Former Permanent Fund CEO Runs for Mayor of Juneau

Angela Rodell, former CEO of Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, is running for mayor of Juneau.

The deadline to get on the ballot for Juneau’s Oct. 1 municipal election was 4:30 p.m. Monday. Rodell is running against incumbent Mayor Beth Weldon.

Rodell filed her documents at the Juneau clerk’s office around 3 p.m. She says her leadership experience and background in finance can help Juneau weather economic challenges.

“It feels like we’re in a lot of big trouble right now, and the taxes keep going up, the valuations — they just keep going up and up,” she said.

Rodell has lived in Juneau for more than a decade. She led the Permanent Fund Corporation from 2015 to 2021, when the fund’s board of trustees voted to remove her from the role.

She also served on the Juneau Airport Board for six years and previously served as Revenue Commissioner for the state. She currently serves as chair of Launch Alaska, a nonprofit tech company based in Anchorage.

“It was time to get off the couch, as they say, and get back in. And I just really want to move this community forward,” she said.

Weldon is in her second term as mayor of Juneau. She is a retired division chief with Capital City Fire/Rescue and owner of Glacier Auto Parts.

In addition to the mayoral race, two other Juneau Assembly seats and three school board seats are on the ballot. All seats are for three-year terms. Five candidates had filed to run in District 2 as of Monday afternoon, and at least one had filed to run in District 1. Candidates must live in the district they are running for.

In District 1, former Alaska Office of Budget Management Director Neil Steininger and Connor Ulmer were on the ballot as of 5 p.m. Monday. In District 2, Emily Mesch, Nathaniel “Nano” Brooks, Maureen Hall, Dorene Lorenz and Mary Marks were all certified.

At least four people have filed for the School Board. Current board members Elizabeth “Ebett” Siddon and Will Muldoon have filed for re-election. Jenny Thomas, Amber Frommherz, Michelle Stuart Morgan and Jeff Redmond have also filed.

More last-minute candidates could be added as the clerk’s office works to certify them on the city’s website. Candidates have until Friday to withdraw their names if they no longer wish to run.

Write-in candidates have until September 24 to file their candidacy with the clerk’s office. They will not appear on the ballot, but will appear on the city’s online candidate list.