Small business owner appointed to Homer City Council seat

Monday night the Homer City Council made an appointment to fill the seat left vacant when Joey Evenson resigned last month.
    After interviewing two candidates over Zoom, the council selected Jason Davis on a 4-0 vote.
    Excused from the vote was Councilman Heath Smith because he happens to be currently running against Davis for that very seat. Though Smith is currently serving the last few months of his second three-year term, he chose to seek the one-year term in this year’s election, after contemplating not seeking reelection.
    Davis was selected over Francie Roberts. During a city council work session Monday afternoon, Davis talked a little bit about why he’d like to be on the council, including making Homer more pedestrian-friendly.
    “Like most towns that were built in the automobile era we're very set up to have cars flowing through town, but we're less geared, I feel like toward pedestrians. And I wish we could have more trails, more sidewalks, maybe even a long shot I'm sure, if that town center project could be developed in a way where cars would be secondary and parked behind the buildings and there could be something that looks like Talkeetna, where you walk along this little road, just a small intimate space with buildings that come up to the sidewalk,” Davis said. “I think that's a dream for many of us.”
    Davis acknowledged the deep divisions in Homer, but believes they can be overcome.
    “We have to find a way to get along with each other,” he said. “And for the most part, I think we’re pretty good at that.”
    Davis owns and operates Sweet Gale Meadworks and Cider House on Main Street. In his candidate statement for October’s Municipal Election, Davis says he wants to “ensure that Homer remains a place that welcomes and encourages entrepreneurial risk-taking and promotes the success of small businesses, while also ensuring the livability and environmental health of the city for all its residents.”
    Davis was sworn in during the city’s work session and was seated immediately, bringing the council once again up to a full house of six members.