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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Replacing ME!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Spring. I have seen Skunk Cabbage!!!

Redistricting

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

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

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

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

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

We Need YOU!

Transitions

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thank you for your support and friendship.