Juneau residents 'stunned' after Alaska capital's mayor found dead in home

The mayor of Juneau, Alaska’s capital city, wanted to make his community one of the greatest small cities in the country.

Seventy-year-old Greg Fisk had defeated an incumbent by a wide margin in Juneau’s municipal election just two months ago. But before the new mayor had a chance to do much, he was found dead in his home on Monday afternoon.

“This is devastating,” said Mary Becker, deputy mayor of the town of about 32,000. Other members of the local governing body said they were “stunned” and “in disbelief”.

Becker was about to leave her home for city meetings planned that evening when she received a call about the mayor’s death. Becker had last spoken to Fisk on the phone the day before. “He was very upbeat and sounded just like Greg,” she said.

Becker called Fisk “an easy person to work with”. He strived to build a good relationship with his fellow assembly members, she said.

“He asked for opinions,” Becker said. “He was also willing to learn from all of us. I just think we were really building a team.”

Per city law, Becker assumes the mayor seat for now.

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Fisk’s body was found in his home around 3.30pm. He had missed appointments earlier in the day, prompting his son to check on him.

His son called 911 and within minutes police arrived at the house, followed by the ambulance. Fisk was declared dead at the scene. With yellow tape, police cut off access to the house and began investigating the unattended death. At the same time, rumors began circulating about a possible assault or beating.

“The community deserves to know what happened and have it investigated properly. All the rumors out there are speculation right now. As soon as we know, we’ll let everyone else know,” Juneau’s police chief, Bryce Johnson, said on Monday evening.

Fisk’s body was sent to Anchorage for an autopsy. Preliminary results are expected later this week. Only then, said Johnson, can the police determine a cause of death.

Police spokeswoman Erann Kalwara said on Tuesday that Fisk had sustained injuries but “they were not consistent with a gunshot wound or anything of that nature”.

Juneau police are not ruling out or confirming if the injuries were due to an accident or other trauma.

Fisk’s house is located in a tight-knit community in downtown Juneau. In the hours after his body was discovered, residents coming home from work wondered why police cars were crowding the street.

“I called my neighbor and she said, ‘I’m not sure, but I think our mayor died.’ And I just came down the hill,” said Joyce Levine. She stood outside in the street with other neighbors who hugged each other and lit candles in Fisk’s honor.

Fisk had lived in Juneau for 34 years. Before becoming mayor in October, he had long served the community through city boards and development councils. He was active in the local downtown business association.

He was a commercial halibut fisherman, a former state fisheries development specialist and an owner of a small consulting and management company.

“He always talked about issues that had to do with fish. That was very important to him. It was part of his personal life,” said Bob King, a fisheries historian and Fisk’s nextdoor neighbor and good friend.

Discussions surrounding responsible management of Alaska’s fish can be controversial, “but he would jump into that fray and always be involved”, said King.

Fisk also “had bright ideas for Juneau’s future”. King served as chair of Fisk’s successful mayoral campaign, and said of the mayor: “It was his work, his going out and knocking on doors out in the rain. It was that conviction and his idea about where he wanted Juneau to go that resulted in him being elected by a 2 to 1 margin.”

King said he will miss interacting with Fisk on a regular basis.

“That image of him sitting at his window in his office – and he was always sitting there working – it’s just very, very sad that I won’t be seeing that face in that window again.”