Stephen "Greg" Fisk, 70, newly elected mayor of Alaska's capital city, Juneau, has been found dead at his home, police confirmed yesterday. Fisk won the capital city’s mayoral contest just over a month ago, handily defeating one-term incumbent Merrill Sanford by a 2-1 margin.
Alaska Dispatch News has the following details:
At 3:34 p.m. Fisk’s adult son, Ian Fisk, called 911 to report having found Stephen "Greg" Fisk deceased inside his downtown Juneau residence, the Juneau Police Department said Monday night.
No cause of death was released but late Monday Juneau police addressed rumors surrounding Fisk’s death...
Fisk’s body is being sent to the State Medical Examiner Office for an autopsy, a process expected to take several days.
Here’s the JPD press release:
Subject: Death Investigation |
Date: 11-30-2015 09:06:41 |
From: Erann Kalwara - JPD PIO |
Case or Incident: #151130-009 |
Summary: On November 30th, 2015 at about 3:34pm, the Juneau Police Department received a 9-1-1 call from a male reporting he had found a deceased subject inside a residence in the 400 block of Kennedy Street. JPD officers and Capital City Fire/Rescue responded to the area. 70 year old Stephen “Greg” Fisk, the Mayor of Juneau, was pronounced deceased on scene. The investigation continues.
************* Update 11/30/2015 21:05 The man who found Greg Fisk in his Juneau residence and called 9-1-1 was Fisk’s adult son. JPD is aware of rumors that an assault occurred in connection with Fisk’s death. Those rumors are speculation. Detectives are actively investigating facts of the incident and all evidence is being preserved and documented. The Medical Examiner’s Office has authorized an autopsy. Results of the autopsy are expected within several days and will be used to determine the cause of death. The investigation is ongoing and more information will be released as appropriate
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Juneau photographer and cameraman Mikko Wilson, who worked for many years at KATH-TV, the NBC affiliate in Juneau as an engineer, webmaster, news reporter & videographer, tweeted this as he covered events at the scene:
#Juneau Mayor Fisk's body has just been removed from his home. He will go to Anchorage for autopsy, as is standard for situations like this.
— Mikko Wilson (@mikkowilson) December 1, 2015
From Alaska Dispatch News again, friends and neighbors reacted with disbelief and sorrow:
[Ousted incumbent Merrill] Sanford praised Fisk's dedication to the community during the campaign, and did so again Monday, saying both shared goals of economic development.
Sanford's praise for Fisk was so effusive that Juneau radio reporter Pete Carran asked Sanford whether he'd be voting for himself.
Juneau resident Bob King, who campaigned for Fisk and lives next door, said the campaign was notable for how positive it was, and that Juneau has suffered a tremendous loss.
"So much of today's politics has become so personal, and it just becomes these unrelated issues, but this race wasn't like that," he said.
State Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, D-Sitka, said he was in a "state of shock" about Fisk's death.
"We talked about fish stuff a lot, and we were trading ideas on municipal policy after he got elected as mayor," Kriess-Tomkins said.
Even though Monday night’s CBJ meeting was cancelled, assembly member Maria Gladziszewski said several officials gathered at City Hall anyway, all “in shock” and remembering Greg.
“We were just there talking about the mayor and thinking about his family. He had great ideas about moving Juneau forward. It’s just shocking and a tragedy that he won’t be able to do that.”
Juneau is quintessential small town America with a population of just over 30,000 and losing pillars of the community hit us all.
We know these folks. They really do live next door. You see them on the street, at the store and wave that small town “five.”
We will all feel the loss daily
You may remember the response to the death of Sitka, Alaska resident and Daily Kos’ cherished member realalaskan, William Stortz, and the outpouring of sympathy and grief over his passing as he heroically helped rescue others during a landslide in Sitka, our nearest neighboring city.
Alas, we grieve the loss of another “good one.”
Juneau Deputy Mayor Mary Becker will assume the mayor’s duties and had this to say late last night:
“It’s not that our city won’t continue,” Juneau Deputy Mayor Mary Becker said late Monday night. “We will keep going, but it’s just very, very sad not to have Greg as our mayor.”
I’ll post an update when more details are available. CBJ plans to release details of how government will move forward this morning. I’ll post that as soon as I hear it is released.
City and Borough of Juneau clerk Laurie Sica said the city will issue a press release Tuesday with details on how city government will operate. The city’s deputy mayor is assembly member Mary Becker. CBJ meetings scheduled for Monday night were canceled.
It’s a sad day in Juneau. In remembrance, some positions he ran on (and won) just scant weeks ago, from a Juneau Empire candidate profile:
What is your highest priority for the CBJ to accomplish during your term in office? Explain why this is a priority and how you would facilitate this change.
Growing and diversifying our economy is paramount. State government remains our economic mainstay — 20 percent of jobs and 28 percent of payroll. We can’t change $45 oil, but we can work diligently and creatively on...
Juneau needs more housing for several kinds of populations that range from the homeless to young families on limited budgets… What additional actions would you suggest the Assembly take to get on with solving the housing problem in Juneau?
Our extremely tight housing market — particularly rentals — is the biggest inhibitor to needed economic growth. The shortfall is pegged at 700 units, but is actually higher given the many substandard units now occupied. We need to streamline permitting and should put our revenue bond authority behind housing development to reduce developer costs and lower risk...
As Alaska tightens its belt… what are your suggestions to increase efficiency in Juneau and/or reduce the municipal budget?
City government needs to look for efficiencies across the board — small, incremental savings can add up to a lot. But we can’t cut our way to prosperity. We need economic diversification and growth. Improving our housing situation is key...
When considering public transportation, traffic, and parking issues in our municipality, what do you consider to be the major concerns and the solutions for them?
Flexible work hours will reduce rush hour congestion and make commutes safer. It’s not just a downtown issue….
We need a large parking garage near the Federal Building. Meanwhile, let’s optimize our on-street parking...
Circulator transit should connect all downtown parking lots, letting people “park anywhere and go everywhere” quickly and comfortably...
The legalization of marijuana requires new regulations for CBJ that determine how the use of this substance will be handled in the municipality. For example, ...whether or not to allow the production and sale of marijuana edibles… and whether or not to allow smoking parlors for marijuana, including in the downtown area to draw in cruise ship passengers...
It’s good that we are no longer using scarce police resources putting people in jail because of marijuana. Personally, I favored decriminalization rather than outright legalization and commercialization...
Tourism is a significant part of the CBJ budget. What steps should be taken to make sure tourism is a positive experience for both visitors and residents?
Tourism offers important growth opportunities. Completion of the new docks will see a 20 percent increase in arrivals, up 1.2 million visitors. We need to reinvest CBJ tourism revenues to accommodate those visitors. Circulator transit, streetscape improvements and completion of the seawalk will ease congestion, help diversify retail opportunities and make our city experience as good as natural attractions like the glacier, whale watching and flightseeing...
The Juneau Economic Plan tells us that we need to be courting young people to fill state positions of retiring Juneauites. What can the Assembly do to further this goal?
Again, housing is our biggest economic development challenge. The young people we want and need to attract, including our own kids wanting to return after college and work experience Outside, need reasonably-priced, available market-rate housing…
We have great lifestyle opportunities here for young people (and active retirees), but they need good places to live.
Tuesday, Dec 1, 2015 · 5:01:22 PM +00:00 · Antitheist
A very nice article this morning from KTOO Public Media, an arm of our strong Public Radio organization, with some nice photos and remembrances:
One photo from Mikko:
As police investigated in and around Fisk’s home, residents in Juneau’s Starr Hill neighborhood lit candles in his honor.
Tuesday, Dec 1, 2015 · 7:21:46 PM +00:00 · Antitheist
The Atlantic has a little bit more, including some more speculation about cause of death:
The Death of Juneau's Mayor
Bryce Johnson, the city’s police chief, told the Juneau Empire suicide had been ruled out, and noted there had been no sign of forced entry. He added assault is “one of the possibilities out there, but there’s others that could have happened. There could’ve been a fall, there’s lots of things that would cause it.”
Little else will be known until an autopsy report comes back later this week.
“It's a devastating event,” said Deputy Mayor Mary Becker, who is now acting mayor. “He was a great person and he will be missed.”
Tuesday, Dec 1, 2015 · 7:56:30 PM +00:00 · Antitheist
The inevitable easily digestible, social media-fication of the story — From Heavy.com:
1. Greg Fisk Had Been Mayor For Just Over a Month
Fisk had been mayor of Juneau, Alaska, for just a little over a month, KTOO reported…
2. The Cause of Death Is Not Yet Known
The cause of his death is still being investigated and police said they had not yet determined if his death would be considered suspicious,...
3. He Unseated Incumbent Mayor Merrill Sanford by a Wide Margin
Fisk won the election on October 6, 2015. He challenged incumbent Mayor Merrill Sanford, who was just finishing his first term. He won by a wide margin of 3,830 votes to Sanford’s 1,910, according to the Juneau clerks office...
4. The City’s Deputy Mayor, Mary Becker, Will Serve as Mayor in the Interim
Juneau’s deputy mayor, Mary Becker, will take over as mayor in the interim, KTOO reported...
5. He Was the Founder and Owner of SeaFisk Consulting & Management
Fisk had never run for office until this year. Prior to this, he was the founder and owner of SeaFisk Consulting & Management, a business that provides consulting services to fisheries...