Hi, I’m Janice—you know me.

I grew up in Southern California near Disneyland. My dad was a US Marine, and a UAW auto worker. My mom was a union telephone operator, who helped me get the first of many union jobs as telephone operator for Pacific Bell.

 

As the first in my family to attend college, I worked throughout my college years as a union member of the Retail Clerks. As a single mom with a four-day-old baby, I started at the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing to earn my BS. Later, I attended Cal State Northridge in the Public Health Education graduate program.

 

During the early stages of the HIV epidemic, I was a member of the California Nurses’ Association AIDS training program.

 

I first came to Alaska in 1991 when my husband was working in water treatment on the North Slope. In the spring of 1992, I moved to Anchorage, taking nine days to drive the Alaska Highway with a toddler and a cat, while pulling a trailer.

 

In 1994, we started Alaska Water Systems, supplying commercial water treatment to North Slope drillers, villages, carwashes, and hospitals. Our retail Water Store, located in front of Alaska Laser Wash on 5th Avenue, operated from 1999 to 2008, serving residential customers.

 

Motivated by my passion for making a difference in issues that affect many families, I became a paralegal while attending the UAA Paralegal program. I learned to research and argue my own divorce property settlement in the Alaska Supreme Court in 2009 and won, establishing a precedent for property distribution protection for other Alaskans. Since then, I have worked on numerous divorce and custody cases, helping Alaskan women receive the settlements they deserve.

 

Having lived in Abbott Loop for over 20 years, I know the value of hard work and have fought for what is right.

 

I’m with you. I’ll fight for you