Homer City Council

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Alaska is rapidly rising, just at the time that the City of Homer's emergency order is set to expire. According to Homer Mayor, Ken Castner, Governor Dunleavy told a meeting of mayors on Thursday, October 22, that he intends to let the State's emergency order expire on November 15. Since that call, Alaska case counts have escalated and Governor Dunleavy is scheduled to make a public statement Tuesday afternoon. 

The four candidates for Homer City Council all took part in a forum Thursday night sponsored by the Homer Chamber of Commerce. It was the second time in two days that KBBI listeners heard from the incumbent candidates, Caroline Venuti and Rachel Lord, but the first opportunity to hear from challengers Raymond Walker and George Hall, who declined invitations to appear on KBBI’s The Coffee Table on Wednesday.

During the COVID-19 Incident Command Report at last night's Homer City Council meeting , Derotha Ferraro from South Peninsula Hospital updated the council with the latest numbers.

    The slate is set for October’s Homer Municipal Elections. The filing period closed Monday at 5 p.m.

    First-term Homer Mayor Ken Castner is facing a challenge from current City Councilmember Donna Aderhold. Aderhold is in the second year of her second three-year term on the council.

    Fellow council members Rachel Lord and Caroline Venuti are both seeking election to second terms. 

Storm Hansen-Cavasos won the second contested seat on the Homer City Council, according to final election results released Friday afternoon.

The political newcomer beat out incumbent Shelly Erickson by seven votes. Joey Evensen, also new to local government, secured his place on the city council earlier this week after the city announced the preliminary election results Tuesday evening. Incumbent Tom Stroozas garnered the least amount of votes out of all four candidates.

Hansen-Cavasos said she was ecstatic to hear about the win.

Candidates for Homer City Council squared off at a forum Wednesday night. Residents packed the city’s public library to hear the candidates speak on issues such as housing, social services and the environment.

Four candidates are vying for two open spots on Homer’s city council. Council members Tom Stroozas  and Shelly Erickson are both incumbents while Storm Hansen-Cavasos and Joey Evensen are both newcomers to local government.

For decades, Homer has debated what to do with the 1950s-era former high school building sitting on more than four acres of real estate at the entrance to town. The HERC building, with its small gymnasium and connected classrooms, has been used by the Kachemak Bay Campus and the Homer Boys and Girls Club, and was examined more recently as space that could be renovated to serve as storage associated with a proposed new home for the Homer Police Department.

Two seats on the Homer City Council are in contention for the October 1, 2019  Municipal Election. The seats are currently held by Shelly Erickson and Tom Stroozas who were elected in 2016. Erickson and Stroozas have both filed for re-election.

The Homer City Council declined to put a parcel of city-owned land in Homer’s central business district back on the market Monday. The 1.3 acre parcel could have been the future home of Grace Ridge Brewing, but opponents of the move say the property could serve the city in the future.

The city had considered building the new Homer Public Library on the site, but after the city went another direction, the land sat on the market until 2018.