Jared Goecker is one of three candidates running for Anchorage Assembly District 2, representing Eagle River/Chugiak. We asked each candidate the same five questions and gave them 90 seconds to answer each one. Read the transcript of Goecker’s answers below and click the play button above to listen to where he stands. Find the rest of the Anchorage municipal election candidates’ Q&As here.
1. Why should people vote for you for Anchorage Assembly?
Hey, Wesley, so, yeah, my name is Jared Goecker. You know, I'm running for the Assembly because there's a lot of issues going on in this community and in the city, and we see a lot of these trends that are not looking good for the city. You know, I represent Chugiak/Eagle River values, right? I'm a local to the area. I've been a strong advocate for local control and accountability in the government, at the state level and at the local level. So when people are looking for, you know, when people are looking for somebody that's going to fight for their values, I’m their guy, right? And, and so I feel confident that we're going to get in there, we're going to get the work done. We're going to be, you know, we're going to be connecting with people in a way that's meaningful, you know, where they're at. We're going to be responsive to the needs of the people, you know. And when we're out here and we're door knocking, we're talking to people, and people are talking about, you know, the issues that are important to them. It's one of those things that really resonates with me, because it's important, right? And when people are saying, “Hey, property taxes are too high. I can't, I don't know if I can afford to stay in my home because the taxes and the cost of living and everything is getting too high,” or they're talking about issues like homelessness, and, you know, “Hey, this is how this impacted me." People want to know that they're going to have somebody that's going to fight for them and fight for those values, and that's me, and so that's why I think people should be voting for me.
2. What is the single biggest issue facing the city and how would you address it?
Yeah, I think what you're going to find when we're talking about stuff going on in Anchorage is homelessness, and the overall sense of decline, I think, is going to be one of the biggest issues. And there's a lot of issues with that. Obviously, I'm sure we'll talk about homelessness a little bit later as well, specifically. But people don't feel like this city is on the right track. They feel like we're going in the wrong direction. There's signs of economic decline. People are voting with their feet. A lot of people are just leaving the city and either going out to the Valley or just leaving the state, and that's a problem. So we need to, we need to address that. We need to show people that, hey, as a city, we can get stuff done. When they look at the municipality and they see a bloated government budget that's not actually delivering on the results, on the results that we can expect from the government, for the amount of money that we're paying this government, they expect to see some change in accountability, and that's exactly what we need to do.
3. What do you see as the best way to reverse Anchorage’s trend of outmigration in recent years?
Yeah, I think one of the most important things we can do right away is show that this is a stable city. We have to be able to get some stability. A lot of this is going to continue to swirl around homelessness, too. We have to show that, hey, as a city, we're enforcing the laws. As a city, we are protecting the most vulnerable in our community, and we're also protecting the homeowners and the property owners and the, you know, the business owners. You know, last year alone, they dismissed thousands of cases at the city level for prosecution, because they just couldn’t get it to trial. That's insane, right? Because what does that mean? That means there's no consequences for crime, and it's like “The Purge” out there, right? And everyday, common folks people, they look at that and they go, “That makes zero sense,” and they expect more. And it contributes to the sense that as a community, we're not really taking any of this stuff seriously. And that's, you know, that's one of the things that we have to really address. And until we address that, until we show that Anchorage is a stable and safe place to do business, raise a family, people are going to continue to leave.
4. How would you reduce homelessness in Anchorage?
Yeah, look, homelessness is one of the most complicated issues. It's a heartbreaking issue too, right? Because you're dealing with, you're dealing with people that are, you know, across the spectrum, but by-and-large, overall, they're in a tragic situation, right? There's been a lot of circumstances that have led them there, and there's some stuff that we can help with, right? There's people who are genuinely just down on their luck, you know, they got a bad medical bill, they fell behind, they lost their apartment. And those are the people I think that we should be prioritizing, the people that we can get quickly back on their feet and back in the community. Where it gets more complicated, it's when you have the people that don't want the help, right? You've got people who are struggling with some sort of addiction, and they're refusing to get the treatment options. And we have a lot of options. There are, there's truly a lot of resources out there for people struggling with addiction, but they're choosing to not get that help. And so we have to address that. I mean, that has to be a part of the conversation of, hey, if you're going to continue to decline help, but you're going to continue to use public resources, and, you know, be out setting fires in the woods and stuff like that, there has to be some sort of accountability. And we have to get to a spot where it's like, okay, if you're going to choose to decline all these resources and all this help, we're gonna have to step in and make a decision for you. And you know, that gets really complicated really quick, I get that. But it's something that we're gonna have to do.
5. How would you improve public safety in Anchorage?
Yeah, one of the biggest things that we struggle with, I think we've got like 90 positions at the Anchorage Police Department that are funded but unfilled, and officers are leaving this city, are leaving this department, because they don't feel like their work is mattering, right? When they go out there and they arrest the same person over and over and there's no accountability for it, and the city dismisses thousands of cases, that wears and grinds them down. And so we've got to be able to show that there is going to be accountability. Your work as a law enforcement officer does matter to us as a community. We are thankful for them. We are thankful for the work that they do. And until we start showing that, putting actual respect on the, you know, the industry and the profession, we're going to really struggle to recruit and retain officers, because they're gonna go, “Well, what the heck? If I'm arresting the same guy over and over, and the city's just gonna dismiss the case, even for the, you know, the ones we are arresting, there's no point in even trying.” And that's how we lead to a basic city of lawlessness right now. And that has got to change, and we've really got to get this under control.
Read the candidate Q&A with Goecker’s competitor: Kyle Walker. District 2 candidate David Littleton did not participate in our candidate interviews.