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Chapter Executive Committee Candidate Statements

Action needed by 11, 2011

Candidates for Alaska Chapter Executive Committee:

Irene Alexakos (Haines): I am a 30-year member of the Sierra Club. Currently on the Alaska Chapter ExCom with the position of secretary, I have also held the chapter chair position and served as a part-time chapter employee (2005-2006). I have worked for the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Alaskan Clean Water Alliance, and Earthjustice in Juneau. I live off the grid outside of Haines.

Russ Maddox (Seward): I have thoroughly enjoyed serving on the Executive Committee since 2006 and look forward to serving another term. In 2004 I co-founded Resurrection Bay Conservation Alliance to promote conservation and environmental justice in our community. RBCA has become an integral member of the community and has enjoyed many successes. I still serve on the Board of Directors. In 2005 my relationship and activism with the Sierra Club blossomed with the threat of a coal fired power plant being proposed in Seward—which we successfully fended off. I also serve on the Issues Policy Council for the Alaska Conservation Alliance, representing RBCA on a statewide forum. I am currently employed by Alaska Center for the Environment, monitoring and evaluating coal waste streams statewide. I will always seek the common ground and try to broaden our base, as it is my firm belief that folks of all political persuasions share the same core values of clean air, water, and lands. Thank you for your support.

Mike O’Meara (Homer): I have always been a tree hugger -- pillaging the natural world is like setting fire to your own house. I’ve been a Sierra Club member since 1968 and, upon moving to Anchorage from Los Angeles the following year, became active in the new Alaska Chapter. I served on the executive committee through the mid 1970s. Great good fortune allowed me to buy 120 acres of undeveloped land near Homer where I’ve lived since 1976. Moving to the Kachemak Bay area caused me to focus most of my energies on environmental struggles there. I’ve participated in the Kachemak Bay Defense Fund effort to keep oil development out of the Bay, and I’m a founding member of the Kachemak Bay Conservation Society, Alaska Marine Conservation Council, and Cook Inlet Keeper. After retiring from Homer’s Pratt Museum 2½ years ago, I’ve found time to play a more active role in the Sierra Club again. With the world’s unsustainable population grasping for dwindling energy and mineral resources, all of Alaska’s remaining unspoiled lands and biological richness are in jeopardy. Unless we make the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy soon, the whole human race is threatened. What better time to be an environmental activist?

Candidates for Juneau Group Executive Committee:

Mark Rorick: I have been a member of the Sierra Club since 1991 and became an activist in 1995. I am currently chair of the Sierra Club Juneau Group. My activism has been mainly focused on protecting the Tongass National Forest from logging and from environmentally destructive transportation projects such as the Juneau Road to Skagway and the Juneau to Douglas second crossing. I am very actively involved in campaigning to get all roadless areas in the Tongass protected under the national roadless rule and I will continue to do the same if elected.

Kevin Hood: I believe a true notion of progress embraces preservation of much of our natural world. On the Tongass, this means striving: to protect roadless areas; to ensure that designated wilderness areas are properly stewarded, and to secure our communities' long-term viability by supporting sustainable economic practices. We must uphold and engage in the transparent, public and forthright processes that empower the people to make informed choices over how to best manage our commons. The Sierra Club has a long tradition of rallying the citizenry to speak out on behalf of preservation. I'd be honored to continue doing what I can as a member of the Juneau Group Executive Committee to help keep this legacy alive and strong.

Layla Hughes: I have been in Alaska for the past 8 years,working as an environmental lawyer to protect Alaska from unsustainable resource extraction. I especially enjoy being a member of the SC Juneau Group executive committee because it enables me to focus on many of the issues that are important to us here in southeast Alaska, such as transportation and renewable energy. I would welcome the opportunity to continue to help the voice of the Club and its membership be heard by our policy makers.

Candidates for Denali Group Executive Committee:

Douglas McIntosh: "I came to Alaska in the 1960s and have been concerned about many of the changes that I see taking place in this wonderful land. I want to save wild Alaska"

Nancy Kuhn: "We can make a difference."

Magali Vincent: "I love Alaska's wilderness and wildlife. I want to keep Alaska wild for the animals and us."

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