There wasn’t a lot to distinguish candidates from one another. Of the four candidates for Assembly, only one — Greg Smith — isn’t already serving in that capacity. The candidates for Assembly are Carole Triem<\/a>, Smith<\/a>, Alicia Hughes-Skandijs<\/a> and Wade Bryson<\/a>.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Those candidates already serving frequently cited the work of the Assembly as an example of their fitness for office, but they often cited the same initiatives.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Assembly candidates Carole Triem, left, Greg Smith, Alicia Hughes-Skandijs and Wade Bryson share a light moment during a candidate forum at KTOO on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2019. The event was sponsored by the Juneau League of Women Voters. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t While there weren’t large differences in overall policy areas, candidates did try to distinguish themselves in the details of achieving those policy outcomes.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t When the question turned to senior housing, Triem suggested also focusing on creating an environment where young people wanted to, and could, live in.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t “In tandem with senior housing, we need to have the health care workforce to support seniors,” Triem said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t All candidates said that working with local nonprofits was a good way to combat homelessness, but only Bryson brought up education as a means of keeping people off the street.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t “We need to make sure we have great education so we can prevent future homelessness,” he said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t All the candidates running for Assembly will be seated on that body. Two of the candidates, Smith and Hughes-Skandijs, are running for seats in the same district (District 1). The winner of that election will serve a three-year term while the runner-up will serve one.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t School board<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t The Juneau Board of Education candidates, who took the stage for the second portion of the forum, showed a bit more diversity in their answers but there was still a lot of consistency amongst the responses.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Candidates were similarly united in what they thought was important — early childhood education was a frequent topic — but how the district would pay for various programs was something individual candidates could expand on.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t “We need to look at efficiencies, and not just cutting programs,” Bonnie Jensen said in response to a question about avoiding budget overruns.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Running for school board are Deedie Sorenson<\/a>, Martin Stepetin<\/a>, Jensen<\/a> and Emil Mackey<\/a>.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t![\"Assembly](\"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/18575843_web1_190917Candidate_Forum01.jpg\")
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