Monday December15 the Assembly Public Works Committee meets at noon in the City Chambers. One of the items is a proposed increase in water/sewer fees. The proposal is to increase rates by $2.59 per month for 2009 and again for 2010. For details see http://www.juneau.org/clerk/PWFCAGENDA/documents/Utility_Rates.pdf There will also be a presentation for a Downtown bus “circulator.”

The Lands Committee meets Monday at 5pm Several important ongoing issues will be addressed: the proposed West Douglas highway extension, how the Southeast Alaska Land (SEAL) Trust deals with environmental mitigation, and updating of the comprehensive Land Management Plan, including city land disposal proposals in a number of areas including land between Auke Lake and Mendenhall river, unsold Lena point lots and land in Switzer and Lemon Creeks. http://www.juneau.org/clerk/2008-12-15_Lands_Index.htm

An Assembly/Docks and Harbors Board joint committee met December 5 to hear the results of a Juneau Harbor Navigation Study on possible new cruise ship dock options. The study discussed how ships move in and out of the Juneau harbor and where an additional dock would be feasible. The study looked at possible expansion of the current city docks, a dock perpendicular to Merchants Warf and a proposal for a perpendicular dock at Gold Creek. The joint committee will report to the Assembly at some time in the future. We are still struggling with the issue of new ships too big for Steamship Warf, and other ships anchoring in the channel and lightering passengers into town. This has been an ongoing controversial issue.

As most of you know, site work, including blasting, for the downtown transportation center/parking garage has begun. Heavy blasting mats cushion the impact and noise from the surrounding area. More information including a construction webcam are at http://www.juneau.org/engineering/DTC/DTC.php

Other ongoing city projects include sewers on North Douglas and north of Industrial Boulevard in the Valley, and initial construction of a consolidated public works facility at 7 mile. The Diamond park pool only received 50% of its Rasmussen grant request for ground source heat pumps. Failure to secure additional grant money will result in increased city funding. Construction is expected next year. The Assembly will hear a request this Friday noon 12/19 for an additional 1 million for upgrading city computer infrastructure. This is an ongoing expensive project known as PRISM whose increasing cost is of great concern to the Assembly.

The Assembly continues to be concerned about spending in general as we head into uncertain economic times. The upcoming Spring budget cycle is likely to be “lively.”

Last week the Assembly made appointments to the Planning Commission and Hospital Board.

While most Board and Commission appointments are initiated by the 4 members of the Assembly Human Resources Committee, appointments to the Planning Commission and the so-called Enterprise Boards (Airport, Hospital, Docks and Harbors) are undertaken by the entire Assembly "sitting as the Human Resources Committee". The Enterprise Boards supervise city owned entities that have their own budgets and raise all their own money. Board members do a lot of work and have a lot of responsibility. The Planning Commission is responsible for approving land use permits, variances, conditional use permits, and large development permits. It is guided by the Planning Department, land use law (Title 49) , and the Comprehensive Plan. It is a crucial entity, takes a whole lot of time and commitment.....and tends to be the most political appointment process-- very ideological. Planning Commission members are paid an honorarium of $150 a month since 1998 (before that it was $25). Members have often gone on to run for the Assembly (e.g. Merrill Sanford and Johan Dybdahl-- and a year ago Marshal Kendziorek who ran and lost)

The Assembly re-appointed Maria Gladziszewski, and made new appointments of Nicole Grewe, Karen Taug, and Marsha Bennett. They join current members Nancy Waterman, Dennis Watson, Michael Satre, Frank Rue and Dan Miller. Terms are 3 years (unless filling out an unexpired term). Board and Commission members, like Assembly members, are limited to three terms. More on the Planning Commmission HERE.

For the Hopstial Board Kevin Sullivan and Dr. Nathan Piemann were reappointed and and Dr. Alex Malter and Bob Wysocki were new appointments.

Other Stuff
Monday 12/1 the Asssembly Committee of the Whole meets at 5pm to discuss "Graffiti."
Monday and Wednesday there are public hearings to revise the 1997 Juneau Non Motorized Transportation Plan (walking and biking). Hearings are Monday at 6:30pm at Floyd Dryden and Wednesday at 6:30pm at the Douglas Library-- run by Sheinberg and Associates 586-3141.

The Assembly has its next regular meeting December 8th.

Snow storage, Garage art, and dollar demands

The city has an ongoing problem of what to do with the snow it picks up in the winter. Often in the past we have simply dumped it into the channel – and we still do that in some places. But the fact is that snow from the roadways is often polluted with the chemicals put down to melt ice, and with automotive and other debris. Dumping it into the channel is environmentally harmful and DEC has been pushing us to find alternatives. A couple years ago we dumped Valley snow at the site of Thunder Mountain HS. Last year and this year the feds have given us permission to dump at the bus loading parking lot at the Mendenhall Glacier visitors center. We are currently developing a site between Industrial Boulevard and Engineers Cutoff which will filter out the pollutants and that will hopefully be ready in another year. Downtown we are looking at the Little Rock Dump area. And then there is the issue of where all the private haulers should dump. Such a mundane issue- yet very complex.

Work on the downtown transit center and parking garage is beginning, and many people have been concerned that the structure will be an ugly concrete block. I have been advocating since early planning that we pay particular attention to the aesthetics and that we use the 1% for the arts (required for all public projects) to do more than just put individual pieces of art here and there. A public committee has been appointed to coordinate these efforts and includes: Paul Voelkers, Nancy Waterman, Barbara Craver, Ken Alper, Donald Gregory and Jane Lindsey. I am hopeful that their creativity will inspire positive results.

I continue to be concerned about the long term financial health of the Borough, given story after story about cities across the U.S. falling into big financial crises. I think we need to be very cautious about our spending. I mentioned previously that the Jensen Olson arboretum lost a bunch of money from their endowment because of the market downturn. Now they need to borrow from the city general fund. The Airport is looking to borrow against future revenues. We recently had a request from the Fisherman's memorial group to just forgive their debt. I can see more things like this happening in the future. This is going to require careful planning.

Upcoming Meetings
Monday the Assembly Public Works committee meets at noon. There will be an update on the progress of the Transit facility/Parking garage and the Public Works Facility at 7 mile. There is also a report regarding a second access to the Lemon Creek commercial area. See the agenda.

The Lands Committee meets at 5pm and will address issues on the Seawalk, particularly the problem of getting past Taku Smokeries where there is lots of back and forth offloading forklift traffic. The committee will also hear about the Lemon Creek access issue and about potential Wood Stove restrictions in the Mendenhall Valley. See the agenda.

The Planning Commission meets Tuesday night at 7pm and will hear a “Downtown Parking Garage and Transit Center Update” See agenda.

This week the Alaska Municipal League holds its annual meeting in Ketchikan and several Assembly members (including me) will attend. The Municipal League represents all local governments in Alaska. It tries to develop a unified front on various issues affecting communities across the state. For more information click here.
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Miscellaneous: City Manager Rod Swope announced he will retire as of April 30. The Hangar owners have purchased a controlling interest in Merchants Warf. And the Mental Health Trust is negotiating to build an office building for the Department of Labor on the Subport land area.
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Future Challenges
In the upcoming year the Assembly will confront at least two major proposals for new spending; Area-wide curbside recycling and an expansion of Capital Transit. Last year the Assembly approved moving forward to establish an area-wide recycling program, but final approval awaits an estimate of costs and how it will be paid. Currently the plan is to pay through increased user fees on garbage pickups. There is also an urgent need to expand our public transportation system. It is overcrowded and limited in its routes. However, this expansion will not be able to be covered solely through bus fares. It will require general fund money and the challenge, again, is how to pay. There is a good chance we can get federal grants to help pay for new busses, but annual ongoing operating costs will have to be paid through local revenue.

Essentially any new spending requires either cutting back on other programs, new taxes, or eliminating current tax exemptions. All three are difficult. All three have vehement opponents.

There will also be discussion in the near future about cutting sales taxes on food and utilities. Everyone likes to cut taxes, but the question is still how to pay. Will citizens accept a higher property tax to pay for sales tax reduction? Do citizens want to cut government services? (Our League of Women Voters Budget Survey says no) Will citizens accept elimination of the senior tax exemption, if food and utility taxes are eliminated. Last time we discussed the senior tax exemption there was huge opposition.

Anyhow, these are the big issues I see confronting the Assembly in the coming year. I am sure there will be others.

Assembly Retreat

Prior to tonight's regular Assembly Meeting, we had an "Assembly Retreat" - which just means we spent several 3 1/2 hours in the City Hall Conference room reviewing the "state of the Borough." This is done each year after the municipal election when we potentially have new members. There were a number of things I heard that are worth passing on.

In discussing our financial status, the Manager said our investments are very conservative, and consequently CBJ losses from the recent stock market downturn are "negligible." One exception was the independently managed Jensen Olsen arboretum endowment, which had invested less conservatively and lost about 20%. The manager also noted that if oil drops below $60 it will have an impact on our state revenue sharing allotment.

We got an update on a variety of capital projects.
1) The airport is about to engage in a three year terminal remodel and runway expansion project. There should be lots of work going on beginning next year. http://www.juneau.org/airport/projects/index.php
2) Bartlett Hospital recently completed phase 1 of their expansion and will do more remodeling and additions over the next couple years. http://www.bartletthospital.org/getpage.php?name=project
3) The Mendenhall Valley/ Diamond Park pool complex will be bid soon and be built in 2009-2010. http://www.juneau.org/parkrec/DimondParkPool.php and http://www.juneau.org/engineering/Dimond%20Park/Dimond_Pool.php
4) Work on the downtown Transit Center and Parking Garage will begin soon. The NAPA building will be demolished first and then some initial blasting will happen in early December. Site work should be done by next April and construction in 2009-10. http://www.juneau.lib.ak.us/engineering/ParkingGarageTransitCenter/ParkingGarageTransitCenter.php
5) Discussion on Cruise Ship Moorage facilities continue to go on. Currently there is a navigation study looking at the city docks, Merchants Warf, and the Subport areas. Nothing is decided about anything at this point.
6) The Consolidated Public Works Facility being built at 7 mile is about to go out for bid. Phase 1 of construction will probably be completed next year.
7) Sewer work is proceeding in the Industrial Boulevard area an on North Douglas. After those projects are completed, our intention is to continue in the Valley to Engineers Cutoff and up Pederson hill.

Other issue updates:
A) We had some discussion on the plan the Assembly approved in principle for areawide curbside recycling. Currently we are doing a rate study to figure out what kinds of rates will be needed to fund the program. Further progress depends on the results of that report. In other words, it depends on what it costs.
B) The Manager discussed a variety of ways the city is trying to conserve energy including a plan to replace many street lights with LED lighting.
C) There is a continuing problem with woodsmoke pollution in the Mendenhall Valley and EPA has again put us on notice. So restrictions will sometimes be put in force.
http://www.juneau.org/clerk/woodsmoke/woodsmoke.php

Let me remind everyone that there are 4 open seats on both the Planning Commission and the Hospital Board. Those with interest and expertise/background are encouraged to apply by November 17th http://www.juneau.org/clerk/boards/VACANCY_List.pdf

I guess that's it for now. Everyone is waiting to see how the election will shape our future.

Monday 10/27 the Public Works Committee meets at noon, the Lands Committee meets at 5 and the Assembly meeting as the Human Resources Committee meets at 6. Public Works and Lands meets in the Assembly chambers. The HR committee meets in Conference Room 224. The public is always welcome.

The Public Works Committee will (among other things) consider a CIP to plan for what to do with the land under the bridge when the Streets department moves out to the new building at 7 mile. http://www.juneau.org/clerk/PWFCAGENDA/AGENDA102708.php

Lands Committee will address issues surrounding the "soon to be built" new NEA building on Main street. It will also consider a proposal for an affordable housing project off Vista Drive near Lawson Creek in Douglas. http://www.juneau.org/clerk/ASC/LC/2008/2008-10-27/2008-10-27_Lands_Index.htm

The Human Resources Committee will interview 2 candidates for the Airport Board. Following the interviews the Assembly will have a brief special meeting to appoint new Board members.
http://www.juneau.org/clerk/ASC/HRC/2008/2008-10-27/2008-10-27_HRC_Index.php

There are a number of other Boards and Commissions vacancies. http://www.juneau.org/clerk/boards/VACANCY_List.pdf Please consider!

On Monday November 3 at 3:30 the Assembly will hold its annual "Retreat" in the Conference Room 224. This is a time when we lay out Assembly goals for the coming year. Last year's goals can be viewed at http://www.juneau.org/assembly/Assembly_Goals/2007-2008-Assembly_Goals.pdf If you want to lobby for a long term goal-- now is the time to do it.

On Monday 10/20 the Assembly approved a bid from Southeast Earthmovers for site work on the downtown parking garage. I am told that blasting may start sometime in late November.

New Committees

My dear friend, hospice client and creator of this website, Donna Anderson, passed away last week. She outlived predictions of death by two years with an unfailing positive outlook and upbeat attitude about life. She was, and will be, a model for me on facing adversity.

At last Monday's Assembly Meeting we elected Jeff Bush as Deputy Mayor. The Mayor has now made committee and liaison assignments. I will Chair Lands Committee and be a member of Public Works. All Assembly members are part of Finance Committee and the Committee of the Whole (COW). In the Assembly structure most issues involving capital improvements go to the Public Works committee before going to the full Assembly, and most issues involving planning, land use and land sales are discussed at Lands committee before going to the full Assembly. I will also be liaison to the Chamber of Commerce, which I requested. I feel city government needs to have a strong partnership with the Chamber as we seek to build responsible diversification of our economy.

Also on Monday we finally passed the new Comprehensive Plan which will be in place for the next 12 years. It is not a plan set in stone, but a vision of Juneau's land use for the future. While it provides guidance, the Assembly has the power to change it at any time. One change I had been advocating was to create 500 foot development buffers on either side of Montana Creek. This is one of our jewels -- a wild, unimpaired salmon stream in the middle of the Valley, open to hiking, biking and fishing. The comprehensive plan process had identified those buffers as desirable, but the Assembly voted to reduce them to 200 feet. I worked with Trout Unlimited and other interested parties to lobby my colleagues and they reversed their vote (7-2 with Mr. Sanford and Mr. Wanamaker opposing) returning the buffers to 300 feet.

The Planning Commission last week approved the building of a new 16 unit apartment complex on La Perouse Avenue in the Mendenhall Airport area.

Next Monday the Assembly will interview and appoint new members to the Airport Board. The Assembly is currently seeking applicants to the Planning Commission and to the Hospital Board. The deadline for applications is November 17. If you apply you will be interviewed by the Assembly and then we will vote. I encourage potential applicants to get familiar with the issues of the two bodies, look at minutes, and attend a couple meetings before we do the interviews. These are really important citizen bodies. I hope you will consider applying.

You're stuck with me for 3 more years

This morning 1,192 absentee and questioned ballots were counted and it is always fascinating how the results are almost identical to the ballots cast on election day. I won with about 55% of the vote and the additional ballots didn't change that at all. The precinct by precinct totals are posted online. Candidates often comb over them seeing which precincts went which way. People talk about the low turnout - 26.24% - but the number is questionable. The table lists almost 25,000 registered voters and that doesn't make sense. The answer is that people's names are not removed when they move out of the Borough. There is no national mechanism to remove your registration in one state when you register in another. I don't even think they do that within the state. So who knows how many registered voters we have that actually are living here.

Every year after the election the Assembly "reorganizes." What that means is that first of all we elect a deputy mayor. Then we tell the Mayor our preferences for committees and liaison assignments. The Mayor juggles everyone's preferences and presents a suggested arrangement. While anybody could challenge the assignments and ask for a vote, the reality is we know what chaos that would unleash and we tend to accept the Mayor's recommendations. That will happen in the next couple of weeks. We will also set new Assembly goals. I say "new" but they are usually not much different than the previous year. We may add one or two and take off some accomplished goals, but much is the same. These goals shape the agenda of the committees for the following year.

Monday the Public Works commmittee and the Committee of the whole meet. The Public Works Committee agenda includes and update on the Airport renovations and the closing of the streets project downtown in the Casey Shattuck area (north of the Federal Building). The Public Works agenda always includes a list of ongoing contract activity the city is involved with. The Committee of the Whole agenda has not been posted yet, but it is to discuss the issue of watersheds in the Comprehensive plan. Within that discussion we may talk more about Montana Creek.

The Planning Commission meets Tuesday 7pm, but no agenda is posted yet.
The Sustainability Commission meets Wednesday at 5 in the DT Library.

Monday Night Confusion

Phew- that was a bit complex. The Comprehensive Plan was up for approval last night. Two members (David Stone and Jeff Bush) were absent. And you need 5 votes to pass anything, regardless of how many people are attending.

We spent a good while hearing testimony about why Montana Creek stream buffers should be at 500 feet rather than the Borough norm of 200. This proposal, sponsored by Trout Unlimited had been based on a scientific study and had done the rounds of various city committees and commmissions for almost two years. At the end it was approved by the Planning Commission who sent it to the Assembly. In the Committee of the Whole it was reduced to 200 feet, I proposed to move it back to 500 as a result of sound science and a broad public process. Four members voted in favor (Doll, Dybdahl, Botelho and me) while three opposed (Sanford, Wanamaker and Chambers). But without five votes it did not pass. Later I gave notice of reconsideration, so it could be voted on again once Mr. Bush and Mr. Stone are there.

Mr Sanford made a motion to include support for the Road in the Plan, but then moved to table it because he could not be sure of 5 votes. So the whole Comprehensive Plan is tabled until the next Assembly Meeting October 20. In the meantime I suggested that the Trout Unlimited Study be presented to the Assembly at an intervening Committee of the Whole Meeting October 13, and that was accepted (albeit a bit grudgingly by Mr. Wanamaker).

The other factor is that on October 20 we swear in any new Assembly members elected oin the October 7th elections.

So I hope that clears things up.....:)

Monday update and Tonight's Assembly

One more forum: Wednesday at 5:30 at DZ is a candidate forum sponsored by the National Education Association (NEA). I'll have to leave early to teach my Wednesday evening class.

I was interviewed by APRN for a segment on Ethics that was broadcast this past weekend. The hour-long program is archived at http://www.akradio.org/archive/index.html. My segment is near the end.

Tonight the Assembly will probably adopt the Transportation Development Plan. We will also have a hearing and possibly adopt the new Comprehensive Plan which will guide Juneau's development for the next 10-12 years. It has been reviewed by many groups and gone over line by line by the Planning Commission for the past year. The Assembly has spent 3 meetings examining it and amending bits and pieces.

The one small piece that I will address tonight is stream buffers on Montana Creek. A couple years ago Trout Unlimited did a detailed scientific analysis of this anadromous stream and recommended 500 foot buffers on either side of it (other streams on CBJ land have 200 foot setbacks. The setback requirement for development on private land is 50 feet from an anadromous stream). Over the past two years the Trout Unlimited proposal was presented to and approved by the Wetlands Review Board, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee and the Planning Commission. It was also reviewed without recommendation by the Affordable Housing Commission, the Assembly Lands Committee and several other groups. In other words, it has gone through the full public process, and then was approved by our Land Use experts- the Planning Commission. However, in the Assembly's final review of the document it was reduced back to 200 feet. I will bring this forward to our public meeting tonight and have invited members of Trout Unlimited, the Planning Commission, Parks and Recreation and others to present the case. I truly hope the Assembly will respect the scientific analysis and public process.

Campaign Obsession

It is really hard to relax and try to keep perspective during this last frenzy of the Assembly campaign. I keep telling myself to remember that most people don't even know our names, let alone what the issues are. On the other hand, that is why they elect us-- to focus on issues that citizens don't have the time for.

Campaigney type stuff--- Just finished the Chamber of Commerce forum. Next week is a Wednesday 10:20 am Capital Chat debate between me and my opponent Karen Taug. I believe we will be expected to ask questions of one another. Thursday noon at ANB hall is the Tlingit Haida Candidate forum. I got a call yesterday about a JDHS forum for next Monday, but won't be able to attend. My radio spots are running on KINY. Next week I'll run them on KSUP and Taku-105 for a week. I took out some print ads in the Empire for next week and a Capital Weekly ad. This is what your campaign contributions go for. I committed to staying under $5,000 and I am at $4,400 right now. I'll probably take out one or two more Empire ads with endorser names. That will take me to my limit. Is that more than anybody wanted to know?

It's been interesting to listen to the questions we have been asked at the various forums. There is no strong theme this year. I think the one repeat question is affordable housing. We also have had a couple on stimulating the economy, a couple on childcare, and a couple on the problem of vagrancy.

We had a Committee of the Whole meeting Wednesday to finish up our review of the Comprehensive Plan and the final draft is posted at http://www.juneau.org/cddftp/documents/2008DraftCompPlanAssemblyReview09.24.pdf We will have a public hearing on the plan at our Monday 9/29 meeting. If you have ANY final comments we need to hear them ASAP. Or you can come testify Monday night.

Candidate Forum, Voting, Pool

Somebody was telling me the other day how frustrated they were to not know of various things happening. There is so much going on--it is tough to keep up.

Tonight the Planning Commission has their regular meeting beginning at 7pm and including a hearing on the Aquatic Center to be built at Diamond Park
http://www.juneau.org/plancomm/Agenda092308.php

Wednesday evening (9/24) 7:00 pm is the League of Women Voters candidate forum at City Hall.
http://juneaulwv.org/ You can come down for the face to face-- or you can listen to it on KTOO radio or internet stream http://www.ktoo.org/. I believe KATH TV will be taping for broadcast at a later time. Please attend or listen in.

Last Sunday the Empire printed its Juneau Voters Guide with bios, and Q&A from all the candidates for Assembly and School Board. You can find it all at http://www.juneauempire.com/elections/

Today is the last day to apply for an absentee ballot-- but you can vote right now at City Hall or the Mendenhall Mall. Get it done! Vote now!
http://www.juneau.org/clerk/elections/2008/2008-Absentee_Info.php

Campaign thoughts

For the Assembly, a campaign is a very short "sprint." We file for candidacy about two months before the election, but things don't get going until about 3-4 weeks before the vote-- meaning about now. I've written lots of letters and emails to people. I have pounded in yard signs across the Borough. I've done a lot on my own in order to keep costs down. Plus I have all the flyers and signs I didn't use last time. That helps. I've had a bunch of people express their willingness to help and I sure appreciate that. Plus, my campaign manager, Joan Cahill, has been wonderful.

Anyhow- we are doing 2-3 candidate forums each week and we get to hear all the other candidates answer the same questions we are answering. There is not a whole lot of disagreement, more like a difference in emphasis. Candidate forums are challenges because you must introduce yourself and answer questions within a very limited time. Yesterday's Rotary Club gathering was especially challenging because all responses were limited to 1 minute. That is tough.

Today I went down to KINY and recorded a bunch of 30 second radio spots. Again, very tough. I wanted to try and address issues rather than just say "Vote for Me!" and that is quite a challenge. I hope I hear some feedback from folks when they hear them.

Feedback - ah yes -- I still have no idea if I am writing this only to myself. No comments have been posted, nor has anyone said anything to me about this Assembly Diary. So who knows.

Today is Constitution Day. That is something I would like to celebrate. I continue to be amazed by the genius of our founders who constructed this document that has lasted 221 years. Most people don't realize what an accomplishment that is. When I took office as an Assembly member I took an oath to uphold the constitutions of Alaska and the United States. I take that oath very seriously. Government by the people, for the people and of the people is something that doesn't happen without continual struggle. I hope you feel it is worth your time and effort to work on this with me.

Airport

Quick Note!!
This Friday 9/19 from 11:30 am - 1:00 pm the public is invited to review the current design for the remodeling of the Juneau Airport. The designs will be posted in the Aurora conference room at the airport.

Election Update

It's a little more than three weeks until the municipal election (October 7) . It's very difficult in a general election year for the local election to get much interest. People are much more interested in the national race-- particularly given Governor Palin's nomination. There are also no particular issue drivers this year-- no big school projects, no initiatives. The only proposition is a rather small bond issue to build a DZ covered play area (vote for it-- the state has committed to pay 70%). So there are no special interest groups out there pushing this or that proposition.

In the Assembly races only 2 of the 3 seats are contested (Merrill Sanford is unopposed). And there are the school board elections -- three candidates for two seats. All these are important, but they really aren't generating huge amounts of interest.

We still go through the regular series of candidate forums. Last week there were two: the Retired Public Employees Association and the Juneau Bar Association. Next week is the downtown Rotary Club, the SE Builders Association, and a Nugget Mall Candidate day. The following week is the Downtown Business Association, the League of Women Voters and the Chamber of Commerce. The big one is the League of Women Voters on the 24th because that will be broadcast. Make sure to tune in.

Whale update

On 9/8 the Assembly reconsidered using sales tax money to fund the whale sculpture. First it considered using marine passenger fees to fund the sculpture, despite the fact that the City Manager and the City Attorney and a Cruise Lines representative said they did not think the fees could be used for that. That vote lost 5-4. Then the Assembly unanimously voted down the original motion to use sales tax for the sculpture.

I voted against using city money for construction of the sculpture both times. The Assembly previously said it would pay for site work and maintenance, but the sponsoring group came back and said their fundraising had not been as successful as expected and they needed money to "jump start" the donations. I did not think that was a good enough reason to change our original commitment (not to mention the legal advice against using marine passenger fees). Most importantly, the feedback I heard from citizens ran 100-1 against funding the sculpture. Citizen preferences should drive Assembly decisions. While I know there were many who did not express their opinions, this response was overwhelming and it came from all sides of the political spectrum.

Regular Assembly Meeting tomorrow- 9/8

There is an awfully lot going on at the local level. Unfortunately, it is being eclipsed by national politics and elections in general. Things are happening that YOU need to know about. Ordinances for public hearing tomorrow include authorizing the manager to negotiate purchase on land on telephone hill for a parking garage. I have moved from lukewarm support, to semi-opposition. Let me explain why. The land on telephone hill was designated to be a capitol complex. If we purchase the land, I believe we are telling the state we are OK that they will not build the capitol there. Our agreement with them should be that we will build a garage on their land, which will be given to them upon the construction of a capitol building. We should not abolish the loan we gave them that has increased to 6+ million. That is one of our few pieces of leverage and we should not give it up.

Tomorrow night also has an ordinance on Auke Lake motorized vehicle use. And while not on the official agenda, the issue of the whale sculpture will come back for reconsideration. I continue to oppose use of city dollars to construct the sculpture at this time. And I want to know more details about costs for siting and maintenance.

Despite this stuff- probably THE most important issue is the new Comprehensive Plan for Juneau. The draft has been reviewed for more than a year by the Planning Commission and is now before the Assembly. It will guide Juneau building and development for the next 12 years. Citizens should view the plan and provide feedback to the Assembly.
http://www.juneau.org/cddftp/CompPlanUpdate.php

Citizens should also be aware that we are reviewing proposals for upgrading Capital Transit. http://www.juneau.org/capitaltransit/tdp-info.php We need citizen support if we are to increase our bus service. Please write us.

The Whale

This week the issue has been "the Whale." About a year ago, former mayor Bill Overstreet came to the Assembly to ask for support for a whale sculpture done by Skip Walling, the same guy who did many of the other bronze sculptures around town. They are truly great pieces and everybody loves them. The Assembly expressed a cautious support of the concept and said they would commit to donating a piece of land and maintaining it once it was up. It was assumed that private fundraising would take care of the construction.

Evidently private fundraising has not been as successful as they needed because the group came back and asked for "startup" money of $500,000. I was really uncomfortable with that because it was a switch in what we had said we would do. I was especially uncomfortable with the idea that the money would be taken from the sales tax budget reserve. I asked if we could instead use cruise ship passenger fees. The mayor said I could not amend the current proposed ordinance to change funding sources. Given that decision, I opposed the ordinance. Right now, people are hurting. Prices are high, and tax dollars should not be used for this no matter how "nice" the sculpture is.

The ordinance passed 5-3, but Mr. Wanamaker "gave notice of reconsideration." That is a parliamentary technique where you get a second chance to vote on something. The idea is that additional information may change members' minds. So on September 8 we will first vote on whether to allow reconsideration. That is often granted out of courtesy. Then we will vote on the issue itself. Over the past few days we have had 40-50 emails vehemently opposing the project. The Empire blogs have been scathing about it. And only one or two people have spoken out in favor. So the question is whether any of my colleagues will change their minds. If they do, it will be because of citizen feedback. So if you have an opinion about this, make sure you tell us! Nothing will happen unless you do. Go to
http://www.juneau.org/assembly/webcontact/index.php
and select "entire Assembly" to get your message to all of us.

Public Participation

I was just talking with someone about an issue they thought was important. While I was happy to hear about it, I encouraged them to personally bring it to the whole Assembly. My colleagues listen to citizens a lot more than they listen to me. At the beginning of every regular Assembly meeting there is a time for what is called "Public Participation on Non-Agenda Items." If you have an opinion or idea that is not related to an issue we are hearing that night-- sign up in the back of the Assembly Chambers and you will have 3-5 minutes to present whatever you want. This has been a route that a number of people have used to get action on something.

While there are a variety of ordinances to be heard at our regular meeting Monday 8/25, there are two that you may be especially interested in. The first is a vote to put a bond issue on the October ballot to build a covered play area at DZ middle school. The second is an appropriation of $500,000 to support a whale sculpture for the waterfront. Click on the agenda and minutes link on the links at the right to get more information.

It's a race!

Yesterday, on the last day of election filing, Karen Taug was certified as a candidate running against me in the October 7 election. KINY news says she is a senior accountant with Sealaska.
Through the wonders of google I can see that she is a strong Road advocate. http://www.juneau.org/assembly/agendas/2006/2006-07-29/Public_Comments/2006-07-26-Karen_&_Ole_Taug_re_Juneau_Access_Road.pdf
She formerly worked for Goldbelt and is a strong Kensington Mine advocate. I'm sure I'll hear more.

I welcome the competition and look forward to a chance to talk about the issues that are so important to Juneau. I do hope this will not be a campaign about "the Road." This has been such a divisive issue for Juneau. It is always presented as an either/or issue-- an "us versus them." It has been used to categorize, stereotype and pigeonhole people. It has been a tool to shut down dialog.

What we need to do is work on issues that unite Juneau-- that help us move forward together. Juneau faces great challenges. Southeast Alaska has been declining, with Juneau hanging stable because of state government. But state government, as we know, is "creeping" out of Juneau up to Anchorage. We need to fight that creep, and also work to diversify our economy so that we are less dependent on state government as the only game in town. This is going to require Juneau citizens to pull together. If we are distracted and divided by issues like "The Road" we will be less able to meet this challenge.

Monday 8/11 Regular Meeting

At the beginning of each Assembly meeting we have a time called "Public Participation on Non-Agenda Items" when anyone can come and speak their piece about anything. Normally, there are three or four who want to speak- but Monday there were none. It really is an effective way to get heard. Assembly members almost always ask city staff to check out the issue and citizen requests often get met.

Most of the items we addressed were just approved by the Assembly. We "appropriated" millions of dollars - but most of it was "other people's money" -- either state or federal grants. We also introduced a some a bond issue for the October ballot on building a covered play area at DZ middle schools. All the elementary schools have covered play areas, but the middle schools have not - primarily because they have larger indoor gyms. But the DZ gym is occupied much of the time by organized Parks and Recreation activities. For whatever reason, this project never made it high enough on the School Board's wish list to get carried out. We confirmed with the state Education department that this project would qualify for the 70% state reimbursement, so the 1.6 million dollar project will cost Juneau around 500 thousand -- if the Assembly approves the ordinance and the voters vote for it. I support the project and encourage you to vote yes on the bond issue.

Last year there was a proposal from former mayor Bill Overstreet to build a large bronze sculpture of a whale jumping out of the water. Everyone thought it looked great, but wondered about the costs. The Assembly committed to paying 1.3 million for site work to place the sculpture somewhere, but not to fund the sculpture itself. Private donations are being solicited for that. Monday we introduced an ordinance to appropriate 500,000 for that project. I was uncomfortable putting out that money when private donations had been so minimal, but the Mayor and Mr. Bush argued this was needed to jump start the project. The appropriation is up for public hearing at the next regular Assembly meeting August 25th. You can view some information in the agenda of the 2/4/08 Lands Committee meeting. Please let me know what you think.

New taxi fares were approved. The taxi companies asked for implementation of a 75 cents a minute charge for waiting. Previously, that was only charged when a customer left the cab, but now it will be charged any time the cab is stopped or slowed way down in traffic.

You may have read in the July 20th Empire about lots of trash being dumped on Mendenhall Peninsula at a place called Blueberry Trail. That starts from the cutoff road from the end of Engineer's Cutoff over to Fritz Cove -- and is actually a trail to the FAA tower on the top of the ridge. At my urging the city has is working with the FAA to clean up the mess and block the entrance so vehicles cannot drive in.

I made a couple other comments. One was about bus overcrowding. With high gas prices our ridership is up and the busses are so crowded that they sometimes just pass stops where people are waiting. The Assembly needs to act on this and increase the our investment in Capitol Transit. We should be discussing this within the next month.

The other comment I made was a capitol creep issue. The Commissioner of Administration recently stated that jobs in Juneau that are not filled within 90 days will be shipped out to Anchorage or Fairbanks. (KTOO report) This has got to stop. It is slowly draining Juneau of its economic life. After my comment I was asked to draft a letter from the Assembly to the Commissioner. I encourage you to send your comments as well to Commissioner Annette Kreitzer.

Re-election

Today was the first day to file for Assembly seats. I turned in my petitions and was approved at 9 am. I have been overwhelmed with the support people have expressed. Being on the Assembly has been a real growth experience for me.

I did an interview with the Juneau Empire and I told them this experience has really humbled me and brought me to almost-- it sounds cheesy - but a love affair with this city. I have seen so many different sides of life. I have had the opportunity to meet so many different people. Juneau is just filled with committed citizens who want to make the world a better place. It is inspiring, and it is humbling.

I think I can contribute to the effort to make Juneau a great place to live. I think I can contribute to making democracy not just a word, but a way of life-- citizens acting together, as a community.

There are a lot of challenges ahead. Capitol creep is challenging us to make Juneau more than just a government and tourism city. We need to diversity our economy and support a broader array of businesses to give people good jobs so they can afford a good standard of living. It is all linked.

I look forward to continuing to work for this great Borough.

Comprehensive Plan

The Assembly will receive the final draft of the Comprehensive Plan on August 12. http://www.juneau.org/cddftp/CompPlanUpdate.php
This is really really important for citizens to review and comment on. It will guide city land use for the next decade. Please look it over and send me (and all Assembly members your comments and suggestions.

Your Tax Dollars at Work

One of the best ways to follow what dollars the city is spending on stuff is the Contract Activity reports submitted to the Public Works Committee http://www.juneau.org/clerk/PWFCAGENDA/documents/Contracts_032.pdf
You can see the construction bids that are outstanding, the RFP's, the professional services contracts, and a whole lot more. Infrastructure is a large proportion of where your tax dollars go and this is a good way to track it. The contract activity is presented at each Public Works committee meeting and you can review it in the agenda at http://www.juneau.org/clerk/PWFC.php

Ethics and Politics

With the indictment of Ted Stevens, the concept of ethical government in Alaska has taken another hit. The indictments and convictions of state legislators, the still-to-come trial of former Juneau representative Bruce Weyhrauch, and the recent flurry of issues surrounding Alaska's Department of Public Safety Commissioner have all contributed to the unsavory reputation Alaska politics is developing.

But this diary is not about state or federal politics, it is about Juneau politics. The Assembly is insulated from many of the ethical pressures and temptations that are at higher levels of government. First, because the Assembly is legally non-partisan, party politics does not control individual actions. Each member has their position, but we are not pressured to conform to a "party line." I think that is a good thing. Second, in our council/manager form of government the ability to direct money to individual causes (earmarks) is severely limited. Most budgeting is done by city staff, and while the Assembly has the power to change anything - its practical power is much less than state or federal levels. Third, the Alaska Open Meetings Act applies to everything the Assembly does. Unlike the state legislature-- we cannot "caucus" in private. Almost everything the city does is open to the public, and that scrutiny helps enforce ethical behavior. Since our system is not perfect, it needs your scrutiny.

So please keep it up. Attend public meetings. Attend or listen to Assembly meetings. Engage in this community government process. I think it works. But not without you.

Traffic Light Riverside/Stephen Richards

On Tuesday the Planning Commission had an interesting issue regarding traffic and Thunder Mountain High School. The permit allowing the high school to open says that they have to have a traffic light at Riverside and Stephen Richards. The city asked the planning commission to repeal that condition because 1) they would not be able to do it before school is supposed to open in September and 2) they argued we don't need it anyway, since the school is smaller than originally planned.

Now a light has just been installed at the entrance to the HS on Riverside. And Stephen Richards has been a problem intersection, even before the HS. The city staff argued they could cover the traffic problem with a no- left-turn sign from Stephen Richards to Riverside. But that wouldn't solve the issue of pedestrians (especially children going to Floyd Dryden or Glacier Valley).

Ultimately, the Planning Commission overruled the city and said a light (or a roundabout) would have to be installed, but in the meantime they could have a stop sign or crossing guard.

I agree with the decision. A light (with a button for pedestrians) is a much better solution to that intersection.

Quiet meeting but exciting proposal

Our Monday 7/14 meeting seemed fairly quiet. You can read the draft minutes HERE. Planning Director Dale Pernula presented a report on building permit activity that was interesting. You can view that HERE. Next Assembly meeting is August 11.

The city just received a letter from the Goldbelt Corporation asking to start negotiations on configuration of a road around the end of North Douglas. I am enthusiastically supportive of moving forward on this. Juneau has a severe shortage of land that can be used. If we are going to flourish as a community we need to develop our resources in an environmentally responsible manner. We have a starting point with the previously approved West Douglas Conceptual plan.

This is a way for Juneau to move forward together. Juneau is not pro or anti development. We are pro responsible development. The West Douglas plan provides Juneau an opportunity to show what we can do if we work together. I promise you I will work hard to move this forward.

Why I will run for a second term

This is the time of year for elections and my three year term is over in October. I have pretty much decided to run for re-election. The official filing time with the city is between August 8 and 18. A potential candidate needs a petition form from the city clerk and 25 persons to sign on to support them. I just picked up that form yesterday and will be collecting the signatures. You can find out more about the candidate process at http://www.juneau.org/clerk/elections/

There are three Assembly seats up and two School Board. Besides myself, Merrill Sanford and Bob Doll are up for re-election to the Assembly. I think (but not sure) that Margo Waring and Mark Choate are up for the School Board. No one really knows who will actually run for re-election until they file their petitions. And nobody knows who else might file against them.
But I have made my decision and now I must convince the citizens of Juneau that they should support me for another term.

I believe my biggest qualification is my commitment to personal integrity. Being true to myself, to my God and to others is extremely important to me. The second is my willingness to work hard on the issues. My day job is being a professor of public administration at UAS. I study public policy for a living. I put in the time to understand the background and am constantly asking questions. Third, I am not afraid to stand up and speak out against what I see as wrong-- and more importantly to speak FOR what I see as right. I see no need to play politics.

The biggest issue I see for Juneau is to develop an economy that is not so dependent on state government. If Juneau is to survive as a vibrant and growing community, we need to nourish responsible development. And to be successful we need to come together. We need to leave behind the divisiveness that has been so strong in the past and that is so destructive for Juneau. We need to find ways to go forward together, with a unified vision of a great community. I hope to put more effort into that unifying direction and to oppose efforts to divide us into stereotypical groups-- pro this or anti that. Those labels are not helpful. We need to find ways to move forward together, not to fight each other. And to that end I will devote my efforts.

How much time does it take to be on the Assembly

One of the things I discovered is that Assembly members can devote as much or as little time to city matters as they choose. You can simply show up at regular meetings and vote-- or you can dig into the background, talk to staff, read up on the law etc. etc. The amount of background work you can do is infinite. So there is this balance between doing nothing and devoting your every waking hour, and nobody is measuring you. Nobody is holding you accountable. You can do as much or as little as you choose (and have time for). City staff - as good as they are (and I do believe they are good) -- would just as soon Assembly members didn’t do that much and simply accept whatever staff recommenda. [And that is, indeed, what some members do. ]

And what do citizens know? They don’t know if Assembly members do their homework or dig into things. They just know an election campaign slogan or maybe the endorsement of an organization they trust. Maybe, just maybe, they contact their Assembly member and see how they respond. I hope citizens do that more.

June 24, 2008

I have been down south in Washington and Oregon doing some family visits and vacation. Last night I "attended" the regular Assembly meeting by phone. That is a bit of an odd experience. While "attending" the meeting I am also on the internet and connected to our Assembly agenda and minutes page so I have all the supporting documents. But not being there in person is so different. Yes, I still vote and my vote still counts, but it is hard to feel really a part of it all.

We took another step forward on the recycling program. We had approved a general concept last year and authorized the manager to go forward with planning. Yesterday's article in the Empire annoyed me a abit with its headline that the Mayor proposes curbside recycling. The Mayor didn't do it-- the whole Assembly approved it last year. Ah well, the main point is that it happens. When we have surveyed the citizens of Juneau in last year's Budget Survey they said (page 15) that recycling and solid waste management was close to their top priority. Despite that, there are Assembly members who do not see it as that important and just focus on what it will cost. Cost is important-- but this is also a priority for Juneau citizens in our general quality of life. We need to move forward.

Budget and tax mill rate

We passed the budget and tax mill rate on Monday. I want to reflect just a bit on our property tax rate. The Assembly voted to keep it the same as last year. But some Assembly members want to reduce it. Now, everybody wants to pay fewer taxes-- or no taxes at all-- but you can't reduce city revenue without an impact. Cutting taxes means cutting services. It means cutting back on libraries, parks, education, ice skating, swimming, law enforcement and all the other city services. There is a vision of government put forward by some that believes we should have no more than police, fire, roads and sewers. I do not hold that view. I believe Juneau wants to maintain and increase its quality of life. We want to make Juneau a better place to live -- and that means having youth activities, maintained trails, sports programs, and good schools.

Every two years the Assembly, assisted by the League of Women Voters, surveys Juneau residents on their attitudes about city services and spending. We have done these "Budget Surveys" since 1991, and I encourage you to look at them. These surveys give us the best idea of what the broad cross section of Juneau citizens think about our level and quality of government. Mostly people say they like city services at about the level they are now -- but this past year many called for increasing spending on youth activities and recreation! People in Juneau want a good quality of life, and that is what I support. Cutting back on the quality of life by reducing city amenities and services will lead to the decline of our great city and I oppose that.

Regular Assembly Meeting

Tonight at 7pm is our regular Assembly Meeting. Regular meetings are broadcast on KTOO radio. At 6pm is a meeting of the Human Resources Committee (I'm not on that). One of their main jobs is to appoint citizen volunteers to a wide variety of boards and advisory committees There are always openings in various committees and it is a good way to get introduced to the city process and issues.

It's always hard to predict how long Assembly meetings will go. It seems like a couple hours is normal, but they can go longer if there are controversial issues, and you never know when they will pop up. There are a couple big, but regular, issues on tonight's agenda. The first is approval of this year's property tax levels-- or the mill levy. A mill is 1% of property value. The proposed rate is 10.37 mills, which is the same as last year. So that is $1,037 of tax for every $100,000 of property value.

Another ordinance is the main budget ordinance for 2008-09. The Assembly has been meeting as a Finance committee for several months going over the budget. At our last meeting we finalized it and recommended it to the Assembly. The proposed budget is on the city web site- and the final one will be up there after it has passed.

The final big item is passage of the capital projects list-- or CIP. I think it is unchanged from the initial CIP proposal.

First entry

This is my first entry for myAssembly diary. My intent is to informally share my thoughts about local government process and what has been going on.

There are two big things at the moment-- the electricity crisis and the annual budget process. The electricity crisis seems to be winding down. AEL&P says the lines should be up in another week and our rates back to normal. The City set up a grant program to help lower income people pay their electric bills and that seems t0 be working. The best information on that is found at http://www.juneauunplugged.com It has been great to see how much energy we have conserved. I hope that can continue.

I had encouraged the Chamber of Commerce to come up with a proposal for how the Assembly could help everyone, particularly smaller businesses and they proposed we allocate 2 million from our Budget Reserve (where we currently have 9.8 million) to help pay electric bills across the board. Unfortunately, only Johan Dybdahl and I supported the proposal and it did not pass.

We were also voting on all the requested increases in the budget and we approved a number of items. I was very happy about an increase in funding for the Youth Activities Board. I have been lobbying for that for several years now. The whole budget will be forwarded to the full Assembly for final approval. It can still be changed, but it is not likely to happen.