Troy Wuyts-Smith assumed that he’d run for a political office at some point in his life. And, earlier this month, he filed the paperwork to replace long-serving City and Borough of Juneau Assembly Member Loren Jones, who is barred from seeking an additional term due to term limits.<\/p>\n
He joins fellow candidates Barbara Blake, who joined the race last month, and school board member Paul Kelly, who declared his candidacy in May. His entrance sets up a three-way race for the seat to be decided in October’s municipal election.<\/p>\n
“I can be a voice for the community, a powerful voice,” Wuyts-Smith said at a recent interview downtown. “It’s no secret that the current assembly lacks diversity,” he added.<\/p>\n
Wuyts-Smith said that as a gay Black man he brings a different perspective to the job and that his life experiences have helped him develop critical listening skills.<\/p>\n
“I was raised by extremely hard-working parents. My father is a Vietnam veteran who fought on the front line, and my mother worked several jobs while attending night school to get her nursing degree. Being raised by parents who had to work hard and fight for everything we had taught me that through hard work, you can achieve anything,” he said.<\/p>\n
He said that his work experiences and extensive travel have helped him develop listening skills that would aid his work on the assembly.<\/p>\n
“I’m one of those people. I don’t have a strong political background. I know how to listen to people. It’s about listening and being a voice,” he said.<\/p>\n
Kelly launches campaign for CBJ Assembly<\/a><\/ins><\/p>\n On the issues<\/strong><\/p>\n Wuyts-Smith said that reviving the economy is the most significant task facing the assembly.<\/p>\n “We need the big ships to revive our economy, whether we want to say it out loud or not,” he said. Wuyts-Smith said that he did not support any recent petitions<\/a> to limit large cruise ship travel to Juneau. The petitions failed to gather enough signatures to make the ballot this fall.<\/p>\n He’s complimentary of the strategies the CBJ Assembly used to manage the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n “Mayor Weldon and the council did an absolutely fantastic job,” he said. “They could not have handled it better.”<\/p>\n Moving forward, Wuyts-Smith would like to see more people get vaccinated and see the city take a more active role in encouraging it through incentive programs.<\/p>\n