Jimi Cash and Nick LaJiness run for Borough Assembly Seat E

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) - Jimi Cash and Nick LaJiness are both running for seat E on the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly.

Incumbent Cash said he is running because he wants his kids to be able to grow up in the same town he did. “I want to do my part to help Fairbanks stay an enjoyable, prosperous town that I knew growing up, and same with my parents, and grandparents.”

Cash’s top issue, he explained, has always been property taxes. “Property taxes are a big burden for a lot of people right now. Just a few weeks ago, we approved the tax foreclosure list, which is people who are losing their homes because they can’t keep up with the property taxes for whatever reason, and that’s terrible for anybody to have to go through, and so whatever we can do, whatever I can do to help try to keep the borough budget as low as possible and still provide the services that are needed, still fund for education,” he said.

Other issues Cash has worked on include transfer sites, road service areas, and the Riverboat Nenana. “I’m a local guy, an average guy. I’m a general contractor. My life has been in the private sector fixing people’s problems. That’s what I do, and I try to be a reasonable, responsible voice in all the chaos that happens with politics a lot.”

LaJiness is challenging Cash for seat E.

LaJiness seeks to attract new growth to the community, including renewable resources. “I’m a third-generation pipefitter. I’ve worked on the oil fields. I’m not saying ‘Shut the oil valves off.’ I understand there’s obviously a transition to that and it’s probably not going to happen in my lifetime, but I don’t see why we couldn’t use these new resources to promote jobs,” he explained.

He wants for the borough to fund education to the allowable limit. “I’d like to see this place be a place where our youth can grow up and have sustaining, good-paying careers that they attain here through our trade schools and our universities.”

He identified animal welfare as a priority, including new codes and laws for their protection. According to LaJiness, “The way a community takes care of their animals is a reflection of its values, and we can do better in that area. We need to take care of those things that can’t take care of themselves.”

Both Cash and LaJiness will appear on the municipal election ballot on October 3.

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