A reminder to make sure you vote. The election is next Tuesday, but you can vote early at the Mendenhall Mall or City Hall. http://www.juneau.org/clerk/elections/Absentee_Voting.php

A few weeks after the election the Assembly will vote on who will be Deputy Mayor for the year, the Mayor will make committee and liaison assignments and the Assembly will set its goals for the year. That's a good time to contact your Assembly reps on your preferences.

Yesterday the Juneau Economic Development Council released their 2009 Juneau Economic Indicators. This is worth your time to read. Highlights are that in the past year Juneau actually GREW in population by 1%. Total jobs and average wages also grew. Rents went up and housing prices went down. Also, there is no evidence that young people are streaming out of Juneau. Our demographic makeup reflects the rest of the country. Check it out at http://www.jedc.org/forms/Juneau%20and%20SE%20Indicators%202009%20FINAL.pdf

Do you have police related questions? JPD has instituted an Ask a Dispatcher online site at http://www.juneaupolice.com/askdispatch.php JPD also Tweets! http://twitter.com/JuneauPD

Remember the deadline for STIP comments (noted in my last post) is October 16. Tell DOT what you want. http://www.dot.state.ak.us/stwdplng/cip_stip/index.shtml

A number of the projects in the STIP affect the Brotherhood Bridge/Auke Bay corridor. There is a proposal for a bike path from the Bridge to UAS. There are also plans for a boat launch at the Auke Lake Wayside. Another is for realigning the road between Fritz Cove and DeHarts (interfering with a UAS project) and another to redesign the Back Loop/DeHarts intersection. State plans intersect with CBJ and university plans – but I felt stakeholders were not communicating. At Southeast Conference I facilitated a meeting between elected officials Chancellor Pugh and DOT – and DOT has now asked me to arrange another gathering of City, DOT and University reps. Hopefully we can iron out the complexities of these interrelated projects.

I have also been involved in promoting negotiations between the city and Goldbelt on the planned road extension around North Douglas and other discussions with the Mental Health Trust on their land and development issues downtown.

Lots to keep track of.

(and let’s not even go to the definition of “Competent Voice Control” in our Animal Control ordinance!)

This period before the City Elections is always a bit slow as people wait to see what the new make-up of the Assembly will look like. City elections, particularly in an off year from state and national elections, usually have quite low turnout. Beginning this Monday September 21 you can vote in person at either City Hall or the Mendenhall Mall. Hours and location details are at http://www.juneau.org/clerk/elections/Absentee_Voting.php

Here is a sample ballot http://www.juneau.org/clerk/elections/documents/2009-10-06_Sample_Ballot.pdf There are three Assembly races, the school board race and two propositions (Tobacco tax and School bond issue). Please vote and encourage your friends to vote. Because of the expected small turnout your vote is truly significant.

The Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) is created by DOT every few years to guide their construction programs. There is always a lot of debate on this because DOT is populated by engineers who have very clear ideas of the “right” or “optimum” answers to things. They ask for citizen and local government input, but many people are pessimistic about the influence of that input. The City has sent their priorities to DOT for years, but the actual STIP often bears little relation to local preferences. For instance – the most massive project Juneau has had for years (Sunny Point) was not built because of any great demand from Juneau residents, but was based on DOT priorities.

Be that as it may – the current proposed STIP is now posted online and DOT requests public comments by October 16. http://www.dot.state.ak.us/stwdplng/cip_stip/index.shtml The Juneau proposed projects are summarized on page 44 (49 of the pdf) with page references to the individual projects. While I might have wished for funding for other bigger projects (like the North Douglas Crossing) I support all the projects listed. Comments can be emailed to dot.stip@alaska.gov

Monday 9/21 is a regular Assembly Meeting at 7pm. We will again take up the Animal Control ordinance which has gotten a lot of feedback because people love their pets. There has been some confusion about the proposed ordinance which basically puts current parks and recreation regulations into an enforceable ordinance. First of all – this applies only to city parks and recreation land. It does NOT apply to federally owned National Forests or Dredge Lakes. There have been a lot of comments about the Airport Dike Trail (always a hot topic). The regulations on dogs for that trail come from Airport Policy written by the Airport Board. There are still issues of concern, but those two areas are under different jurisdictions.

Additionally there is an ordinance up for adoption revising the Building Code (see particularly a list of changes at http://www.juneau.org/assembly/agendas/2009/2009-08-24/documents/2-2009-07-31_Signif_Chng_Summary_2006_Codes_2008_NEC.pdf) and regulations and fee changes for Docks and Harbors and the Airport. If these relate to you please look at the information in the Assembly Agenda and Minutes for 9/21 (see link at right).