A decade working downtown involved me in city and Borough matters that affect downtown and always the wider city, like snow removal, the Community Service Patrol, policing and the Polaris building. I have respect for city council members and have considered, while sitting through many long meetings, Why not join them? I care about Fairbanks and its citizens. I have a sense of local government’s role in our quality of life, and I know how things work at the city. The years ahead will be challenging for local government to balance revenue needs against a level of city services that really shouldn’t go any lower, and by that I mean to support city services.