Mayor Mark Begich comments
To Downtown Rotary Club
Noon; May 16, 2006; Hilton Hotel

Thanks, Mark Korting, to you and the Rotary for making this forum available.

I appreciate the opportunity to update you on several developments.

Over the weekend, we reached an important milestone - topping the 60-degree mark. So we know what comes next: the road construction season. Summer is here!

Normally, you’d expect the mayor to apologize for ripped up roads. To me, that’s a solid sign of progress. Let me warn you now, we’re going to have a lot of progress this year.

Today, I want to give you a preview of what to expect on our streets this summer, along with an update on other important projects underway.

First, how’s Anchorage doing overall? In a word, our economy is booming. We’re enjoying our 18th consecutive year of economic growth, with AEDC projecting nearly 2,000 new jobs this year alone.

We’re on track to set a record in our robust construction industry. The value of construction permits so far this year is nearly $317 million, a 24 percent increase over the same time last year.

If that trend continues – and it looks like it will - this year will likely be the second largest construction year in city history – exceeding 700 million-dollars. The Number One year was 1981, when government fueled construction set a record of 1.2 billion-dollars.

 Anchorage is well equipped to finance the road bonds voters approved last month – and the school bonds we wished they had. Last year, for the first time in five years, Standard and Poors upgraded its outlook for the city to “positive.” They cited our economic diversity and sound fiscal management.

What better environment in which to boldly invest in our community for the future. That’s exactly what’s underway across our city, from Eklutna to Girdwood.

 Let’s start with the basics – roads. This summer, you’ll “experience” an investment of about $70 million on more than 50 different road and street improvement projects.

 The overall goal is simple: reduce traffic congestion. Every day, over 1 million vehicle trips are taken across our city. That’s about 10 per household – and the number is growing daily.

 We selected this year’s construction projects for three reasons:
o To relieve congestion,
o To improve connections between neighborhoods – both for vehicles and pedestrians, and
o Keep our roads in good shape so they last.

This year’s road design and construction program is a 48 percent increase over last year, which itself was a sizeable jump over 2004.

Between 2000 and 2004, the average road construction program was about $33 million a year. In our first three years in office, the city invested more than $130 million worth of city-funded improvements into over 80 separate road and street projects.

We’ve been able to do so thanks to the support of Anchorage taxpayers for annual road bonds, and state and federal grants.

As we accelerate the number of road projects, we’re also emphasizing quality. The increased use of materials like insulation board and geo-textile fabric is improving durability. And more of our projects include pedestrian links and landscaping which improve the feel, function and safety of upgraded roads.

As you can see on this chart, local bonds account for more than half the funding we invest in Anchorage’s roads. The State comes in with another third, and the rest is from federal and other sources, such as local road service area taxes.

These are some of the city roads scheduled for major work this year. There’s a little something for everyone:

• 84th Avenue
• Spruce Street
• Raspberry
• Northwood
• 100th Avenue
• Northern Lights
• Arctic
• Mountain View Drive
• Lake Otis
• 36th Avenue
• Bayshore.

At the state, the Legislature provided funding on more than 80 percent of the 16 top priority road projects we asked for this year.

If you drive on Dimond or O’Malley this summer, you won’t miss evidence of DOT’s progress on the C Street project that will soon add a four-lane link south from Dimond to O’Malley.  

On the Eastside and Lower Hillside, you’ll see a lot more gravel trucks than usual this summer.  They are serving the Abbott Loop Extension, another DOT project, which will connect Tudor and Abbott Road.  It’s slated to open next summer.

As for my favorite intersection – Lake Otis and Tudor – improvements are alive and well. This remains one of Anchorage’s most troubling intersections – with some of the highest accident rates and longest delays in the city.

We’re soliciting public comments until mid June on proposed improvements to Lake Otis and Tudor, with construction scheduled for 2008.

As you can see, this will be a busy road construction season, so I urge patience.

A little patience is also necessary for those venturing downtown around the new civic and convention center site. If you’ve been by lately, you’ll notice one massive hole in the ground. The contractor is on-schedule doing site work and building foundations.

Over the next couple of years, they’ll pour enough concrete to lay a sidewalk between here and Wasilla. Erect as much steel as is in 1,900 Ford F-150 pick-ups. String 165 miles of wire and phone cables, and install 80 toilet partitions.

We’re still on track to open the new center in the fall of 2008. And ACVB already has the first convention booked: the 1,600-delegate Aerospace Medical Association, with an economic impact of 1.3 million-dollars.

The new civic and convention center is helping stimulate a renaissance in downtown Anchorage. We’ve got about 1,500 new parking spaces in the works, a 20 percent increase.

This includes a welcome addition to the downtown skyline: a parking garage of up to 900 spaces proposed by the State of Alaska. In record time during the legislative session, they passed a measure authorizing AHFC to finance $44 million for this new garage.

The goal is to connect the garage with the Atwood State Office Building by sky-bridge. And we’d like them to connect the new convention center the same way.

A few blocks away, the final design for the 100 million-dollar expansion of the Anchorage Museum is nearing completion. We expect to break ground on that project in 2007, with completion scheduled three years later.

There are numerous other exciting projects under way which are changing the face of what we’re calling “Destination Downtown:”

• A pedestrian-friendly E Street corridor,
• A more inviting Town Square,
• A more useable Park Strip,
• And perhaps most welcome of all – a total revamp of the old McKay Building.

Downtown isn’t the only part of Anchorage enjoying a revival. From Ship Creek to Mountain View to Girdwood, we’re working with private sector developers to renovate or build new housing, office and retail space.

 Down at the port, the 350 million-dollar expansion will increase its construction tempo this year with the creation of 27 acres of new land on existing tidelands. This will provide much-needed staging areas for military deployments and expansion opportunities for the port’s existing commercial carriers.

You can read about all of these developments on our newly revamped city website at “muni.org.” It features two new databases – with comprehensive neighborhood information and 350 pages of fresh demographic data.

As we manage these numerous physical improvements to our community, we’re also focused on the nuts and bolts of running the city.

High on the list I heard from voters last month is property taxes.

I’m pleased to say the Legislature listened to our plea to share a portion of Alaska’s enormous resource wealth with its communities.

They approved municipal aid in two forms: to help with high energy costs and with public employee pensions. Anchorage’s share of the $67 million is nearly $24 million. Since we’ve already budgeted for both of these costs in the current-year budget, we’ll use the legislative funds for property tax relief next year.

For the average residential property taxpayer, this will mean a savings of about 228-dollars.

That’s in addition to the tax relief measures we put into place two years ago, including exempting the first $20,000 of residential property.

We’re actively looking at other steps to reduce property taxes, including asking the Legislature to raise that $20,000 exemption and continuing efficiencies in city services.

As I gear up for my second term, my other top priority is continuing to improve our public safety.

With the 40 additional police officers we’ve put on the force in the past three years, we’re nearly half-way toward our goal of 93 new officers we feel is necessary for the safety of a community our size.

We’re also focused on making sure Anchorage is equipped to deal with any sort of emergency that may befall us, from an earthquake or volcano to the remote possibility of a pandemic flu.

Two other upcoming events I wanted to plug here.

At the end of June, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels will lead what we’re calling a “trade mission” to Anchorage. Mayor Nickels has never been to Alaska and he’s agreed to bring along up to 20 top Seattle business leaders.

Greg and I have been working together for several years at the mayor’s level to explore stronger business, educational and cultural ties between our cities. We’re way below the radar screen of the national disputes between our states – and hope to stay out of the line of fire.

The Seattle delegation will be here for up to five days beginning June 28th. He’ll give a keynote speech and we’ll have several days of meetings with Anchorage business leaders. We’re hopeful some concrete results will come from his visit.

The other upcoming event is the Alaska Federation of Natives convention. We remember well that AFN went to Fairbanks last year. And I have to admit that Fairbanks did a great job hosting the convention.

October is Anchorage’s opportunity to roll out our red carpet for AFN.

The annual AFN convention is big business for this community: 4,500 delegates who spend millions over a week. But it should be so much more than that.

It’s a celebration of our roots - a recognition of the rich cultural diversity that comprises our city and our state.

We’re committed to putting on the best AFN convention ever. I ask that Rotaries and other service organizations across our community get engaged. We should not - and can not - take AFN for granted anymore.

I think everyone in this room agrees that Anchorage is a city poised for greatness. It already is pretty great. By capitalizing on the sense of hope and optimism in our community, we can build our city for the 21st century.

Thank you.

###