Assembly Diary

The AJ Mine and Public Process

2011-05-20T10:43:00.000-07:00

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.

2011-04-14T14:03:00.000-07:00

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!!

2011-04-09T18:19:00.000-07:00

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

2011-03-24T16:51:00.000-07:00

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

2011-03-17T15:00:00.000-07:00

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

2011-02-22T14:09:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-06T23:05:00.000-08:00

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.

2011-01-24T19:15:00.000-08:00

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?

2011-01-12T15:22:00.000-08:00

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.

Bridge Park, Respite Care and Labor Law

2010-12-22T13:11:00.000-08:00

On December 13 the Assembly heard presentations on the conversion of the waterfront area near the downtown bridge. We reiterated our support for a Bridge Park and the Empire story was a pretty accurate report. We want the area under the Bridge to be a Park, and we want it to be the terminus of the Sea Walk that would connect all the way downtown and on to the last cruise ship dock at the Rock Dump. Here is the rest of the story. As you know, the availability of money drives much of the process. So far we have been funding the Sea Walk with Cruise Ship Passenger fees. By U.S. law you can only have a head tax on cruise passengers if the money is used for them. So the further you get from cruise ship docks, the less justification there is for using those fees. The Empire notes we plan a building for Docks and Harbors near the bridge, but the real emphasis of the Assembly was that it needed to be a Maritime Museum or some kind of tourist attraction that would justify our claim that the Seawalk was necessary for the safe movement of cruise ship passengers. THEN we can fund the whole walk from the bridge back to the docks.

After the COW meeting we met as a Finance Committee. We approved a small contribution to help fund a Respite Lodging program for homeless citizens who are too sick to be lodged with other homeless in shelters, but not sick enough to be in the hospital. I am so grateful for the Glory Hole, St. Vincent’s, and JEDC for taking the lead on this and for Bartlett Hospital’s support. It is a small, but very needed program. Also at the Finance meeting we tabled the jewelry store tax proposal, but said we would re-visit the whole idea in the future, including looking at a possible luxury or seasonal sales tax or some other variation.

On Saturday the 18th we met for three hours to address some labor law issues and came to a number of agreements on how to adjust the process to be more equitable. I am pleased with these changes that were pushed by Bob Doll and myself (I talked about this issue in my September 6 post). The one unresolved issue is the unions’ desire to have contract disputes submitted to binding arbitration. Currently the Assembly has the final word. Given that city workers are prohibited from striking, the unions feel a system where the Assembly is the appeals body is unfair. I have been advocating for the state model, where arbitration is used, but any negotiated contract still needs to be funded by the legislature – or in our case the Assembly. So it includes arbitration, but still gives the Assembly the final word on budget issues.

Monday evening December 20 was the regular Assembly meeting. The one thing of note was the designation of the State Museum as a historical building. It was pretty confusing to sort out the issues—including the impact such a designation would have and whether it would pose any barrier for the State Library Archives Museum project. We deleted a section that called for the project to be located at another (unidentified) site. Ultimately it is the State’s decision. We just want to see the project move forward.

It has been an eventful year…..but aren’t they all? My goals for Juneau continue to be equal treatment for everyone with support for our most vulnerable citizens, an emphasis on public participation and government transparency, fiscal and environmental responsibility, and promotion of our local economy.

I want to thank so many of you who have expressed appreciation for my efforts on the Assembly. Your support gives me the energy to keep going.

I wish the very best holiday season to you all, and I look forward to 2011.

Enterprise Board Appointments and Docks and Harbors Issues

2010-12-08T23:07:00.000-08:00

Monday 12/6 the Assembly appointed new members of the Planning Commission and Hospital Board. The Hospital Board appointments were significant because the Assembly did not re-appoint one incumbent, and another did not re-apply. A message was sent that we are concerned about management and look to the Board to make whatever hard decisions need to be made to improve the employee relations issue.

Wednesday 12/8 the Assembly had a joint meeting with the Docks and Harbors Board (because I kept pestering the Mayor to set one up). Docks and Harbors has a number of important projects going on. Statter Harbor (Auke Bay) is going to be totally restructured. The Assembly communicated how important we believe it is to get and listen to citizen input. On December 16, 7:00pm at City Hall, Docks and Harbors will host a public meeting to take citizen input on the Statter Harbor plans. If you are interested, PLEASE attend.

Douglas Harbor still needs to be dredged and the mercury laden remains need to be disposed of. It will cost money. Aurora Harbor needs to be reconstructed. And the cruise ship docks are proceeding (paid for by cruise ship passenger fees). I have been pushing for the new docks to have facilities for discharging wastewater and for electrical shorepower connections with the cruise ships. Currently, only the Princess dock does that. While nothing is certain, it seems like they are moving in that direction. Finally, the owners of Fisherman’s Bend told the city they are interested in selling. I think the Assembly communicated to the Docks and Harbors Board that with all the other spending needs, this has the lowest priority.

In other issues -- I mentioned previously that Juneau has an issue with what to do with snow that is cleared from the streets. Here is a just-off-the-press Snow Disposal study that addresses these issues. There are no easy solutions, but this lays out the problem fairly well.

The State Archives, Museum and State Library were funded last legislative session to start planning for a new joint building. Originally the acronym was SLAM – but now it is LAMP :). The Museum recently received a historical designation. The project has a website – and on it is a Historical Significance survey. Please weigh in on your thoughts.

One of the big issues last year was a potential Mental Health Trust Office Building to be built on the subport land in front of the Coast Guard Building. The state allocated several million dollars for a site survey and my understanding is that the subport site is “off the table.” I could be wrong (I certainly have been before), but this is what I have heard.

As mentioned last post --on December 13 the Assembly Committee of the Whole will receive a report on plans for the area underneath the downtown bridge. I am a big fan of establishing a Bridge Park as the terminus of the Seawalk.

Thank you all for reading this stuff and paying attention. Please encourage others to do the same.

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-03T18:43:00.000-08:00

Last Monday 11/29 the Assembly re-considered the issue of removing the sales tax cap for jewelry purchases and referred it back to Finance Committee for future discussions. This has the potential to expand discussions to issues of a seasonal sales tax or other broader adjustments.

On Wednesday 12/1 Assembly Finance Committee had its first presentation on setting the FY11-12 budget. The Manager states we should be able to balance the budget without making cuts or taking dollars from the reserve. The article in the Empire Thursday made it sound like things were rosy, but I don’t think that is the case. They are very tight and future years are estimated to have real problems.

The Assembly has heard a lot of complaints about Docks and Harbors and particularly the plan for Statter Harbor (Auke Bay). So we have set up a special Assembly meeting with Docks and Harbors Wednesday December 8 at 6pm. If anybody has issues about D&H, this would be a meeting to attend. Since it is an Assembly meeting, public testimony should be allowed. I’ll certainly ask for it to be if anyone has issues they would like to raise.

On Monday December 13 the Assembly will have a Committee of the Whole meeting to discuss the area under the downtown bridge where the City Shops were located. There is a proposal for a Bridge Park to be located there, but Docks and Harbors has other proposals. We will hopefully decide on a way forward. This meeting is open but will not take public testimony.

Those who are interested in skiing probably already know that Eaglecrest will not open this weekend

The city, state and Mental Health Trust have been meeting regularly to devise a master plan for the development of the downtown Willoughby District. As part of that the city is doing an online Survey on Willoughby District. I encourage all of you to fill it out.

The new parking garage is open and there will be free parking in both garages for the month of December

And finally - Santa Clause arriving Friday December 10th

Happy Holidays to all.

Boards and Sales Tax Issues

2010-11-20T17:48:00.000-08:00

A couple of time sensitive items. The deadline for applications to the Planning Commission and Hospital Board is 4:30 pm Monday 11/22. If you are interested, please fill out an application form. You will also be asked to respond to several questions—why you want to be on the board, what knowledge you have about the issues and what your vision is. And you will be invited to a short interview before Assembly members next month. You will almost certainly be asked whether you have attended Board meetings in the past. Each year there are three openings on the Boards (like Assembly members). While there is a tendency for the Assembly to reappoint incumbents, that is not always the case. There is always a tension between wanting to get “new blood” and wanting to keep experience. (Board members are also subject to the same three term limit as Assembly members.) As of Friday, 2 of 3 incumbents for the Hospital Board had reapplied and 1 of 3 Planning Commissioners had reapplied. Over the past year there have been a number of administrative issues surrounding the Hospital. I am sure that will be an issue. If you are interested in a Board position – learn about the issues. Review the minutes of the Board meetings so you know what is going on. Review the Planning Commission web site or the Hospital Board site. I also encourage you to call me or other Assembly members and ask about issues. Besides the Enterprise Boards there are a number of Assembly Advisory Boards and Commissions that constantly need members. No deadlines, just apply.

Second time sensitive item. Monday at 6:00 pm is an Assembly Committee of the Whole meeting about Solid Waste Management. I am uncertain what will be presented. We received no packet information, nor is anything posted on the website. An executive session is scheduled. I assume that will be about negotiations with Arrow Refuse on the collection permit. If you are interested in the solid waste issue, you may want to show up at 6 to see what is presented publicly.

There have been a lot of comments about the published Assembly “goals” that came out of our retreat. I mentioned this in my last post. The most controversial item appears to be the one to “Study the AJ Mine.” The language may be revised to “Review the Large Mine Ordinance.” Either way, many citizens have voiced concern over the Assembly intent. I have to say I have no idea what the “Assembly intent” is on this goal. We have never talked about it. The goals were arrived at by compiling votes on a secret ballot and picking the top vote getters. As I said last post – just because something is on the list, doesn’t mean anything will be done. Revised wording of goals will be presented to the Assembly at our next meeting November 29th.

The Assembly recently heard a presentation on a proposed Noise Ordinance. The Planning Commission has been reviewing it and it will return to the Assembly for introduction at some point.

A bit of a political play has emerged around the sales tax cap, which I mentioned last post. An ordinance was proposed to lift the cap on jewelry purchases. I objected that this discriminated against one particular product without any stated public purpose. I was in the minority in Finance committee, but at the Assembly the ordinance was defeated. However, the Mayor moved for “Reconsideration” which means we will address the issue again at our 11/29 meeting. In the meantime there have been efforts by one downtown property owner to advocate for the ordinance. That owner says that the profitable jewelry stores drive up the lease rates on all downtown properties. I find this really a stretch and furthermore I don’t see how lifting the sales tax cap will cause property lease rates to fall. It seems much more like ulterior motives – or resentment against competition, or just anti-tourist attitude. I am no big fan of the South Franklin Disneyland – but I will always advocate for equal treatment unless there is some public purpose. And quite frankly, it feels like there are other things going on that are not being made public.

The only ordinance up for public hearing on the 29th is my proposal to amend the sales tax code to make it constitutional regarding benefits provided to spouses of senior citizens. Because of Alaska’s constitutional prohibition on same sex marriage, same sex partners are prohibited from this benefit, as long as it is limited to “spouses.” The Alaska Supreme Court’s decision in Alaska Civil Liberties Union v. State of Alaska and Municipality of Anchorage ruled that such discrimination is unconstitutional. My proposal adds the phrase “and same sex domestic partners and will bring our code into compliance with the law.

Last week the Alaska Municipal League held its 60th Annual Local Government Conference, and Juneau received three awards. The Seawalk won in the category for education and local government. Eaglecrest won an award for sustainability – particularly for running electricity up to the hill, thereby saving more than 38,000 gallons of diesel fuel annually. And the Airport won an award for its use of geothermal conversion heat pumps.

I wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving.

2010-11 Assembly Begins

2010-11-08T09:08:00.000-08:00

This post is a bit longer and more detailed. While complex, I encourage you to wade through this to understand some of the things going on.

Two new members of the Assembly- Karen Crane and Mary Becker are now active, and I feel they will make a positive difference.

Saturday the Assembly had its annual Retreat to establish Goals and set our year’s agenda. With all nine members voting we came up with the top ten objectives noted in the Empire article. Several that I wanted addressed did not make the “top ten” including reviewing the Assembly relationship with Enterprise boards and doing a thorough review of the Assembly’s debt position. But others were – such as addressing childcare, homelessness and supporting commercial fishing. Now having these goals doesn’t necessarily mean anything will be done — but they are a declaration of what Assemblymembers think should be addressed. What actually happens will be an evolving political process.

Monday 11/8 is our Regular Assembly Meeting and several items of interest are up for hearing. Dogs are always a contentious subject. Combined with the Dike Trail it arouses major interest. The new ordinance will modify the Airport rules to confirm that dogs can be off leash at the dike trail as long as they are under “competent voice control.” The language is similar to the regular Borough ordinance. I expect we will hear from a number of folks at our meeting.

A second item is one I previously commented on – to remove the sales tax cap on jewelry purchases. Currently only the first $7,500 of any purchase in Juneau is subject to sales tax. While I understand the intent of this ordinance is to nail out of state jewelry stores, I fail to see the public purpose of it. It would affect local jewelry stores as well, and it discriminates against one kind of product over others—also not something I support without a real public purpose (like increased taxes on alcohol and cigarettes). I opposed this in committee and will at the regular meeting. But I will be in the minority.

Probably the most controversial item in the agenda is a revision of the Senior Citizen’s Hardship Exemption, which is a complex issue. All Senior citizens receive $150,000 reduction of their assessed home values for taxes. On top of that, there is something called the Hardship Exemption that provides additional tax relief to seniors who are in a “Hardship” situation. The problem is that under the current law, hardship is so loosely defined that people with million dollar homes and incomes of hundreds of thousands of dollars can qualify as being under “hardship.” The revision puts an income test on the exemption saying one would have to make less than 400% of the US poverty rate. The Empire article on this was pretty accurate. I made a point in the meeting that – while I support the change – any exemption for one group of people has the effect of shifting the burden to others. There is no free lunch. People under 65 making real poverty wages and in true hardship are subject to full taxation and home foreclosure if they don’t pay. I said I was uncomfortable with that differential treatment.

The new downtown parking garage will open for parking December 1, and for the month of December there will be no charges for parking at either downtown garage. After that rates will be a bit higher at the new garage than the Marine Park garage (75 vs. 50 cents p/hr). Also in January the new on-street parking meters will be set up. They will be the kind where you register your license plate and pay at a machine. The first two hours will be free (rather than one as it is now), and because you register your license plate, you cannot just move to another on-street location to avoid a ticket. Also the legislature will get 60 slots in the garage and NOT get permits to park on the street. We will see how all this shakes out and adjust policy as we learn more about how people react to the new situation.

In another “wonky” Jonathan issue, I expressed concern about our increasing levels of city debt. Outstanding CBJ debt has risen steeply over the past decade due to the new High School, the Pool and numerous school renovations. In 2000 outstanding General Obligation debt was 16 million (or $703 per person). In 2009 it was 142 million ($4,641 per person) and growing, with the approval by voters of the Auke Bay School bond issue. The school district has more bond issues they want on next year's ballot. The debt situation is laid out on pages 222-225 of our Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. While the state pays 70% of the school debt (as long as they keep appropriating it), the debt service burden for the city continues to rise. We are not in any crisis, but it is something we need to keep an eye on.

A potentially very expensive issue that has not hit the media is the fact that our Thane sewage incinerator has gone down, and there is a question whether it is worth repairing. To deal with this we have established a 6 month contract with Waste Management to put the treated sludge into the landfill. This is really not a bad thing other than the “ewwww” factor. It is treated and mostly consists of dead microbes that have eaten the waste. However, it is a new cost and a new waste stream into the landfill. Another problem for us.

Finally, in more happy news, we are looking ahead to the issues of redistricting. With the defeat of the constitutional amendment to increase the size of the legislature, Southeast Alaska will lose representation once the census numbers are in and the Redistricting Board meets. Here is the rub – Juneau will not get two representatives of its own any more, but one or both of the districts will have to expand to include other communities. Juneau’s Senate district will also probably have to cover a wider geographic area. With this change, our representatives will no longer serve just Juneau, but other communities as well, and their priorities will change. We have no idea how the Redistricting Board will carve up Juneau, but it will have an impact.

FYI Thursday 11/11 is Veterans Day and all CBJ offices will be closed.

Equal Protection of the Law and Hardship – The devil is in the details

2010-10-16T11:27:00.000-07:00

Friday 10/15 Mary Becker and Karen Crane, our two new Assembly members were sworn in. They are both smart and conscientious, and I am looking forward to working with them. We baptized them with fire right off, addressing detailed issues that still need to be addressed.

In the comments period we have at the end of each meeting I made a proposal to change our CBJ code to make it constitutional in one sub-section. Under CBJ Code 69.05.045(a) spouses of senior citizens who are not yet 65 can also receive the senior sales tax exemption. Since the code says “spouses,” this benefit is limited to those who are married and since same sex couples are prohibited from marrying by the Alaska Constitution, this falls under the same 2005 Alaska Supreme Court ruling that mandated extending state employee benefits to same sex couples. The City Attorney agreed that the code as currently written was unconstitutional.

The matter was referred to our next Finance committee meeting where we will have to decide whether to add same sex partners to our code language, or eliminate the exemption for everyone (I don’t think that is likely). I have always been a strong supporter for equal rights for everyone, regardless of individual characteristics, and this is just the right thing to do. But if I had not previously gotten the Attorney’s support on the constitutional issue, this would have had more problems moving forward. As it is – I still need to work it through Finance and back to the Assembly.

Then we held a short, previously planned, Finance committee meeting to address the property tax hardship exemption. Currently, all senior citizens get a $150,000 exemption from their property tax assessment, but if any can prove “hardship,” they get additional property tax relief. The problem is in the definition of hardship. Currently the regulations say a hardship exists if a person has property tax liability “in excess of 2% of the taxpayer’s gross household income.” That means that the owner of a $500,000 house can be said to be in a hardship condition if they make less than $250,000. That is obviously not a hardship and not what this exemption was intended for. So the proposal is to adjust the formula to lower the income rate that could qualify for hardship. While all exemptions are great – every time we give one, we increase the tax burden on everyone else. That is the reality of balancing the budget that we have to keep in mind.

This is a perfect example of “the devil is in the details” and our new members had to immediately vote on these issues. The Assembly asked for more financial information and we address this again in an upcoming Committee of the Whole meeting.

Next Thursday at 7 pm there will be a public hearing in the Assembly Chambers to address the creation of a Bridge Park and Seawalk beginning under the downtown bridge
The background can be found HERE Anyone interested in the downtown waterfront should attend. Unfortunately I teach Thursday evenings, but I hope some folks will be able to attend.

Elections 2010

2010-10-06T09:30:00.000-07:00

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.

North Douglas Crossing Plus Odds and Ends

2010-10-03T09:40:00.000-07:00

The vote over Proposition 2, the North Douglas Crossing is clear evidence that a lot of people care about Juneau and are engaged citizens. People pro and con have been willing to spend their time and money to convince their neighbors. We have had similar vigorous debates in previous years over the Diamond Park Swimming Pool, fluoridation, Thunder Mountain High School, smoking laws, The Road/Juneau Access, the downtown parking garage, flightseeing, and tourism in general. Less controversial, but generating lots of debate have been the landfill, managing our solid waste and a variety of other issues.

Some conclude this is bad because it shows Juneau to be polarized. I disagree. The fact that Juneauites again and again come out and vigorously argue public issues is a sign of citizen interest and engagement. Public issues here are not decided behind closed doors (despite the claims of some). The citizens of Juneau truly do carry the day. The combination of the Alaska Open Meetings law, our citizen Boards and Juneau’s commitment to public participation results in so many avenues for citizen involvement that it sometimes can be overwhelming. But I believe it works.

I have been on record supporting a North Douglas Crossing since I ran for Assembly. It has become clear that it will not happen without Juneau footing a good part of the bill. This proposition would have probably been better if it had not named the location of a crossing. I actually proposed taking that identification out, but that proposal drew no traction. The bottom line is that the location and design will ultimately be determined by a very long public and environmental review process. The proposition simply starts that moving. You can read a fuller description of my support in my 10/1 Juneau Empire column.

A few more pieces of miscellany. The Diamond Park Swimming Pool is scheduled to open February 15 of next year.

The Airport parking contract was just switched from Pak’s to Republic – who has held it in the past.

The Thane campground closed October 1. As in previous years, this means a number of our homeless population will be camping (illegally) in a variety of places around the Borough. Glory Hole and St. Vincent’s just cannot fill the demand.

We are moving toward a development of what is being called “Bridge Park.” from the downtown bridge out to Gold Creek. Currently we are working out land ownership issues, but I think this will move forward in the next year and be a great addition to Juneau.

The Downtown Parking Garage and Transit Center is nearing completion. It was one of those controversial projects I referred to earlier. I was one of those who opposed and lost a 5-4 vote on the project September 8, 2008, but after it passed I went into a vigorous effort to energize the 1% for Arts requirement. As a result of my efforts, extra money was spent on various aspects, including a small park at the top of Telephone Hill. The project is getting to the point where we should see the reality of those art projects, which previously I have only seen on paper. I am looking forward to seeing the final outcome.

Finally --- remember to VOTE!

Docks, Jewelry and Proposition 3

2010-09-26T20:37:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday the Assembly Finance Committee addressed a number of issues- two of which are worth noting. First, we approved by an 8-1 vote for Docks and Harbors to replace the downtown cruise ship docks with the option known as 16B. This option creates floating docks about 100 feet offshore to replace the docks on the wharf. They do several things. First they remove the security issues from the Sea Walk. By putting the docks 100 feet offshore, the current docks will no longer be roped off by Homeland Security and will be available for anyone to walk. Secondly, they allow a larger ship to dock at the steamship wharf rather than docking in the channel. Thirdly, and probably most importantly, it essentially pre-empts any effort to build a new dock at Gold Creek. The remodel will be paid for totally by cruise ship passenger fees and will not pose any tax burden to Juneau citizens. I think this is the best choice for us to follow.

Secondly, the Finance Committee approved (with me opposing) a proposal to remove the sales tax cap for jewelry. Juneau has a sales tax cap of $7,500. That means big ticket items are not charged sales tax for the price above $7,500. My colleagues felt this would only tax tourists who buy expensive jewelry from out of town owned stores. While I understand the logic, I have a problem treating any group, person or product differently from others. I believe so strongly in equal treatment that I could not support this. The exemption will be introduced as an ordinance at our next meeting and have a hearing at the meeting after that. If you have a position on this, please contact us all

There are three propositions on the October 5th ballot. I addressed Prop 1 last week- the Auke Bay Elementary School bond. This post I want to address the least controversial proposition, Prop 3 – asking citizens whether they want to call for a Commission to revise the Borough Charter. Next week I will address the most controversial one—Prop 2 on the North Douglas Crossing.

According to our current City Charter, every ten years we must ask citizens whether they want to form a Charter Commission to revise our form of government. We can always amend the Charter one issue at a time – but a Charter Commission would be better able to address a number of issues at once – if that was what we wanted to do. We might want to do this if we feel the Borough government just is not working and we want big changes. We might want to change from a council manager to a strong mayor government or abolish all the Enterprise Boards or elect Assembly members differently or have MORE Assembly members. We could do this one issue at a time, but it would be easier to make many changes at once with a Charter Commission. I don’t think drastic structural changes would make our government better, but I also am not opposed to taking a look at this. It really depends on what you think. If we approved this, we would have another election to select Charter Commissioners. They would propose changes to the Charter and those changes would be put to citizens for approval. So I leave this one up to you. There is an article interviewing me in the Empire Voters Information Guide which is just “ok.” I will also address this at an October 1 “Evening at Egan” on the UAS campus.

Arctic Winter Games and Prop 1

2010-09-17T18:54:00.000-07:00

This afternoon was painful. I voted against Juneau applying for the Arctic Winter Games because of the cost and the uncertainty of where the money will come from. It was a very difficult decision. I don’t even know if it was the right one. Those are the kind of votes that you can lose sleep over.

Well, the election season is heating up. The Juneau Borough election is in 2 ½ weeks (Tuesday October 5th). I will not be commenting on the Assembly and School Board races, but I will give you my take on the three Propositions. Here is a sample of the ballot you will see.

You can actually vote on all of this beginning next Monday (September 20th)

Today I want to explain my position on Proposition 1 “Shall the City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska, issue and sell its general obligation bonds, maturing within 10 years
of their date of issue, in the aggregate principal amount of not to exceed $18,700,000?”

So the question is whether we should borrow 18.7 million to renovate Auke Bay Elementary – and are you, the taxpayer willing to pay for this through your property taxes.

The complicated part of this is that the state of Alaska is pretty much saying they will pay for 70% of that. I say “pretty much” because they have to appropriate the money each year. They have always done it for those they initially approve – so we tend to count on it – but they don’t have to. If we assume the state pays 70% Juneau taxpayers will be responsible for 30% of the costs which is estimated to be $651,000 a year, for ten years. That’s about $50 more of property tax annually for a $300,000 home.

Even more complicated is the fact that we continually borrow money to renovate schools and do other capital projects. Bond issues are like mortgages and every time we need to do a long term infrastructure project we take out a new mortgage. Over time some projects are fully paid for and we take on new ones. On page 3 of this pdf you can see the debt service mill rate over the past 15 years has ranged from a high of 1.43 in 1996 to a low of .91 in 2007 depending on how many projects we were paying for.

It is the Assembly’s job to try and keep that debt service mill levy relatively stable. We don’t want to take on more debt than we pay off. The School District also wants to renovate Marie Drake, but the Assembly was clear that was too much this year. But it will come back in the next year or two.

Now as for this project – Auke Bay Elementary is truly in desperate need of renovation. There are many problems with the building. Given the state commitment to pay 70%, I support a YES vote on Proposition 1. But I also make a commitment to carefully evaluate the projects we take on to ensure our debt service mill levy does not just increase over time.

Make sure to VOTE!!!

Labor Relations

2010-09-06T16:24:00.000-07:00

Happy Labor Day. I hope you are enjoying the day. The Labor sponsored picnic at Sandy Beach was great. Nice that the weather cooperated.

One of the many issues the Assembly deals with is labor unions. I make no apology for being a “Friend of Labor.” Despite occasional problems, I believe unions protect workers and balance the power of management. Currently, some CBJ codes and policies are less than union friendly. The city Personnel Board, which determines union issues for the CBJ has no union representation. City rules and policies allow groups of workers to withdraw from the union but still receive the benefits from union negotiated contracts. This is not the way it works at state and national levels. CBJ rules define things differently. I am currently advocating for rules and policy changes that provide some balance.

Another issue I am pushing is the strengthening of performance measures for the city. CBJ Departments have goals and measures, but in the past they have been mostly a formality. We have not used them as a strategic planning tool to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of city government. I will continue to push for this – but at the moment, whenever I talk about performance measures and performance management, many of my colleagues eyes seem to glaze over as they seem to say “there goes Jonathan again.’

I have also been monitoring managerial reform efforts at Bartlett Hospital. A significant number of employees have expressed strong dissatisfaction with Hospital Management. The clash seems to be around a tension between bottom line productivity measures and patient care and employee engagement. The Hospital Board has taken measures to monitor this situation and make constructive recommendations, but the proof will be the creation of a more positive organizational culture. I will continue to watch and question.

I believe in performance measures. I believe they are good planning tools for any organization. But the indicators must be more than just dollars. They must include indicators of employee, customer and/or citizen satisfaction.

Moving on from labor/personnel issues, on Friday 9/17 the Assembly will have a special meeting to decide whether to apply for the Arctic Winter Games for Juneau for 2014. The Arctic Winter games are a great effort to bring youth from different countries together. They would be a nice boost for Juneau for a short period of time in 2014. They would also cost upwards of 10 million dollars. We hope that the state and Feds would contribute significant dollars, but there is no guarantee. The biggest hurdle is that we need a second sheet of ice—and one that can accommodate at least 1500 spectators. Many people would like that second ice rink, but building it is only one part. It must be staffed and maintained. The current ice rink costs ½ million a year for personnel costs — in addition to utilities and building maintenance costs. I do not at this time see how the positives for a few weeks in 2014 compensate for the risk and expense.

JEDC recently came out with their annual economic indicators I encourage you to look at them. Juneau is “getting by” but there are definite concerns about our economic health. We need to be cautious about our spending at this time and we need to find ways to promote our economic health. I always struggle with the balance between visionary action and constructive caution about how we spend your money. It is a delicate balance.

The next big Assembly decision on the horizon concerns plans to refurbish/replace the downtown cruise ship docks – paid for by cruise ship passenger fees. Like everything else, there are pros and cons. I will get into this in a future post.

2010-08-21T19:44:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-17T19:37:00.000-07:00

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/

2010-07-30T19:49:00.000-07:00

I don’t know if you have tuned into this news, but there is growing scandal in California over municipal salaries. It was started by a revelation that the city of Bell, California – a 40,000 person community of middle to lower class individuals was paying 4 of their 5 city council members $100,000 a year, their City Manager over $800,000 and their police Chief $450,000. Other salaries were also high. You can google Bell California and find a bunch of stories. Click Here for a link to one of them

This has stimulated interest in many communities of what they are paying their representatives and professionals, so I thought I should lay out what you are paying in Juneau. The City Manager’s pay is $176K but we do not pay him PERS benefits. The Deputy City Manager receives $132K and the Police Chief receives $123K. There is a link to the 2010-2011 CBJ Budget in the right menu column of this blog. Every department listed has a final page of “Staffing” and it lists the salaries paid to different positions.

Among elected and appointed officials – Juneau pays its Mayor $30,000 a year and expects them to put in about ½ time. Other Assembly members receive $6,000 a year. School Board Members receive $3,600 and Planning Commissioners receive an $1,800 honorarium. No other Board members, including all Enterprise Board members receive any salary.

2010-07-20T11:23:00.000-07:00

The 7/19 Assembly meeting wasn’t covered in the Empire because their city reporter resigned and has not yet been replaced. There were a few things worth noting. The Downtown Parking Management Plan was passed. Also passed was a revision of the Table of Permissible Uses – which determines what kind of buildings and land uses are allowed in a particular zone. The revision reduced the number of situations that require going to the Planning Commission. We established a Low Income Housing Fund. Eventually we will make grants to facilitate affordable housing projects. We also approved a planning and design contract for Docks and Harbors to remodel the current cruise ship docks (paid for with cruise ship passenger fee dollars).

I had a minor success that was interesting. There was a resolution in the consent agenda to allow the Police Department to apply for federal stimulus dollars “to purchase equipment that will aid police officers with traffic enforcement and counterterrorism efforts.” I read that and went “huh?” So I found out that the “counterterrorism” grant was for a license plate reader to be installed at the ferry terminal. It would collect the license plate numbers of everyone coming and going on the ferry. That disturbed me a bit. I have no problem with the police monitoring the terminal for an investigation – but to collect and store everyone’s movements is one step closer to the surveillance state that we want to avoid. I expressed my concerns to the Manager and the Police Chief and they removed that request and replaced it with a grant request for their domestic violence program. That was a nice substitution.

The situation regarding solid waste has moved a bit. In order to be involved in the process we had planned to buy Arrow Refuse’s permit and contract back to them, but they wanted millions of dollars. Then we discovered that we could apply for our own permit (to collect garbage) and decided to go that route. If we get it we’ll put out an RFP for private contractors. Arrow could bid on that, but so could anyone else. On Monday August 2nd the Committee of the Whole will meet to talk on this more and hear a presentation from Waste Management (the ones who own the landfill) on what they can do. This continues to be a very complex issue. More information at http://www.juneau.org/pubworks/projects/SWMS/index.php

You may have read that Juneau is in the midst of applying to host the Arctic Winter Games for 2014. This is something that would be nice and bring lots of business into Juneau – but……. it also costs a bunch. The feds and state may help, but the Borough ultimately would be responsible and probably would have to commit several million dollars, even with state and federal support. We introduced an ordinance authorizing $50K to prepare the application. That will be up for hearing at our next meeting August 9th. I have some serious reservations about our financial ability to do this.

You may have read about a proposal to put a North Douglas Crossing measure on the ballot this October. I really support this because it finally puts this very specifically before the voters. We have said for years (decades?) that we want it – but have waited for the feds to pay. This proposal says we will pay for it ourselves. I like this process because over the next few months people (including me) will write about it and lay out the issues and then the voters will decide. That’s the way it should be.

On Wednesday August 4 we have a Finance Committee meeting to decide whether the North Douglas Crossing will be on the ballot. We will also decide what school bond issues we will put on the ballot. The school district wants Auke Bay Elementary and Marie Drake. The fall ballot will lay out how much each project would cost and how much it would add to property taxes. Then the voters decide.

August 6-16 is the candidate filing period for this year’s October 5th elections. Three Assembly and two School Board positions are up. Let me know if you are interested in learning more.

2010-06-26T16:32:00.000-07:00

Things are a bit slow at the moment. The budget is done as are the vetos. Juneau did well, even if we did get a few things reduced.

I had an interesting experience with DOT. They have a process of rating transportation projects which they call the STIP or Statewide Transportation Improvement Projects. Many communities complain that DOT ignores them while they respond that they just follow their scoring criteria for projects. Of course there is the rub – what is the scoring criteria. Every few years they ask for public comment on these criteria and here is where communities can try and get them to alter those. That happened recently, and I submitted my comment calling on them to make the process more democratic. I browbeat CBJ to submit a comment. Bottom line was there were a total of 3 comments from the whole state. Sigh. You can view the comments and criteria HERE Yes, it is a bit “wonky” but this is how things actually happen. If you don’t respond to requests for comment, it’s hard to justify complaints – sort of like voting.

Monday night 6/28 is our regular Assembly meeting. I don’t see anything too controversial, although I encourage your review. There is a link to agendas on the right column of this page. One of the things on the agenda is art for Harborview School. We have a law that says 1% of a project’s cost must be allocated to some form of art for the building. We renovated Harborview a year ago and are just getting around to finalizing the art awards. See them HERE (big file)

I have been really interested in the 1% for art process for the downtown transportation center. So many people complained that they didn’t want another concrete box. Now I am really interested in seeing how this process turns out. We always appoint a citizen’s committee to select the art projects and the committee for the transportation center consisted of Paul Voelkers, Barbara Craver, Jane Lindsey, Donald Gregory, Ken Alper and Nancy Waterman. The projects looked great on paper, but I am anxious to see the final results. I also am interested in the final results of the park to be created on the top of the hill. I will follow up.

We finally made a decision about managing the new aquatics center. Through a series of 5-4 votes we decided to make it simply an advisory board. Lots of time and energy spent on something that doesn’t seem that big a deal.

There is continued concern with the organizational culture at Bartlett Hospital. I attended several Board meetings and subcommittee meetings. The Board hired the Foraker Group to assess the situation and they have just given their preliminary results. Now it is up to the Board to decide what they will do.

I will attend Monday evening’s meeting by phone from Hawaii. Isn’t that dedication!!

Happy solstice, summer, Independence Day and all that.

And the election season is just beginning......

2010-06-14T11:57:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone is having a great summer—(even if it isn't officially summer yet.)

A number of miscellaneous items and updates for you to glance through.

First of all, tomorrow (Tuesday 6/15) the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) will hold a hearing on the AEL&P proposed rate increases at 6pm Centennial Hall. AEL&P is proposing a 22% increase. If you have something to say, now is the time.
Tips for participating in rate hearings.

The oil salvage from the Princess Kathleen which sank off Lena Point the year I was born (1952) has been completed – or at least as much as they are going to do. Read about it HERE and read the final report HERE

CBJ is gearing up to try and sell the last 11 lots on Lena peninsula. The formal announcement will come this Wednesday 6/16.

Bartlett Hospital has retained the Foraker Group to help them deal with their employee relations issues. I have been watching this closely and have attended several Hospital Board meetings. I know the Board is taking this seriously, but it remains to be seen what kind of action will be taken. Bartlett has been very successful in a number of ways, but managing any large organization is challenging. It takes a lot of ongoing work. I see many parallels between the problems at Bartlett and the problems at UAS.

Sunday June 20 is the next CBJ Household Hazardous Waste event. Check HERE for more info.

CBJ is selling off surplus “stuff” and Friday June 18 is the deadline for submitting sealed bids. See the items listed HERE.

CBJ has come to an agreement with the owners of the downtown “Pit” to have them fill and landscape it in the next month. The owners (presumably Tom Huntington and Hugh Grant) are still negotiating with Sealaska about a sale. HERE is what the Assessor’s database says. So they presumably pay almost $10,000 in property taxes a year. You would think they would want to sell or build.

In the very near future the Assembly will have to decide what measures to put on the October election ballot. There are several tentative bond issues simmering. The school district has already said they want to put two schools – Auke Bay and Marie Drake up for multi million dollar renovations. I have heard that Docks and Harbors may ask for a bond issue to pay for disposing of mercury laden dredge materials from Douglas Harbor. There may be a proposal to use local dollars for a North Douglas Crossing. There could be a proposal to amend the charter to establish a new empowered board to manage the borough pools. And all that is in addition to the “every ten years” required proposition on whether to totally re-do the city charter. Juneau has normally been very supportive of borrowing money to maintain our schools. They have been less enthusiastic about other bonds (depending on the issue). What we have to remember is that each bond we approve will raise our property tax. That’s OK if we are willing to pay.

2010-05-24T11:29:00.000-07:00

Tonight – Monday 5/24, 5:30 – 7:00 pm at the UAS Egan Library there is a public hearing on the state project to rebuild Brotherhood Bridge and to run a Multi-Use trail from Brotherhood Bridge to UAS.

Monday noon the Assembly Public Works Committee hears the latest draft for downtown parking management.

Tuesday 5/25 at 7:00 pm the Planning Commission will hear a plan for the Coast Guard to install 3 wind turbines at the Juneau CG station. Because the federal government is not required to obey local regulations, this is a courtesy application for an “Advisory” conditional use permit.

Enough announcements.

One of the roles I feel is important for Assembly members is to attend various events, celebrations, dedications or meetings. This is not required and only some Assembly members do this – but it keeps me connected to the community and it lets people around town know they are recognized and appreciated. I thought I would share a few of the various events I have attended so far this month outside of Assembly meetings.

5/6 Youth summit at Centennial Hall,
5/6 DZ Covered Playground dedication
5/6 Public Reception at Centennial Hall for UA/NASA grant student projects
5/7 Native Youth Suicide Task Force Coalition
5/7 Glacier Valley Elementary renaming potlatch
5/7 Chamber of Commerce Board Meeting
5/8 Leadership Juneau Graduation
5/11 Police Officer Memorial Annual Remembrance
5/13 Eaglecrest Board Meeting
5/18 KJNO Radio – City Issues
5/20 Hospital Board/ Hospital Culture Subcommittee
5/21 Thunder Mtn HS Principal candidate interviews
5/22 Zach Gordon Covered Play Area dedication
5/23 Juneau Bar/World Affairs Council Forum for Russian Delegation on Juvenile Justice

I want you to know I really enjoy doing this. This is one of the best parts of being an Assembly member. And I am grateful to you for allowing me to take on this role.

Enjoy Juneau’s current summer!!

Final budget hearing

2010-05-15T14:30:00.000-07:00

Final hearing and approval of the city budget happens at the Wednesday May 19th Assembly meeting. This is the last time citizens will be able to testify on the budget, the property tax mill rate, and capital improvement project plans. [The meeting was moved from Monday to Wednesday to accommodate those who plan to travel to Anchorage for Governor Hickel’s memorial service.]

Our last Finance committee meeting (of this cycle) was Wednesday May 12th. A number of groups and organizations had requested a total of $963,000 dollars from the $589,700 of increased tobacco tax revenue technically “available.” I say technically, because this is after we had previously decided to take a million a year out of our budget reserve to balance the budget. As you might imagine there was considerable discussion. We ended up deciding to spend an additional $112,700, and to put the remaining $477,000 back in the budget reserve.

The additional spending included:
Hospice and Home Care $50,000
NCADD Intervention Services (substance abuse) $19,600
Human Rights Commission $ 5,300
Council on Aging $ 2,800
JEDC Local match for a federal grant $35,000

Some wanted to spend more, others less, but I think this was a reasonably good outcome. It passed 6-2 with Mr. Wanamaker and Mr. Sanford opposing (Mr. Dybdahl was absent).
As I said, Wednesday 5/19 is the final hearing and anybody is welcome to testify on this tentative decision.

That $112,700 is small potatoes when looking at the entire city budget which is just under $300 million. It breaks down to about:
$89 million for Schools
$79 million for the Hospital
$63 million for general government services
$21 million for debt service
$19 million for capital projects
$14 million Water and Sewer and Waste Management
$5 million for the Airport
$4.5 million for Docks and Harbors

The revenue for all this comes from
40% user fees
26% state and federal grants
14% property tax
14% sales tax
6% miscellaneous

The property tax will be just slightly reduced from 10.6 mills to 10.51. That is a little over 1% -- or $1,051 tax for every $100,000 of assessed value.

2010-05-01T13:34:00.000-07:00

Happy May Day! What a beautiful Spring we are having. I went down to the Fisherman’s Memorial to watch the Blessing of the Fleet this morning and that was really nice.

The Assembly Finance Committee continues to receive presentations on the proposed biennial budget. Last night we heard from the Enterprise Boards and reviewed the Capital Improvement Projects. You can view the power point presentations HERE
and the full budget HERE

This budget presentation stuff is mostly ritual. Yes, we technically have the right to change anything we want, but it rarely happens. We ask lots of questions of each presenter, but nothing is normally changed. The Manager has submitted a balanced budget. Each Enterprise Board must submit a balanced budget. They have already been reviewed closely and are difficult to change.

The one place where we always have deliberations is for the extra things that did NOT make it into the Manager’s budget that are requested by various citizen and non profit groups. This year we spent a million from the budget reserve to cover expenses – so I think it will be really hard to fund anything extra. The one area where we do have some projected dollars is in the social service/substance abuse area because of the additional revenue anticipated as a result of higher tobacco taxes. That will be discussed over the next few weeks.

The Juneau School Board has asked the Assembly to put two school Bond Issues on the October ballot—Auke Bay Elementary and Marie Drake. The Assembly has asked our Finance people to show us how these would affect the debt service mill rate over the next ten years. Every bond issue we take on increases property taxes unless other projects drop off.

There are a lot of other things going on right now, many of which I have mentioned previously. I thought I would summarize them with links to more detailed information for those who are interested.

We continue to consider how to deal with solid waste. Here are the detailed minutes of our April 3 meeting where we hashed a lot of this out. Currently we await an update on negotiations with Arrow Refuse to acquire their permits. What Arrow Refuse asks for will be crucial. If they want multiple millions for their permits, then we really have to think about whether we want them – but without them we can’t do anything about the waste stream.

Docks and Harbors is soliciting public comment for a major Statter Harbor (Auke Bay) project. The Assembly will not usually change what a Board decides to do as long as they have a plan to pay for it. What we ARE concerned about is that they get public input and listen to it. That is what we will be watching.

We are moving forward with a downtown parking management plan that will likely include high tech parking meters on the streets. This will allow us to “incentivize” where people park – and the payment through license plate numbers will prevent people from just moving from one spot to another. Please pass on your comments.

Public Comment is also being solicited for use of the area under the downtown bridge being vacated by the Streets Department. I think this should be a park as envisioned in the Long Range Waterfront Plan – but things are always “in play” until there is money appropriated. Please put your two cents in.

This summer we will have a Round 2 of Lena Point land sales. HERE is information on the first round from 2007 The city has really worked hard to increase the amount of land available – hopefully impacting housing prices. In the next few years we also envision making available land on Pederson Hill – to the North just across Brotherhood Bridge and in North/West Douglas as the road extension gets built.

On April 14 the Assembly met with the Hospital Board to discuss some of the labor relations problems they have been having. HERE are the minutes of that meeting where you can get an idea of what was said to us. I think it is extremely important that we have a good organizational climate for our Hospital. I will do whatever I can to promote that.

The United Way has completed their “Compass II indicators” about the state of social services in Juneau. There are some good and less good results. Check it out.

Finally, we are doing our annual solicitation of Board members for Docks and Harbors, the Airport and Eaglecrest. If you are interested, I encourage you to contact me and to attend some of the current board meetings. Eaglecrest applications are due May 26. Airport and Docks and Harbors are due by June 16.

And we’re all waiting to see how much of the state capital budget expenditures for Juneau will pass the Governor’s veto pen.

Addendum

2010-04-20T18:35:00.000-07:00

Representative Munoz just contacted me to say that Senator Stedman's hold on the Mental Health Trust building was not because of any issues with her or the Trust. She told me she believes there may have been some agreement between Senator Stedman and the owners of the current Department of Labor building, but there was absolutely no truth to any story that Senator Stedman had issues with her.

2010-04-20T17:49:00.000-07:00

The legislature has adjourned after throwing a lot of money here and there. Now we wait and see what the governor will veto in an election year. One interesting thing for the city is the maneuvers around the Mental Health Trust office building that was planned for the subport – in front of the Coast Guard building. Senator Stedman had issues with both the Trust and with Representative Munoz and so he held up her legislation in Senate Finance. In the end 5 million was allocated to “study” SOME location for an office building. If that makes it past the Governor’s veto pen, there will be more fun and games as locations are lobbied for. One competing alternative location is said to be in the Valley in the Vintage Park area across from Safeway. More on all this once the veto pen has been wielded.

In my last post I noted the Assembly Committee of the Whole was talking about a possible Enterprise Board to run the new Diamond Park pool as well as Augustus Brown. There are a number of interests at stake here including who will control what events and activities are scheduled for the pools. CBJ Parks and Recreation is implicitly criticized as too bureaucratic to be good managers. This moved out of Committee of the Whole and will go to the full Assembly. Establishing another Enterprise Board would require a Charter amendment that would go before Juneau voters in the Fall ballot.

More politics – this time surrounding Bartlett Hospital. The management team that took over after Bob Valliant died has been criticized by many as being heavy handed, top down and insensitive, especially to nurses. Others have come to the defense of management. We had a meeting with the Hospital Board last week where a lot of this came out. The Hospital is trying to implement a process of employee involvement to deal with some of the criticisms. The Assembly said it wanted to meet with the Board again in six months to hear of progress.

The Assembly sitting as the Finance Committee continues to meet Wednesday nights. Various groups who have been funded in the past come to the Assembly and ask that their funding be continued. The Assembly does not review the budget line by line. The City Manager by law submits a budget that is balanced – and this year that includes all previous groups funded at the same level as last year. The city has made up its deficit by not filling positions, cutting travel and using tobacco tax money, and it is unlikely to question any of the various budgets. It will probably only talk about requests for more money. That is difficult because there are few sources for “extra” money – particularly in the current year. The one place where there is some wiggle room is in the anticipated increased income from the higher tobacco tax. We used some of it to balance the budget (along with reserve funds). But there is a few hundred thousand more that remains unallocated at the moment and the Assembly will have to deal with the many groups that want a piece of that. It will probably be bounded by a self imposed intention to only use that money for substance abuse or other social service expenses. [Of course if everyone stops smoking we won’t have any of the money!!]

The City Streets Department that was located under the downtown bridge will soon move out to the new Consolidated Public Works building at 7 mile. Now we have to decide what to do with the space under the bridge. We have begun a public comment period to get feedback from citizens. Please take the time to review the plans and offer comments. There is competition from multiple interest groups on what to do with the land. Docks and Harbors wants it. There are proposals to commercialize it. Look at the power point presentation. [Unfortunately it is a huge pdf file, but it is worth downloading.] Use the feedback form or contact Skye Stekoll.

Docks and Harbors is continuing its plans and permitting for Statter Harbor renovation. Right now there is a public comment period from April 2 – May 3. If you are interested in this project please review and give your feedback

CBJ began its Junk Car Roundup April 19 and it will go to May 31 or until we reach our maximum. So if you have a car to dump, do it now.

Is that enough for you????

2010-04-12T10:11:00.000-07:00

Lots of stuff going on. Of course the Legislature is on their home stretch, and everyone is running around in a dither and millions are being thrown here and there and NOT thrown there and here. It looks like Juneau will get a significant chunk of change thrown into various projects as well as supporting schools.

The Juneau schools have caused me some concern as an Assembly person. In the past I have not been convinced that their money was managed well. We now have a new Superintendent (Glen Gelbrich) who I am impressed with and who I believe is committed to good financial management. And the current School Board President Mark Choate is similarly committed. I like that. However, their budget comes to us for approval and in a year when the city operating budget is cutting millions, accessing reserves, and not filling positions, I don’t see similar cutbacks by the School District. In FY 10 the school district added 22 positions and in FY11 they propose 11 more. This at a time of declining enrollment. But the schools get funding from a formula—the state gives a bunch and the municipality also gives a formula driven amount. Neither one has declined. And they continue to ask the city for more than their formula amount. We really do want to give our kids the best education possible and I support that. I just want to know that money is being managed efficiently. The Superintendent and Board President told us last Wednesday that they would probably come to us for permission to put one or two school bond issues on the fall ballot. That translates to a higher rate for property taxes. Normally, I would say that if the citizens vote to approve something, then that is the way it should be. But I am not always sure citizens connect the dots between “support for schools” and higher property taxes.

The full proposed budget is now online I encourage you to at least read the City Manager’s Budget Message and Executive Summary in the Overview section. The Assembly will be meeting as the Finance Committee every Wednesday evening for the next six weeks to work through this.

Tonight the Committee of the Whole meets to talk about whether to establish an Empowered Board to manage the swimming pools similarly to Eaglecrest’s management (I mentioned this last post). I still think this is a bad idea. Fragmenting administration is not the path to government efficiency.

Immediately following that meeting we convene the Assembly for a Special Joint Meeting with the Planning Commission to talk about their recommendations to us on Downtown Parking, Wireless Communication facilities, land use regulations and capital improvement projects. If you are interested in the Wireless tower issue, you should read the proposed ordinance.

During this month of many meetings and budget considerations, I will try and post a bit more frequently. At this Wednesday’s Finance meeting (5pm) we will look at the general departmental budgets with special presentations by the Fire Department, the Law Department.

2010-04-03T20:31:00.000-07:00

Today (Saturday 4/3) the Assembly had a five hour meeting on solid waste management. Recall that an ordinance for mandatory universal trash collection had been tabled when many citizens protested. Today we tried to put everything on the table to get a firm idea what is our next step. Recall also that both the Landfill (Waste Management) and trash collection (Arrow Refuse) are currently private operations that the Borough has no control over. There was general agreement that the next action needs to be a negotiation with Arrow Refuse to acquire their Certificate of Convenience and Necessity. That is the state permit to collect garbage. Unless CBJ has that, they can do nothing. A lot will depend on this negotiation and the terms of the agreement. Arrow is a private corporation and their goal is profit. There was no agreement other than proceeding to negotiate to acquire that Certificate.

Next Monday night’s (4/5) Assembly Agenda has a number of items you might want to glance at. First is the introduction of the proposed FY10-11 Budget. [There is a link at the right for Assembly Agendas – click on April 5 – Ordinance 2010-11 is the operating budget]. Second is the proposed school district budget Ordinance 2010-12. Third is the mill rate ordinance 2010-13 which proposes a mill rate essentially the same as last year. [the mill rate is what determines property tax rates] Those three budget ordinances are being introduced and will have future public hearings. Take a look at them. Throughout April the Assembly will be reviewing the proposed budget at Wednesday night Finance Committee meetings.

The Diamond Park pool in the Valley is coming along. An issue before us is how it will be managed. Some want to have a citizen controlled enterprise board, similar to the airport, hospital or Eaglecrest. The argument is that a citizen controlled board will manage more efficiently and effectively than professional staff under the city manager. I think it is a mistake to fragment city government, runs the risk of managing the pool in the interests of one group rather than all citizens and favoring money making practices over access for all citizens. We will discuss this more at our COW meeting April 12.

We recently hired Rich Etheridge as our new Fire Chief after Eric Mohrmann took a job in Kenai

We are moving toward a new election season. [I know—you really didn’t want to hear that]. This year there will be three elections. The state primary election is August 24th. This will be important because citizen initiatives are voted on in the primary rather than the general elections. The general election is November 2nd. The CBJ Municipal election is October 5th. Three Assembly seats will come up. Randy Wanamaker’s District 2 Valley seat is open, as Mr. Wanamaker has served three terms and cannot run again. The other two seats are held by Jeff Bush and Johan Dybdal. Neither have announced whether they will run again. Also every ten years the city asks its citizens whether they want to call a Charter Commission to amend the City Charter – and this will be on the 2010 ballot. Probably the main issue is whether to continue as a Council Manager system or to change to a Executive Mayor system like Anchorage. I strongly favor our current council manager system. There may be other issues on the ballot. The final date for us to decide that is August 23. Make sure you are registered.

You may have seen that the Mental Health Trust is working on a land trade with the US Forest Service. In Juneau, the Trust would trade several parcels of land including a large swath in Douglas uphill from all the condos, in exchange for land on Prince of Wales Island that they could log. Click HERE for more info.

If you haven’t already done it, make sure you fill out your Census form. That will really help us keep our representation.

And finally, if you have stumbled on this blog – you can get notification of any new posts by sending me an email requesting notification. I tend to do a new post every couple of weeks.

2010-03-18T16:38:00.000-07:00

Each year the Assembly approves a Capital Improvement Project (CIP) plan that lists the capital projects we will undertake during the year. This is what we propose to “build” in the next year. One file shows Projects, Costs and Funding Sources. The second file shows Project Descriptions. The funding is either from sales taxes or from grants from the State or Feds or from user fees (Airport, Hospital, Water/Sewer fees). These are fairly easy to read files

Another area we have been moving forward on is to establish a downtown parking management plan that will try to maximize our facilities by adjusting the cost of parking. The proposed Parking Management Plan suggests a return to parking meters for on-street parking. I tend to think this is a good plan, but there will be lots of screams from people who don’t like parking meters.

I mentioned previously about our tabling the mandatory universal trash collection ordinance. On Saturday April 3 the Assembly will have a day long meeting to try to reach consensus on how we want to move forward on this issue that everyone is concerned with. The way it appears now—the choices are - do we move towards an emphasis on collection and recycling or on some kind of incinerator. The session is open to the public, but no testimony will be taken.

Next Tuesday March 23 the Planning Commission takes up the draft Wireless Communication Facility Ordinance which has been debated in several previous meetings. Assuming it is passed in some form, it will then go to the Assembly for public hearing. You can also testify on it in the Planning Commission meeting. This is the ordinance that was generated after citizen efforts to stop building more towers in the Valley.

As the legislative session enters its final month (adjournment scheduled for mid-April) things are starting to heat up. Odds are that little will get done besides the budgets. Currently there is a big focus on the capital budget that will determine what “projects” the state will fund. Juneau has a number of possible projects, including the proposed Mental Health Trust state office building, the new Libraries/Archives/Museum (SLAM), building, revamping the Johnson Youth Center, some road work and several others. We won’t know the final outcome until the bill passes both houses and Governor wields his veto pen. Currently oil is around $81 a barrel, which makes it likely that we will have available dollars.

If you are really a state government junkie, I encourage you to follow the blog “What do I know” by retired UAA Public Administration professor Steve Aufrecht. He moved down here for the session (along with his much better half, Joan) and has been hanging out in the capital taking videos and typing away. I think you’ll enjoy it.

If you have any interest in serving your community through a city Board or Commission, there are a number that have openings. Take a look at the Board Vacancy List and consider.

2010-03-05T11:09:00.000-08:00

The big issue recently has been the proposed Mandatory Refuse Collection ordinance.
About 17% of Juneau residents take care of their own trash rather than having Arrow Refuse pick it up. This ordinance would have required everyone to have commercial pickup and that drew down the wrath of many citizens who responsibly take care of their own and want to keep it that way. In our 2/22 Assembly Meeting and again in the 3/1 COW meeting we discussed the ordinance and have backed off imposing it. My issue was that it was not clearly articulated why we had to do this. Some said to discourage illegal dumping. The testifying citizens responded that we should enforce the laws against illegal dumping rather than passing new laws that punish responsible citizens. Another argument that was not made clearly was that we needed total participation to make curbside recycling work. Yet, we are still far from having such a program. And if we go to an incinerator everything changes. So the Assembly basically said we (the Assembly) need to clearly articulate our direction on the whole issue of solid waste management. We know citizens want this resolved one way or another.

The Planning Commission has been discussing revising the Table of Permissible Uses
This table identifies just what is allowed and not allowed in each zoning district. This is an important issue and worth keeping our eye on. The Planning Commission is also working on a Wireless Communications Ordinance which would regulate towers (among other things)

Docks and Harbors is struggling with what to do in Douglas Harbor. In my 12/21 post I noted that the Harbor floor is rising and unless it is dredged it will slowly become unusable. The problem is that dredging stirs up the bottom and that results in mercury levels mixed into the water that are considered unsafe. The EPA says they oppose the open dump and recommend a more technologically sophisticated (and expensive) containment of the dredged material. One solution is to dig a hole in the channel bottom and put clean fill on top of the dredged material to slow leakage to acceptable levels. Complicated stuff.

I mentioned in my 2/11 post that the proposed use of Juneau cruise ship head tax dollars was out for comment. This is the final list that will be presented to the Assembly

There is a fascinating little effort going on to bring super high speed broadband to Juneau. Google has recently announced a competition for a limited number of communities across the United States to participate. Applications are due by March 26.
Google’s announcement gives us until March 26th. JEDC is coordinating Juneau’s application. We would love to have lots of people weigh in.

Finally, Parks and Rec is having a contest to create a graphic logo for the Diamond Park Pool currently being constructed. Applications due by the end of May.

2010-02-25T18:32:00.000-08:00

Last Monday was a long meeting with a lot of different issues. After much discussion, the Assembly unanimously rejected the effort to rezone the MRV property across from the HS that I talked about last post. Everybody agreed it had the appearance of gamesmanship and favoritism. My point was that the Assembly should not exempt themselves from their own city code unless there is a REALLY good reason. It’s nice when things work like they should.

We also had a hearing on the mandatory garbage collection ordinance, and people came out of everywhere testifying about how they took care of their own garbage and how we should not punish them for being responsibile. I had a hard time getting too upset at $25 a month for one can. But OK. We deferred action and will have a hearing Monday night at 6pm before discussing this at the Committee of the Whole at 7pm. So if you have two cents to put in on garbage, come on down. See http://www.juneau.org/clerk/ASC/COTW/2010/2010-03-01-COW_Index.php for more info.

Several things going on in the capital budget at the state. It looks like there is a 10 million project for the Johnson Youth Center. The new Mental Health Trust/subport building is not there yet, but many are still pushing. There is also interest in funding a new Museum, Library, Archives building—known as SLAM—across from Salvation Army. Finally, the state bought the old Christian Science church building across Main street from the capital and will renovate that for offices. I like to see the legislature invest in capital infrastructure.

Next Wednesday night March 3 at Centennial Hall from 5:30-8:00 there will be a community reception for the finalists for University of Alaska statewide President. Rumor has it that UAS Chancellor John Pugh and Senate Majority leader Gary Stevens are among the finalists. The announcement on that will come out Sunday night and we’ll see how accurate the rumors are.

2010-02-11T18:56:00.000-08:00

Well, we avoided the layoffs by taking 1 million from our reserves and another 1 million from the ANTICIPATED new revenues resulting from the increase in cigarette taxes. This solves the immediate problem – but as the months go on the shortfalls may increase. We are in a wait and see mode. Future sales tax returns will tell us if our revenue forecasts were accurate. At this point, however, the most evident result is that no new money is likely to be approved for anything this year.

At our next Assembly meeting February 22, there will be a public hearing on the proposed ordinance to have mandatory garbage collection. Right now 10-20% of Juneau does not have commercial pickup. Partially as a result of that – we have a dumping problem in our wooded areas. The mandatory policy is also seen as necessary to carry out a comprehensive waste management system for Juneau. I have heard no reason not to support this proposal. http://www.juneau.org/assembly/agendas/2010/2010-01-25/documents/2010-03.pdf

Here is a great example of some of the small complex issues that come to the Assembly. At our next meeting we are supposed to hear an ordinance to rezone a small area between JDHS and Evergreen cemetery from D18 to Light Commercial to accommodate a retail establishment that MRV Architects wants to put in their building (former Akiyama office). The Land Use code says you can’t rezone short of 2 acres, so they added a chunk of the cemetery to the proposed rezone. That brought out a lot of objections, particularly from the native community. The neighbors in the condo to the northeast objected – and to accommodate, Staff recommended prohibiting restaurants—but the Commission rejected that protection. It looks like an attempt to spot zone to accommodate one commercial property owner—but their argument is that this follows the revised Comprehensive Plan (it does) which said this should be General Commercial. Throw in that the proposed retail establishment will be partially owned by the Troxels who run the Breakwater and are in a clash with neighbors because of noise and disturbance problems at their bar. What is before the Assembly is just a proposal to rezone – we are not supposed to judge the Planning Commission decision unless there is a formal appeal. But still…….

Juneau collects 8 dollars per passenger from the cruise lines – 3 for port development and 5 for the general Marine Passenger Fee that must be spent on projects that directly affect cruise ships and their passengers. There is a proposed list of expenditures out for public comment until February 27 The city consults closely with the industry, which is one of the reasons why we have not been sued like the state for how we use the money. To review and comment see http://www.juneau.org/manager/passenger_fees.php

Anyone who uses the harbors—there is a public comment period on raising those rates. Comments should get in before the next Docks and Harbors Board Meeting February 25th http://www.juneau.org/law/regulations/regulations.php

Tuesday February 16 at 5:15 pm the Planning Commission will be talking about a proposed Wireless Communication Facility (towers) policy. http://www.juneau.org/plancomm/documents/STF_TXT09-07_003.pdf

2010-01-27T10:26:00.000-08:00

As I noted last previously, layoffs have been postponed until the Assembly examines the budget and makes recommendations. We will do that this coming Wednesday, February 3 at 5:30pm in the City Chambers. I think some of my colleagues would have rather had the manager lay off people which would have avoided us taking responsibility for hard choices. We will have to either (or a combination of) a) cut the budget somewhere and gore somebody’s ox; b) Take money from our budget reserve or c) layoff city employees. None of those options are attractive but I would rather cut the budget and take money from the reserve than layoff city employees. That should be our last option. Stay tuned.

Board of Equalization
Every year some residents appeal their property assessment. These appeals are heard by a Board of Equalization- which until a few years back was the Assembly. At that time the Assembly delegated property tax appeals to an appointed Board. We have had some difficulty in filling all the seats and I ask you to consider serving the city in this capacity. Click HERE for information about the Board. If you are interested in applying for any CBJ Board click HERE

Planning Commission
The Planning Commission on 1/26 heard an update on the Downtown Parking Management Plan

The Commission postponed….again – discussion of an ordinance on wireless towers

Miscellany
Reminder of the existence of the CBJ Avalanche Advisory page

For the Mendenhall Valley – Here is the pagewhere we note whether there is an air emergency and a wood stove ban.

Layoff update

2010-01-20T12:13:00.000-08:00

We had the discussion on layoffs Monday. I said we needed to consider other budget cutting options before laying people off. After some discussion, I made a formal motion and it was approved -barely- 5-4. I was supported by Bob Doll, Jeff Bush, Ruth Danner and Johan Dybdal. The Mayor, Randy Wanamaker, Merrill Sanford and David Stone voted to go ahead with the layoffs. We'll see what happens next round.

2010-01-18T11:52:00.000-08:00

Well, you know that we have budget issues. We are short 2-3 million for next year’s budget. The Manager had asked the main government employees union to forego their negotiated wage increases for 12 months. Friday 1/15 the membership voted against accepting that contract revision. The Manager has said he will now have to lay off employees. The reality is that we have to find cuts of 2-3 million somewhere. (Foregoing the wage increase would have saved 1.2 million).

There are a number of political pressures that this stimulates. The Manager told the union prior to the request that if they refused, he would have to layoff employees. The Manager raised the ante in the negotiations, but the union called him. He is likely to feel he has to follow through and not look for other places to balance the budget since he made that threat. The Assembly can simply allow the Manager to do what he decides, or it can give instructions. Some- maybe a majority- on the Assembly feel we should leave “management” decisions to the Manager. That is another way to dodge making hard decisions. I believe the Assembly should provide guidance to the manager and I will say so tonight (1/18) at our special meeting.

The 1/18 Special Meeting is with the School Board. The School Board will want to preserve their funding. They may propose to put one or more school projects on the fall ballot as bond issues. The School District has not been subject to the same budget restrictions as all other areas of the city budget. They have not had their funding reduced at all. I have proposed that they share the burden proportionately. However, others on the Assembly do not want us to touch school funding. I have had numerous questions over the years about the school district’s budget management. As an example - last week we heard from city auditors that the school district essentially has a 7 million dollar capital project – dare I use the phrase?—slush fund. Old projects have not been closed and any money they did not spend has been dumped into this fund.

Another budget issue where I was the one person minority was the biannual citizen budget survey that has been carried out regularly for 20 years. http://www.juneau.org/assembly/Budget_Surveys/index.php The Assembly voted 8-1 to cancel the survey for this year. Some said we “couldn’t “afford it.” Others said “we have no choices, so why ask citizens.” This is total nonsense. In a year where we have to make significant decisions on where to cut and where to spend YOUR money– we say we don’t need citizen input. I am extremely disappointed that my colleagues don’t see this as essential.

Short Notes The U.S. Navy proposes to conduct training exercises in Alaskan waters. Some are concerned with the impact on marine mammals. Here is the general link to the Navy’s site http://www.gulfofalaskanavyeis.com/ which includes links for comments—which must be received by January 25th.

The State of Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities has a new amendment to their STIP (Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan) which is their plan for how to spend transportation dollars. Public comments must be submitted by February 1 http://www.dot.state.ak.us/stwdplng/cip_stip/index.shtml

Reminder that Juneau’s Legislative Reception is Wednesday 1/20 from 5-6:30 at Centennial Hall. Everyone is invited. Come welcome Alaska’s legislators and staff to the Capital City. Governor Parnell’s State of the State message will be broadcast on public radio and television Wednesday evening—tentatively 7pm.

Next Regular Assembly meeting is Monday January 25th at 7pm – broadcast on KTOO.

Happy New Year

2010-01-06T13:45:00.000-08:00

I hope this year is an improvement on 2009 (economically). As I have said previously, the Assembly is focused on how to cut the budget. Last Thursday City Manager Rod Swope had a letter published in the Empire on the subject. Next Wednesday the Assembly sitting as the Finance committee will consider possible cuts and guidelines to the Manager.

Last Monday’s Regular Assembly meeting was fairly low key. The one controversy wasn’t even reported in the paper. The rebuild of 12th street is being planned and CBJ staff recommended narrowing the street by a foot or so. This passed Public Works on 12/28 where I voted against it. 12th street is already too narrow and even a foot will have negative consequences. The recommendation came to the Assembly and after a lot of talkr, the motion to follow staff recommendations failed 4-4. Mayor Botelho, Jeff Bush and Johan Dybdahl joined me opposing it while Merrill Sanford, Bob Doll, Ruth Danner and Randy Wanamaker supported narrowing the street (David Stone was absent). This was a situation where even though the Engineers had technical reasons – residents and others really don’t want the street clogged up even more. This will be taken up by the Planning Commission next Tuesday 1/12

January 19 is opening day for the Legislature. Probably the biggest thing shaping what they will do is the price of oil which has pushed above $80 and that pretty much ensures stable state funding to municipalities. If you want to know the nitty gritty details of state revenues it is worthwhile to review their biannual Revenue Sources Book This is the info they pass on to legislators. Juneau depends on the state for almost a quarter of its income.

The Assembly continues to work on the solid waste management issue. That was the subject of our 12/28 Committee of the Whole meeting. Public Works Director Joe Buck presented a memo talking about our next steps. The first thing we need to do is get an agreement with Arrow refuse and move on transferring their permits to CBJ. Then we need to pass a universal collection ordinance. Right now garbage collection is voluntary and it is estimated that about 20% of Juneau is not covered. When we advance that ordinance there will be a big outcry by those who do not want to have commercial collection forced on them, but this is really necessary to make our operations efficient. It will also cut back on illegal dumping.

I’d like to invite everyone to welcome Alaska’s legislators at our 25th Annual Legislative Welcome Reception Wednesday, January 20, from 5:00-6:30pm at Centennial Hall. Please come, eat some appetizers and go out of your way to be welcoming to legislators and their staff.

Budget, Dredging and Development

2009-12-21T20:52:00.000-08:00

For the next few months the Assembly will be pretty obsessed with the budget. Across the country states and municipalities confront declining revenues. Some people want no service reductions and no layoffs and are open to tax increases. Others oppose any tax increases and look at this as an opportunity to “reduce the size of government.” I want to avoid layoffs or service cuts, but I also do not want to increase taxes. That limits the number of choices. Our shortfall is about 4 million a year. If the city employees union (MEBA) agrees to forego their negotiated wage increases in exchange for no layoffs, that will cut the deficit to about 2 ½ million. We will try and find 1-2 million more in cuts and then probably take the rest (1-2 million) from our Budget Reserve. We are fortunate to have that reserve and want to make sure it is available to tap into in subsequent years if revenues continue to be low. The Assembly will hold a Finance Committee meeting January 13 to discuss proposed reductions. Tell the Assembly your proposals of how to resolve the deficit. Email us at Borough_Assembly@ci.juneau.ak.us

Docks and Harbors proposes to dredge Douglas Harbor. Glacial rebound affects the Borough even at Douglas, and if dredging is not done soon, the Harbor will become unusable as it gets shallower. It has been dredged several times in the past – the last time about ten years ago. Levels of mercury in the harbor have risen somewhat. In our July COW meeting Harbors Director John Stone answered my question about that change- “Mr. Stone said the samples in 2002 showed an average of 2.0 micrograms per kilogram of mercury in the soil. The average for the Douglas Harbor just done was 2.3.” http://www.juneau.org/clerk/documents/2009-07-20_COW_Minutes.pdf

The issue is what to do with the dredged materials. Harbors proposes to dump them in the middle of the Channel. This proposal has been submitted to the permitting agencies and currently the Army Corps of Engineers (who regulate placement of dredged materials) has the issue out for public comment until January 8. You can find gobs of info on this at http://www.juneau.org/harbors/DHRP.php. The Corps request for public comments is the last link on that page. We rely on the permitting agencies to let us know when we are within safety limits.

Another issue on the horizon concerns development on Douglas. As I noted last entry, we recently met with Goldbelt to talk about a potential road extension to West Douglas to open up new land. In a related issue, on December 8 the Planning Commission approved rezoning several tracts of land along North Douglas highway from D3 to D10 and D18 –[as planned resulting from the sewer extensions now being completed]. This brings up the whole idea of development in general – and particularly on North and West Douglas. Some Juneauites oppose any new development. They argue it will change the character of Juneau in undesirable ways, and that it is not needed due to flat population growth. Others argue that we must promote development to survive and new land will stimulate the economy, and ultimately lower the cost of housing. We know that housing density must increase if we want to create affordable housing opportunities.

I have continually called for diversification of Juneau’s economy. Dependence on any one industry leaves us vulnerable. Juneau has been dependent on government, and to a lesser degree tourism, for a large percentage of our jobs. I want to promote non-government/tourism jobs. That does not mean I oppose the jobs we have, but rather I want to spread our risk. That is why I continue to support efforts to grow commercial fishing and primary production business (non-retail). I do not oppose retail, but retail is dependent on money that is already in the community. We need to find ways to bring money in from outside the Borough. Government and Tourism do that. Commercial fishing does it. Businesses like Glacier Seafoods, Taku Fisheries, Alaska Brewing and Heritage Coffee do it. We are better off than other Southeast communities, and that is why our population has not declined. But we are still at risk. That may not be a big deal for some who have secure employment or retirement, but it is critical for the rest of Juneau and particularly young people, new to the job market.

Juneau is a beautiful, desirable place to live because of our environment and our quality of life. It is important to preserve and enhance that quality. We must protect what we love; the land, the water, and the arts and social life that nourishes our minds and our souls. But that protection must be balanced with economic development that provides employment to our citizens and the means to support our community life.

This is a difficult and emotional issue. Many people want to preserve the Juneau they have now – or return to a Juneau they remember. But change is inevitable, and we need to shape it to our preferences. That is our challenge. We must work together to promote environmentally responsible development. I am neither an “all development is good” or an “all development is bad” person [which angers people on both sides]. I think our best route is through careful, planned development on North and West Douglas where land is available. I have supported the West Douglas Conceptual Plan which lays out such a process http://www.juneau.lib.ak.us/plancomm/WestDouglasConceptualPlan.php

I have told my environmentalist friends and my pro-business friends that this is an opportunity to demonstrate that they are not just knee jerk, ideologues opposed to the other. It is an opportunity for Juneau to pull together rather than continually polarize. Responsible development is something that can unite us as we cope with life's inevitable changes. I appreciate those of you who share your opinions by email, phone or commenting on this blog. Please keep it up, because it helps me see all sides of issues.

I wish a happy and peaceful holiday season to everyone.

2009-12-05T14:08:00.000-08:00

This past week the Assembly had three meetings. The first was our “Retreat” on 11/30. We accomplished a couple things (about 1/3 of our agenda). The first was addressing whether we wanted to revise our Rules of Procedure which are like by-laws. http://www.juneau.org/clerk/Resolutions/Res2427(b)-Reestablishing_Assembly_Rules_of_Procedure,Repealing_RES2379(b).pdf
One of the issues we spent time on was public participation at committee meetings –particularly the Committee of the Whole. Many people have told me they want to have more input early in policy development and not just at the final Assembly hearing. Our Rule 5 (page 5) states “Reasonable opportunity for the public to be heard shall be allowed at committee meetings other than those designated as work sessions.” COW sessions are always announced as “Work Sessions” so there is normally no public testimony. I tried to change that and was defeated 8-1. In fact there was resistance by some to having public testimony at any committee meeting. It was argued that such testimony slowed down the process and “inhibited” frank discussions. That is total nonsense. Public testimony can be limited and if the public is present, I cannot understand how testimony “inhibits” discussions. But, obviously, my colleagues do not agree.

We also established our yearly goals—a sort of strategic planning process. That’s the alleged intent, but the reality is different. These goals were set some years ago. We add new ones whenever anybody really wants to. But their impact during the year is minimal. They are not really used to plan our work. They are just sort of “out there” for anyone to say “Look at the Assembly goals.” The revised version is not yet posted- but last years is at http://www.juneau.org/assembly/documents/2008-2009-Assembly_Goals-Post_Assembly_Review.pdf. I suppose if I want to criticize, I need to be willing to walk the talk. So in next Monday’s Lands committee- which I chair – I will open a discussion of those goals which are assigned to Lands and how we should address them in our coming year.

The second meeting was one a joint meeting with the Goldbelt Board on opening discussions for an extension to the North Douglas highway out into West Douglas. This is an interesting issue. In our Comprehensive Plan we discuss West Douglas as a potential “New Growth Area.” We also have a West Douglas Conceptual Plan that envisions how such development would responsibly proceed. http://www.juneau.lib.ak.us/plancomm/WestDouglasConceptualPlan.php In fact, it would be the first part of CBJ that would be “planned” as opposed to developed ad hoc. We had an MOA with Goldbelt about 10 years ago on a road extension, but nothing ever happened. The stimulus this time is that there is 3 million that has been sitting in the state budget for several years that can be applied to this project. The issue of contention is road alignment. Where would such a road go? Goldbelt owns the waterfront and city lands are mostly upland. The Resolution on our agenda has some attached maps of the area. http://www.juneau.org/assembly/agendas/2009/2009-12-01/2009-12-01-Special_Assembly_Index.php And as some of you know – Totem Creek Properties has been trying to promote a golf course out there—and has been unsuccessful in attracting developers. Stay tuned on this one. It could be contentious.

Third meeting was Finance. It was widely publicized how the city budget is projected to be 8-9 million in the red over the next two years. The city is asking the employees union to eliminate the annual COLA. If they do not, the city anticipates needing to make layoffs. Savings from this would be around 3 million, so even if this is accepted, there is still another 5+ million that will have to be found – probably through some combination of budget cuts and use of the city’s budget reserve. There will be a push by some to use that budget reserve and not cut anything. That would exhaust the reserve in two years and is unlikely to be accepted by the Assembly. The Mayor is cautioning that we may see hard times ahead even if the economy picks up because of our dependence on state dollars, and because those dollars may dry up with the decline of state oil dollars. As we try to balance the budget, potential budgetary victims will be new program proposals like area wide recycling or expanded mass transit.

And this past week Community Development held public hearings around town on a proposed downtown parking management plan. Very few people showed up, but when policies are put in force somewhere down the road people will complain about not having input. This is always a problem. Early on we advertise long term planning on some subject, but since it is not imminent, it doesn’t have the impact on people – and the media doesn’t talk much about it, so few people hear of it or are motivated to participate. But when the plan is fully developed and then implemented – many people will say they were not consulted. Others have said they don’t attend because they don’t believe they have any impact on the process. This is a dilemma all the time for most every issue out there. All I can say is that I will try to keep people a little more informed about what is going on (that is if they read this). Anyhow – check out the CDD site at http://www.juneau.org/cddftp/ParkingManagement111809.php and email Ben Lyman if you have comments.

New Projects

2009-10-22T17:25:00.000-07:00

A couple of new projects are making headway that you might be interested in. First, the US Forest Service plans to build a 7,500 square foot, 2-3 story laboratory, plus parking lot, warehouse, and shop on Auke Lake on 7.5 acres of Forest land between the University campus and Back Loop Road. Planned construction is 2011-2012. Because it is Federal property and a Federal project, it requires no local permitting. The contact person is Becky Gravenmier at the PNW Research Station in Portland Oregon. http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/

Second, last Tuesday the Planning Commission approved a permit for a new 80 unit Aspen Hotel on Airport Road. http://www.juneau.org/plancomm/documents/STF_USE09-41_000.pdf

Finally, on Monday 10/26 at 6pm the Assembly Committee of the Whole will review recommendations from Docks and Harbors to move forward on cruise ship docks. This is a politically complex issue with multiple motivations by different groups. The driving force behind this is to not have a ship anchored in the channel, but allow it to dock. Right now, the city dock opposite Marine Park cannot accommodate the larger vessels that the industry is changing to (known as panamax). There were three main proposals—one is to stay with the present docks, but build them out 100 ft to allow the longer size (and also free up the seawalk from Coast Guard/TSA security restrictions). The second one was perpendicular to Merchants Wharf and the third a site at Gold Creek that would probably be privately developed. The Merchants Wharf site was rejected by most everyone for a variety of reasons.

The Cruise Industry prefers Gold Creek because it spreads out their passengers and enables them to transport them more easily. There is an interesting coalition of Downtown Business Owners, Downtown residents, and Docks and Harbors opposing Gold Creek - but for different reasons. DBA opposes it because they feel it will divert customers away from downtown. Many downtown residents don't want the cruise ships spreading out (and have voted against Gold Creek in the past). CBJ Docks and Harbors wants the current dock option because it is under their control and would keep them receiving the dock revenue. Fascinating dynamics. You can see maps and other info at http://www.juneau.org/clerk/ASC/COTW/2009/documents/2009-10-26_Harbors_Dock_Proposal_and_Request_for_State_Funding.pdf

2009 Election

2009-10-11T14:03:00.000-07:00

This year’s election is over and the incumbents won (both Assembly and School Board)- plus election of the centrist Ruth Danner to the seat vacated by Sara Chambers.

It is reported that 28% of Juneau voted last week, but maybe not. We show almost 25,000 registered voters, and there are not 25,000 adults in Juneau. We add people who newly register, but there is no mechanism for dropping people who leave. Juneau’s population is around 30,000 and according to the census we have about 22% under 18. That leaves 23,400 18 and over. The Census bureau says that in 2000 about 70% of eligible voters were registered to vote. If that were true for Juneau we would have about 16,380 registered voters actually living here. Maybe it is a higher rate for Juneau than for the U.S. as a whole, so let’s bump it up to 17,000. There were 7,091 ballots cast in Juneau which would make turnout around 42% of registered voters and about 30% of the voting age population. [Still not great] Aren’t you glad you know all this? See the precinct by precinct votes at http://www.juneau.org/clerk/elections/documents/2009-10-06-Friday-Results_CBJ_Election_Unofficial.pdf

I was quite pleased to see Ruth Danner win her election, and I am disappointed to hear that some folks (even on the radio) are claiming improprieties in the vote by “the Democratic machine.” Ruth won 54% of the vote. Look at last year. Bob Doll – an active Democrat running against Wade Bryson, a dedicated pro road Republican, won by 55%. Of course there were other races – but many of them swung on issues of personality. Think of Randy Wanamaker vs. Dixie Hood or Johan Dybdahl against Marshall Kendziorek. And maybe this race swung on personality as well. You be the judge.

Also interesting is the letter to the editor by Karen Lawfer in Sunday’s Empire claiming that money doesn’t make a difference in elections. Hmmmmm. http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/101109/let_503563563.shtml
I guarantee you that a newcomer better be ready to raise and spend some money if they want to overcome the name recognition of an incumbent. The fact is that name recognition is still one of the greatest determinants of voting and incumbents have the advantage there. She poo-pooed flyers, mailers and signs – but they put your name out there. As do radio and newspaper ads. The candidate forums reach a few hundred people – maybe more with the broadcast KTOO forum. But you need 3,500 – 4,000 votes to win. Each of us knows a few hundred people, maybe more. You have to convince at about 3,000 people who never heard of you to vote for you. That’s the job of the campaign. [FYI – Incumbents do lose in Juneau. In 2004 Jeff Bush beat incumbent Jeannie Johnson, 2003 Dan Peterson beat incumbent Dale Anderson, 2002 Merrill Sanford beat incumbent Frankie Pillifant]

Next year, Randy Wanamaker in the valley is termed out - so no incumbent. Start thinking about it and talking to people. Contact me if you’d like to chat.

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As far as Monday night’s (10/12) Assembly meeting – I don’t see anything too controversial. We will (probably) pass the Animal Control Ordinance, returning to past ordinance language on competent voice control. We will probably pass an ordinance relaxing zoning for Single Room Occupancy buildings and accessory apartments—hoping to facilitate affordable housing. And we will probably adopt regulations for Downtown Historic District Design Standards Guidelines. Background on all this is found on the agenda page – (follow the Assembly Agenda and Minutes link at right

2009-09-30T14:32:00.000-07:00

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!)

2009-09-18T14:05:00.000-07:00

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).

2009-08-22T14:38:00.000-07:00

Monday night’s (8/24) Assembly meeting will have two hearings of note—whether to put an increase in the tobacco tax on the October ballot and whether to put the Gastineau School bond issue on the ballot. The school one will pass unanimously. The smoking one will pass, but there may be some disagreement. Mr. Dybdahl is opposed on principle. Mr. Sanford expressed reluctance to impose any kind of new tax, but would support it if the money only went to fund substance abuse programs. We had to decide on what language we will put on the ballot for the voters explaining the issue. The proposed language is:
“It is the intent of the Assembly to continue to spend the proceeds of this tax on health and social service needs related to substance abuse and tobacco use, prevention and cessation. Some of the increased revenue may replace existing sales or property taxes currently used for those purposes.”

Now the problem is that Alaska’s Constitution states we cannot have “dedicated funds.” That means we cannot say the tobacco tax (or any other tax) will DEFINITELY go to this or that project, program or department. So we walk a legal tightrope by saying “It is the intent of the Assembly to spend it this way.” In fact the Assembly is not bound by any “intent” language (or it would violate the state Constitution). But several members are concerned that we say we intend this tax to refund the city for the cost of substance abuse programs and the increased costs of health care attributed to tobacco use. They will support such a logic – but not anything phrased as a general tax increase.

Another issue that has been bubbling up behind the scenes this week is the impact of swine flu on the homeless population. While the flu itself is not a risk to most people – and the recommendation is to just stay in bed for a few days and drink fluids – “staying in bed” is a problem for the homeless. The shelters (Glory Hole and St. Vincent) do not have the facilities and resources to quarantine sick people or to provide medical attention. They generally do not accept those with infectious diseases and they do not allow people to stay in bed all day. Couple this with the fact that the homeless tend to be a high risk population for illness, and you run the risk of having someone, quite literally, die in the streets (so far, some 477 persons have died of Swine Flu in the US). So I made a pitch to the Manager and she has been meeting with our health care providers, the Homeless Coalition and the non-profit community to come up with a proposal of what we should do – how much it will cost and who will pay what.

Finally, the filing period to run for the Assembly ended last Monday. I was surprised that there was only one challenger for the Mayor’s seat. I mentioned previously that there was speculation that a current Assembly member might run – but that did not happen.

2009-08-08T15:21:00.000-07:00

A Welcome Change

On Friday August 7 Governor Parnell invited the Juneau Assembly to meet with him at the Governor’s House. The meeting included of the Governor, his Chief of Staff, Legislative Liaison, Constituent Affairs coordinator and the Commissioner of Fish and Game. It was a fresh, open and extremely gratifying exchange. The governor asked about our concerns and issues and reiterated his support of Juneau as Alaska’s capital city. Yes, the proof is always in the pudding, but a governor reaching out to the Juneau Assembly is certainly a first in my tenure on the Assembly. I was impressed.

Last week members of the Assembly and the legislative delegation toured the new AEL&P Lake Dorothy project which should come on line soon. It was impressive. I think we forget how unique we are in having our electricity almost 100% renewably generated. Not only that, but unlike most dams down south, our lake-sourced hydro power does not interfere with fish migration. We are very fortunate.

Monday 8/10 is our regular Assembly meeting and there will be a public hearing and final vote on the revised animal control code, so if anyone has any comments, that is the time to make them. We’ll be introducing ordinances to put a school bond issue and raise the tobacco tax on the October ballot. The hearing on those will be August 24.

The final FY 2010 budget has been posted and I created a link on the right.

Filing for the October city election began Friday. So far no one has filed against Mayor Botelho although Mark Farmer previously announced that he would. There has been speculation that a current Assembly member (not me!) would run for the Mayoral seat. If a sitting Assembly member wants to run for Mayor, they have to resign from the Assembly. We’ll see what happens.

The filing period goes through Monday the 17th. Stephanie Madsen, who failed in her Republican primary campaign against Cathy Munoz, has filed for the District 2 (Valley) Assembly seat. I expect there will be others. No one has filed for the District 1 seat although incumbent David Stone is expected to run for re-election. Once again, if anyone you know is interested, please let them know I would be happy to talk with them.

2009-07-29T12:49:00.000-07:00

Running for an Assembly Seat

On October 6 we will hold our annual Borough elections. Three Assembly seats are up including those held by Mayor Botelho, David Stone and Sara Chambers. Ms. Chambers (Valley seat) has said she will not run for another term. The filing dates for petitions to run are from August 7-17th. http://www.juneau.org/clerk/elections/2009/2009_Regular_Election_Candidate_Page.php

Many people have thanked me for putting in the time on the Assembly, but I have received much more than I have given. First of all I love policy issues, and I enjoy spending time learning about them. That is no burden. Second, I have grown in my understanding and appreciation of our democratic process that truly gives power to the people. Third, and most importantly, I have made countless new connections and relationships with people and organizations throughout Juneau – far more than I would have on my own. I have been pushed to understand all sides of issues and to appreciate the positions of those who feel different than I do. I know some wish I was more single minded, more sure of the “right” answer to policy issues, but as with most things, the more I learn, the less I feel there is “one best way,” the more I feel it is so important to hear and understand all sides.

As I have interacted with so many people from so many backgrounds, I have also come to love Juneau, far more than I did previously. It is truly a wonderful place, filled with dedicated, public spirited people.

I am saying this because I want to encourage others to consider running for Assembly (or School Board). Yes, it is time consuming, but the rewards are great. [Just not like the New Jersey “rewards.”]

If any of you are interested in finding out more about the Assembly and what it takes to run a campaign, please give me a call and we can talk.

2009-07-13T13:37:00.000-07:00

Well, I am back after a long road trip down south. Enjoyable, but I am also glad to get back.

Today’s (7/13) paper had an article on the Assembly partially forgiving a loan made to the Fishermen’s Memorial – chaired by Bruce Weyhrauch. If you read it you see that I opposed the loan forgiveness. I did not feel the organization had honored the contract in good faith since they had not made any loan payments since 1998 – even though they have 50K in their bank account. I was also concerned that we are anticipating budget shortfalls, and we rejected the whale sculpture funding— so why fund this one? Ah well.

I was also on the short end of an 8-1 vote a couple weeks back to fund a new position with the Juneau Economic Development Council for an Affordable Housing Coordinator. Although I support the general concept, this request was for 100K for what United Way had previously done for about 30K. I was uncomfortable with that switch and the amount of dollars. I am not exactly sure what we will be gaining.

I did support us going forward with hiring a solid waste coordinator. Juneau citizens have made it clear that waste management is a high priority. This passed with Mr. Wanamaker opposing.

On June 23 the Planning Commission approved a variance for the Mental Health Trust to waive the height restrictions for the proposed office building located between Egan and the Coast Guard Building. The full minutes aren’t out yet, but the staff report is at http://www.juneau.org/plancomm/documents/STF_VAR09-16_000.pdf

You may have noted last week that the Assembly accepted putting one of the School District’s three requested projects on the ballot this fall for bond issue funding (Gastineau Elementary). The other two projects (Auke Bay and Marie Drake) were postponed. Every bond issue approval increases our debt service and your property tax. The schools definitely need work, but I believe we need to spread this out over a number of years.

At tonight’s (7/13) Regular Assembly Meeting an ordinance amending the animal control regs will be introduced and then heard at our 8/10 meeting. Juneau loves its dogs, and I found it interesting to wade through the verbiage. New language is in italics. There’s some interesting stuff.
http://www.juneau.org/assembly/agendas/2009/2009-07-13/documents/2009-12.pdf

Hope we continue our wonderful weather.

Jonathan

2009-05-19T16:52:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-05-12T10:16:00.000-07:00

On April 25th several hundred people gathered at Centennial Hall to brainstorm ideas about how to improve our capital city. We generated over 300 suggestions, some frivolous, but most of them serious and worth considering. Then we broke into small groups representing 12 different categories and selected what each group believed were the five most important to address. It was an exciting three hours because citizens across the political spectrum were sharing their ideas with a common goal-- to make Juneau the best capital city we can. A new Capital City Forum web site lists the 300 ideas and the results of the small group sessions. http://www.juneau.org/assembly/ccf/index.php If you have other ideas, please send them through the email link provided. Many people focus on the issues that divide us. What is great about this process is the effort to join together on the things that unite us.

Last week the Finance Committee approved an unchanged property tax rate of 10.6 mills
(tax per thousand dollars of assessed value). Individuals’ actual tax depends on the assessed rate of property on January 1 of each year. The budget should be voted on at our May 18 Regular Assembly Meeting.

The issue of the landfill and solid waste disposal continues to be a concern with many complexities. Over the past year there have been complaints about odor and they have been addressed by Waste Management with pipes and flaming off methane.

Our recycling plan has been put on hold by the fact of low prices for recycled materials. We shipped materials south in March at about a $12,000 loss. We will continue to collect and ship (for the time being) in the hopes that prices will rebound.

The Assembly just received a consultants report on the feasibility of various waste incinerators. http://www.juneau.org/clerk/ASC/COTW/2009/documents/2009-05-06_SCS_Engineers_Opinion_Letter_to_Joe_Buck_re_Plasma-Arc_Gasification_and_Waste-to-.pdf
And here is the recommendation from the Public Works Director stressing that the city needs to secure the trash collection license so we can control the waste stream. http://www.juneau.org/clerk/ASC/COTW/2009/documents/2009-05-06_Joe_Buck_Memo_re_Plasma-Arc_Gasification_and_Waste-to-Energy_Incineration.pdf

There is a Junk vehicle disposal day May 22 http://www.juneau.org/pubworks/JunkCarEvent_000.php
And a Hazardous Waste Disposal day May 31 http://www.juneau.org/pubworks/hazardwaste.php Please take your hazardous material to that drop off site rather than dumping it in the landfill.

Management of our waste is not something quick and easy to resolve, but I feel like we are continuing to address the issue.

Results of the recent McDowell Group Tourism Survey were presented to the Assembly Committee of the Whole on May 11. It emphasizes how much the tourism industry benefits the Juneau economy. http://www.juneau.org/clerk/ASC/COTW/2009/documents/2009-05-11_Tourism_Survey_Juneau_Visitor_Impacts_4_20.pdf

2009-05-04T11:22:00.000-07:00

I think I’ll give the budget debate a rest- other than to note that Wednesday at our Finance Committee meeting the Assembly is to decide on our “pending” requests for financial help.

You may find it interesting to see the groups the CBJ Social Service Advisory Board has funded http://www.juneau.org/clerk/documents/SSAB_FY10_Block_Grant_Awards.pdf
And also what the Youth Activities Board has funded (see page 6 of our 4/15 agenda)
http://www.juneau.org/clerk/documents/2009-04-15_AFC_agenda-web3.pdf

It seems there will be lots of construction work this summer. DOT is putting up a light at Whittier and Egan and will close off cross traffic turns at Willoughby. A good move, I think. I have heard DOT is also planning a traffic roundabout at the Mendenhall Loop and Backloop intersection on the way to the Glacier. I get that confused with planned construction at the DeHarts intersection, but I think they are still trying to figure out the best way to design that one. I think Thane road is to get resurfaced (finally). We have City projects continuing in the Flats (around 12th St) and Radcliffe road out near the Airport. We’ll continue on the Public Works shop at 7 mile, and sewers from Industrial Blvd to Engineers Cutoff (as well as continuing work on N. Douglas. The Valley pool should get started. The Downtown Transit Center should start structural work. I think the DZ covered playground should get built, and there is ongoing remodeling work at the Airport. Eaglecrest’s mid mountain and beginners’ lifts should be completed this summer. It’s hard to keep track of all the projects going on. There are certainly more than the ones I mentioned. Information on city projects can be found on the Engineering site http://www.juneau.org/engineering/

Another issue I have been working at is to find an appropriate recreational spot for off road vehicles. The challenge is to find a place where environmental damage is controlled and where recreational noise will not interfere with others. Last year we thought we had a solution at the old North Douglas/Fish Creek gravel pit. But after very contentious hearings, the Planning Commission turned down the permit. There was another option at Echo Cove on Goldbelt land, but their Board of Directors rejected it. We recently examined land up Lemon Creek at what is called Hidden Valley (past Costco), but the combination of concerns from Secon (who owns land and stores explosives there) and objections from state Corrections (Lemon Creek facility) make that option unworkable. I talked last week with the Forest Service and they have opened a tract of land at 25 mile for use. That seems to be the only place at this point, but discussions continue.

Finally, we are all interested in hearing when the Supreme Court will rule on the Kensington tailings disposal issue. It could be any week now.

Budget Angst

2009-04-23T15:10:00.002-07:00

The budget is taking most of our attention these days. I thought I would talk a bit about some of the issues we are dealing with. The Assembly must pass a balanced budget each year, and shortfalls in property and sales taxes present a fiscal challenge. The lag in revenue collections means the shortfalls will hit us hardest in FY 10 - beginning in another year. At that time our Finance people predict at least a 5 million dollar deficit, and higher in future years. We will have to balance the budget either by cutting services or raising taxes, and in hard economic times, raising taxes really isn’t an option.

Against this backdrop the Assembly is being asked to fund a number of very worthy projects from United Way, the Affordable Housing Commission, the Juneau Economic Development Council, the Juneau Arts and Culture Center, the Juneau School District, Care a Van, funding for rebuilding McPhetres Hall and preserving the Russian Orthodox Church. At some point this year the school district will ask us to put several school bond issues on the ballot for next October to renovate schools. If the Assembly and voters approve the debt service mill levy - which means your property taxes – will increase.

The city does have budget reserve funds. We are much better off than many cities down south. We have something like 4 million in emergency reserves and something like 10 million in the sales tax budget reserve. Those reserves, by the way, impact the city’s bond rating. Drain the reserves and the bond rating goes down and borrowing costs go up. I believe the manager will propose funding part of the deficit through cost cutting and part through the budget reserve. We could do that for several years if things did not get worse.

There are other complexities. Large amounts of our budget go to capital projects: schools, the pool, a new computer system, the parking garage, the new public works shop and many others. You can view this year’s Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) proposals which were presented at our last Public Works Meeting. http://www.juneau.org/clerk/PWFCAGENDA/documents/CIP_Recom.pdf. This file is useful because it includes funding sources – sales taxes, water funds, harbor, port and cruise ship fees and state grants.

When we go to the voters to ask to continue various sales taxes, we tell them that what they are approving is “intended” to fund this or that project, but there is not any legal obligation. In Alaska most dedicated taxes are unconstitutional. We can only say we “intend” to spend the money on project X or Y. Legally, we could take money that we told you we were going to use to fund project X and do something else. We could fund operational shortfalls by canceling building projects that voters thought they “approved.” If we do that – I wonder what the likelihood is that the sales tax will be approved the next time around.

This recital is oversimplified, but you get the idea. The bottom line is less money means jobs and/or services have to be cut. To the extent we hold the line or reduce funding this year, we won’t have to cut as much next year.

As I said, the good news is that the city is in a lot better shape than many. If the economy turns around quickly, all this angst goes away. If it stays down or declines further, our deficits will increase. If oil prices stay low, revenue sharing from the state will decline, increasing our deficits even more.

So just like each of us individually, CBJ needs to live as frugally as possible for the moment and hope things turn around so we won’t have to sell part of the farm next year and all of it the year after that. We’re OK for the moment. We’ve got some money in the bank to help us through a few hard years. Hopefully, that will be enough.

2009-04-13T10:46:00.000-07:00

Juneau continues to await the resolution of our state senate seat. I’m sure we all have opinions there. Mostly I am trying to focus on the city and leave that battle to others—but it certainly can be distracting. As more and more names are discussed, inevitably Assembly members’ names get tossed out. Jeff Bush’s is prominent in that mix. I assume the Mayor’s name is there, too, maybe Bob Doll’s. Somebody might have even said “What about Anderson?” At which point everyone looks at each other and says “Nah.”

More importantly we are awaiting the final budget decisions of the state. Those seem to change daily so it is hard to make firm plans until the final bills are both passed and signed. Wednesday the 15th at 5:30 the Assembly Finance Committee will meet and continue its hearing of funding requests for the coming year. Currently, Johnson Youth Services and the Youth Activities Board will present their requests. When the agenda is posted it will be at http://www.juneau.org/clerk/FC.php

Tuesday the 14th at 7pm the Planning Commission meets and there is a hearing on another proposed WiMax tower—this one downtown on Capital Street. There are some interesting applications in the consent agenda on development in Lemon Creek and at the Rock Dump. It’s worth a glance at http://www.juneau.org/plancomm/Agenda041409.php

2009-03-30T18:26:00.000-07:00

We received the proposed city budget last week. As I mentioned previously, this coming year seems to be OK—but next year (FY 11) we have a projected 5+ million dollar deficit. Of course this depends on the economy. Much of the shortfall is projected to be because of a decline in sales tax revenues. Princess Cruise lines just announced they would be cutting a ship from their Alaska routes this year. Royal Caribbean had previously announced they would cut one of their ships as well. These cuts will affect our economy and our sales tax revenue.

What this means is that the city is unlikely to fund anything new, including added costs for area wide recycling. In fact there has already been pressure by some on the Assembly to use this situation to “cut government.” I will oppose that effort and suggest that if we need to cut the budget more, we should look first toward cutting capital projects. The budget info is worth reviewing—at least the summary page at
http://www.juneau.org/financeftp/FY10RevisedBudget.php

Assembly Member Chambers is sponsoring a Resolution to be heard April 6 which opposes a Congressional proposal to strengthen the Clean Water Act by reinstating rules that were in force prior to 2002 which prohibited dumping mine waste into waters of the US. This legislation is primarily directed at mountaintop mining in West Virginia, but it also impacts the Kensington Mine proposal to dump waste rock in Slate Lake. The legislation can be found at http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-1310

I support the Kensington Mine, but do not support policies which harm the environment. I think this is a key issue. The mine can go forward in an environmentally responsible manner – which will cost more money – or in a manner that disregards environmental damage. We need to stand up for responsible development.

There are a number of new and semi-new land use planning reports – including proposed updates of Title 49 on developments. See them on the CDD site http://www.juneau.org/cddftp/

We just released a new Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory. We have asked the Sustainability Commission to review this and make recommendations. See the report at
http://www.juneau.org/clerk/ASC/COTW/2009/2009-03-23/documents/Juneau_GHG_Inventory_for_2007_FINAL.pdf

I hope many can attend our Capital City Forum April 25 from 9-Noon. Many of us are concerned about capital creep and what we can do to keep the capital in Juneau. Join us to share your views and listen to others. http://juneau.org/clerk/misc/news_items/2009-03-13-Mayor_re_Capital_City_Forum-Revised_Contact_Info.pdf

2009-03-15T13:10:00.000-07:00

The political duel over the appointment of a replacement for Senator Elton goes on. It is a situation which I am happy to stay FAR away from. But I confess to being entertained.

This past week we began our yearly budget process. Tuesday the School Board presented their budget situation. They said they would be taking a hard look-- but they will still be asking for bond issues to be on the October ballot for several schools, particularly Gastineau Elementary, Auke Bay Elementary and Marie Drake. I have mixed feelings. But I guess if we put them on the ballot - citizens can vote on what they are willing to pay for. The School Board meets Tuesday 3/17

Wednesday we had a Finance Committee meeting. The Manager said he could work out funding an increase in rush hour bus runs and we approved that. But there are many other requests for increases, and we just don’t have the money. The budget looks OK for the coming year due to past revenue-- but the year following we are looking at a 6 million deficit unless economic conditions change. So there will be great pressure to limit any new commitments.

At Monday’s Assembly (see agenda link at right) we will put in our WISH LIST to DOT for their Statewide Transportation Initiatives Planning. We’ll approve bid awards for the DZ Covered Play area and for the Airport/Pool Heat Pump contract. Up for hearing, among other things is a new lease for the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council.

Finally- the Assembly is planning an April 25th Public Planning session on bringing the Community together to promote Juneau’s status as Alaska’s Capital. I hope all of you will be able to attend http://juneau.org/clerk/misc/news_items/2009-03-13-Mayor_re_Capital_City_Forum-Revised_Contact_Info.pdf.

2009-03-01T20:00:00.000-08:00

Monday through Wednesday of last week were taken up with the search for a new City Manager (Rod Swope leaves at the end of April). We had advertised nationwide and received 30 some applications (a pretty low number). We selected eleven applicants who seemed to have possibilities and held telephone interviews at the end of January. As a result of those interviews we selected five candidates that we thought sounded good. Two of them eventually withdrew and we invited three to Juneau. Last week we held what is called an Assessment Center. Over three days we had the candidates run a mock staff meeting where they had to discuss how to make a 10% budget cut. The candidates then had to draft a written memo about the cuts (they had two hours) and present it to the Assembly who questioned them about their recommendations. Later the candidates made a public presentation and responded to questions (some of them planted). Finally, each candidate had a 90 minute interview alone with the full Assembly.

This was an intense process for both candidates and the Assembly and is the first time such an exhaustive process has been carried out for a City Manager in Juneau. After the exercises we felt only one of the candidates had the knowledge and abilities to be city manager in Juneau, and, unfortunately, that candidate did not show the interest or motivation we hoped for.

So, disappointingly, we are starting over. Rod Swope is willing to stay on for some period of time, as long as he can take a couple months off at the end of April. During that time, Deputy Manager Kim Kiefer will be in charge. Meanwhile the Assembly will discuss how to proceed.
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There are no Assembly meetings this coming week - March 2-7.

2009-02-14T14:14:00.000-08:00

Last week there were two issues reported in the media that I just want to touch on. First the Assembly decided to continue to accept all recycling items. We will subsidize this for the next year or so and see if commodity prices rise. We will also re-evaluate how much an incinerator might cost in terms of higher garbage rates.

Secondly, the Mental Health Trust announced it was entering an agreement with the state to construct a new building on the land in front of the Coast Guard building (across from KTOO). The Departments of Labor, Fish and Game and Corrections will have offices there. The ground floor may have retail. Their plan is to apply for a height variance to add a fourth floor.

The annual request for grant proposals from the Youth Activities Board is out. Applications are due March 2nd. http://www.juneau.org/parkrec/grants/

I received notice of a review of the National Forest Service Admiralty National Monument and Juneau Ranger District Access and Travel Management (ATM), specifically for evaluating motorized use on US forest lands. There will be a hearing March 4th in Juneau 5-7:30 at the Juneau Ranger District office. Let me know if you are interested and I will send the document to you.

DOT is again asking for feedback on its State Transportation Improvement Plan or STIP. Comments are due by March 13. I have doubts about how much DOT actually uses the comments. They are great on asking for comments, but it always seems they just go ahead and do what they want. Still it is important to keep giving them feedback. I certainly will. http://www.dot.state.ak.us/stwdplng/cip_stip/index.shtml

Three Candidates for City Manager will come to Juneau February 23-25 for an Assessment Center and interviews. The public is especially invited to two gatherings. On Tuesday the 24th in the City Hall Chambers, each candidate will give thirty minute presentations and then be open to Q&A. The presentations will be at 11:30 am at 12:15pm and at 1:00pm. Then Tuesday evening from 5-7 there will be a public reception. PLEASE COME! This hire is extremely important.

Finally, we hired a new Harbormaster - Phil Benner http://www.juneau.org/clerk/misc/news_items/2009-02-03-John_Stone_re_New_Harbormaster.pdf

2009-02-05T10:40:00.000-08:00

I had noted previously about the Planning Commission permitting some communication towers. An appeal to the Assembly has now been filed, so eventually we will “hear” that. FYI- In the Assembly’s quasi-judicial role, I can’t talk about the issues outside of the hearing. However, if you want to learn more- the Planning Commission minutes on that decision are now posted. This decision begins at the bottom of page 15 http://www.juneau.org/plancomm/documents/011309.pdf

I have a My Turn in today’s Empire on the issue of the Kensington Mine. Basically I criticize several of my Assembly colleagues who have turned into Kensington Mine spokespersons and the publicity campaign which asserts Kensington is some kind of public interest organization rather than a private corporation. I’d be interested in hearing from anybody on their reactions.

Monday’s Assembly meeting was not overly eventful (I’m sure some feel differently). You can check out the agenda through the link at the right.

The high profile news out now is the issue of recycling and dropping commodity prices and the fact that the processors are not even accepting paper anymore. If we continue to accept paper and ship it south, we will have to raise the community’s garbage collection rates. On the other hand, we already know that the proposed community wide curbside recycling will also raise rates. The consultant’s report on all this can be found at http://www.juneau.org/pubworks/projects/SWMS/

Applications for CBJ Social Service grants are due February 15. http://www.juneau.org/SSAB/pdfs/FY09-10BlockGrantPacket.pdf

Reminder: comments on the Passenger Fee Proceeds are taken until February 15.
http://www.juneau.org/manager/passenger_fees.php

And the live streaming web cam on the downtown transit center is still running through Sealaska at http://www.sealaska.com/object/webcamtest

2009-01-24T18:33:00.000-08:00

In my last post I noted the Finance committee would be considering a food sales tax exemption. The Assembly was pretty much unanimous that this was a good idea, but concerned about eliminating 5 million in revenue when our revenue is already declining across the board. No one supported my suggestion of a revenue neutral approach of cutting sales tax combined with an equivalent increase in the property tax.

Saturday I attended the dedication of the 1% for Arts projects at Thunder Mountain High School. I was really impressed by it all and encourage everyone to visit sometime to see the totem pole with its amazing base, the river floor mosaic and the other art. You can see a few pictures at the TMHS site http://www.jsd.k12.ak.us/tmhs/index.php

Our search continues for a city manager to replace Rod Swope, who retires May 1. We hope to invite finalists to Juneau next month for on site interviews including presentations to the public.

Each year we collect passenger fees from the cruise lines. Next year we have forecast collecting 4.5 million. The money must be spent on things that contribute to the health and safety (broadly defined) of cruise lines passengers. The Manager has proposed projects for the coming year. Comments will be accepted on his recommendations until February 15 and then they will go to the Assembly. The following web page lists the project proposals, the manager’s recommendations, the law, and the email address for your comments. http://www.juneau.org/manager/passenger_fees.php

Monday 1/26 we have a number of meetings. At noon the Public Works Committee meets http://www.juneau.org/clerk/PWFCAGENDA/AGENDA012609.php
At 5pm Lands Committee meets http://www.juneau.org/clerk/2009_01_26_Lands_Index.htm
Just after Lands we have a short special Assembly meeting with a few items including a discussion of Legislative priorities http://www.juneau.org/assembly/agendas/2009/2009-01-26-Assembly_Index.php
Then we have a Committee of the Whole which will hear results from the Lessons Learned Commission appointed by the Mayor after last year’s power emergency. http://www.juneau.org/clerk/ASC/COTW/2009/2008-01-26-COW_Index.php

The Planning Commission meets at 7pm Tuesday 1/27, and one item should be the continuation of a proposed 180 foot WiFi tower on Montana Creek http://www.juneau.org/plancomm/documents/STF_USE08-27_full_000.pdf

Did you know the Juneau Police Department provides a “Vacation Watch” service for residents when they are out of town for an extended period. Register with them when you head out of town for vacation. http://www.juneau.org/police/VacationWatch.php

2009-01-11T14:10:00.000-08:00

There are a bunch of miscellaneous things going on.
As mentioned in my last post, Tuesday (1/13) there are meetings on landfill odor problem (Centennial Hall) and also Planning Commission consideration of the ATT towers in the Valley.

Monday night (1/12) is our regular Assembly meeting. There are a lot of ordinances being introduced, but not many for hearing. One of interest is an ordinance to cover cost overruns at the Jensen Olson Arboretum. You can see background on all this in the Agenda (click the link at the right).

The Urban Avalanche advisory website is now active. It is updated daily and you can see what the avalanche risk is given the current weather. http://www.juneau.org/avalanche/

The downtown transportation center and parking garage website http://www.juneau.org/engineering/DTC/DTC.php now includes a live video feed from atop the Sealaska building mms://live.upstreamnetworks.com/20080-49247 (requires a media player since it is a video and not just still pictures)

The Wetlands Review Board 2008 Annual Report to the Assembly is available at http://www.juneau.org/clerk/ASC/HRC/2009/documents/2008_WRB_Annual_Report.pdf

I think most of you know City Manager Rod Swope announced he will resign at the end of April. Thirty one applications have been received and the Assembly is currently in a screening process. Finalists will probably be interviewed at the end of February. The process will include a public meeting.

Finally, this Wednesday (1/14) at 5pm the Assembly Finance Committee will meet. A main agenda items will be the proposal to exempt grocery store food from sales tax. This is an issue that has caused me considerable angst. Sales taxes are the most regressive form of taxation, particularly when they include the basics of life-- food, shelter, utilities. But the exemption is predicted to cost about 4.5 million dollars and that money will either have to be replaced every year with other taxation, or have city services cut by that amount. Personally, I would support replacing the grocery sales tax with a one mill increase in property tax. But I think I am probably in a very small minority. Much more likely are proposals to cut city services to compensate and I do not think that is the path Juneau wants to take-- It is a path to decline. Additionally, this proposal comes at a time when the city budgets are already strained because sales and property tax revenues are down due to the economic recession.

It will be an interesting discussion.

2009-01-02T18:59:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all. The bad news is that capital creep continues unabated and the Governor no longer seems embarrassed about it. She is pretty straight forward about where she thinks the government should be. The best thing we can do is to keep being a good host to the legislature where we have some influence.

Several things are upcoming in the next couple weeks. On Tuesday, January 13, from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. in the Hickel Room at Centennial Hall the Alaska Dept. of Environmental Conservation will hold a Public Information Workshop on Juneau landfill odor issues,

Also on Tuesday the 13th beginning at 7pm is the next Planning Commission meeting at City Hall. ATT is applying for a permit to put up a 150 ft "wireless communications facility" at 3921 Loop Road. There is another application for a 180 ft. antenna tower on Montana Creek Road. Be there if you want to testify.

The approved Comprehensive Plan has been finalized and is available for download at http://www.juneau.org/cddftp/documents/2008CompPlan_Adopted_Final_000.pdf

The next Assembly Meeting is Monday the 12th.

2008-12-14T23:13:00.000-08:00

Monday December15 the Assembly Public Works Committee meets at noon in the City Chambers. One of the items is a proposed increase in water/sewer fees. The proposal is to increase rates by $2.59 per month for 2009 and again for 2010. For details see http://www.juneau.org/clerk/PWFCAGENDA/documents/Utility_Rates.pdf There will also be a presentation for a Downtown bus “circulator.”

The Lands Committee meets Monday at 5pm Several important ongoing issues will be addressed: the proposed West Douglas highway extension, how the Southeast Alaska Land (SEAL) Trust deals with environmental mitigation, and updating of the comprehensive Land Management Plan, including city land disposal proposals in a number of areas including land between Auke Lake and Mendenhall river, unsold Lena point lots and land in Switzer and Lemon Creeks. http://www.juneau.org/clerk/2008-12-15_Lands_Index.htm

An Assembly/Docks and Harbors Board joint committee met December 5 to hear the results of a Juneau Harbor Navigation Study on possible new cruise ship dock options. The study discussed how ships move in and out of the Juneau harbor and where an additional dock would be feasible. The study looked at possible expansion of the current city docks, a dock perpendicular to Merchants Warf and a proposal for a perpendicular dock at Gold Creek. The joint committee will report to the Assembly at some time in the future. We are still struggling with the issue of new ships too big for Steamship Warf, and other ships anchoring in the channel and lightering passengers into town. This has been an ongoing controversial issue.

As most of you know, site work, including blasting, for the downtown transportation center/parking garage has begun. Heavy blasting mats cushion the impact and noise from the surrounding area. More information including a construction webcam are at http://www.juneau.org/engineering/DTC/DTC.php

Other ongoing city projects include sewers on North Douglas and north of Industrial Boulevard in the Valley, and initial construction of a consolidated public works facility at 7 mile. The Diamond park pool only received 50% of its Rasmussen grant request for ground source heat pumps. Failure to secure additional grant money will result in increased city funding. Construction is expected next year. The Assembly will hear a request this Friday noon 12/19 for an additional 1 million for upgrading city computer infrastructure. This is an ongoing expensive project known as PRISM whose increasing cost is of great concern to the Assembly.

The Assembly continues to be concerned about spending in general as we head into uncertain economic times. The upcoming Spring budget cycle is likely to be “lively.”

2008-11-29T09:46:00.000-08:00

Last week the Assembly made appointments to the Planning Commission and Hospital Board.

While most Board and Commission appointments are initiated by the 4 members of the Assembly Human Resources Committee, appointments to the Planning Commission and the so-called Enterprise Boards (Airport, Hospital, Docks and Harbors) are undertaken by the entire Assembly "sitting as the Human Resources Committee". The Enterprise Boards supervise city owned entities that have their own budgets and raise all their own money. Board members do a lot of work and have a lot of responsibility. The Planning Commission is responsible for approving land use permits, variances, conditional use permits, and large development permits. It is guided by the Planning Department, land use law (Title 49) , and the Comprehensive Plan. It is a crucial entity, takes a whole lot of time and commitment.....and tends to be the most political appointment process-- very ideological. Planning Commission members are paid an honorarium of $150 a month since 1998 (before that it was $25). Members have often gone on to run for the Assembly (e.g. Merrill Sanford and Johan Dybdahl-- and a year ago Marshal Kendziorek who ran and lost)

The Assembly re-appointed Maria Gladziszewski, and made new appointments of Nicole Grewe, Karen Taug, and Marsha Bennett. They join current members Nancy Waterman, Dennis Watson, Michael Satre, Frank Rue and Dan Miller. Terms are 3 years (unless filling out an unexpired term). Board and Commission members, like Assembly members, are limited to three terms. More on the Planning Commmission HERE.

For the Hopstial Board Kevin Sullivan and Dr. Nathan Piemann were reappointed and and Dr. Alex Malter and Bob Wysocki were new appointments.

Other Stuff
Monday 12/1 the Asssembly Committee of the Whole meets at 5pm to discuss "Graffiti."
Monday and Wednesday there are public hearings to revise the 1997 Juneau Non Motorized Transportation Plan (walking and biking). Hearings are Monday at 6:30pm at Floyd Dryden and Wednesday at 6:30pm at the Douglas Library-- run by Sheinberg and Associates 586-3141.

The Assembly has its next regular meeting December 8th.

Snow storage, Garage art, and dollar demands

2008-11-18T16:10:00.000-08:00

The city has an ongoing problem of what to do with the snow it picks up in the winter. Often in the past we have simply dumped it into the channel – and we still do that in some places. But the fact is that snow from the roadways is often polluted with the chemicals put down to melt ice, and with automotive and other debris. Dumping it into the channel is environmentally harmful and DEC has been pushing us to find alternatives. A couple years ago we dumped Valley snow at the site of Thunder Mountain HS. Last year and this year the feds have given us permission to dump at the bus loading parking lot at the Mendenhall Glacier visitors center. We are currently developing a site between Industrial Boulevard and Engineers Cutoff which will filter out the pollutants and that will hopefully be ready in another year. Downtown we are looking at the Little Rock Dump area. And then there is the issue of where all the private haulers should dump. Such a mundane issue- yet very complex.

Work on the downtown transit center and parking garage is beginning, and many people have been concerned that the structure will be an ugly concrete block. I have been advocating since early planning that we pay particular attention to the aesthetics and that we use the 1% for the arts (required for all public projects) to do more than just put individual pieces of art here and there. A public committee has been appointed to coordinate these efforts and includes: Paul Voelkers, Nancy Waterman, Barbara Craver, Ken Alper, Donald Gregory and Jane Lindsey. I am hopeful that their creativity will inspire positive results.

I continue to be concerned about the long term financial health of the Borough, given story after story about cities across the U.S. falling into big financial crises. I think we need to be very cautious about our spending. I mentioned previously that the Jensen Olson arboretum lost a bunch of money from their endowment because of the market downturn. Now they need to borrow from the city general fund. The Airport is looking to borrow against future revenues. We recently had a request from the Fisherman's memorial group to just forgive their debt. I can see more things like this happening in the future. This is going to require careful planning.

2008-11-09T11:37:00.000-08:00

Upcoming Meetings
Monday the Assembly Public Works committee meets at noon. There will be an update on the progress of the Transit facility/Parking garage and the Public Works Facility at 7 mile. There is also a report regarding a second access to the Lemon Creek commercial area. See the agenda.

The Lands Committee meets at 5pm and will address issues on the Seawalk, particularly the problem of getting past Taku Smokeries where there is lots of back and forth offloading forklift traffic. The committee will also hear about the Lemon Creek access issue and about potential Wood Stove restrictions in the Mendenhall Valley. See the agenda.

The Planning Commission meets Tuesday night at 7pm and will hear a “Downtown Parking Garage and Transit Center Update” See agenda.

This week the Alaska Municipal League holds its annual meeting in Ketchikan and several Assembly members (including me) will attend. The Municipal League represents all local governments in Alaska. It tries to develop a unified front on various issues affecting communities across the state. For more information click here.
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Miscellaneous: City Manager Rod Swope announced he will retire as of April 30. The Hangar owners have purchased a controlling interest in Merchants Warf. And the Mental Health Trust is negotiating to build an office building for the Department of Labor on the Subport land area.
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Future Challenges
In the upcoming year the Assembly will confront at least two major proposals for new spending; Area-wide curbside recycling and an expansion of Capital Transit. Last year the Assembly approved moving forward to establish an area-wide recycling program, but final approval awaits an estimate of costs and how it will be paid. Currently the plan is to pay through increased user fees on garbage pickups. There is also an urgent need to expand our public transportation system. It is overcrowded and limited in its routes. However, this expansion will not be able to be covered solely through bus fares. It will require general fund money and the challenge, again, is how to pay. There is a good chance we can get federal grants to help pay for new busses, but annual ongoing operating costs will have to be paid through local revenue.

Essentially any new spending requires either cutting back on other programs, new taxes, or eliminating current tax exemptions. All three are difficult. All three have vehement opponents.

There will also be discussion in the near future about cutting sales taxes on food and utilities. Everyone likes to cut taxes, but the question is still how to pay. Will citizens accept a higher property tax to pay for sales tax reduction? Do citizens want to cut government services? (Our League of Women Voters Budget Survey says no) Will citizens accept elimination of the senior tax exemption, if food and utility taxes are eliminated. Last time we discussed the senior tax exemption there was huge opposition.

Anyhow, these are the big issues I see confronting the Assembly in the coming year. I am sure there will be others.

Assembly Retreat

2008-11-03T21:47:00.000-08:00

Prior to tonight's regular Assembly Meeting, we had an "Assembly Retreat" - which just means we spent several 3 1/2 hours in the City Hall Conference room reviewing the "state of the Borough." This is done each year after the municipal election when we potentially have new members. There were a number of things I heard that are worth passing on.

In discussing our financial status, the Manager said our investments are very conservative, and consequently CBJ losses from the recent stock market downturn are "negligible." One exception was the independently managed Jensen Olsen arboretum endowment, which had invested less conservatively and lost about 20%. The manager also noted that if oil drops below $60 it will have an impact on our state revenue sharing allotment.

We got an update on a variety of capital projects.
1) The airport is about to engage in a three year terminal remodel and runway expansion project. There should be lots of work going on beginning next year. http://www.juneau.org/airport/projects/index.php
2) Bartlett Hospital recently completed phase 1 of their expansion and will do more remodeling and additions over the next couple years. http://www.bartletthospital.org/getpage.php?name=project
3) The Mendenhall Valley/ Diamond Park pool complex will be bid soon and be built in 2009-2010. http://www.juneau.org/parkrec/DimondParkPool.php and http://www.juneau.org/engineering/Dimond%20Park/Dimond_Pool.php
4) Work on the downtown Transit Center and Parking Garage will begin soon. The NAPA building will be demolished first and then some initial blasting will happen in early December. Site work should be done by next April and construction in 2009-10. http://www.juneau.lib.ak.us/engineering/ParkingGarageTransitCenter/ParkingGarageTransitCenter.php
5) Discussion on Cruise Ship Moorage facilities continue to go on. Currently there is a navigation study looking at the city docks, Merchants Warf, and the Subport areas. Nothing is decided about anything at this point.
6) The Consolidated Public Works Facility being built at 7 mile is about to go out for bid. Phase 1 of construction will probably be completed next year.
7) Sewer work is proceeding in the Industrial Boulevard area an on North Douglas. After those projects are completed, our intention is to continue in the Valley to Engineers Cutoff and up Pederson hill.

Other issue updates:
A) We had some discussion on the plan the Assembly approved in principle for areawide curbside recycling. Currently we are doing a rate study to figure out what kinds of rates will be needed to fund the program. Further progress depends on the results of that report. In other words, it depends on what it costs.
B) The Manager discussed a variety of ways the city is trying to conserve energy including a plan to replace many street lights with LED lighting.
C) There is a continuing problem with woodsmoke pollution in the Mendenhall Valley and EPA has again put us on notice. So restrictions will sometimes be put in force.
http://www.juneau.org/clerk/woodsmoke/woodsmoke.php

Let me remind everyone that there are 4 open seats on both the Planning Commission and the Hospital Board. Those with interest and expertise/background are encouraged to apply by November 17th http://www.juneau.org/clerk/boards/VACANCY_List.pdf

I guess that's it for now. Everyone is waiting to see how the election will shape our future.

2008-10-25T15:20:00.000-07:00

Monday 10/27 the Public Works Committee meets at noon, the Lands Committee meets at 5 and the Assembly meeting as the Human Resources Committee meets at 6. Public Works and Lands meets in the Assembly chambers. The HR committee meets in Conference Room 224. The public is always welcome.

The Public Works Committee will (among other things) consider a CIP to plan for what to do with the land under the bridge when the Streets department moves out to the new building at 7 mile. http://www.juneau.org/clerk/PWFCAGENDA/AGENDA102708.php

Lands Committee will address issues surrounding the "soon to be built" new NEA building on Main street. It will also consider a proposal for an affordable housing project off Vista Drive near Lawson Creek in Douglas. http://www.juneau.org/clerk/ASC/LC/2008/2008-10-27/2008-10-27_Lands_Index.htm

The Human Resources Committee will interview 2 candidates for the Airport Board. Following the interviews the Assembly will have a brief special meeting to appoint new Board members.
http://www.juneau.org/clerk/ASC/HRC/2008/2008-10-27/2008-10-27_HRC_Index.php

There are a number of other Boards and Commissions vacancies. http://www.juneau.org/clerk/boards/VACANCY_List.pdf Please consider!

On Monday November 3 at 3:30 the Assembly will hold its annual "Retreat" in the Conference Room 224. This is a time when we lay out Assembly goals for the coming year. Last year's goals can be viewed at http://www.juneau.org/assembly/Assembly_Goals/2007-2008-Assembly_Goals.pdf If you want to lobby for a long term goal-- now is the time to do it.

On Monday 10/20 the Assembly approved a bid from Southeast Earthmovers for site work on the downtown parking garage. I am told that blasting may start sometime in late November.

New Committees

2008-10-22T08:41:00.000-07:00

My dear friend, hospice client and creator of this website, Donna Anderson, passed away last week. She outlived predictions of death by two years with an unfailing positive outlook and upbeat attitude about life. She was, and will be, a model for me on facing adversity.

At last Monday's Assembly Meeting we elected Jeff Bush as Deputy Mayor. The Mayor has now made committee and liaison assignments. I will Chair Lands Committee and be a member of Public Works. All Assembly members are part of Finance Committee and the Committee of the Whole (COW). In the Assembly structure most issues involving capital improvements go to the Public Works committee before going to the full Assembly, and most issues involving planning, land use and land sales are discussed at Lands committee before going to the full Assembly. I will also be liaison to the Chamber of Commerce, which I requested. I feel city government needs to have a strong partnership with the Chamber as we seek to build responsible diversification of our economy.

Also on Monday we finally passed the new Comprehensive Plan which will be in place for the next 12 years. It is not a plan set in stone, but a vision of Juneau's land use for the future. While it provides guidance, the Assembly has the power to change it at any time. One change I had been advocating was to create 500 foot development buffers on either side of Montana Creek. This is one of our jewels -- a wild, unimpaired salmon stream in the middle of the Valley, open to hiking, biking and fishing. The comprehensive plan process had identified those buffers as desirable, but the Assembly voted to reduce them to 200 feet. I worked with Trout Unlimited and other interested parties to lobby my colleagues and they reversed their vote (7-2 with Mr. Sanford and Mr. Wanamaker opposing) returning the buffers to 300 feet.

The Planning Commission last week approved the building of a new 16 unit apartment complex on La Perouse Avenue in the Mendenhall Airport area.

Next Monday the Assembly will interview and appoint new members to the Airport Board. The Assembly is currently seeking applicants to the Planning Commission and to the Hospital Board. The deadline for applications is November 17. If you apply you will be interviewed by the Assembly and then we will vote. I encourage potential applicants to get familiar with the issues of the two bodies, look at minutes, and attend a couple meetings before we do the interviews. These are really important citizen bodies. I hope you will consider applying.

You're stuck with me for 3 more years

2008-10-10T13:21:00.000-07:00

This morning 1,192 absentee and questioned ballots were counted and it is always fascinating how the results are almost identical to the ballots cast on election day. I won with about 55% of the vote and the additional ballots didn't change that at all. The precinct by precinct totals are posted online. Candidates often comb over them seeing which precincts went which way. People talk about the low turnout - 26.24% - but the number is questionable. The table lists almost 25,000 registered voters and that doesn't make sense. The answer is that people's names are not removed when they move out of the Borough. There is no national mechanism to remove your registration in one state when you register in another. I don't even think they do that within the state. So who knows how many registered voters we have that actually are living here.

Every year after the election the Assembly "reorganizes." What that means is that first of all we elect a deputy mayor. Then we tell the Mayor our preferences for committees and liaison assignments. The Mayor juggles everyone's preferences and presents a suggested arrangement. While anybody could challenge the assignments and ask for a vote, the reality is we know what chaos that would unleash and we tend to accept the Mayor's recommendations. That will happen in the next couple of weeks. We will also set new Assembly goals. I say "new" but they are usually not much different than the previous year. We may add one or two and take off some accomplished goals, but much is the same. These goals shape the agenda of the committees for the following year.

Monday the Public Works commmittee and the Committee of the whole meet. The Public Works Committee agenda includes and update on the Airport renovations and the closing of the streets project downtown in the Casey Shattuck area (north of the Federal Building). The Public Works agenda always includes a list of ongoing contract activity the city is involved with. The Committee of the Whole agenda has not been posted yet, but it is to discuss the issue of watersheds in the Comprehensive plan. Within that discussion we may talk more about Montana Creek.

The Planning Commission meets Tuesday 7pm, but no agenda is posted yet.
The Sustainability Commission meets Wednesday at 5 in the DT Library.

Monday Night Confusion

2008-09-30T17:05:00.000-07:00

Phew- that was a bit complex. The Comprehensive Plan was up for approval last night. Two members (David Stone and Jeff Bush) were absent. And you need 5 votes to pass anything, regardless of how many people are attending.

We spent a good while hearing testimony about why Montana Creek stream buffers should be at 500 feet rather than the Borough norm of 200. This proposal, sponsored by Trout Unlimited had been based on a scientific study and had done the rounds of various city committees and commmissions for almost two years. At the end it was approved by the Planning Commission who sent it to the Assembly. In the Committee of the Whole it was reduced to 200 feet, I proposed to move it back to 500 as a result of sound science and a broad public process. Four members voted in favor (Doll, Dybdahl, Botelho and me) while three opposed (Sanford, Wanamaker and Chambers). But without five votes it did not pass. Later I gave notice of reconsideration, so it could be voted on again once Mr. Bush and Mr. Stone are there.

Mr Sanford made a motion to include support for the Road in the Plan, but then moved to table it because he could not be sure of 5 votes. So the whole Comprehensive Plan is tabled until the next Assembly Meeting October 20. In the meantime I suggested that the Trout Unlimited Study be presented to the Assembly at an intervening Committee of the Whole Meeting October 13, and that was accepted (albeit a bit grudgingly by Mr. Wanamaker).

The other factor is that on October 20 we swear in any new Assembly members elected oin the October 7th elections.

So I hope that clears things up.....:)

Monday update and Tonight's Assembly

2008-09-29T08:26:00.000-07:00

One more forum: Wednesday at 5:30 at DZ is a candidate forum sponsored by the National Education Association (NEA). I'll have to leave early to teach my Wednesday evening class.

I was interviewed by APRN for a segment on Ethics that was broadcast this past weekend. The hour-long program is archived at http://www.akradio.org/archive/index.html. My segment is near the end.

Tonight the Assembly will probably adopt the Transportation Development Plan. We will also have a hearing and possibly adopt the new Comprehensive Plan which will guide Juneau's development for the next 10-12 years. It has been reviewed by many groups and gone over line by line by the Planning Commission for the past year. The Assembly has spent 3 meetings examining it and amending bits and pieces.

The one small piece that I will address tonight is stream buffers on Montana Creek. A couple years ago Trout Unlimited did a detailed scientific analysis of this anadromous stream and recommended 500 foot buffers on either side of it (other streams on CBJ land have 200 foot setbacks. The setback requirement for development on private land is 50 feet from an anadromous stream). Over the past two years the Trout Unlimited proposal was presented to and approved by the Wetlands Review Board, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee and the Planning Commission. It was also reviewed without recommendation by the Affordable Housing Commission, the Assembly Lands Committee and several other groups. In other words, it has gone through the full public process, and then was approved by our Land Use experts- the Planning Commission. However, in the Assembly's final review of the document it was reduced back to 200 feet. I will bring this forward to our public meeting tonight and have invited members of Trout Unlimited, the Planning Commission, Parks and Recreation and others to present the case. I truly hope the Assembly will respect the scientific analysis and public process.

Campaign Obsession

2008-09-25T15:56:00.000-07:00

It is really hard to relax and try to keep perspective during this last frenzy of the Assembly campaign. I keep telling myself to remember that most people don't even know our names, let alone what the issues are. On the other hand, that is why they elect us-- to focus on issues that citizens don't have the time for.

Campaigney type stuff--- Just finished the Chamber of Commerce forum. Next week is a Wednesday 10:20 am Capital Chat debate between me and my opponent Karen Taug. I believe we will be expected to ask questions of one another. Thursday noon at ANB hall is the Tlingit Haida Candidate forum. I got a call yesterday about a JDHS forum for next Monday, but won't be able to attend. My radio spots are running on KINY. Next week I'll run them on KSUP and Taku-105 for a week. I took out some print ads in the Empire for next week and a Capital Weekly ad. This is what your campaign contributions go for. I committed to staying under $5,000 and I am at $4,400 right now. I'll probably take out one or two more Empire ads with endorser names. That will take me to my limit. Is that more than anybody wanted to know?

It's been interesting to listen to the questions we have been asked at the various forums. There is no strong theme this year. I think the one repeat question is affordable housing. We also have had a couple on stimulating the economy, a couple on childcare, and a couple on the problem of vagrancy.

We had a Committee of the Whole meeting Wednesday to finish up our review of the Comprehensive Plan and the final draft is posted at http://www.juneau.org/cddftp/documents/2008DraftCompPlanAssemblyReview09.24.pdf We will have a public hearing on the plan at our Monday 9/29 meeting. If you have ANY final comments we need to hear them ASAP. Or you can come testify Monday night.

Candidate Forum, Voting, Pool

2008-09-23T11:52:00.000-07:00

Somebody was telling me the other day how frustrated they were to not know of various things happening. There is so much going on--it is tough to keep up.

Tonight the Planning Commission has their regular meeting beginning at 7pm and including a hearing on the Aquatic Center to be built at Diamond Park
http://www.juneau.org/plancomm/Agenda092308.php

Wednesday evening (9/24) 7:00 pm is the League of Women Voters candidate forum at City Hall.
http://juneaulwv.org/ You can come down for the face to face-- or you can listen to it on KTOO radio or internet stream http://www.ktoo.org/. I believe KATH TV will be taping for broadcast at a later time. Please attend or listen in.

Last Sunday the Empire printed its Juneau Voters Guide with bios, and Q&A from all the candidates for Assembly and School Board. You can find it all at http://www.juneauempire.com/elections/

Today is the last day to apply for an absentee ballot-- but you can vote right now at City Hall or the Mendenhall Mall. Get it done! Vote now!
http://www.juneau.org/clerk/elections/2008/2008-Absentee_Info.php

Campaign thoughts

2008-09-17T17:12:00.000-07:00

For the Assembly, a campaign is a very short "sprint." We file for candidacy about two months before the election, but things don't get going until about 3-4 weeks before the vote-- meaning about now. I've written lots of letters and emails to people. I have pounded in yard signs across the Borough. I've done a lot on my own in order to keep costs down. Plus I have all the flyers and signs I didn't use last time. That helps. I've had a bunch of people express their willingness to help and I sure appreciate that. Plus, my campaign manager, Joan Cahill, has been wonderful.

Anyhow- we are doing 2-3 candidate forums each week and we get to hear all the other candidates answer the same questions we are answering. There is not a whole lot of disagreement, more like a difference in emphasis. Candidate forums are challenges because you must introduce yourself and answer questions within a very limited time. Yesterday's Rotary Club gathering was especially challenging because all responses were limited to 1 minute. That is tough.

Today I went down to KINY and recorded a bunch of 30 second radio spots. Again, very tough. I wanted to try and address issues rather than just say "Vote for Me!" and that is quite a challenge. I hope I hear some feedback from folks when they hear them.

Feedback - ah yes -- I still have no idea if I am writing this only to myself. No comments have been posted, nor has anyone said anything to me about this Assembly Diary. So who knows.

Today is Constitution Day. That is something I would like to celebrate. I continue to be amazed by the genius of our founders who constructed this document that has lasted 221 years. Most people don't realize what an accomplishment that is. When I took office as an Assembly member I took an oath to uphold the constitutions of Alaska and the United States. I take that oath very seriously. Government by the people, for the people and of the people is something that doesn't happen without continual struggle. I hope you feel it is worth your time and effort to work on this with me.

Airport

2008-09-16T17:34:00.000-07:00

Quick Note!!
This Friday 9/19 from 11:30 am - 1:00 pm the public is invited to review the current design for the remodeling of the Juneau Airport. The designs will be posted in the Aurora conference room at the airport.

Election Update

2008-09-13T17:53:00.001-07:00

It's a little more than three weeks until the municipal election (October 7) . It's very difficult in a general election year for the local election to get much interest. People are much more interested in the national race-- particularly given Governor Palin's nomination. There are also no particular issue drivers this year-- no big school projects, no initiatives. The only proposition is a rather small bond issue to build a DZ covered play area (vote for it-- the state has committed to pay 70%). So there are no special interest groups out there pushing this or that proposition.

In the Assembly races only 2 of the 3 seats are contested (Merrill Sanford is unopposed). And there are the school board elections -- three candidates for two seats. All these are important, but they really aren't generating huge amounts of interest.

We still go through the regular series of candidate forums. Last week there were two: the Retired Public Employees Association and the Juneau Bar Association. Next week is the downtown Rotary Club, the SE Builders Association, and a Nugget Mall Candidate day. The following week is the Downtown Business Association, the League of Women Voters and the Chamber of Commerce. The big one is the League of Women Voters on the 24th because that will be broadcast. Make sure to tune in.

Whale update

2008-09-13T17:41:00.000-07:00

On 9/8 the Assembly reconsidered using sales tax money to fund the whale sculpture. First it considered using marine passenger fees to fund the sculpture, despite the fact that the City Manager and the City Attorney and a Cruise Lines representative said they did not think the fees could be used for that. That vote lost 5-4. Then the Assembly unanimously voted down the original motion to use sales tax for the sculpture.

I voted against using city money for construction of the sculpture both times. The Assembly previously said it would pay for site work and maintenance, but the sponsoring group came back and said their fundraising had not been as successful as expected and they needed money to "jump start" the donations. I did not think that was a good enough reason to change our original commitment (not to mention the legal advice against using marine passenger fees). Most importantly, the feedback I heard from citizens ran 100-1 against funding the sculpture. Citizen preferences should drive Assembly decisions. While I know there were many who did not express their opinions, this response was overwhelming and it came from all sides of the political spectrum.

Regular Assembly Meeting tomorrow- 9/8

2008-09-07T10:40:00.000-07:00

There is an awfully lot going on at the local level. Unfortunately, it is being eclipsed by national politics and elections in general. Things are happening that YOU need to know about. Ordinances for public hearing tomorrow include authorizing the manager to negotiate purchase on land on telephone hill for a parking garage. I have moved from lukewarm support, to semi-opposition. Let me explain why. The land on telephone hill was designated to be a capitol complex. If we purchase the land, I believe we are telling the state we are OK that they will not build the capitol there. Our agreement with them should be that we will build a garage on their land, which will be given to them upon the construction of a capitol building. We should not abolish the loan we gave them that has increased to 6+ million. That is one of our few pieces of leverage and we should not give it up.

Tomorrow night also has an ordinance on Auke Lake motorized vehicle use. And while not on the official agenda, the issue of the whale sculpture will come back for reconsideration. I continue to oppose use of city dollars to construct the sculpture at this time. And I want to know more details about costs for siting and maintenance.

Despite this stuff- probably THE most important issue is the new Comprehensive Plan for Juneau. The draft has been reviewed for more than a year by the Planning Commission and is now before the Assembly. It will guide Juneau building and development for the next 12 years. Citizens should view the plan and provide feedback to the Assembly.
http://www.juneau.org/cddftp/CompPlanUpdate.php

Citizens should also be aware that we are reviewing proposals for upgrading Capital Transit. http://www.juneau.org/capitaltransit/tdp-info.php We need citizen support if we are to increase our bus service. Please write us.

The Whale

2008-08-27T19:26:00.001-07:00

This week the issue has been "the Whale." About a year ago, former mayor Bill Overstreet came to the Assembly to ask for support for a whale sculpture done by Skip Walling, the same guy who did many of the other bronze sculptures around town. They are truly great pieces and everybody loves them. The Assembly expressed a cautious support of the concept and said they would commit to donating a piece of land and maintaining it once it was up. It was assumed that private fundraising would take care of the construction.

Evidently private fundraising has not been as successful as they needed because the group came back and asked for "startup" money of $500,000. I was really uncomfortable with that because it was a switch in what we had said we would do. I was especially uncomfortable with the idea that the money would be taken from the sales tax budget reserve. I asked if we could instead use cruise ship passenger fees. The mayor said I could not amend the current proposed ordinance to change funding sources. Given that decision, I opposed the ordinance. Right now, people are hurting. Prices are high, and tax dollars should not be used for this no matter how "nice" the sculpture is.

The ordinance passed 5-3, but Mr. Wanamaker "gave notice of reconsideration." That is a parliamentary technique where you get a second chance to vote on something. The idea is that additional information may change members' minds. So on September 8 we will first vote on whether to allow reconsideration. That is often granted out of courtesy. Then we will vote on the issue itself. Over the past few days we have had 40-50 emails vehemently opposing the project. The Empire blogs have been scathing about it. And only one or two people have spoken out in favor. So the question is whether any of my colleagues will change their minds. If they do, it will be because of citizen feedback. So if you have an opinion about this, make sure you tell us! Nothing will happen unless you do. Go to
http://www.juneau.org/assembly/webcontact/index.php
and select "entire Assembly" to get your message to all of us.

Public Participation

2008-08-23T12:42:00.000-07:00

I was just talking with someone about an issue they thought was important. While I was happy to hear about it, I encouraged them to personally bring it to the whole Assembly. My colleagues listen to citizens a lot more than they listen to me. At the beginning of every regular Assembly meeting there is a time for what is called "Public Participation on Non-Agenda Items." If you have an opinion or idea that is not related to an issue we are hearing that night-- sign up in the back of the Assembly Chambers and you will have 3-5 minutes to present whatever you want. This has been a route that a number of people have used to get action on something.

While there are a variety of ordinances to be heard at our regular meeting Monday 8/25, there are two that you may be especially interested in. The first is a vote to put a bond issue on the October ballot to build a covered play area at DZ middle school. The second is an appropriation of $500,000 to support a whale sculpture for the waterfront. Click on the agenda and minutes link on the links at the right to get more information.

It's a race!

2008-08-19T10:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, on the last day of election filing, Karen Taug was certified as a candidate running against me in the October 7 election. KINY news says she is a senior accountant with Sealaska.
Through the wonders of google I can see that she is a strong Road advocate. http://www.juneau.org/assembly/agendas/2006/2006-07-29/Public_Comments/2006-07-26-Karen_&_Ole_Taug_re_Juneau_Access_Road.pdf
She formerly worked for Goldbelt and is a strong Kensington Mine advocate. I'm sure I'll hear more.

I welcome the competition and look forward to a chance to talk about the issues that are so important to Juneau. I do hope this will not be a campaign about "the Road." This has been such a divisive issue for Juneau. It is always presented as an either/or issue-- an "us versus them." It has been used to categorize, stereotype and pigeonhole people. It has been a tool to shut down dialog.

What we need to do is work on issues that unite Juneau-- that help us move forward together. Juneau faces great challenges. Southeast Alaska has been declining, with Juneau hanging stable because of state government. But state government, as we know, is "creeping" out of Juneau up to Anchorage. We need to fight that creep, and also work to diversify our economy so that we are less dependent on state government as the only game in town. This is going to require Juneau citizens to pull together. If we are distracted and divided by issues like "The Road" we will be less able to meet this challenge.

Monday 8/11 Regular Meeting

2008-08-13T12:37:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of each Assembly meeting we have a time called "Public Participation on Non-Agenda Items" when anyone can come and speak their piece about anything. Normally, there are three or four who want to speak- but Monday there were none. It really is an effective way to get heard. Assembly members almost always ask city staff to check out the issue and citizen requests often get met.

Most of the items we addressed were just approved by the Assembly. We "appropriated" millions of dollars - but most of it was "other people's money" -- either state or federal grants. We also introduced a some a bond issue for the October ballot on building a covered play area at DZ middle schools. All the elementary schools have covered play areas, but the middle schools have not - primarily because they have larger indoor gyms. But the DZ gym is occupied much of the time by organized Parks and Recreation activities. For whatever reason, this project never made it high enough on the School Board's wish list to get carried out. We confirmed with the state Education department that this project would qualify for the 70% state reimbursement, so the 1.6 million dollar project will cost Juneau around 500 thousand -- if the Assembly approves the ordinance and the voters vote for it. I support the project and encourage you to vote yes on the bond issue.

Last year there was a proposal from former mayor Bill Overstreet to build a large bronze sculpture of a whale jumping out of the water. Everyone thought it looked great, but wondered about the costs. The Assembly committed to paying 1.3 million for site work to place the sculpture somewhere, but not to fund the sculpture itself. Private donations are being solicited for that. Monday we introduced an ordinance to appropriate 500,000 for that project. I was uncomfortable putting out that money when private donations had been so minimal, but the Mayor and Mr. Bush argued this was needed to jump start the project. The appropriation is up for public hearing at the next regular Assembly meeting August 25th. You can view some information in the agenda of the 2/4/08 Lands Committee meeting. Please let me know what you think.

New taxi fares were approved. The taxi companies asked for implementation of a 75 cents a minute charge for waiting. Previously, that was only charged when a customer left the cab, but now it will be charged any time the cab is stopped or slowed way down in traffic.

You may have read in the July 20th Empire about lots of trash being dumped on Mendenhall Peninsula at a place called Blueberry Trail. That starts from the cutoff road from the end of Engineer's Cutoff over to Fritz Cove -- and is actually a trail to the FAA tower on the top of the ridge. At my urging the city has is working with the FAA to clean up the mess and block the entrance so vehicles cannot drive in.

I made a couple other comments. One was about bus overcrowding. With high gas prices our ridership is up and the busses are so crowded that they sometimes just pass stops where people are waiting. The Assembly needs to act on this and increase the our investment in Capitol Transit. We should be discussing this within the next month.

The other comment I made was a capitol creep issue. The Commissioner of Administration recently stated that jobs in Juneau that are not filled within 90 days will be shipped out to Anchorage or Fairbanks. (KTOO report) This has got to stop. It is slowly draining Juneau of its economic life. After my comment I was asked to draft a letter from the Assembly to the Commissioner. I encourage you to send your comments as well to Commissioner Annette Kreitzer.

Re-election

2008-08-08T18:47:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day to file for Assembly seats. I turned in my petitions and was approved at 9 am. I have been overwhelmed with the support people have expressed. Being on the Assembly has been a real growth experience for me.

I did an interview with the Juneau Empire and I told them this experience has really humbled me and brought me to almost-- it sounds cheesy - but a love affair with this city. I have seen so many different sides of life. I have had the opportunity to meet so many different people. Juneau is just filled with committed citizens who want to make the world a better place. It is inspiring, and it is humbling.

I think I can contribute to the effort to make Juneau a great place to live. I think I can contribute to making democracy not just a word, but a way of life-- citizens acting together, as a community.

There are a lot of challenges ahead. Capitol creep is challenging us to make Juneau more than just a government and tourism city. We need to diversity our economy and support a broader array of businesses to give people good jobs so they can afford a good standard of living. It is all linked.

I look forward to continuing to work for this great Borough.

Comprehensive Plan

2008-08-03T23:04:00.000-07:00

The Assembly will receive the final draft of the Comprehensive Plan on August 12. http://www.juneau.org/cddftp/CompPlanUpdate.php
This is really really important for citizens to review and comment on. It will guide city land use for the next decade. Please look it over and send me (and all Assembly members your comments and suggestions.

Your Tax Dollars at Work

2008-08-03T19:51:00.000-07:00

One of the best ways to follow what dollars the city is spending on stuff is the Contract Activity reports submitted to the Public Works Committee http://www.juneau.org/clerk/PWFCAGENDA/documents/Contracts_032.pdf
You can see the construction bids that are outstanding, the RFP's, the professional services contracts, and a whole lot more. Infrastructure is a large proportion of where your tax dollars go and this is a good way to track it. The contract activity is presented at each Public Works committee meeting and you can review it in the agenda at http://www.juneau.org/clerk/PWFC.php

Ethics and Politics

2008-08-02T10:45:00.001-07:00

With the indictment of Ted Stevens, the concept of ethical government in Alaska has taken another hit. The indictments and convictions of state legislators, the still-to-come trial of former Juneau representative Bruce Weyhrauch, and the recent flurry of issues surrounding Alaska's Department of Public Safety Commissioner have all contributed to the unsavory reputation Alaska politics is developing.

But this diary is not about state or federal politics, it is about Juneau politics. The Assembly is insulated from many of the ethical pressures and temptations that are at higher levels of government. First, because the Assembly is legally non-partisan, party politics does not control individual actions. Each member has their position, but we are not pressured to conform to a "party line." I think that is a good thing. Second, in our council/manager form of government the ability to direct money to individual causes (earmarks) is severely limited. Most budgeting is done by city staff, and while the Assembly has the power to change anything - its practical power is much less than state or federal levels. Third, the Alaska Open Meetings Act applies to everything the Assembly does. Unlike the state legislature-- we cannot "caucus" in private. Almost everything the city does is open to the public, and that scrutiny helps enforce ethical behavior. Since our system is not perfect, it needs your scrutiny.

So please keep it up. Attend public meetings. Attend or listen to Assembly meetings. Engage in this community government process. I think it works. But not without you.

Traffic Light Riverside/Stephen Richards

2008-07-24T16:46:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday the Planning Commission had an interesting issue regarding traffic and Thunder Mountain High School. The permit allowing the high school to open says that they have to have a traffic light at Riverside and Stephen Richards. The city asked the planning commission to repeal that condition because 1) they would not be able to do it before school is supposed to open in September and 2) they argued we don't need it anyway, since the school is smaller than originally planned.

Now a light has just been installed at the entrance to the HS on Riverside. And Stephen Richards has been a problem intersection, even before the HS. The city staff argued they could cover the traffic problem with a no- left-turn sign from Stephen Richards to Riverside. But that wouldn't solve the issue of pedestrians (especially children going to Floyd Dryden or Glacier Valley).

Ultimately, the Planning Commission overruled the city and said a light (or a roundabout) would have to be installed, but in the meantime they could have a stop sign or crossing guard.

I agree with the decision. A light (with a button for pedestrians) is a much better solution to that intersection.

Quiet meeting but exciting proposal

2008-07-17T16:41:00.000-07:00

Our Monday 7/14 meeting seemed fairly quiet. You can read the draft minutes HERE. Planning Director Dale Pernula presented a report on building permit activity that was interesting. You can view that HERE. Next Assembly meeting is August 11.

The city just received a letter from the Goldbelt Corporation asking to start negotiations on configuration of a road around the end of North Douglas. I am enthusiastically supportive of moving forward on this. Juneau has a severe shortage of land that can be used. If we are going to flourish as a community we need to develop our resources in an environmentally responsible manner. We have a starting point with the previously approved West Douglas Conceptual plan.

This is a way for Juneau to move forward together. Juneau is not pro or anti development. We are pro responsible development. The West Douglas plan provides Juneau an opportunity to show what we can do if we work together. I promise you I will work hard to move this forward.

Why I will run for a second term

2008-07-12T12:29:00.000-07:00

This is the time of year for elections and my three year term is over in October. I have pretty much decided to run for re-election. The official filing time with the city is between August 8 and 18. A potential candidate needs a petition form from the city clerk and 25 persons to sign on to support them. I just picked up that form yesterday and will be collecting the signatures. You can find out more about the candidate process at http://www.juneau.org/clerk/elections/

There are three Assembly seats up and two School Board. Besides myself, Merrill Sanford and Bob Doll are up for re-election to the Assembly. I think (but not sure) that Margo Waring and Mark Choate are up for the School Board. No one really knows who will actually run for re-election until they file their petitions. And nobody knows who else might file against them.
But I have made my decision and now I must convince the citizens of Juneau that they should support me for another term.

I believe my biggest qualification is my commitment to personal integrity. Being true to myself, to my God and to others is extremely important to me. The second is my willingness to work hard on the issues. My day job is being a professor of public administration at UAS. I study public policy for a living. I put in the time to understand the background and am constantly asking questions. Third, I am not afraid to stand up and speak out against what I see as wrong-- and more importantly to speak FOR what I see as right. I see no need to play politics.

The biggest issue I see for Juneau is to develop an economy that is not so dependent on state government. If Juneau is to survive as a vibrant and growing community, we need to nourish responsible development. And to be successful we need to come together. We need to leave behind the divisiveness that has been so strong in the past and that is so destructive for Juneau. We need to find ways to go forward together, with a unified vision of a great community. I hope to put more effort into that unifying direction and to oppose efforts to divide us into stereotypical groups-- pro this or anti that. Those labels are not helpful. We need to find ways to move forward together, not to fight each other. And to that end I will devote my efforts.

How much time does it take to be on the Assembly

2008-07-06T17:05:00.000-07:00

One of the things I discovered is that Assembly members can devote as much or as little time to city matters as they choose. You can simply show up at regular meetings and vote-- or you can dig into the background, talk to staff, read up on the law etc. etc. The amount of background work you can do is infinite. So there is this balance between doing nothing and devoting your every waking hour, and nobody is measuring you. Nobody is holding you accountable. You can do as much or as little as you choose (and have time for). City staff - as good as they are (and I do believe they are good) -- would just as soon Assembly members didn’t do that much and simply accept whatever staff recommenda. [And that is, indeed, what some members do. ]

And what do citizens know? They don’t know if Assembly members do their homework or dig into things. They just know an election campaign slogan or maybe the endorsement of an organization they trust. Maybe, just maybe, they contact their Assembly member and see how they respond. I hope citizens do that more.

June 24, 2008

2008-06-24T11:10:00.000-07:00

I have been down south in Washington and Oregon doing some family visits and vacation. Last night I "attended" the regular Assembly meeting by phone. That is a bit of an odd experience. While "attending" the meeting I am also on the internet and connected to our Assembly agenda and minutes page so I have all the supporting documents. But not being there in person is so different. Yes, I still vote and my vote still counts, but it is hard to feel really a part of it all.

We took another step forward on the recycling program. We had approved a general concept last year and authorized the manager to go forward with planning. Yesterday's article in the Empire annoyed me a abit with its headline that the Mayor proposes curbside recycling. The Mayor didn't do it-- the whole Assembly approved it last year. Ah well, the main point is that it happens. When we have surveyed the citizens of Juneau in last year's Budget Survey they said (page 15) that recycling and solid waste management was close to their top priority. Despite that, there are Assembly members who do not see it as that important and just focus on what it will cost. Cost is important-- but this is also a priority for Juneau citizens in our general quality of life. We need to move forward.

Budget and tax mill rate

2008-06-05T12:00:00.001-07:00

We passed the budget and tax mill rate on Monday. I want to reflect just a bit on our property tax rate. The Assembly voted to keep it the same as last year. But some Assembly members want to reduce it. Now, everybody wants to pay fewer taxes-- or no taxes at all-- but you can't reduce city revenue without an impact. Cutting taxes means cutting services. It means cutting back on libraries, parks, education, ice skating, swimming, law enforcement and all the other city services. There is a vision of government put forward by some that believes we should have no more than police, fire, roads and sewers. I do not hold that view. I believe Juneau wants to maintain and increase its quality of life. We want to make Juneau a better place to live -- and that means having youth activities, maintained trails, sports programs, and good schools.

Every two years the Assembly, assisted by the League of Women Voters, surveys Juneau residents on their attitudes about city services and spending. We have done these "Budget Surveys" since 1991, and I encourage you to look at them. These surveys give us the best idea of what the broad cross section of Juneau citizens think about our level and quality of government. Mostly people say they like city services at about the level they are now -- but this past year many called for increasing spending on youth activities and recreation! People in Juneau want a good quality of life, and that is what I support. Cutting back on the quality of life by reducing city amenities and services will lead to the decline of our great city and I oppose that.

Regular Assembly Meeting

2008-06-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

Tonight at 7pm is our regular Assembly Meeting. Regular meetings are broadcast on KTOO radio. At 6pm is a meeting of the Human Resources Committee (I'm not on that). One of their main jobs is to appoint citizen volunteers to a wide variety of boards and advisory committee s There are always openings in various committees and it is a good way to get introduced to the city process and issues.

It's always hard to predict how long Assembly meetings will go. It seems like a couple hours is normal, but they can go longer if there are controversial issues, and you never know when they will pop up. There are a couple big, but regular, issues on tonight's agenda. The first is approval of this year's property tax levels-- or the mill levy. A mill is 1% of property value. The proposed rate is 10.37 mills, which is the same as last year. So that is $1,037 of tax for every $100,000 of property value.

Another ordinance is the main budget ordinance for 2008-09. The Assembly has been meeting as a Finance committee for several months going over the budget. At our last meeting we finalized it and recommended it to the Assembly. The proposed budge t is on the city web site- and the final one will be up there after it has passed.

The final big item is passage of the capital projects list-- or CIP. I think it is unchanged from the initial CIP proposal.

First entry

2008-05-30T12:02:00.000-07:00

This is my first entry for myAssembly diary. My intent is to informally share my thoughts about local government process and what has been going on.

There are two big things at the moment-- the electricity crisis and the annual budget process. The electricity crisis seems to be winding down. AEL&P says the lines should be up in another week and our rates back to normal. The City set up a grant program to help lower income people pay their electric bills and that seems t0 be working. The best information on that is found at http://www.juneauunplugged.com It has been great to see how much energy we have conserved. I hope that can continue.

I had encouraged the Chamber of Commerce to come up with a proposal for how the Assembly could help everyone, particularly smaller businesses and they proposed we allocate 2 million from our Budget Reserve (where we currently have 9.8 million) to help pay electric bills across the board. Unfortunately, only Johan Dybdahl and I supported the proposal and it did not pass.

We were also voting on all the requested increases in the budget and we approved a number of items. I was very happy about an increase in funding for the Youth Activities Board. I have been lobbying for that for several years now. The whole budget will be forwarded to the full Assembly for final approval. It can still be changed, but it is not likely to happen.