The Juneau Chamber of Commerce named Kris Sell, a lieutenant with the Juneau Police Department, its Citizen of the Year at its annual dinner at Centennial Hall Friday night.
Sell didn’t give an acceptance speech after Sharon Burns presented her with the citizen of the year trophy, a golden mining pan. However, before presenting Sell with the award, Burns explained why the chamber had chosen her.
During the past year, Sell has worked to fight Juneau’s heroin problem, co-hosting the Hope, Not Heroin Rally. She is leading the police department’s Year of Kindness initiative, a program she hopes will encourage Juneau citizens to commit one act of kindness each day. She also won JPD’s Jackie Renninger Community Policing Award earlier this year for her dedication to building strong relationships between the police and the community.
Paullette Simpson received the chamber’s lifetime achievement award for her continued effort to support Juneau businesses and the local economy, according to her daughter, Erica, who presented her with the award.
“When people have asked me over the years ‘Why do you dabble in politics?’ I say ‘I do it for my kids,’” Simpson said during a brief acceptance speech.
Also during the annual dinner, outgoing chamber president Dan Fabrello passed the gavel to incoming president Eric Eriksen, a vice president with the Alaska Electric Light and Power Company.
More than 200 people attended the Hollywood-themed chamber event.
