Political newcomer and Gig Harbor resident John Skansi is running for mayor
A second contender has emerged in the race to replace outgoing Gig Harbor mayor Kit Kuhn, who recently announced he would not seek a second term.
John Skansi, 61, a Gig Harbor resident, told The Gateway he intends to run for mayor. He talked through what he believes he would bring to the table.
“I think leadership and understanding Gig Harbor, understanding the community on many aspects,” Skansi said. “I think I understand the community having lived there for most of my life, besides going off to school and moving away for a while. I’ve been back in the community since 2008 and I just think I understand.”
Skansi will be facing current council member Tracie Markley, who announced her candidacy in February.
Skansi said he has a list of priorities he would want to address if elected.
“It will be an evolving list, but the four main areas I’m looking at right now are economic development, protecting the character of downtown, smaller and smarter government, and local control for the City of Gig Harbor,” Skansi said.
Skansi says he believes there are too many regulations that he feels holds back potential economic development.
“I would say less regulations that restrict jobs and small businesses. You know, draconian regulations that do not help anybody but just kills jobs and restricts small business success,” Skansi said. “Sometimes the permit fees are too high or too restrictive. It affects good, quality development.”
The Skansi name is a familiar one to Gig Harbor, though it is often spelled Skansie, as different branches of the family spelled it differently.
“They were advised to put an ‘e’ at the end of it to make it sound more Americanized,” Skansi said. “The ‘i’ was more European/Italian sounding, which is where the name originated in Bari, Italy.”
Skansi describes himself as a teacher and a coach. He also said he has done 23 seasons of commercial fishing.
“Teaching, coaching, and commercial fishing has been my whole background since I graduated from the University of Washington,” Skansi said. “I got a major in history with an emphasis in political science and social studies.” Skansi was also the volunteer assistant football coach at Peninsula high school.
“Right now I’m teaching in the Seattle Public School district,” Skansi said. “I’m a full-time guest teacher.”
Seattle Public Schools confirmed to The Gateway that Skansi had been hired as a substitute teacher in 2019 and remains in the substitute pool.
Skansi is most known for his involvement in a disagreement over a yearly nativity scene. In 2016, Skansi was told he could not put up his yearly nativity scene on city property over concerns the city could face a lawsuit.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation contended that by putting up the nativity scene on city property there was a constitutional violation as it could be perceived the government is supporting or endorsing one religion.
Skansi disagreed.
“We worked with the city every year to display that, as it was a private display, in the city display. It worked out fabulous. You know the city totally cooperated, they loved it,” Skansi said. “Until an outside group came and said you can’t do that there. We knew right away, I did and much of the community, that that was unconstitutional. They can’t do that.”
Skansi would end up securing his own legal representation, First Liberty Institute, which sent a letter to the city and wrote a guest opinion piece in The Gateway arguing the yearly tradition should be allowed to continue. The letter and piece also called for a meeting with the city, which they would end up getting. However, according to a report from Patch in 2017, the specifics of that discussion were not divulged.
Skansi said he felt he had the community behind him on the issue.
“It was totally motivated by the community. You got to make sure when you do those kinds of things that the community is behind you,” Skansi said. “The attorneys were advising the city attorney on the best way for the city to acquire it, to acquire the nativity scene, and that worked great. That was the best strategy and the city cooperated.”
Ken Malich, former city council member, said he had disagreed with Skansi over the nativity issue, but said he still could be a good candidate for mayor.
“I like John. We’ve had disagreements, but certainly he has Gig Harbor at heart,” Malich said. “I didn’t support the idea of putting the nativity scene there and he did. That was our biggest disagreement. Other than that, we have pretty similar opinions about how Gig Harbor needs to be preserved and keep the community a small fishing village as much as possible.”
A workaround was found when the nativity scene was put on display at Gig Harbor Marina & Boatyard, which did not create any legal questions as it was no longer on public property. It returned to the park a year later.
“Long story short, we got it back through the leadership of me and Council Member Jim Franich, since we’re longtime friends,” Skansi said.
Franich is a current councilmember and weighed in on what he thinks Skansi would bring to table in the race.
“He’s a third generation Gig Harbor resident so he’s got a lot of historical knowledge. I serve with him on the Skansie net shed board,” Franich said. “He’s all about responsible government spending, at least in the conversations I’ve had with him. He wants to see the tax dollars go as far as they can.”
As for what it would be like to work with Skansi if he were to become mayor, Franich said he feels the two share many similar ideas.
“I think he’s pretty open minded. He’s pro business, I know this. Him and I have had some discussions about development standards and densities. We’re kind of on the same page,” Franich said. “You know me, I’m a strong proponent of local control on building regulations and development standards.”
Skansi has not yet filed with the Washington State Public Disclosure (PDC) commission, which mandates he must do so within two weeks following his announcement, though he says he will make sure to check all the boxes necessary.
“That all will be taken care of. You gotta do the process,” Skansi said. Something not in Skansi’s background? He has not held elected office, though he says he still believes he has the experience necessary to understand challenges facing the city.
“I have friends and people that are behind me. I’ve never held elected office but I’m looking forward to it, you know. I’m confident about my experience in education, coaching, teaching, and commercial fishing with being around small businesses,” Skansi said. “My dad was a commercial fisherman and real estate developer. I’ve been around that a lot. I think that gives me a good idea of what is going on.”
José Rijo-Berger says he has known Skansi for years and got to know him through church. Skansi also helped coach sports for a program Rijo-Berger ran.
“He told me just recently, just a few months ago. He said ‘José, I’m praying about it and thinking about it, let me know what you think,’” Rijo-Berger said. “I thought he’d be great, so I’m happy for him.”
Rijo-Berger said Skansi was a man of “high character” that he considers a rarity in politics.
“He’s a guy that you could probably look up, background check, do whatever and I’d be shocked if you found anything negative about him,” Rijo-Berger said. “That’s unheard of, I think, in politics or life in general. He’s just a stand-up, honest, just good character guy.”
Seattle Seahawks fans may remember John’s younger brother Paul, who played for the team in 1990 and even scored the winning play in a game. It is a time that his elder brother still recalls fondly.
“I taught him everything he knows, just ask him,” Skansi said.
Paul said he heard about his brother’s plans about a month back.
“I know he’s not a big politician, but he does have his thoughts and he’s very passionate about Gig Harbor,” Paul Skansi said. “I think he just decided to see if he could make an impact and make a difference.”
If he were to be elected as mayor, Skansi said he would be all about service.
“Just be a servant. Serve the people like all people that run for office want to do,” Skansi said.
