Janet Mitchell

I am currently the city administrator for the Kivalina City Council since December 2005. I was hired as a fill-in but no one wanted the job so I stayed and am still there.

I have been in politics since 1986 first as a secretary for the Tribal Council, sat on the Kivalina City Council as a member, now today I work for the municipality as the administrator.

Today, we are facing extreme climate changes in Kivalina. It is a huge task trying to relocate the town of 450. No one wants to fund a move for only that many people.

For many years, we have been battling erosion to the barrier reef the people reside in, the most devastating one being in 2006 when we lost 72 feet of land on the island. Our volunteers who fought to save the principal's housing, protect the fuel tank farm and a local residents home were Kivalina's heros. Today, we still fight erosion. The newest threat is the separation of the landfill from the village. The landfill is the city's responsibility. It is only a mile from the airport.

Because of the changes to the climate which has compromised the lives of our people, seven (7) individuals decided to sue those that have contributed to the change in climate including Exxonmobile and many others. The lawsuit was dismissed but we continue to fight erosion and flooding events today.

I have been interviewed by film companies for documentaries, the most recent one being an MBC film crew from Korea in October of 2014.