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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Mine in Juneau?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bridge Park, Respite Care and Labor Law

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

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.