Paulette Simpson: No Kings in Juneau? Then stop reelecting the same political establishment

By PAULETTE SIMPSON

Sept. 20, 2026 – Last April, Angela Rodell wrote a column that tip-toed into dangerous territory.

Rodell dared to broach the subject of incumbency, observing that Juneau has fully embraced the “No Kings” movement, but wondered why the same paradigm isn’t applied to our locally elected leaders.

The mere mention of “No Kings” in that context likely nicked a nerve in some Juneau circles.

Rodell’s question was simple: If Juneau opposes entrenched power at the national level, why is it willing to accept it at the local level?

It’s easy to see how incumbency resembles royalty — by creating entrenchment, entitlement, and a permanent political class.

The permanent political class can be likened to a royal retinue.  In Juneau’s kingdom, this includes our “partners” in non-governmental organizations and nonprofits (estimated at around 350 in Juneau) and special interests who work to shape public policy to achieve their goals. The royals and their retinue need each other to preserve the status quo, though often at the expense of good public policy.

On Sept. 14, the Juneau Assembly voted to table long overdue, sensible revisions to Juneau’s sales tax exemptions. Preserving the status quo meant forfeiting up to $3 million in “foregone revenue.”

The ordinance sought to inject fairness into the collection of Juneau’s 5% sales tax by requiring nonprofits to collect sales tax from their retail customers, many of whom are summer visitors.

If the proposed ordinance was too complicated for the nonprofits to understand, then it should have been sent back to staff to address the confusion. Rather than correct inequitable tax policy, it was easier to fold and, as the mayor suggested, look to upcoming ballot measures and increased taxes on everyone else instead.

To their credit, Assembly members Nano Brooks and Neil Steininger recognized the injustice and fiscal irresponsibility of the current exemptions and voted accordingly.

Allowing special interests to rule the day and electing the same people repeatedly only serves to preserve an increasingly unhealthy status quo.

Current officeholders inherited, but rarely celebrate, two successful mines and a thriving cruise industry that have clearly kept Juneau’s coffers full and the kingdom economically viable.  And yet, demographic data tells a different story.

Outmigration, an aging population, and plummeting school enrollment suggest Juneau is in a slump. School started again on August 20 with about 3,700 students, a drop of 282 since we closed schools in 2024. For context, the current enrollment of Gastineau Elementary School in Douglas is about 280.

Remind me, please, how incumbency delivers for Juneau?

The same politicians and their partners have been in place for years.  We’ve spent millions on “economic development.”  Yet what appears to have mattered most is maintaining the political continuity our incumbents provide and the status quo they endorse.

Voters did rise up last year about overall affordability and questionable discretionary spending.  A grassroots citizen group, not an Assembly committee, provided voters with the opportunity to pass ballot measures — which they did — to cap property tax and remove sales tax from food and essential utilities.

Prior to that, the Juneau electorate twice denied local government a new City Hall.

Still, a $60+ million performing arts/civic center rejected by voters remains on our Assembly’s official Legislative Capital Priorities list regardless of what voters have decided. Apparently, some royal decrees are allowed to survive the ballot box.  No kings, indeed!

That’s why I won’t be voting for local incumbents or their hand-picked successors this fall. Juneau doesn’t have a king. It has a political establishment that is used to getting its way. The same establishment now asking voters to approve new taxes is largely the same one that opposed affordability measures adopted last year.

If “No Kings” means anything, it means standing up to entrenched power in our own backyard.  This is why we vote.

Paulette Simpson lives in Douglas, Alaska.