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

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.

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.

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