Stephen Gregory Fisk (September 26, 1945 – November 30, 2015) was the 13th mayor of the unified City and Borough of

Juneau, Alaska Juneau ( ; ), officially the City and Borough of Juneau, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Alaska, located along the Gastineau Channel and the Southeast Alaska, Alaskan panhandle. Juneau was named the ...

, the state capital of

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, United States. Prior to his election, Fisk had worked as a

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life or, more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a., fishing grounds). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farm ...

consultant A consultant (from "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice or services in an area of specialization (generally to medium or large-size corporations). Cons ...

. He died at home just over a month into his term of office after being elected over incumbent

Merrill Sanford Merrill Sanford (born July 17, 1947) is an American politician who served as Mayor of Juneau, Alaska from 2012 until 2015. Early life Merrill Sanford was born on July 17, 1947, in Bellingham, Washington. A year later, his family moved to June ...

by a wide margin.

Education

Greg Fisk graduated from

West Anchorage High School West Anchorage High School (formerly Anchorage High School) is a public high school in Anchorage, Alaska. The school is part of the Anchorage School District (ASD). Opened in 1953, West is the oldest of ASD's eight major high schools. Serving th ...

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the List of cities in Alaska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of ...

, in 1963. Fisk went on to attend

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

, where he received a B.A. in

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

in 1971.

Business career

Fisk was the founder and owner of SeaFisk Consulting & Management, LLC., a Juneau-based company which provides consulting services for

, and the Alaskan seafood industry. SeaFisk has not been limited to consultations involving seafood. In 2012, SeaFisk collaborated with the Juneau Economic Development Council over a proposed downtown public shuttle, known as the Circulator. When Greg Fisk's son, Ian, graduated from the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

, they traveled to

Ensenada, Mexico Ensenada ("inlet") is a city in Ensenada Municipality, Baja California, situated on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. Located on Bahía de Todos Santos, the city had a population of 279,765 in 2018, making it the third-largest city in Baja Californ ...

and bought a fishing vessel from the Mexican government. They sailed the vessel to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, where they refurbished it. Both Fisks remained involved in the fishing industry.

Political career

Prior to 2015, Fisk had never run for elected office, and was largely unknown in the politics of Alaska. However, Fisk was involved for many years in issues related to fishing, a large industry in Alaska. Fisk served as chairman of a City and Borough of Juneau task force that sought to bring 175

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with Weather forecasting, forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, Hydrography, charting the seas, ...

jobs to Juneau from Seattle.

Elected mayor

In 2015, Greg Fisk filed paperwork to run for mayor of Juneau on the last day available to file, challenging

, a first-term mayor who had been running unopposed for re-election. Fisk was widely seen as having run an aggressive campaign, while Sanford's campaign was notably lower in profile. On October 6, 2015, Fisk was elected mayor of Juneau, winning a substantial majority of votes. Unofficial vote totals gave Fisk a 2-1 vote margin over Sanford. Fisk, a resident of the Starr Hill neighborhood, was the first mayor of Juneau in more than 20 years (since Jamie Parsons, who left office in 1994) not to live on

Douglas Island Douglas Island () is a tidal island in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is part of the city and borough of Juneau, just west of downtown Juneau and east of Admiralty Island. It is separated from mainland Juneau by the Gastineau Channel, and contains ...

Political positions

During the 2015 Juneau mayoral race, Fisk stated that he supported raising the

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. List of countries by minimum wage, Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation b ...

. Fisk voted to legalize recreational use of

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

in Alaska. Fisk also supported enacting a ban on discrimination against the

LGBT community The LGBTQ community (also known as the LGBT, LGBT+, LGBTQ+, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIA+, or queer community) comprises LGBTQ people, LGBTQ individuals united by LGBTQ culture, a common culture and LGBTQ movements, social movements. These Community, comm ...

in housing and other public accommodation, and stated that he believes human activity is contributing to global warming.

Death

Fisk was found dead by his son, Ian, at his home on Kennedy Street on November 30, 2015. The following day, his body was sent to

Anchorage Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolita ...

for an autopsy, and a preliminary autopsy found that his injuries were consistent with those resulting from a fall and that Fisk died from natural causes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisk, Greg 1945 births 2015 deaths American consultants Indiana University alumni Mayors of Juneau, Alaska Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska