Opinion: Anchorage is changing. So must we.

As a teenager 13 years ago, I wrote my first letter to the editor, urging readers of the Anchorage Daily News to vote to retain Judge Sen Tan. My experience in Judge Tan’s courtroom showed me how local institutions shape people’s lives — and writing that letter showed me I could be part of building the community I wanted to see. I’ve carried that with me ever since.

For over a decade, I’ve worked as a community, labor, and political organizer here in Alaska and nationwide. I’ve helped candidates win election to state legislatures, county commissions, city councils, school boards and utility boards. I’ve fought to strengthen consumer and worker protections, increase access to health care and paid leave, advance clean energy projects to make our bills more affordable and successfully win union contracts in over a dozen workplaces, including my own. Last year, I traveled with other Alaskans to Washington, D.C., to meet with our delegation in an effort to prevent the Medicaid cuts we are now experiencing. Despite the challenges, I wake up every day feeling lucky to do this work.

You don’t need to be paying close attention to see that Anchorage is reshaping its identity. The decisions we make now about revenue — how we raise it and how we spend it — will shape our city for generations. I’m part of a big wave of Anchorage kids born to parents like mine who moved here in the ’80s — in my parents’ case, as nurses — for good jobs, abundant housing, strong schools and access to the outdoors. The Anchorage of our childhoods is not the same city we live in today.

I think of Nordic skating as both an example and a metaphor for this moment. Despite being a lifelong Alaskan, I only learned of the sport a few years ago. Now, as snow consistently arrives later in winter, Nordic skating has become a staple for outdoor enthusiasts. Instead of waiting indoors for the snow to fall, a community has emerged that embraces the ice. Adapting to change doesn’t mean losing what we love about living here — it means finding new ways to thrive and build community.

Our local government faces difficult decisions about how to raise revenue in an economic environment starkly different from decades past and how to invest it wisely. We need good jobs that attract new people and allow those of us who want to stay to do so. We need diverse housing options and reliable ways to get around. We need real public safety and, as the daughter of emergency room nurses and the sister of a 911 dispatcher, I am grateful to have a close-up perspective on the critical role played by our first responders. Beyond these core municipal functions, clean and affordable energy will be essential to Anchorage’s future and I believe the municipality can play a larger role in that conversation than it has of late.

In January, friends and supporters joined me on a bike ride to the Muni Election Center, where I filed to run for the Anchorage Assembly representing District 1 in North Anchorage. Thirteen years ago, in my first letter to this paper, I asked you to vote your confidence in a judge who made a difference in my life. Now, in my second, I’m asking you to vote your confidence in me to make a difference in yours. Ballots go out March 17. I hope to earn your vote.

Sydney Scout is a candidate for Anchorage Assembly District 1 Seat B.