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.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
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.
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.
Friday, October 10, 2008
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.
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.
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