Preliminary results show Seward opting in to PERA

Results won’t be official until the canvass board meets on Thursday

The city of Seward narrowly approved the Public Employment Relations Act (PERA) at the polls on Tuesday, but absentee and questioned ballots could change the results.

Preliminary results show 129 votes in favor of PERA to 107 “no” votes. With 47 absentee and five questioned ballots, results won’t be official until the canvass board meets on Thursday, March 21 at 1 p.m. in the council chambers.

Currently, the Seward City Council has control over the city’s labor policy, including employee organizing activity.

If the election results hold, an ordinance exempting Seward from PERA would be repealed and the act would be implemented in the city. PERA’s role in Alaska employee relations is to protect the organizing and bargaining rights of public employees, unions and employers, according to the Alaska Labor Relations Agency, the agency responsible for implementing the act.

Official election results will be presented to Seward City Council on March 26.

Reach Kat Sorensen at ksorensen@peninsulaclarion.com.

Previous
Corps sees no reason now to extend Pebble comment period
Next
‘We’re not giving up our ferries’: Hundreds rally at the Capitol

More in News

Phil Daniel, left, joins supporters of both himself and Teea Winger in waving signs on the corner of Bridge Access Road and the Kenai Spur Highway in Kenai, Alaska, for election day on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Tight races, lack of support for Seward utility sale reflected in unofficial election results

Election results are as of about 10 p.m. on Tuesday evening

Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly Candidate Bill Elam waves signs on election day on Tuesday, Oct 3, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Voters take to the polls during Tuesday municipal election

Poll workers report low turnout across the central peninsula

Some of the pumpkins submitted to the pumpkin-decorating contest are seen here during the 5th annual Kenai Fall Pumpkin Festival in Kenai, Alaska, on Oct. 10, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion file)
Kenai’s Fall Pumpkin Fest set for Saturday

The fun actually starts early, as a central element of the festival is a pumpkin decorating contest already underway

Aurora Borealis Charter School Art and Music Teacher Eleanor Van Sickle leads students in a performance of "Autumn Canon," a Hungarian song at a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education meeting on Monday, Oct. 2, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Student serenade

Aurora Borealis Charter School students sing at the assembly during the regular school board meeting on Monday

Bear 747, defending Fat Bear Week Champion, stands on the bank of the Brooks River in Katmai National Park, Alaska. The winner of a Thursday matchup between Bear 128 Grazer and Bear 151 Walker will meet 747 in Fat Bear Week competition on Saturday. (Photo courtesy C. Cravatta/National Park Service)
Survival of the fattest

Paunchy ursine competitors go head-to-head in annual Fat Bear Week

Soldotna Elementary School Principal Dr. Austin Stevenson walks amid natural gas pipes anchored to the outside of school on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
High costs stall work on school bond

A cost estimate for the reconstruction of Soldotna Elementary School came back $13.5 million over budget

(City of Seward)
Police standoff closes Seward Highway

Police say standoff was with ‘barricaded individual,’ not escaped inmate

Mount Redoubt can be seen across Cook Inlet from North Kenai Beach on Thursday, July 2, 2022. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Alaska not included in feds’ proposed 5-year oil and gas program

The plan includes a historically low number of proposed sales

A copy of "People, Paths, and Places: The Frontier History of Moose Pass, Alaska" stands in sunlight in Soldotna, Alaska, on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Moose Pass to receive award for community historical effort

“People, Paths, and Places: The Frontier History of Moose Pass, Alaska” was a collaboration among community members

Most Read