board of Directors for the Fur Rondy Festival for the past 5 years, serving as the Vice President of Anchorage Fairs & Festivals, and on other Community Boards including the Downtown Community Council, and I feel this makes me a great candidate for the City Assembly.
- Biggest problem facing Anchorage?
- One of the most concerning issues to me for Anchorage is the Safety and Well being of all of the Residents, from simple things as not being able to cross streets due to the lack of Legal Crosswalks on Third Ave to the high speed drivers on Inga and including the homeless camps in our parks. The stretched Police are not able to cover enough of the city to secure it all. I give credit to the current Administration's push to fill the Police Academy and fill our Stations with new Young Police, but I think we need to expand the Crisis Prevention Team and reintroduce the Neighborhood Watch program to get our residents more involved.
- How would you address outmigration?
- Creating new neighborhoods with starter homes and creating beginner housing which will entice young people to stay in Anchorage. Also we need to attract new divisions of Corporations to Anchorage with business incentives. One of the ways I see this happening is through increased attention to Visit Anchorage, our Convention Bureau. We currently have a booming tourism industry, 1 of every 9 jobs is fueled by the Tourist Trade. If we can make Anchorage more of a year round destination we could improve the job creation and viability.
- How would you address the housing crisis?
- This is a major issue within the community. We need better and more housing to create new and revitalized neighborhoods. To do this we need to visit all of the regulations, zoning and permitting issues which are causing a crisis in the building community. Developers and builders willing to work within Anchorage are road blocked with red tape. We must come to a solution which works with everyone to keep the housing market safe and yet affordable to young people starting out and to the Seniors who are reducing homes.
- How would you address the fiscal cliff?
- We cannot continue to place all of the burden on the homeowners with property taxes, and yet we do not want to create a Sales Tax, we must come up with new ways to create revenue for the city. One of the ways I see this going is to raise the taxes on the tourism industry, as this group is a majority of the use on the roads and infrastructure during the Summer Season. The creation of a Souvenir Tax, taxing the items most purchased by the visitors to the city which they will not even notice as most states all have a sales tax and this will not affect the residents as most of us do not purchase these items. Secondly we should increase the bed tax from 12% to 14%, and use the additional monies to go directly to the city for infrastructure, and work to reinforce the port etc.
- Support or oppose the education tax levy?
- I am in support of the Levy although I think it is only a Band-aid and not a solution. This may help for a short term but the School Board needs to take a hard look at itself and the dollars it is spending and where, as there is a large misdirect to the disbursements. We need to look at each school and the attendance carefully. In addition I do believe we need to try to regain some of the losses we have suffered from the State of Alaska's current decimation of the school system. I do think with a careful restructuring of the current system we could save the Schools.
- What grade would you give Mayor LaFrance?
- B+
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- Age
- 41
- Years in Anchorage
- 39
AI Summary Generated from voter guide responses · Not an editorial opinionA former firefighter and police officer turned real estate developer focused on crime accountability and deregulation. Milette wants to reduce permitting burdens to lower housing costs, opposes new taxes, and supports prosecuting offenders more consistently to improve quality of life. He opposes the education levy, citing ASD's declining enrollment and lack of fiscal accountability.
Campaign WebsiteVoter Guide Responses
- Why are you running?
- Being born and raised in Anchorage, I remember what Anchorage used to be, the vibrant city it once was. I served on the fire department, as well as with the state, as a police officer. Seeing kind of what's in our downtown, and just a lot of the issues that we keep talking about but nothing ever gets solved, I've realized that there are people that do things and there are people that talk about things. My background in public safety and now business, and then real estate development, I think I've got a ton of experience in a lot of stuff that plagues Anchorage: crime, homelessness, housing, and then bringing investment back into Anchorage.
- Biggest problem facing Anchorage?
- One of the biggest things that we're seeing is the lack of accountability when it comes to crime. Crime plagues just about every aspect of Anchorage right now. We need to work on that. Actually prosecute people, bolster our prosecution office, hold people accountable for the crimes they're doing. Once we fix some of that, it's going to create a better quality of life. People are going to be more attracted to Anchorage.
- How would you address outmigration?
- I would like to see us start solving root problems. A lot of the issues with our retail theft is related to drug addiction and alcohol addiction. People are leaving because the quality of life is not so great in Anchorage. I would like to solve some of those issues, make it easier for developers to build, bring housing down by reducing some of the regulation.
- How would you address homelessness?
- I would like to see actual treatment facilities pop up when it comes to alcohol addiction, drug addiction. People need a place to live, but at the same time, if we don't fix the underlying root causes of mental health and all the addictions, then it's doing them a disservice. I think we need to look at cities that have actually solved it, and not try to reinvent the wheel.
- How would you address the housing crisis?
- Our housing supply is directly related to all of the difficult regulation and permitting process attached to housing. The system is very cumbersome. It takes a long time to get through anything. We have some of the most complex building code in the entire country. When we add those costs up to a builder, and they're seeing anywhere between 7% to 15% of the entire build process just due to engineering, architectural and permit requirements, that's a substantial amount of money that they could save and discount the price of the property.
- How would you address the fiscal cliff?
- It's difficult to have a conversation about being in a fiscal cliff and then spend over $30 million on the City Hall building the next week. I don't want to keep talking about taxing the existing resident base and property owners. With 70% of Anchorage residents having a pessimistic outlook on Anchorage and 60% of businesses, adding additional taxes is just going to speed up the process of people leaving. I would like to have the conversation about how do we build more revenue in Anchorage by bolstering our economy, not just add new taxes to a declining population.
- How would you address public safety?
- Homelessness has been a normal conversation at almost every single door we knocked. They deal with property vandalism and vehicle thefts. I think it's unacceptable what is going on in one of our business districts and tourism districts. I would like to see actual solutions on root causes, not just services offered to get our people out of addiction and off the streets.
- Support or oppose the education tax levy?
- No. That $12 million levy is a challenge. The ASD board needs to really look at the decline of how many students they've had. I live in the area where Inlet View is, and that was a terrible choice on building a brand new school at $50 million with a $90 million deficit.
- What grade would you give Mayor LaFrance?
- C+
- What is your neighborhood known for?
- South Addition by Westchester Lagoon.
- Most underreported issue facing Anchorage?
- Budget transparency — when we pass bonds or new taxes and they're supposed to fix something, but money gets moved under the general fund instead of impacting new services.
- If you had a magic wand, what would you change?
- Change the idea and opinion of Anchorage being a declining and unsafe area; paint a picture of vibrancy, prosperity, and economic recovery.
- This candidate did not participate in the voter guide survey.
Survey Alaska Public Media Anchorage Daily News Election April 7, 2026
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