Mayor Mark Begich remarks
State of City Address – Anchorage Chamber
Noon; 7/18/05; Egan Center

Thanks, Shane Langland. And thank you to the Chamber for your leadership and cooperation over the past two years.

I appreciate this forum, which has become a tradition of sorts for mayors to provide an update on our city’s progress.

Last year, I delivered a pretty optimistic appraisal of the state of our city. I guess that could have been dismissed as the naïve assessment of a first-year mayor still a little surprised to be in office.

This year, I’m even more upbeat.  This city is truly poised for greatness.

But don’t just take my word for it. It seems almost weekly another national publication names us one of America’s top cities to do business, raise a family and retire.

“Best place in America for a thriving economy.”

“World’s second most vital point for international air travel.” 

 America’s Number 3 retirement destination.

Even one of the nation’s “happiest cities,” says Men’s magazine.

 I believe Anchorage is getting all this good national press because we’re truly a city on the move.

 17th consecutive year of economic growth.

2,100 new jobs projected this year alone.

For the first time in five years, an upgrade in our credit rating outlook.

Today I want to discuss where the city’s been over the past two years, the direction we’ve tried to take it, and where we’re headed.

You might have noticed the State of the City insert in the newspaper when it fell into your breakfast this morning. There are also copies on your tables. This provides useful information about developments over the past year.

As I reflect on my first couple of years in office, I’m always amazed at how this community steps forward to work together to address Anchorage’s challenges and make our city such a great place to live.

We’ve tried to focus on two fronts. First, doing the basic business of the city smarter and more cost-effectively. And second, partnering with the private sector to launch new initiatives and jump-start projects that have long been stalled.

By engaging the public and capitalizing on the new sense of hope and optimism in our community, Anchorage is a city on the move.

The results of April’s election tell it all. Voters approved six out of six propositions. That’s the first time that’s happened in a generation.

It’s not much of a surprise when you look at the numbers. The public opinion surveys I see indicate that a vast majority – more than three-quarters of Anchorage residents – say our city is moving in the right direction.

When it comes to doing the city’s business smarter, we’ve focused on delivering basic services efficiently while providing tax relief.

I still shudder at the size of the city’s budget gap two years ago – the worst financial challenge since the oil price crash of the 1980s.

The deficit was largely a result of the state’s elimination of assistance to communities, and ill-advised budgeting by over-reliance on one-time reserves for ongoing municipal operations.

Today, we’re living within our means, thanks to smarter budgeting. And property taxpayers, who have too long shouldered a growing burden, got some relief. There is certainly more to be done and we know we can do better.

The tax relief plan we proposed, the Assembly adopted, and which voters approved this past spring, saved residential property taxpayers a combined 14.4 million-dollars this year alone.

It helped reverse a decades-long trend of relying increasingly on property taxpayers to pay the bills.

It also eliminated the need for thousands of business taxpayers to file business property tax returns.

Today, the percentage of property taxes required to fund general city government services has dropped from 59 percent to 57 percent in this year’s budget. That’s a trend we must work to keep going in the right direction.

Something that may help further reduce property taxes are Assembly sales tax proposals that will reduce property taxes another 25 to 30 percent across the board.   There is no question you’ll hear more about that in coming months.

We’re doing the city’s business smarter in many other areas:

Saving millions a year on city purchases by negotiating the best price through a web-based system, and through health care plan modifications;

Collecting old fines and closing 10,000 long overdue accounts;

Enabling businesses to file their city tax returns electronically;

And eliminating the need for 11,000 small businesses from filing the business personal property tax forms;

Refinancing city debt to take advantage of lower interest rates, saving millions of dollars for the taxpayers;

More favorable contracts for everything from cell phones to managing the Sullivan Arena, which save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year;

Encouraging more than 300 residents and businesses to “foster a flower” to help underwrite our popular hanging baskets in downtown and Spenard.

Our second approach in city hall is partnering with the private sector to launch new initiatives and jump-start projects that have long been stalled.

Of course, the headliner and cornerstone in downtown’s revitalization is the new civic and convention center.

Since voter-approval in April, we’ve been moving full speed ahead with the developers on this 93 million-dollar anchor for Anchorage’s rapidly expanding visitor industry.

This new center will double the economic value of conventions to our community to more than 250 million-dollars annually. It will create about 1,300 construction jobs when ground is broken next spring. And another 3,700 new direct and indirect permanent jobs after the center opens in 2009.

Stay tuned for a public forum sponsored by the developers early next month, when they’ll show off their exciting winter city design and connections to existing facilities, like the PAC and Egan Center.

The civic and convention center is helping stimulate a renaissance in downtown Anchorage.

We’ve got nearly 1,600 new parking spaces in the works, a 20 percent increase.

This includes Anchorage’s first-ever multi-use parking structure. Located at 3rd and G, this showcase building will house retail on the ground floor, roughly 375 parking spaces in the garage and high-rise housing on top, with unmatched views of Cook Inlet and the Alaska Range to the north.

Developers are arm-wrestling each other for the chance to build this. We expect to open bids next month, with construction to begin next spring.

To expand downtown eastward beyond the mythical C Street boundary, voters wisely approved a 100 million-dollar expansion of the Anchorage Museum.Ground-breaking is set for spring of 2007, with completion scheduled three years later.

Many other exciting projects are under way to change the face of what we’re calling “Destination Downtown:”
o The pedestrian-friendly E Street corridor,
o A more inviting and usable Town Square,
o Ship Creek redevelopment,
o Finally, renovating and revamping the old McKay Building.

Of course, all this new economic development will put pressure on city services, from transportation to public safety to parks and rec. We’re working closely with the Assembly to improve those services.

Thanks to voters, construction is underway on 45 road improvement projects with a primary focus – relieve traffic congestion. This comes on the heels of 41 projects worth 45 million-dollars last year alone.

Working with the Legislature and state administration, we got 80 percent of our highest priority transportation requests funded this year.

Big-ticket bottlenecks like:
o The Dowling extension;
o Glenn Highway-Bragaw interchange;
o Bragaw-Tudor intersection.

Of course, the state missed one little traffic jam – Lake Otis and Tudor. But we’re making progress without them.Voters approved the city’s 7 million-dollar share in April and Congressman Young is working an earmark for us in the federal highway funding bill.

When I met with federal Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta two weeks ago, he predicted that the highway funding bill may be a done deal later this month – meaning more road projects next year.

One of Anchorage’s best kept secrets is the People Mover transit system. Often maligned by those who don’t use it, People Mover is on track to provide a record 4 million passenger trips this year. Talk about relieving congestion, one People Mover bus replaces 39 cars.

And a growing number of Anchorage residents use the bus to get to work: 40 percent of Dimond Mall employees, 25 percent of 5th Avenue Mall workers.
 
After years of saying “no” to transit bonds, I’m grateful to voters for their resounding “yes” in April, which will provide needed transportation to thousands of our residents who work in the service sector.

In public safety, we’re putting more cops on the streets so Anchorage residents are safe in their homes and neighborhoods.

In two years, we’ve hired 55 new police officers. With retirements and other departures, that’s a net gain of 21 officers. This puts us on track for the 93 additional officers we need over the next five years.

Our other major public safety initiative is combating the growing problem of gangs. Our five-point plan is a combination of good old fashion police work, with proactive public involvement that cracks down on gang crime before they become more dangerous by working with families, cultural groups and the faith community.

We’ve heard from across the city of community groups which want to be involved in this vital effort. We’ll need their help. We have more to do, but I believe we are moving in the right direction.

With increased military activity abroad and heightened security at home, we owe our servicemen and women and public safety professionals a particular debt of gratitude this year.

The city is doing its part by providing increased opportunities for veterans and accommodating the service of our National Guard and Reserve.

And I’m so proud of my wife, Deborah, for her First Lady’s Military and Family Support Initiative.  She has helped raise 22,000-dollars to assist family members when their loved ones are sent into harm’s way.

The coming year promises to be one of great challenge and enormous opportunity for our community.

We’ll wrap up long-awaited new development standards with the Title 21 land use rewrite, and work to provide our region a reliable source of energy.

We’ll care for one of the fastest growing segments of our population – seniors – and strive to keep our schools healthy. We’ll struggle to keep up with growing parks and recreation needs, and live within our means.

The last 24 months have been about getting the city’s financial house in order, putting our budget on a sustainable, diversified footing and lowering the tax burden on property owners.
 
Thanks to public-private partnerships and the enthusiastic participation of residents, Anchorage is a city on the move. There’s a sense of opportunity in the air – our community is a great city with incredible potential.

Let’s continue working together to capitalize on our enormous potential, as we reshape our city for the 21st century. Thank you.

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