The preliminary results are in and I am sure you have seen them. While we don't have the early and absentee votes in, it is rare that they change anything. They always seem to break the same way as the "day of" votes. That's kind of interesting.
Congratulations to our new Assembly and School Board members. I am looking forward to working with them.
Prop 1 on Auke Bay School Bonds was the big winner with 74% voting yes.
Prop 2 on the North Douglas Crossing was defeated by 67% of the voters.
And Prop 3 on a Charter Commission was defeated by 68% of the voters.
These are interesting because they were all very definitive decisions. No close calls here. Probably no surprise on Props 1 & 3. But I thought Prop 2 on the ND Crossing would be a closer vote. It certainly was the most contested campaign with lots of money spent by both advocates and opponents. As I mentioned in my last post, I really appreciate the public engagement in these issues. It is encouraging to me. While I was a supporter of the Crossing, I have heard the Juneau voters loud and clear that this is not one of their priorities.
As I see it, the next big issue will be on what to do for solid waste management. As I have mentioned previously, the collection and disposal of garbage is controlled by private businesses (Waste Management and Arrow Refuse). If the City wants to be part of it they have to either buy the collection permit or buy the landfill. I have not heard anyone advocate buying the landfill because of all the potential problems there -- but it still might be the one direction that allows us to deal with the actual problems. Currently we are negotiating with Arrow on possibly buying their permits. An alternative is to take them through eminent domain -- but that still requires compensation at market prices. So we have a bit of a connundrum here. Everyone wants to "deal with" the solid waste issue, but city options are limited.
A number of Assembly candidates talked about recycling. That's great. We do it now for anyone who will bring their materials to the landfill. But setting up collection or regional pickup spots would cost a lot more money for all citizens -- particularly if we did not own the waste collection permits. The best solution would be if somebody here in Juneau opened a business that used recyclables. Ultimately, recycling means using. The question is how and where. So anyhow, it will be interesting how this plays out.
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2 comments:
Jonathon,
I might disagree with your statement that the vast majority do not see the crossing as a priority. The bulk of the folks I have talked to that voted against it did so because they did not feel the funding mechanism was appropriate, or were simply afraid to commit to more debt. While I voted for it simply to give it a chance to proceed and perhaps mature, I can certainly understand their reluctance to agree. Maybe next time if we posture it better.
Thank you for your efforts.
Dave
I suppose it is good to hear that. It is unfortunate that there was misinformation about debt. No borrowing was proposed. And waiting for state or federal funding means-- in my opinion -- that it just won't happen. If we are unwilling to start this out with our own funding I don't think anything can happen.
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