Scott Crass and Aaron Gibson run for Borough Assembly Seat H

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) - Scott Crass and Aaron Gibson are vying for seat H on the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly.

Crass said the borough needs an assembly that balances fiscal responsibility with quality services, including “The maintenance of our wonderful borough facilities like our parks and our pools. The pools are especially important. I’m sure that you know Alaska has double the rate of drownings as anywhere else in the United States, and so it would be imperative for us, it’s a matter of life and death for us to make sure everybody knows how to swim.”

According to Crass, the borough currently funds education at 77 percent of the local cap. “I’d like to see Fairbanks fund at 100 percent of the local cap for education. It’s imperative that we show that we value our children just as much as they do in Anchorage and Juneau, and I know we do.”

The campaign trail has allowed him to meet many different community members. “There are so many people that are working diligently for our community, tirelessly, without looking for reward or acknowledgement, and they’re just trying to get a job that they see needs doing done. I really think the borough assembly has a role to play in both leadership and recognizing and supporting those people that are working so hard for our community,” Crass explained.

Meanwhile, Gibson also wants to see someone on assembly who will fully fund education in the borough. “I have four kids in the schools, and that’s one of my largest priorities. The other priorities are, I want to focus on the Capital Improvements Plan [sic], the CIP, and make sure we continue to fund those projects and take care of our deferred maintenance, and wrap up those projects as quickly as we can. Thirdly, the borough has been working towards paying off all of its debt, and so I want to continue putting focus on that getting the borough in a better position to be debt-free.”

He discussed long-term thinking about borough property taxes. “There’s a certain number of years that are left on larger organization that fund a large portion of the property tax, and so we need to make plans for our future, and try to be a little bit more forward-thinking, and not as reactive.”

According to Gibson, the borough should focus on its primary responsibilities before branching out. “I really feel like if we get really good at the basic things, and the things that we’re supposed to be doing today, when we add new things we’ll be really good at those also, but we need to get the things that the assembly is initially required to do right first.”

Crass and Gibson will appear on the ballot in the municipal election on October 3.

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