​Partic​​ipate

Regular Assembly Meetings

All Assembly meetings are open to the public. Regular Meetings are held in the Assembly Chambers at Loussac Library, typically every other Tuesday evening beginning at 5 p.m. Meetings are also streamed and televised. 

​Meeting agendas and streaming of reg​ular Assembly meetings at the Chambers is available online. Please be advised that some items (laid on the table items or floor amendments), may not be on that evening's agenda, but will be presented via the livestream or Channel 9 during the meetings. 

​The Assembly’s COVID-19 Mitigation Plan is no longer in effect. However, if you have active COVID, cold or flu symptoms, or have had a recent known exposure, we ask that you stay home or wear a mask and distance yourself from others while in attendance at Assembly meetings.

​Provide Testimony at a Regular Meeting​

The Assembly receives public comments during Final Audience Participation, as well as public testimony on all open public hearings items. Final Audience Participation (Agenda Section 16) lasts, as ti​me allows, until adjournment. For auxiliary aids, services, or special modifications to participate in an Assembly meeting, please contact the Municipal Clerk's Office 48 hours before the meeting to request a reasonable accommodation at 907-343-4311 OR wwmasmc@anchorageak.gov.  

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​ ​I​n-Person Test​imony
There is no sign-up list for in-person testimony. Arrive at the Assembly Chambers at Loussac Library (3600 Denali Street) before the item you wish to testify on is brought up. When an item for public testimony or Audience Participation is brought up on the agenda, the Chair will invite the public to speak on a first come basis. Each individual is allocated three minutes to speak. The time limit for a designated representative of a community council or the Native Village of Eklutna ​is five minutes. The chair may, at the chair's discretion, extend the time for remarks beyond three minutes when the speaker is representing a group. (AMC 2.30.055B).​

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​Written Testimony
Comments submitted through this form (versus emails to individual Assembly Members or to the general wwmas@anchorageak.gov​) are incorporated into the formal record via an​ Assembly Informational Memorandum (AIM), so we encourage you to use the written testimony form to have your comments included on the public record.

​​​​​​​​​​​​SUBMIT WRITTEN TES​TIMONY​

​ ​Phone Testimony​
The deadline to sign up to provide testimony over the phone during ​an Assembly meeting is 5 p.m. the day before the meeting. Please do not sign up to provide phone testimony if you plan to attend in person. If you signed up before the deadline, you are on​ our call list. When the Assembly reaches your agenda item, the Clerk will ph​one you at the number you have provided. You will have 3 minutes to provide testimony on each item you wish to speak on. These comments will become part of the meeting record. Note: In the case that a Regular Meeting carries over to multiple days, the original deadline to sign up for phone testimony stands and further submissions will not be accepted.​

SIGN UP FOR PHONE TESTIMONY​​

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​Appearance Requests​​

To request to appear on the agenda under Appearance Requests, submit a signed Appeara​nce Request Form​ 1-2 weeks before the meeting at which you wish to appear. Appearances will be scheduled no later than 14 days after acceptance. Submit to the Municipal Clerk's Office:

• By email to wwmasmc@muni.org
  
• By hand delivery to City Hall, 650 W. 6th Avenue, Suite 250
  
• By mail to PO Box 196650, Anchorage, AK 99519-6650
  
• By fax to 343-4313
  

The Municipal Clerk may reject requests for items that are not under the responsibility or authority of the Municipality. Items that are scheduled for public hearing, involved in current labor negotiations, or related to your involvement with pending litigation will not be accepted (AMC 2.30.040C). Priority will be given to speakers who have not already made an appearance in the past year. Each speaker is limited to three minutes of testimony.

​​Tips for Effective Testimony

To make your in-person testimony more effective, please be consider the following: 

• Sit in the front of the auditorium near the public podium, and when the Chair opens the public hearing on your item on the agenda, approach the podium to speak.  
• Introduce yourself, spell your last name for the record and include the part of town you live in.
• Support your testimony with as many facts as possible and try to provide specific information that Assembly Members can use to inform their decisions.
  
• Assembly members may ask questions after your testimony. Answer the questions to the best of your ability and don't be afraid to say "I don't know."​
• During public hearings, individuals representing Community Councils are allotted five minutes to speak (AMC 2.30.055B​). 

To make your telephonic testimony more effective, please be consider the following: 

• The Anchorage Assembly will call you between 5:00 p.m. and 12:00 midnight from the following number: (907) 343-4066.
• Mute your television or the live stream if you are following along. If not, there is a delay and it will echo and will complicate your testimony. 
• Do not have your phone on speaker. Speaker phones introduce a myriad of extraneous noise into your testimony.
• Make sure there is limited ambient noise from your location and make sure you are in a location that has good cell service, if you are on a cell. 
• If you have a headset, please use it. Headsets will give a more consistent signal and reduce room noise.

To make your written testimony more effective, please be consider the following: 

• Write the topic of your testimony at the top of the testimony form and state your position ​​on it in the first line.
• If you are referring to a specific Assembly Resolution (AR), write the number of the resolution in the subject line or at the top of the email.

For all testimony, please consider the following:

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Worksessions and Committees

​The Assembly also conducts its business through Committee Meetings and Worksessions​. Worksessions are a chance for the full Assembly to take a deep-dive on a specific topic​ with subject matter experts from the municipal administration or community. Committees comprised of Assembly Members ​meet on a variety of topics such as Public Safety, Community and Economic Development, and Budget and Finance. Committees listen to community experts, develop ideas for legislation, and make reccommendations to the Assembly and the Municipal Administration. Work sessions and committee meetings are open to the public.