Running for Office
Dear Editor: I’m excited to announce that I will run for the Alaska House of Representatives to represent Sitka and the other island communities of our district. I want to write my fellow Sitkans to share why I’m running, begin a conversation and hopefully ultimately win your support to represent you in Juneau.
I’m running as an independent to continue the tradition of pragmatic, solutions-oriented representation that Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins has provided in Juneau for the past decade. The Bipartisan Coalition that Jonathan was a part of has served Sitka and other coastal communities so well. If elected, I commit to join the Bipartisan Coalition, working with “Alaska first”-minded Republicans, Independents, and Democrats to solve problems on behalf of Alaskans.
Running for the House is a bit of a full circle moment for me. I first experienced public service as a page in the Alaska House of Representatives in 1989 when Sitka’s Ben Grussendorf was Speaker of the House. Observing his leadership helped shape my perspective on public service, and since then, I have served on the Alaska Board of Education and Early Development (appointed by Gov. Walker) and Sitka Assembly.
With your support, I’ll advance coastal Alaska priorities such as re-investing in our ferry system, strengthening our schools, supporting small-boat commercial fisheries (and pushing back on trawl bycatch), promoting sustainable economic development, and advocating for Southeast Alaska’s fair share of state resources and investment. All the work I do is done with an eye to equity and ensuring support goes where it is needed most.
As an elementary school teacher with more than 20 years of classroom experience, I have a front row seat to the central role that public schools play in developing and supporting healthy kids, families and communities. As a proud graduate of UAS, I am a living example of the importance of our state university in producing the workforce Alaska needs.
Our state K-12 education system has been starved of resources and is at a breaking point. Students and families are struggling due to the pandemic. Teachers are leaving the field – and Alaska – at an unprecedented rate. School boards have become political battlegrounds. Making our schools work better for students, parents, teachers, and employers is my highest priority. I have the education, experience, ideas and networks to lead in rebuilding our public education system, from pre-K to high school, higher ed and workforce education.
I am equally concerned about the escalating cost of living in our community and region. You can count on me to be an advocate for affordable housing, state support for municipal infrastructure and services, and sustainable economic development.
As your representative you can expect me to work hard for you and for our state. I bring maturity, a steady hand, experience, civility, and a deep love for Southeast Alaska to all that I do, and I have spent my career in our public schools lifting students and families. You can count on me to prioritize the people of Southeast Alaska when I’m in Juneau and to do what needs to be done to ensure our communities remain the best place in Alaska to live, work and do business.
Rebecca Himschoot, Sitka
Baseball Sponsors
Dear Editor: On behalf of the players, coaches, and parents of the Sitka High School Baseball Team, we all would like to express our sincere gratitude to our local sponsors: Sea Mart Quality Foods, AC Lakeside and Sitka Sound Seafoods. Their generous donations show their commitment to the success of our youths in Sitka. Thank you so much!
Sitka High School Baseball Team
