James McClary Parsons was an American civil servant, politician and businessman who served as the Mayor of Juneau, Alaska, from 1991 until 1994.
21 Facts About Jamie Parsons
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Jamie Parsons originally moved to Juneau in 1972 to become the city's first Director of Parks and Recreation.
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Jamie Parsons served on the Assembly of the City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska, during the 1980s before being elected mayor in 1991.
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Jamie Parsons declined to seek re-election for a second term, Instead, Jamie Parsons devoted his attention to the defeat of a 1994 statewide ballot initiative, which would have moved the Alaskan state capital from Juneau to Wasilla.
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Jamie Parsons has been widely credited with the rejection of the proposal by voters.
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In 1972, Jamie Parsons moved to Juneau from Kent, Washington, to become the first Director of Parks and Recreation.
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Jamie Parsons then worked for the city as a civil servant in various roles throughout the 1970s.
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Jamie Parsons then served on the Assembly of the City and Borough of Juneau, from 1981 until 1989.
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Jamie Parsons declined to seek a second term in 1994.
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Jamie Parsons traveled throughout Southeast Alaska to encourage the high voter turnout needed to defeat the measure.
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Jamie Parsons has been credited with defeating the proposed move to Wasilla, which voters rejected by a margin of 116,277 to 96,398.
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Jamie Parsons was with me in Anchorage on the night of the election returns and we were jubilant.
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Jamie Parsons proposed an idea to televise live coverage of the Alaska Legislature, similar to C-SPAN.
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Jamie Parsons's proposal developed into "Gavel to Gavel Alaska," which originally aired on KTOO-TV.
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Jamie Parsons served as the CEO of the Juneau Chamber of Commerce from 2001 to 2003.
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Jamie Parsons departed in Chamber in 2003 after his wife, a retired elementary school teacher, accepted a two-year teaching position at the Cairo American College.
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In 2000, Jamie Parsons attempted to reclaim his former job as Mayor of Juneau.
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On October 3,2000, Jamie Parsons was narrowly defeated in the general election by Sally Smith by just 209 votes.
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Jamie Parsons battled multiple myeloma, a form of cancer, for more than 10 years, following a diagnosis in 2005.
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Jamie Parsons died from the disease at his home in Mercer Island, Washington, where he had been undergoing treatment, on December 26,2015, at the age of 74.
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Jamie Parsons was survived by his wife, Mary Beth Parsons, and three children, Rob, Sara and Andrew.