
Voters cast ballots in the local 2020 election. October 6, 2020. (Stremple/KHNS)
The final votes have been tallied for the municipal elections in Haines and Skagway. A mayor was unseated in Haines and several newcomers took seats on the borough assembly.
Four seats on the Haines Borough Assembly were up for election this October. Assembly Members Zephyr Sincerny and Stephanie Scott chose not to seek re-election while Assembly Members Brenda Josephson and Jerry Lapp campaigned to keep their seats at the dais.
After the final ballots were counted at an election canvass on Tuesday, newcomers Cheryl Stickler, Caitie Kirby and Carol Tuynman were elected to the assembly and Jerry Lapp retained his seat.
In the election for Haines Borough Mayor, local grocery and sporting goods store owner Douglas Olerud unseated Mayor Jan Hill, who just completed her second consecutive term and her fourth term in total.
Lydia Andriesen, Tiffany Dewitt, Brain Clay and Anne Marie Palmieri were elected to the Haines Borough School Board in an uncontested race.
Voters also approved a proposition to make a one-time $450,000 draw from the borough’s permanent fund to help cover operating expenses. The ballot measure was proposed by Assembly Member Zephyr Sincerny after the borough lost funding from the state to help pay off a bond used to construct the local school.
Across the Lynn Canal in Skagway, municipal elections were held for two seats on the borough assembly and the local school board. Assembly member Dan Henry ran for re-election while assembly member David Brena decided to leave assembly at the end of his term. Skagway voters elected Rebecca Hylton and Samuel Bass to fill their seats.
Kilipaki Harris, Denise Sager and Jason Verhaeghe ran for two open seats on the school board. Voters elected Sager and Verhaeghe.