Community Letter: Fireweed Collective’s Voter Guide
Story by Lynette YP
Fireweed Collective Fairbanks released their voter guide for the 2025 Fairbanks North Star Borough Municipal Election. On the platform, voters will find recommendations for Fairbanks City Mayor (Mindy L. O’Neall), Fairbanks City Council (Sue Sprinkle for Seat C and Crystal Tidwell for Seat D), Borough Assembly (Allegory Smith as a Write-In for Seat B, Garrett Armstrong for Seat C, and Patrick Roach for Seat I), and School Board (Chemetria (Sam) Smith for Seat C and Naomi Hewitt for Seat D).
Photos courtesy of Lizzy Hahn. All were taken during the Municipal Forum held at UAF Tuesday, September 30.
Fireweed Collective Fairbanks is a local grassroots organization centered on addressing the issues that impact young people (aged 18-35) in Fairbanks and the Interior of Alaska. Their policy platform was developed through a robust community input development process with over 400 young people signing on in support of the platform. The tenets of their policy platform are Climate Action, Housing, Transportation, 2LGBTQIA+ Rights, with additional priorities around Criminal/Restorative Justice, Education, Food Security, and Waste and Recycling. You can find further details on these policies at https://tinyurl.com/fireweedplatform.
This voter guide is an annual effort within Fireweed Collective to ensure that community members with similar values can easily engage with local and state elections.
“We see the voter guide as an important way to ensure the needs of young adults in our community are taken seriously in local politics,” said Tristan Glowa, a member of Fireweed Collective. “Too often the needs of community members who are underrepresented in decision making are not considered and that results in those issues going unaddressed.”
These candidates were recommended due to their responses to a candidate survey with questions centered on Fireweed Collective Fairbanks Policy Platform. Some candidates did not respond, thus they could not be included. The candidate survey contained questions on climate action, restorative justice, teacher retention, local immigration and customs enforcement issues, and candidates visions for the future of the Fairbanks North Star Borough, among many others. You can find the content of these responses at https://tinyurl.com/fnsb2025.