East Anchorage Matters with Rep. Andrew Gray

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East Anchorage Matters with Rep. Andrew Gray

Rep. Andrew Gray

28 episodes

6 hours ago

The Mobile Home Owner Town Hall Episode Today our show is about mobile home parks. As the state representative for house district 20, I have several mobile home parks in my district. Mobile home owners face unique challenges: they own their home but must rent the land on which their home sits. Every year that rent goes up – yet the value of their home tends to go down. This can create a vicious cycle that can be incredibly difficult for a mobile home owner to break out of. This podcast episo...

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The Mobile Home Owner Town Hall Episode Today our show is about mobile home parks. As the state representative for house district 20, I have several mobile home parks in my district. Mobile home owners face unique challenges: they own their home but must rent the land on which their home sits. Every year that rent goes up – yet the value of their home tends to go down. This can create a vicious cycle that can be incredibly difficult for a mobile home owner to break out of. This podcast episo...

Show more...

Episodes (20/28)

East Anchorage Matters with Rep. Andrew Gray

Mobile Home Owner Town Hall: attorney Charles Ward, park owner David Andrew, AK Workforce Services Asst. Director Demetria Veasy

The Mobile Home Owner Town Hall Episode Today our show is about mobile home parks. As the state representative for house district 20, I have several mobile home parks in my district. Mobile home owners face unique challenges: they own their home but must rent the land on which their home sits. Every year that rent goes up – yet the value of their home tends to go down. This can create a vicious cycle that can be incredibly difficult for a mobile home owner to break out of. This podcast episo...

1 year ago

50 minutes

East Anchorage Matters with Rep. Andrew Gray

EAST ANCHORAGE BOOK CLUB: Chelsea Foster & Bailey Stuart: Alaska Marijuana 101

Chelsea Foster of Anchorage is a director on the board of the Alaska Marijuana Industry Association and a long-time cannabis advocate. She is COO for Birch Alaskan Naturals CBD, and a consultant for the Alaskan cannabis industry. She has successfully pursued regulatory and statuary changes for the Alaska cannabis industry with a focus on social equity and sustainability. Bailey Stuart of Wasilla is co-owner of the the Matanuska-Susitna Borough's first recreational dispensary Green Jar. ...

1 year ago

45 minutes

East Anchorage Matters with Rep. Andrew Gray

Foster Care in Alaska: Angel Gonzalez, Mateo Jaime, Kxlo Stone, Anna Redmon, Sarah Lewis, & Abbey Redmon

Facing Foster Care in Alaska (FFCA) is a non-profit group made up of folks with lived experience in the foster care system. As former foster youth themselves, these individuals can offer expertise to make Alaska's system better from the inside out. Today on the show we hear from the most recent FFCA board president, Angel Gonzalez, Mateo Jaime, Kxlo Stone, and then three sisters, Anna Redmon, Sarah Lewis, and Abby Redmon. If you are interested in becoming a foster parent, click here to...

1 year ago

1 hour 12 minutes

East Anchorage Matters with Rep. Andrew Gray

Keri Ladner: author on Jerry Falwell, the Moral Majority, and QAnon

Keri Ladner is the author of the 2024 book End Time Politics: From the Moral Majority to QAnon. She earned her doctorate in Divinity from the University of Edinburgh and much of her doctoral research focused on researching the theological roots of Jerry Falwell, the co-founder of the Moral Majority. She exposes the racism, contempt for the poor, and false patriotism of Falwell and his followers, as well as his commitment to "Biblical capitalism," which led Falwell to call for the elimin...

1 year ago

54 minutes

East Anchorage Matters with Rep. Andrew Gray

Former House Rep Ivan Ivan (D-Akiak) on Yupiit language, subsistence, & Politics; Jena Crafton, Chair of Governor's Council on Disabilities & Special Education

Jena Crafton is the chair of the Governors Council on Disabilities and Special Education. She has been a vocal advocate for people with disabilities since she was young as Crafton has developmental disabilities herself. We discuss her childhood including how she learned about her own disabilities and what she most wants the community at large to understand about people with disabilities. Former Alaska State House Representative Ivan Ivan of Akiak in the YK Delta replaced Lyman Hoffman in the...

1 year ago

30 minutes

East Anchorage Matters with Rep. Andrew Gray

Ed Wesley & Shenee Williams: Shiloh Community Housing's planned Community Resource Center

Ed Wesley was born in Bolivar County, Mississippi, on January 9, 1951. He moved to Fort Greeley, Alaska, in 1973 after being drafted into the Army. His wife joined him shortly thereafter and the two raised all five of their children here and the two have never lived outside Alaska since. He was elected president of the Anchorage NAACP in 1981 and led the charge to change the way the Anchorage Police Department uses deadly force. Wesley has served on the boards of numerous organizations such a...

1 year ago

49 minutes

East Anchorage Matters with Rep. Andrew Gray

Paul Peterson: Harvard Professor on Alaska Charter Schools

Today's episode is about Alaska's Charter Schools which were recently ranked #1 in the country. The lead author of the study is Dr. Paul Peterson of Harvard University, and he is our guest today. Paul E. Peterson is the Henry Lee Shattuck Professor of Government and Director of the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University, a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and Senior Editor of Education Next, a journal of opinion and research. He receiv...

1 year ago

35 minutes

East Anchorage Matters with Rep. Andrew Gray

Alaska State Senator Shelley Hughes (R - Palmer): on Hoonah, parenting, & bipartisanship

AK State Senator Shelley Hughes of Palmer moved to Hoonah, Alaska, in the late 70s as a young adult to help establish a religious community with her parents. We talk about that experience, as well as her travels around Alaska with her husband and young family, and ultimately how she ended up involved in Alaska politics. We also discuss some of her policy interests. Legislative Update for Monday, Feb. 5, 2024: 1. My vote on HB 129 -- Rep. Vance's election reform bill 2. Floor speech on...

1 year ago

57 minutes

East Anchorage Matters with Rep. Andrew Gray

State Rep. CJ McCormick (D-Bethel) on youth, suicide, & strength

Representative C. J. McCormick of Bethel is 26 years old and the youngest member of the Alaska State House. Prior to serving in the legislature, he served on city council and as vice mayor of Bethel. Bethel is the 8th largest city in Alaska with just over 6,200 residents. Today, we discuss why his parents settled in the YK Delta, how he ended up in politics, And what it's like serving in the House majority, where he is just one of two Democrats. This episode discusses suicide. Call 988 if y...

1 year ago

55 minutes

East Anchorage Matters with Rep. Andrew Gray

Former AK State Senator Lesil McGuire (R - South Anchorage): on partisanship, love, & leadership

Lesil McGuire is a lifelong Alaskan, former state senator, women’s and rural rights advocate, and mother. She lives in Anchorage and works as a consultant in the aerospace, technological innovation and Arctic policy sectors. We discuss why she became a lawyer, why she identifies as a Republican, and how she served for 16 years in the House and Senate by "leading with love." She served as the Senate Rules Chair, Co-Chair of the Alaska Arctic Policy Commission, and House Judiciary Chair. ...

1 year ago

1 hour 7 minutes

East Anchorage Matters with Rep. Andrew Gray

School Board President Margo Bellamy: on integration, champions, and politics

Margo Bellamy was recently elected by her fellow board members to serve as president of the Anchorage School Board for the third time. Ms. Bellamy grew up in Coconut Grove – an all African American neighborhood in Miami, Florida. At the end of her 8th grade year in 1964 she was chosen as one of eight Black students to integrate the nearby all-white high school. We discuss that experience and how it informed her life afterwards including her move to Alaska and her almost 50 years of work in th...

2 years ago

1 hour

East Anchorage Matters with Rep. Andrew Gray

State Rep. Cliff Groh (D-Anchorage): on Polish heritage, Republican roots, & tracking legislative corruption

AK State House Representative Cliff Groh, II, was born and raised in Anchorage. Although he himself is a life-long Democrat, his father Cliff Groh, Sr., the son of illiterate Polish immigrants, was an important Republican figure in Alaska State politics. In fact, the Groh Gallery in the Alaska Senate is named after him. We talk about the younger Cliff's childhood, why he is a Democrat, and his journalistic coverage of corruption in the Alaska legislature and by US Senator Ted Stevens, w...

2 years ago

44 minutes

East Anchorage Matters with Rep. Andrew Gray

State Rep. Maxine Dibert (D- Fairbanks): on revitalization of the Koyukon Athabascan language, getting pink slipped as a first year teacher, & being married to a smoke jumper

Alaska State House Representative Maxine Dibert was born to Koyukon Athabascan parents in Fairbanks and grew up dividing her time between the urban experience of downtown Fairbanks and the bush experience of her Athabaskan elders. After graduating with a degree in education – a degree her college guidance counselor had tried to dissuade her from pursuing due to the lack of teaching jobs – Maxine got her first job at an elementary school in Fairbanks, and this fall she will begin her 23rd year...

2 years ago

39 minutes

East Anchorage Matters with Rep. Andrew Gray

State Rep. Ashley Carrick (D - Fairbanks): on being the tallest kid, her parent's divorce, and her LGBTQ status

Representative Ashley Carrick (D- Fairbanks) spent her childhood in south Anchorage. She graduated from the University of Alaska in Fairbanks and began work as a substitute teacher. She ran for the Fairbanks School Board at the age of 24, and although she lost, ended up as staff to Representative (now Senator) Scott Kawasaki, and later Representative Adam Wool. When Wool decided not to run for re-election, Carrick found herself well-positioned to run for his seat. We discuss all that as well ...

2 years ago

48 minutes

East Anchorage Matters with Rep. Andrew Gray

State Rep. Sara Hannan (D - Juneau): on a childhood in Earthquake Park, Russia, & the value of defined benefits

State Representative Sara Hannan spent her childhood in West Anchorage. She graduated from the University of Alaska and took a job teaching at Mount Edgecumbe High School in Sitka. When oil prices crashed, the school cut back, and she lost her job. She moved to Juneau where she has been ever since, minus a brief foray to Vladivostok, Russia, where she was brutally assaulted and almost killed. We talk about all of that as well as her life in politics.

2 years ago

51 minutes

East Anchorage Matters with Rep. Andrew Gray

State Rep. Justin Ruffridge (R - Soldotna): on education, religion, and avoiding hyper-partisanship

Republican Justin Ruffridge represents Soldotna in the Alaska State House and currently co-chairs the Freshmen Caucus with the host of this podcast. Justin moved to Kenai, Alaska, when he was 9 years old so that his parents could run a small Christian school there. Raised in a very conservative environment – no rock music, no mainstream movies or television, no dancing – he brings a unique perspective to the House Education Committee which he co-chairs. The first half of this episode w...

2 years ago

36 minutes

East Anchorage Matters with Rep. Andrew Gray

State Rep. Jennie Armstrong (D-Anchorage): on New Orleans, pansexuality, and entrepreneurship

Democrat Jennie Armstrong is from just outside of New Orleans, Louisiana. Although she grew up working class, she did not allow her background to narrow her ambition and after her undergraduate degree at Louisiana State University she earned a Master’s degree from Oxford University and has since worked in Nepal, Myanmar, Rwanda, and Egypt. She started two companies, both of which she still owns. She met her husband Ben while facetiming with a friend in early 2019. Ben invited her on an ...

2 years ago

48 minutes

East Anchorage Matters with Rep. Andrew Gray

State Senator Elvi Gray Jackson (D-Anchorage): on growing up Jehovah's Witness & the pathway to politics

Senator Elvi Gray-Jackson of Anchorage was born and raised in New Jersey. She came to Alaska 41 years ago as a young single mother. Through a series of what at first appeared to be unlucky events, she found herself leap-frogging her way up the Anchorage political ladder eventually landing as chair of the Anchorage Assembly – the first person of color to hold that office. We talk about that and how she got to the Senate. We had this conversation in her office on the ground floor of the Capitol...

2 years ago

31 minutes

East Anchorage Matters with Rep. Andrew Gray

State Rep. Rebecca Himschoot (I-Sitka): on Iowa, Germany, Kuwait, and Alaska as home

When she was 19, Representative Rebecca Himschoot dropped out of college in the Midwest and moved to Sitka. After she won a scholarship, she went back to school to earn her teaching credential. Decades later she was elected to the Sitka Assembly, and now serves as State House Rep for District 2. As you are about to hear, there were many detours along her path. This interview was recorded in Rep. Himschoot’s office at the Capitol.

2 years ago

53 minutes

East Anchorage Matters with Rep. Andrew Gray

State Rep. Julie Coulombe (R - Anchorage): on family, Save Anchorage, and finding common ground

Alaska State Representative Julie Coulombe represents the hillside in Anchorage. Raised in a conservative Christian household in the suburbs of Chicago and later Atlanta, she met her husband her freshman year of college in Alabama. They married and moved to Anchorage over thirty years ago. Although always involved in the community, it wasn’t until she joined the conservative Facebook group Save Anchorage during the Covid shutdowns that she became especially active. This ultimately led t...

2 years ago

35 minutes