Assembly Diary

Last Monday the Assembly passed the 2009-2010 budget. This link does not include the final tweaks, but it is pretty close. http://www.juneau.org/financeftp/FY10RevisedBudget.php
We have been feeling nervous about the situation next year, but I guess we cross that bridge when we come to it. We are sitting fairly well with a healthy budget reserve, so if our worst fears come true, we will have that to fall back on.

The Assembly passed the budget 8-1 with only Mr. Wanamaker opposing. He made it clear he favors less government and lower taxes. While that is a popular slogan to some, the realities of fewer city services, less responsive government, less infrastructure is not what most citizens of Juneau want. The budget surveys that the League of Women Voters conduct for us every other year are always helpful and indicate citizens are basically satisfied with the current level of government. http://www.juneau.org/assembly/Budget_Surveys/index.php

Over the summer Assembly work slows down while tourism and construction heat up. I will be out of state for about the next 6 weeks, and although I will be available through email, I probably will take a break from this blog unless something big comes up.

For those of you interested in getting a bit more involved in dealing with Juneau’s many issues we have Board openings on a number of our Enterprise Boards, including the Airport, Hospital, Eaglecrest and Docks and Harbors Boards. Applications for those Boards are due June 1. For more details see- http://www.juneau.org/clerk/boards/Board_Mainpage.php

And then, of course, in October three Assembly seats will be up for election. The incumbents of the three seats Mayor Botelho, David Stone and Sara Chambers have not said whether they will run again. If anyone is interested in running and wants to chat, give me a shout.