The AJ Mine and Public Process

So this is it…..my last blog! Sorry for not posting anything for awhile. Now I am about out the door. Monday night my resignation is effective and Katherine Eldemar steps in. But I get to yell and scream a few more times before that happens.

One of those times was this past Wednesday night at Finance Committee. It was all set up to be a nice boring meeting [see the Agenda] We had a few small requests which we funded by shifting money from the Better Capital budget which had a few dollars left. We rejected the JEDC 125K supplemental request unanimously – saying, very seriously, it was more important to preserve the budget reserve.

All well and good, but here’s where the fun starts. Mr. Sanford said he wanted to add an additional item for our consideration – 250K to start laying the groundwork for the AJ mine. Mr. Sanford had just moments before spoken about the importance of preserving (and increasing) the budget reserve……until he proposed to take a quarter million out of it for the mine. [Oh, and by the way, the Manager said if we passed this he would need to come back to the Assembly to ask for a new staff position].

Last Monday the Committee of the Whole had heard the presentation of the AJ Mine Advisory Committee. Here is their Report. As the Minutes show, the only action we took was to “receive” the report, thank the committee and declare we needed to discuss this further at future COW meetings. Going slow was the watch word.

So here at the Finance Committee meeting Mr. Sanford proposes to amend next year’s budget to add 250K “for the AJ Project.” Note the process. By just making a motion in Committee, there is no notice to the public in the agenda that this is going to be discussed. Even more offensive to public process is that by including dollars in the budget, there never has to be a public hearing. It is folded into the whole city budget. No appropriation ordinance. No public input. No deliberation. Just a done deal.

The vote was interesting. They Mayor was not present. Mr. Stone had to step down for conflict of interest. So there are seven of us. Ms. Becker, Ms. Crane and Mr. Doll all support Mr. Sanford’s request. Ms. Danner and Mr. Dybdal join me in opposition. While the majority of those present supported the request, you need a majority of the full Assembly—five votes. So the motion fails.

The AJ Mine is an issue of huge importance and interest to the community. I have no idea whether eventually I would have supported going forward or not. We just received the report this week. I thought it was good to declare that we needed more OPEN discussion in COW.

Sorry about going out with a rant. But this ticked me off. In my opinion it was a gross violation of the public process for an issue of HUGE public interest... an attempt to slip something in the back door when nobody was looking. I am proud to be a part of blocking that effort.

Last Monday the Assembly selected Katherine Eldemar to replace me once I depart at the end of May. I cannot think of many people more qualified than she. Katherine is a lawyer, a former judge, Assistant to the President of Sealaska, Vice Chair of the Goldbelt Board and also on the United Way Board. She is an extremely intelligent woman who has experience in sorting out difficult issues. She will have no trouble hitting the ground running. When Katherine joins the Assembly there will be four female members—more than there has ever been before. Katherine will also be the first female Alaska Native on the Assembly.

The CBJ Budget was introduced and is starting to be presented to the Assembly in pieces every Wednesday evening at 5:30 in the Assembly Chambers. Last night we heard presentations from the Airport, Docks and Harbors, Eaglecrest and the Borough CIP project. You can view their presentation documents HERE. If you are interested in hearing any of the budget presentations – here is the Finance Meeting Schedule.

But, essentially, little is changed from what the manager presents in the budget document. In a Council Manager system the Manager submits a balanced budget and unless Assembly members want to try and really rock the boat, the proposed budget is generally accepted. If anyone wants to add anything, they have to confront the question of where to find the money.

One of the subjects that is going to get some debate is the spending of the Marine Passenger Fees or cruise ship head taxes. Restrictions governing what can be spent are part of US Constitutional Law and court cases. This year there are a number of projects proposed for the area of the private docks. Some Assembly members object. The rules say you need to spend the money on services rendered to cruise ship passengers – particularly related to health and safety. A good background can be found in a 2005 memo from City Attorney John Hartle.

The Alaska Redistricting Board just came out with their initial proposals. Their site at http://www.akredistricting.org/ also shows proposals of others. I find it difficult to see exactly where the lines are drawn. But the downtown Juneau district will be extended south almost, but not including Petersburg – and west to include Gustavus and Tenakee. The northern part of the Borough will be combined with Skagway and Haines. Now this is just the first shot in a longer battle— but it lays out the general approach. Interesting, if you like this kind of stuff.

If you would like to follow the Libraries/Archives/Museum project, there is a Blog with lots of information.

The first Cruise Ship is due in May 6. See the full Schedule of Landings.

Replacing ME!!

Well, I have certainly caused a lot of problems by my impending move. Sigh. You may recall that the Assembly requested applications from persons who would like to fill out my term from May 23 until the October election. Thirteen persons have submitted applications and the Assembly will consider them in executive session in our Monday night meeting (April 11).

As always, we have a number of City Boards and Commissions that need members. I encourage you to help out in one way or another. There are many positions that take a minimal amount of time. Please consider how you may participate in our government. Vacancies are listed HERE
And the application process listed HERE
The Airport, Docks and Harbors and Eaglecrest Enterprise Boards are accepting applications before April 27. We look for those who have a real interest and some knowledge of these areas. If you are interested, I encourage you to attend current meetings and learn about the issues. Other Boards require less background. We need persons to apply for the Board of Equalization – which hears appeals on Property Tax assessments. We also need a person on the Social Services Advisory Board and another on the Youth Activities Board – both of which distribute grants to Juneau organizations. Please consider some way you may help.

At our Finance Committee meeting last Wednesday the proposed Budget for FY12 was introduced.
I encourage you to browse through this and ask questions. It is important for citizens to understand how the Borough government is spending your tax dollars. We approved the Manager’s recommendation for the mill rate which will be unchanged at 10.55 or just over 1% of property value. I am pleased that the mill rate has remained stable for the past five years.

Marc Matsil, the Director of Parks and Recreation resigned last month and our new Director is Brent Fischer.

The Diamond Park Aquatic Center is now scheduled to open in June There are a number of job openings there.

Monday night we will also consider acquiring property in the floodplain out Montana Creek Road.

Happy Spring. I have seen Skunk Cabbage!!!

Redistricting

The 2010 Census numbers are in and Southeast Alaska has a problem because of declining population compared to the growth in MatSu. Every ten years after the Census we re-draw the district lines to make sure each voting district has approximately the same number of people. The initiative to expand the number of legislators failed in our last election – which means that with the population shift, southeast is going to lose a legislative seat. The question is now how to redraw the lines (Senate districts consist of two House Districts). Juneau qualified for two House districts previously. Now each of our districts is short about 2,000 people. We probably will have one district that is Juneau only, and a second one that is Juneau and some collection of other communities in Southeast. There’s the rub.

There needs to be about 17,755 residents per district. THIS DOCUMENT shows how many people are in the various communities around southeast and how many each district is “short.” A big challenge to the redistricting effort is the federal requirement to not reduce a minority’s voting strength. Currently District 5 is the biggest district geographically, collecting lots of different native communities. One approach to redistricting is to distribute the communities of this meandering district – but that would almost certainly reduce native representational strength and might not pass federal review.

The Redistricting Board is going to hold a hearing in Juneau tomorrow – Friday March 25th from Noon to 7pm in the Capital room 106. The Redistricting Board Website
has a lot of background materials. Come on down and testify if you want to put in your two cents.

You may have heard that the Assembly is soliciting applications from citizens in the Valley district who would like to fill out the rest of my Assembly term from May to October. Anyone who is interested needs to file a letter of interest and a resume with the Clerk’s Office by 4:30pm Thursday April 7. See the official NOTICE

We also have our annual appointing of members to the Docks and Harbors Board, Airport Board and the Eaglecrest Board. Applications are due by April 27th. Anyone who is interested should give me a call and we can chat about it. Openings for all Boards and Commissions can be found HERE
Information on how to apply is found HERE

We Need YOU!

Transitions

Dear Friends,
It is with extremely mixed feelings that I announce I have accepted a position with California State University San Bernardino as Chair of their Public Administration Department beginning July 1. I have informed the Mayor that I will resign from the Assembly effective at the end of our May 23 Assembly meeting.

I have been so blessed by my time on the Juneau Borough Assembly. I have built relationships with people across the community that I treasure. I have put roots down in Juneau in a way I have not done anywhere else. I truly love this town and had not planned to leave.

However, as we all know, “life” happens. Without going into detail, there were significant issues in both my family life and professional life that took me in this direction.

I will continue to be active on the Assembly until I leave, particularly in the upcoming budget discussions. Juneau needs to be very careful about its financial commitments, given the uncertainty of the future, particularly state and federal contributions.

I feel incredibly honored to have been part of our government system over the past years. It feels like we have made some significant accomplishments. Now we are entering a time of transition. Over the next few years, most of the current Assembly members will reach their final terms. Our city manager will probably retire in another year. The Mayor completes his term a year from October. We need strong, dedicated Juneau citizens to step up and become involved with our government, be it on the Assembly or on our various Boards and Commissions. We need new leaders. Please give some thought to what you can do.

I will continue this blog over the next few months as we go through our annual budget cycle.

Thank you for your support and friendship.

Money

We are about to begin the annual budget cycle. In another week the Assembly meets as the Finance Committee to examine capital improvement projects (CIPs) for the coming year. We will meet with the School Board on March 23. Then beginning in April we begin weekly Finance meetings on Wednesday nights to hear budget presentations from across the CBJ.

Here is how it works. The City Manager presents the Assembly with a balanced budget. He gets revenue projections from the finance department and then he has to do whatever cutting and trimming is necessary to make the books balance. The Enterprise Boards (Airport, Docks and Harbors, Hospital) also pay for themselves and will present balanced budgets. The School District is funded by a state formula and will present their balanced budget.

But what is going to happen is that each of these entities will probably ask for “more.” The Airport wants to do more improvements on the terminal. The Hospital wants to build a new adolescent behavioral treatment center. Docks and Harbors needs to find money to dredge Douglas Harbor and dispose of mercury contaminants, and they also are interested in buying Fisherman’s Bend. The School District will ask for “more” funding above the cap – for "outside the classroom" activities. They may or may not propose a new school bond issue. The Arts and Humanities Council wants improvements on the Armory building (JAHC). On top of that there will be a string of other groups and organizations asking for funding for this or that good cause.

The problem, of course, is that any extra dollar allocations take away from other programs or borrow (for capital projects). I am concerned that our debt burden has increased enormously over the past decade, primarily because of the string of school projects and the pool. I am very nervous about asking Juneau to fund more debt. The point is, there are no “extra” dollars.

This also is against the backdrop of extreme uncertainty for future revenue from the state or the feds – from whom we receive multiple millions. We are OK for next year – but further out it is really questionable. Ultimately we will have to confront what we want to do if we have to pay for it all locally.

I know, I know – that’s what our job is —to make allocation decisions. But to make somebody happy, somebody else’s ox is going to be gored.

Lots more to come – stay tuned.

Land

I am chair of the Assembly Lands Committee. This year we will update the Borough Land Management Plan, and part of that is our "Land Disposal Plan" - meaning what city land might be sold. For years one of the main cries in Juneau has been “not enough land.” There is truth to that lament. We are surrounded by the Tongass and much of the non federal land in the Borough is wetlands or mountainsides. The shortage of land is said to contribute to our lack of affordable housing. There are some who say the city should sell off its landholdings to the private sector to address the affordable housing issue.

Like everything else, this is not a simple issue. Here are a couple points to consider. There is a considerable amount of private land that is already in the hands of private sector owners who choose not to build because they apparently do not see the profit in it at this point. I have often felt that Hugh Grant is a good weather vane for the market. He owns a lot of land – and he is an active developer. His development off Loop Rd/Keegan Dr – just before the turn to Back Loop has many empty lots, and his land a bit further out Loop Road is undeveloped, as is the land above Fred Myers. Another Developer – Duran – has not built houses on his Vista Del Sol development on Glacier Highway next to Glacier Gardens. There is nothing wrong with that – it is just an indicator that there is not great demand. There is the chunk of land between Kodzoff and Cinema Drive that has remained undeveloped. A planned development of the gravel pit land out at Montana Creek stopped several years back. Totem Enterprises has not been able to find investors willing to invest in North Douglas to create a golf course development. And when the Borough recently tried to sell some its land at Lena Loop – a large number of lots did not sell.

My point is that there is a significant amount land already in private hands and it does not seem that availability of land itself is the solution to the issue of affordable housing. We probably need to contract with one of the low income developers or to work with a land trust that focuses on affordable housing or some other alternative that guarantees that the land is used for lower cost housing.

The Borough does own land in several places that might be able to be developed in this fashion. There is some “Under Thunder” land out Loop Road in the Valley. There is some land above DZ and there is some land on what is called Pederson Hill on the North side of Veterans Highway past Brotherhood Bridge. These areas are next to sewer and water, and close to other city services and transportation routes. Our goal is to find ways to ensure that housing built on those parcels will actually be “affordable” to moderate income families.

These are some of the issues that will frame our discussion as we look at updating our Land Management Plan.

Monday May 24th the Juneau Homeless Coalition sponsored the second annual Project Homeless Count at Centennial Hall. Representatives from dozens of organizations provided food, health, legal, shelter and other assistance, while also constructing a count of the number of homeless people in Juneau. It is estimated that Juneau has over 500 homeless individuals. I visited the event and was very impressed by all the services provided. For more information see http://jedc.org/housing-connect.shtml

On Tuesday January 25th, 7pm in City Hall, the Planning Commission meets and will continue their discussion on the proposed Noise Ordinance.

On Wednesday January 26th at 6:30 at the JAHC (Old Armory) the State of Alaska sponsored Juneau Douglas Fish and Game Advisory Committee will hold a meeting that includes a discussion about a critical habitat proposal for the Taku River.
For more information contact Mike Peterson at 723-8369

In my last post I talked about how we are re-considering opening the AJ mine in downtown Juneau. The Mayor is about to appoint a study group to advise the Assembly. I understand the members will be Former Deputy City Manager Donna Pierce, chair. Kurt Fredriksson, vice chair, Laurie Ferguson Craig, Frank Bergstom, Gregg Erickson, Sam Smith and Planning Commission Chair Maria Gladziszewski.

Each year the Assembly proposes projects on which to spend the cruise ship passenger fees collected by the city. There are US Constitutional restrictions on how that money can be spent. Each year the City Manager proposes how we will spend the 4+ million dollars collected. The proposed spending is currently out for public comment. If you would like to comment on this year’s proposals please email City Manager Rod Swope at Rod_Swope@ci.juneau.ak.us

Finally, another sticky wicket has come up—this one regarding the Diamond Park Aquatic Center which should be opening in the next few months. CBJ Parks and Recreation proposes to include a small number of exercise machines, similar to what is available at Augustus Brown Pool. However, the private fitness clubs have objected, saying it is inappropriate competition with the private sector. Part of me can understand their objection. It is supposed to be a pool, not a fitness club. But I also see that the equipment is only equivalent to what is already provided at the downtown pool.

And of course the Legislature is starting to do its annual thing….

A Mine in Juneau?

I hope 2011 is beginning well for you, and that you are keeping warm and not getting blown away!

The Assembly’s January 10 meeting had nothing very exciting to report. The January 11 Planning Commission began their hearing on the revised noise or disturbing the peace ordinance. It was continued to the next Planning Commission meeting. After their deliberations are complete, it will come to the Assembly.

On January 3 the Assembly met as a Committee of the Whole to again address Assembly goals for the year. The COW minutes recount the discussion. The revised goals will come to us again for final approval. Most of them are fairly non-controversial: work on solid waste management, address childcare and homelessness, promote energy efficiency, promote fisheries development.

The one that has attracted the most attention is currently worded as “Review the potential development of the AJ Mine.” This was proposed by David Stone and supported by Mayor Botelho. The Mayor proposed creating a citizen task force to “review whether the idea should be pursued and said he was ready to appoint a committee to do the review. Much has changed regarding technology and performance of existing mines. The location of the mine was the major issue in previous discussions as it is in the heart of the downtown area. He is willing to explore this because he recognizes technologies have changed and the impacts outside the mine may have changed since the last review.” We have received a number of comments from citizens who recall the great divisiveness this issue raised in the community the last time it was addressed.

Here is what I see as the main motivator for this. The three senior members of the Assembly, Mayor Botelho, Deputy Mayor Sanford and Finance Committee Chair Stone have all expressed their deep concern about the economic future of Juneau. They see continued flat or declining population for Juneau and a continued decline throughout Southeast Alaska. They note the uncertain fiscal future of a state with declining oil production and our dependence on state revenue sharing. They note the never ending efforts by some to move the capital (Rep. Neuman of Wasilla has pre-filed a bill to build a new Legislative Hall – the implication being it would be constructed up North). Mr. Sanford made an impassioned plea at our last meeting that we had to move forward with promotion of mining and other economic development.

I share the concern that we need to promote Juneau’s economic development. I share the concern about our potential decline, and I disagree with those who see no problem in our decline. However, there is also a potential for Juneau to be so fearful of the future that we neglect the environmental and social safeguards that make Juneau a desirable place to live. Any moves in the direction of mine development in downtown Juneau must be done with extreme caution and care and with total transparency to the citizens of Juneau.

There are many who have already made up their minds about this issue. Some see a mine as the ultimate salvation of Juneau because it is partially owned by the Borough which would reap significant financial gains from gold production. Others condemn this idea as the ultimate evil that will lead to the destruction of our community. It is my goal to see this examination move forward as a mechanism to get information and understanding of the potential impacts- both good and bad and to make sure any decision is made not from fear, but from considered balancing of costs and benefits. We must not be afraid to address controversial issues, but we must pursue them with caution, openness and civility. We’re all together in this.