Monday 8/23 is our regular Assembly meeting. We will have hearings for putting two measures on the October 5th ballot. The first is about a bond issue for renovating Auke Bay elementary school. The second is about committing sales tax dollars to finance a second crossing of Gastineau channel. I am always in favor of putting big ticket items to citizens for their vote on the matter.

We also have an ordinance for public hearing to increase our water/sewer rates. This is never a popular thing to do – but to maintain our water system takes continued investment. We have also called for a managerial review of Public Works to ensure we are running the most efficient system possible.

The Assembly Public Works Committee meets at 5pm Monday. \I asked the manager to get an estimate of what it would cost to extend bus service to Costco/Home Depot rather than just stop at Anka/Glacier Dr. I am told that such an extension would mess up the whole bus schedule and cost lots. I will be asking a lot of questions.

The Assembly Human Resources Committee meets at 6pm and will appoint members to the new Aquatics Board to help manage the pools. They will also appoint new members to the Youth Activities Board that awards grants, and discuss our panhandling ordinance.

Tuesday is the state primary election. Remember that even if you are not interested in the primary candidates, there are propositions on the ballot regarding abortion and lobbying that may become law. Make sure you vote.

Finally, the Alaska Department of Labor has published its August issue of Alaska Economic Trends. The subject this month is the Cost of Living in Alaska. We always talk about it, but here is some good data. It is a worthwhile read. http://labor.state.ak.us/trends/aug10.pdf

On Monday August 23 the Assembly has a hearing on whether to put two items on the October 5 ballot. The first is an 18.7 million dollar general obligation bond to renovate Auke Bay Elementary School and the second is an allocation of the current sales tax toward a second crossing of Gastineau Channel. Regardless of the pros and cons of each, I am strongly in favor of putting these issues before the citizens and asking for their approval or disapproval. To me – this is what democracy is all about. We have some proposals for significant spending. Do the citizens support allocating their tax dollars in this matter. What could be more democratic? Why would you not support referring this to citizens?

In future posts I will share my position on the merits of these proposals, but I will definitely vote to put them on the October ballot.

We now know who will run for the Assembly this October and it is …..interesting.

There are always three seats up. The areawide seat is held be incumbent Johan Dybdahl, and nobody filed to run against him. The downtown seat is open (Jeff Bush is stepping down) and only former school board member Mary Becker is running. The valley seat, however, has four applicants: Greg Brown, Karen Crane, Mary Anderson and Christopher Nelson. All four are newcomers to city politics. The opening Juneau Empire story gives some background. We will hear more over the next two months.

One of the candidates, Mary Anderson, has a …..er…..ahem….close relationship with yours truly. I was as surprised as anyone over her decision to run. One thing I can assure you is that she is her own person and, if our personal relationship is any indication, she may differ from me on any number of issues. :) So we shall see how this plays out.

Next Tuesday, August 24th is the State Primary Election. Please remember to get out and vote. Primaries often have low turnouts. Please VOTE! In addition to the state and federal candidates there are two propositions. Note they are on the primary election and NOT on the general election ballot.

Proposition #1 is an “Initiative Prohibiting the Use of Public Funds to Lobby or Campaign; and Prohibiting Holders of Government Contracts and Family Members from Making Political Contributions.” I strongly encourage you to vote against this measure. It would prohibit communities from lobbying the state or federal government on issues affecting them. It would also prohibit any person who is a vendor to the city or state from financially supporting any candidate for any office, nor could their spouse, children, parents or other close relatives. It is a bad initiative.

Ballot measure 2 is on the sensitive and emotional abortion issue. It would require “Notice to or Consent from Parent or Guardian or Through Judicial Bypass” for a female under the age of 18 to get an abortion. I have struggled with the abortion issue for many years. While personally opposed, I have always come down on the side of personal choice, rather than government mandate. So I will vote no on this proposition.

Tomorrow, 8/18 I head to Kodiak for the Alaska Municipal League summer legislative conference. http://www.akml.org/services/conference/summer/