Vacant Kenai council seat filled one month before elections

Vacant Kenai council seat filled one month before elections

  • By Kelly Sullivan
  • Sunday, September 7, 2014 6:32pm
  • News

While regular elections are less than a month away, one seat on the Kenai City Council seats up for grabs has already been filled.

Kenai Central High School senior Allie Ostrander will be taking the Kenai student representative position.

The student seat is one of the few exceptions to the voting age requirements in public elections on the Central Kenai Peninsula.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

Principal of KCHS Alan Fields, said he had no trouble approving the final vote from the student leadership class, the group of residents required by city code to elect the student representative, who chose Ostrander.

“Allie is already well-known for her talents in running,” Fields said. “She is also gifted in academics and leadership and this position will give people the chance to see that.”

Ostrander has set various records in Kenai Peninsula Borough School District cross-country meets, and won the coed junior race at this year’s Mount Marathon in Seward.

This fall’s seat became vacant when previous representative, Courtney Stroh, founder of ROC the Kenai, graduated this summer.

Ostrander’s role will only be an advisory seat, Fields said. While the council deals with city issues, student concerns sometimes overlap and that younger voice has been valuable in the past.

When Stroh was running Respect Our Community, or ROC, the Kenai her onsite knowledge and understanding of the efforts required for beach clean up following the dipnetting season was very helpful said Kenai Mayor Pat Porter.

“She was there on the spot,” Porter said. “She knew what Kenai was going through.”

Porter said with every new representative there is an initial learning curve. She also said there is nothing currently on the agenda that affects student-age residents.

While students’ opinions are not frequently heard, they are always very full of thought and good advice, Porter said. The student receives an agenda before every meeting just like regular council members, Porter said.

Student representatives have weighed in on the issue of electronic cigarettes and the Kenai skate park, Porter said. The position has always been a good voice for the general public and helps the students gain experience that may look good for college scholarships or on future resumes, she said.

Porter, who works as a substitute teacher at KCHS, said she has known Ostrander and seen her various talents develop since she was a freshman.

“I hope she comes with an open mind,” Porter said. “I hope she is ready to take part in the council.”

Fields said the council has had a student seat for almost a decade. It has elicited a great partnership between the two bodies, he said.

“Ostrander is already outstanding,” Fields said. “She will be a great representative for our school, and she is already an excellent representative in her athletics.”

Ostrander has also been on the KCHS student council, is a member of the national honor society and participates in community service.

“She is just a great kid all around,” Fields said.

Kelly Sullivan can be reached at kelly.sullivan@peninsulaclarion.com

More in News

Kenai City Manager Terry Eubank speaks during Kenai’s State of the City presentation at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Services, projects spotlighted at Kenai’s State of the City

Mayor Brian Gabriel and City Manager Terry Eubank delivered the seventh annual address.

The Homer Public Library. File photo
In wake of executive order, peninsula libraries, museums brace for funding losses

Trump’s March 14 executive order may dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”

Cracks split the siding outside of Soldotna High School on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
SoHi siding, Hope roof repair projects move forward

The Soldotna project has been reduced from its original scope.

Jacob Caldwell, chief executive officer of Kenai Aviation, stands at the Kenai Aviation desk at the Kenai Municipal Airport on Thursday, Sept. 13, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Aviation selected to provide air service to Seward

Scheduled flights between Seward and Anchorage will begin May 1.

Monte Roberts, left, and Greg Brush, right, raise their hands during an emergency meeting of the Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board’s guide committee at the Kenai Peninsula Region Office of Alaska State Parks near Soldotna, Alaska, on Feb. 25, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
KRSMA board pushes back on new guide stipulations, calls for public process

Stipulations 32 and 40 were included in an updated list emailed to Kenai River guides.

KPBSD Board of Education member Patti Truesdell speaks during a town hall meeting hosted by three Kenai Peninsula legislators in the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly Chambers in Soldotna, Alaska, on Saturday, March 29, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Education hot topic at local legislative town hall

More than 100 people attended a three-hour meeting where 46 spoke.

The Soldotna Field House is seen on a sunny Monday, March 31, 2025, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Field house work session set for April 9

A grand opening for the facility is slated for Aug. 16.

HEX President and CEO John Hendrix is photographed at Furie’s central processing facility in Nikiski, Alaska, on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Furie announces new lease to use Hilcorp rig, will drill this spring

A jack-up rig is a mobile platform that can be transported and deployed in different areas.

The ORPC proposed American Tidal Energy Project site is located at East Forland, Cook Inlet, just north of Nikiski, Alaska. Photo provided by ORPC
Marine energy developer pursues Cook Inlet tidal project

ORPC recently filed a draft pilot license application for a tidal energy project site near Nikiski.

Most Read