On a candidate for office’s campaign website, there is some information one can typically expect to see: a brief biography, the candidate’s main priorities or issues, and perhaps some information about how to help with the campaign.
Paul Nowlin’s website has all that. But the candidate for a District 1 seat on the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly also devotes some Web space to a more unexpected story — his explanation of how he came to plead guilty to a felony when he was a young adult living in Moses Lake, Wash.
“I just wanted to be open and honest about it,” Nowlin said. “I just figured, put the worst thing out there.”
According to the account on Nowlin’s campaign website, while Nowlin was at work, he became involved in an altercation with his boss, who “started shoving me and telling me I was fired,” and it escalated into a fist fight.
Nowlin was then charged with burglary for the combination of trespassing, by virtue of remaining on the premises after being fired, and “doing bodily harm to somebody,” he wrote.
Nowlin wrote that he pled guilty on the advice of his public defender, whom he claimed did not allow the other person in the fight to testify in his defense and admit fault. He said he spent a week and a half behind bars and completed his probation in less than three years.
“I kind of feel like I got a raw deal,” said Nowlin. “It’s not something I’m really embarrassed about. … I was young and dumb and my public defender got paid the same whether we went to court or not.”
Nowlin added, “I don’t want (the campaign) to be about that. I want it to be about issues in Juneau, not about my personal history. … I kind of hope people have made their own mistakes when they were young and can kind of relate to it.”
Nowlin’s only certified opponent thus far, Loren Jones, said the matter “wouldn’t have any effect from my viewpoint.”
“I haven’t seen the website,” Jones added. “It’s not going to affect how I’m going to campaign at all.”
Nowlin’s campaign website is located at vote-4-paul-nowlin.com. Jones has his own campaign website at lorenjonesforassembly.com.
A call to the government of Grant County, where Moses Lake is located, requesting court records went unreturned Monday.
An online case summary gives the date an arrest warrant was issued as Oct. 29, 1996, when Nowlin would have been 19 years old. The same summary states Nowlin was sentenced on Feb. 3, 1997.
Nowlin said he has already made sure his felony conviction does not disqualify him from seeking office in Juneau.
“I did look heavily into that before running,” Nowlin said.
City Clerk Laurie Sica said Nowlin is, as a qualified voter who has lived in Juneau for more than a year, permitted to seek office. She added via email, “He has submitted all the required paperwork for office and was certified as a candidate for Assembly District 1 today.”
• Contact reporter Mark D. Miller at 523-2279 or at mark.d.miller@juneauempire.com.
Comments (33)
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Paul,
A few questions:
1. How do you figure a road will lessen prices for food and other goods?
2. The road is expected to cost at least half a billion dollars. Probably a lot more with cost overruns, etc. How do you justify that level of expense for a town our size? Is that really the highest priority for our state's resources, even if your grandmother wanted it?
3. How do you figure it's even a relevant topic for an Assembly race? After all, it's not the City who would be paying for this road, or even making the decision to build. How about focusing on issues that you will have real influence on?
Lat,
He approaches answering your question(s) here:
http://www.vote-4-paul-nowlin.com/what-paul-nowlin-wants-for-juneau/
A FEW ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS
I like the definition of wisdom that one of you gave (sorry it was on the other page and I cannot see the moniker now); seems like you have a good amount of wisdom yourself.
You are right (another name I cannot see from this page), I do understand that people are struggling, I too am struggling; I am in the same boat as the rest of you. Juneau is expensive.
@Lat58
1) Trucking goods and fuel would be cheaper than barging it. I would hope that these savings would be passed on to the consumer. Some items would still be cheaper by barge, and so I am not worried about taking business away from AML, Northland, or the local S.E. delivery services (Lite Weight, Hoonah Trading, etc.). For example, if we could get lumber trucked in (which is not time sensitive like milk) we could build homes for a lower amount. Our local craftsman and artists (and maybe even businesses like the Brewery) could get their work to the Lower 48 for cheaper on the same trucks returning from bringing the items such as the aforementioned lumber example.
2) The cost of building the road out would be worth it in my eyes; in that, it will benefit the future generations forever. I understand that we are not a huge city, but we are the capital, and the only U.S. capital, save Hawaii for obvious reasons, that does not have a road in/out. It often is an argument for moving the capital; which we can agree would not be good for our community, correct? About priorities: I agree, if there are other priorities in queue before building a road, and they are in our best interest, the road should wait its turn after being approved. About my grandma: I am not saying that I was doing it just because she thought it was a good idea, my intent was to show that it is not only wanted by the young and middle-aged, but also by our retired community; and that the want has been there for quite some time...er...not that my grandmother is old...sorry grandma.
3) Good question, although it is not a direct Assembly matter, I believe that our city should be "for the road" at all times; that way we answer the door when opportunity knocks. The issues that I will have real influence on (if I am elected) will be future topics; I cannot support or discourage any of the issues the City has already addressed, or will address before October. Are there any specific upcoming topics that are important to you, that you want to discuss, or want to make me aware of?
Thanks Paul
Good responses again. Not sure I agree with everything you're supporting, but the respectful and thorough responses is definitely appreciated.
I'm not so sure running a truck all the way up the ALCAN is really cheaper than a barge. The manpower and fuel per ton of product is much higher on the truck. Your example of lumber might be an exception if we're sourcing it out of Canada, so it's much closer. Same for other Canadian products.
If a road made goods so much cheaper, why don't Skagway and Haines have much cheaper stuff than we do?
Your point that a road would benefit future Juneauites forever sounds good, but if that's the only measure of fiscal responsibility, a bridge to Maui would meet the same test. And frankly, I'd rather go to Maui than Anchorage.
Regarding the topics, you said that you "cannot support or discourage any of the issues the City has already addressed". Yet one of your first statements was to state that the boat lift in Auke Bay was a bad idea. Doesn't that conflict with your statement above?
I think that your response to that question was weak. If you don't think the City has any current issues that need to be addressed in the future, why are you running? Just to wait for issues to arrive? The city has many issues that won't be addressed by October.
Here's one for you: Harleys with straight pipes. Every warm evening (which has been rare this summer) all I hear are immature A-holes showing off how loud they can be. Very disrespectful to the 99.9% of us who don't feel a need to impress others with our noise. Why isn't that being enforced on? Do you feel it shouldn't be addressed?
@latitude58
I will have to take a closer look at the math concerning trucking in goods; but you have a good point about Skagway's prices. The thing about that is their population is around 700 people, and our's is around 30,000. So it would stand to reason that they would not be able to buy in bulk as many specific items as we could. Still I am going to look at the math more closely. Thank you.
The boat lift, I was using as an example of what I am against the city doing: competing with private businesses.
A bridge to Maui might be a little bit skewed compared to a road to Skagway, but I get your point. As far as fiscally responsible, I only want to stay open to the idea of building the road; that way if the federal government gives us a grant that could build it, and we did not have more important issues to address we could seize that opportunity. I do not believe it is something we can just push for, or it would have been done.
Cannot support or discourage: I worded that poorly, in my mind when I was writing that bit I was thinking about the fact that I could not vote for or against the past issues. Not that I did not think Juneau had current issues out there to be reworked and fixed. I want to fix things, this is for sure. Sorry for the confusion about that.
Harley's with straight pipes: I do love motorcycles and had my own until a drunk driver totaled it (whole different story), so I am not against riding. However, the bikes, and the cars and trucks for that matter, with extra loud exhaust systems are annoying. When it is to that extreme it makes it obvious that the vehicle's bark is louder than its bite; sounds too fake for my liking, I like the sound to match the power. As far as the noise of it all: I only see a noise ordinance for vehicles between the hours of 10 p.m. and 9 a.m.; in which, the vehicle must not be heard from over 30 feet away. Seems odd there is not a day time ordinance for vehicles, to address stereos and your example of an overly loud bike; especially being a tourist town, which are usually a little more strict about these sort of things. Perhaps there is a different section that I am overlooking. Does anyone know of a day time ordinance?