City council, assembly and board of education filing period opens

Prospective city council members, assembly members and board of education members can now file to run for upcoming vacancies on municipal bodies throughout the Kenai Peninsula Borough. The candidate filing period for the Oct. 4, 2022, municipal election opened Monday at 8 a.m. for the cities of Kenai and Soldotna and for the Kenai Peninsula Borough. The period will close on Aug. 15 at 4:30 p.m. for all.

In Kenai, Mayor Brian Gabriel, Vice Mayor Jim Glendening and council member Glenese Pettey are all up for reelection. All have served on the Kenai City Council since October 2019.

To run for any of the Kenai City Council’s vacancies, prospective candidates must first gather signatures from 20 registered Kenai voters on a nomination petition. That petition must be submitted with a completed City of Kenai Public Official Financial Disclosure Statement. Candidates may also submit a photo, candidate statement and information sheet with their petition.

More information about filing to run for office in the City of Kenai can be found on the city’s election website at www.kenai.city/clerk/page/city-election-information.

Soldotna

In Soldotna, the seats up for grabs are currently held by Vice Mayor Lisa Parker and council member Dave Carey. Parker has served on the council since 2016 and Carey has served on the council since 2019.

To run for either of the Soldotna City Council vacancies, prospective candidates must complete and notarize a declaration of candidacy form and file a Public Official FInancial Disclosure Statement with Alaska Public Offices Commission. Candidates may also submit a photo, candidate statement and information sheet with their petition.

More information about filing to run for office in the City of Soldotna can be found on the city’s election website at https://www.soldotna.org/government/city-clerk/elections/election-information.

Kenai Peninsula Borough

On the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly, there are three seats up for grabs: those currently held by Jesse Bjorkman, Nikiski; Tyson Cox, Soldotna; and Brent Johnson, Central.

There are three seats open on the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education. Those seats are currently held by Zen Kelly in District 9 – Homer; Virginia Morgan in District 6 – Cooper Landing; and Patti Truesdell in District 1 – Soldotna.

Declaration of candidacy forums are available for both the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly and the KPBSD Board of Education on the borough’s division of elections website at www.kpb.us/assembly-clerk/elections.

The 2022 candidate filing period for the Kenai Peninsula’s Oct. 4 municipal election will close on Aug. 15 at 4:30 p.m. for the cities of Kenai and Soldotna and for the Kenai Peninsula Borough.

Reach reporter Ashlyn O’Hara at ashlyn.ohara@peninsulaclarion.com.

Kenai

Brian Gabriel, mayor

Jim Glendening, vice mayor

Glenese Pettey, council member

Soldotna

Dave Carey

Lisa Parker, vice mayor

Assembly

Jesse Bjorkman

Tyson Cox

Brent Johnson