Petersburg’s tribal members picked a new council president on Monday, January 6. Voters elected Carol Martinez president of the Petersburg Indian Association Tribal Council, ending Debra O’Gara’s term in the role after just one year. Brenda Norheim also ran for council president as a write-in candidate.
Three two-year terms were open on the tribal council. The two incumbents running, Brandon Ware and Jaclyn Eide, both kept their seats. Adam Ware won the third seat. Marc Martinsen and Cina Martinez were also on the ballot, and Taylor Norheim ran as a write-in candidate.
There were two three-year seats open to serve as a representative for the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, or SEARHC. Tracy Welch won that race, and Will Ware was elected as alternate, a new position. They beat incumbent Everett Bennett and tribal council member Jeanette Ness.
Turnout for the election was high this year with 95 votes cast. That’s out of 311 eligible tribal citizens. It’s the second year in a row with high turnout – last year 109 people voted – more than four times as many as the previous year.
This is the second year that the Petersburg Indian Association has held early voting days.There were three this year, compared to four last year.
And there were more candidates this year too – eleven official candidates and two write-ins – running for six seats. That’s after two candidates withdrew from the race. Last year nine people ran for five seats. In the past sometimes there haven’t been enough candidates to fill seats.
A change last year to PIA policy opened up eligibility for some tribal members. Before, tribal members employed by another tribe or tribal organization – such as the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska – were not allowed to run for office with the Petersburg Indian Association. But last winter, the tribal council voted to change the rules. That made it possible for some candidates to run for the first time.
The election will be canvassed Monday, January 13 at 5 p.m. The next Tribal Council board meeting is January 15 at 5:15 p.m. The meeting will be held in the conference room at the Petersburg Indian Association building at 15, 12th Street.
