He will also cut whole departments like parks and rec and privatize or contract them out.

You 've got our votes!

Typical of career politician, The water study is still in draft form, not finished, nor is the public comment period over-but who needs to listen to citizens anyway? Aren't they all on the Chamber? Yea, we need more "people to stand up and support somehow" No thinking required.

The key to Mr. Sanford's success in this election will be turnout. If the areas away from Downtown don't get out and vote, Mr. Sanford will likely lose to any mediocre candidate. The liberal elite in downtown Juneau and Douglas always turn out in high percentages. The more conservative voters in the Valley and other parts of town have historically turned out in lower percentages. Many controversial, pro-development issues have been voted down because of this problem. For example, the vote on supporting the road would have almost certainly been affirmative if just a couple more percent had turned out in the valley.

The fact of the matter is that Juneau needs development. If we don't extract resources, there is no new money. Juneau has resources that can be responsibly extracted. This resource development will generate jobs and revenue for Juneau and the rest of Southeast AK. If we don't make wise decisions now, we will continue a path of decline and Southeast will be a shadow of itself.

I'm not completely savvy when it comes to modern mining, so please tell me if this is an off-base concern...

There are enough stories about the noise from the Treadwell to indicate that it was a part of the Douglas residents' day-to-day life. I've lived in Juneau most of my life, but certainly not long enough to know what it was like when the Treadwell or the AJ were operational.

If we stick a mine - literally - right above downtown, will we have that constant, inescapable, seven day a week noise pollution? What will that do to our tourism industry? Property values in downtown and Douglas? Desirability as a state capital and a place to do business?

A lot of people enjoy Juneau because they don't have the omnipresent light pollution, air pollution, water pollution, and noise pollution that are part and parcel with so many places "Outside." How much of that changes if there is a modern mining operation just uphill of our downtown area?

Yikes. At the Forest Service round table meetings Mr. Sanford was pushing logging and roads for mines in our Tongass National Forest and for State land (which is also public land) to be logged.

Wow. For once I agree w/ a comment by SilentMajority:

Merrill is "someone who doesn't feel everything needs to be $tudied"

But he works hard and pays attention. I think he sincerely cares about Juneau.

I'm open to voting for him. Will be curious to see who else runs.

With Merrill, what you see is what you get, he doesn't sugar coat and play the political gamesmanship like Botelho has done for so many, many years.

I appreciate Merrill's dedication and service to the community, he has the well being of Juneau at the top of his priorities and it is high time for a leader to be bold about our future and not hide behind committees, studies, and fiascos like the Tongass Futures Roundtable, climate control agenda, spaceship capital buildings, bronze whales and every other boondoggle Bruce has manipulated his way through with OUR money.

Can't wait to donate to Merrill's campaign!!

Try to pass off a monstrosity as a new capitol building, Mr. Sanford will be performing at a higher level than his predecessor did.

Sounds like a "smart guy" like you would be right at home in Holland... How about we pass the hat and get you a ticket?

BTW: those “Smart people” in Holland are paying income tax at %60 and then Value added tax at %19 for a total tax rate of %71.

The last thing we need in Juneau is more divisiveness and it looks pretty clear to me thats what we will get with Merrill Sanford as Mayor. And I certainly do not like the idea of trying to increase the population here, I think we're pretty maxed out now.

Hes also been at CBJ for 8 years. Its time to change course - not go back in time.

So how long after he is elected can we officially change the name of Windfall Lake to Tailings Storage Facility #2

Yes, AH HA. Holland is a horrible place, filled with resentment, because people pay more taxes to help other people who maybe have worse luck or maybe are just lazy but it's not my place to judge so I should just calm down because their society as a whole is more functional and more human oriented and less money oriented than our own and maybe, just maybe, that's a little more important than being able to buy the newest Macbook or a big truck because there are cracks in our society, cracks that an increasing number of people are falling through.

But what do I know? I bet if they just refused to pay taxes and said, "I got mine, [filtered word] Y'ALL AND THE SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS THAT ALLOWED ME TO MAKE IT THUS FAR" it'd be a far better place to live.

@AH HA: no, I believe we live in a society. In a society, people who benefit disproportionately from that society have a moral duty to help those who have not benefited as much from that society. In addition to being the MORAL thing to do, this is good for society as a whole. After all, who said that "a chain is only as good as its weakest link"? Not that mean lady from that game show, that's for sure.

So if it's good for society as a whole, and it is also a moral imperative, the only question remains: why is greed an acceptable excuse for not doing your part?

What do you really believe? Do you really believe all of your success is all thanks to YOU and YOU alone, and that you don't owe ANYONE ANYTHING because you're just so awesome?

And just an FYI, I have no illusions about my own privilege. White, male, born into a middle-class family, always had a safe, stable environment in which to grow and flourish--bam! I've got it made! And I don't pretend that my success is all thanks to me. All I did was take the opportunities that were handed to me.