What does it mean to live in Homer, the Kenai Borough, Alaska, the U.S. — a place where we pride ourselves on our freedom, independence, and government of, for and by the people? To me it means each of us is free to live as we see fit, while all of us have common needs and desires, and we work together to make universally-needed benefits accessible to all. For instance, we all pitch in to pay people to make sure our water is clean, so that each of us doesn’t have to go out and fight for water. We pay people to make sure when there is a medical emergency there is help available, no matter who needs it. We pay people to make sure everyone’s children are safe while they are learning. These and other services make us, as a whole, and as individuals, stronger, better, safer, and happier.

Whether you’re skiing the Tsalteshi Trails on a clear moonlit night, or your children are racing around the SPARC floor while it is storming outside, whether you need emergency services in the remote areas of the borough or you wind up hospitalized and want to stay near home, you have people like Willy Dunne to thank. If you’re the kind of person who is glad to see children learning and growing in the Kenai Borough, or you’re relieved to buy your groceries all winter without borough taxes, you can thank Willy Dunne. Willy is serving Homer and the Borough well by looking to those universals that raise us all, and providing for them. I’m voting for Willy for Borough Assembly this year. I hope you will, too.

— Carol Ford, Homer