April 9, 2024
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Good evening everyone and welcome.
Congratulations to Chief Kerle
Chief Kerle, I’d like to thank you personally for your life of service to this Municipality. While I’m not so pleased about the abrupt departure, I know that Anchorage is a better community because of your service. We’ve seen a lot of very challenging times together, and you’ve seen many more than I’ve been around. And so, with that, I have much gratitude for your service.
And I do welcome the new appointee for Chief of Police, Captain Bianca Cross. As many know, Chief of Police is a tough job and it takes incredible fortitude to step into the role. I’m looking forward to reviewing the qualifications and experience of Ms. Cross and having some robust conversations about her positions and perspectives on the helm of our police force moving forward. It’s a $130M organization, it takes a lot of experience to lead, and I look forward to learning more about that experience.
Youth Representatives
Tonight is the last meeting for our youth representative, Jesse Tyrell and our alternate representative Jake Matthews. They have both served honorably over the past year and I thank them for their service. The job of youth representative is a lot of responsibility and requires long hours, including late into the night on school nights. Both Jesse and Jake put in a lot of hard work and did a great job representing the youth of Anchorage in our policy discussions at Assembly meetings, and they helped members and our community know more about issues and events of importance to our young people. We will all miss working with you but hope to see you in the future and we wish you the best in your future endeavors.
Recruitment is open for a youth representative for the 2024-25 school year and the position now includes a small stipend. You can visit the Youth Rep page on the Assembly website or go directly to
ancgov.info/youthvoice for more information or to apply. The deadline for applications is April 30th.
Assembly Annual Progress Report
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to share the Assembly’s Annual Progress Report at the Anchorage Chamber Make it Monday forum. The Assembly, with thanks to the Administration and our partners, saw progress in all of our 2023 priorities, including advancement of the Port of Alaska modernization, passage of several initiatives to spur housing development, expansion of the Fire Department Mobile Crisis Team and Police Department Mobile Intervention Team, passage of the “Open Checkbook” to create an online dashboard of municipal spending, and nearly one hundred percent recovery from FEMA of the funds we spent on the pandemic.
Our priorities in 2024 include continuing our work on Housing Action and the Port Modernization, as well as strengthening the municipal workforce, ensuring delivery of quality municipal services, and advancing public health, safety, and quality of life for all residents in our community.
You can learn more about the Assembly’s 2024 priorities at muni.org/assembly.
State Legislative Request for Shelter
Over the past few months, the Mayor and Assembly have been working very hard to secure a targeted funding request to the State Legislature for $4M to keep our shelter operating year-round. Our ask is that the State recognizes that homelessness is a statewide issue whose costs are disproportionately felt by Anchorage taxpayers and residents. Without state funding, the Municipality would be forced to close the 56th Avenue shelter on May 31st because we do not have the resources to operate this facility year-round without making other cuts.
I want to thank Representative Josephson for bringing forward an amendment in the Finance Committee to add this funding to the budget, and to Representatives Coulombe, Galvin, Hannan, Ortiz and Edgmon for voting in favor of the amendment. We are thankful to the House Finance Committee for supporting this important ask that the State share the cost of a statewide problem. We are hopeful it will remain in the budget, but we know it has a long way to go – passage by the House, passage by the Senate, inclusion in the final FY25 budget, and then surviving any potential veto action by the Governor.
Also, a huge thanks to Assembly Member Anna Brawley, Chair of the Legislative Committee, who has been spearheading our efforts in Juneau.
MOA Elections
Finally, I want to highlight the exemplary work of the MOA Elections Team.
Our nonpartisan election officials are committed to making Anchorage the best place to vote-at-home, and they are doing a really good job. More than 70,000 residents returned their mailed ballot package by Election Day last week, making up over 95% of the ballots received at the MOA Election Center. Those remaining few came from the three Anchorage Vote Centers that open for the week before Election Day.
It takes a lot of hard work by a dedicated team of professionals to pull off secure, accessible elections—and they’re about to do it all over again. Our Municipal Charter requires that our mayor be elected by at least 45% of the vote, plus one. If the election is certified by the Assembly on April 23rd, and I expect that it will, the elections team will kick off a runoff election for voters to elect our Mayor. Here’s what to expect in a runoff election:
- Register to vote or update your registration by April 14. Even if you weren’t registered for the Regular Election, you can register for the runoff.
- Sign up for BallotTrax to get text or email updates on the status of your ballot: anchoragevotes.com. I love this feature—I get an update when my ballot is on its’ way to me, when it’s been received at the MOA Election Center and when my signature has been verified, so I know my vote counts.
- Visit www.muni.org/elections to learn more about the MOA Election Center and find the resources you need, like links to register, track your ballot, tour the election center and more!
- Return your runoff ballot by May 14. As always, you’ll have three options to return your ballot: by mail, into a dropbox, or to an Anchorage Vote Center.
Voting local hits close to home. This is where we can really make a difference. Your local businesses, your families, your neighborhoods, your roads all rely on your voice in this election.
March 19, 2024
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Good evening everyone and welcome. Happy spring equinox! I hope everyone is enjoying and making good use of the growing daylight.
Washington D.C. Visit
Last week, Member Brawley and I visited Washington, D.C. to attend the National League of Cities annual conference and meet with our Congressional Delegation to discuss Anchorage priorities, namely the HUD funding formula for providing homelessness resources. Member Brawley and I were joined by the Congressional Delegation in a meeting with HUD leadership to continue to press our case that Anchorage and Alaska are getting left behind by HUD. We are continuing to make progress on this and keep the pressure on HUD to respond to our needs. I thank Senators Sullivan and Murkowski, and Representative Peltola for their leadership on this issue.
Alcohol Tax Strategic Plan
Now that we are several years into the new alcohol tax, the Assembly is conducting a strategic plan to help us better identify how to prioritize and fund work through the tax. A team has been going to community meetings and other gatherings to collect input from community members and they have a booth in the lobby tonight. I encourage you to visit the booth to learn more about the work and provide your input.
Food for Thought and We'll Be Back Soon
On Friday, we welcomed community partners – the Anchorage Folk Festival and Sundown Music Festival – for the first in our lunchtime worksession series “Food for Thought," focused on the good things happening in our community, so that we in more creative conversations about our role as a legislative body and as a municipality in fostering what makes Anchorage vibrant.
Following the beat of that drum, I'm proud to announce that tonight, folks tuning into our meeting online and on TV will enjoy the launch of “We'll Be Back Soon," a program featuring local music on our meeting broadcast when we break for intermission. The program is amplifying the work of 12 local musicians through 20 songs that reflect the broad range of tone, tenor and voice in our city. From laughter and love to heartbreak and grief, our community has been through a lot in the last few years. Music is a way to share in those feelings and find common ground. I hope you enjoy this new program.
Elections
And now, my final reminder about the upcoming election as today is the last meeting before the election. All ballots have now been mailed, so if you haven't received your ballot yet, you can call 907-243-VOTE or 8683 to request a new ballot. The last day to vote is Tuesday, April 2 at 8pm at any of the multiple drop boxes, accessible voting centers or through the mail, as long as it is stamped before 8pm. The mayor, several school board seats, service area board of supervisor seats and the open District 2 Chugiak-Eagle River Assembly seat will be on the ballot, as well as a proposed Charter amendment and several bond propositions.
I encourage you to sign up for Ballot Tracks, which is an amazing tool where you can sign up for text notifications of when your ballot leaves the mail house, when it is delivered to your home and when it arrives back at the Election Center. You can sign up at AnchorageVotes.com.
March 5, 2024
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Good evening everyone and welcome.
First, I want to say Godspeed to the Municipal Attorney who is flying to Washington, D.C. now to stand in for our illustrious former attorney Bob Owens in front of the Court of Claims in the Appeals Court on the question of the appeal by the federal government on the $365M judgment from the Court of Claims on behalf of the Municipality. For those of you following the Port story, a very significant event happens this Friday in Washington D.C. and that is that the Appellate Court hears the appeal by the federal government against our victory in the Port settlement, which we hope they will sustain.
Food for Thought
I’m pleased to announce that the Assembly is launching “Food for Thought,” a series of worksessions over the Friday lunch hour to take a step back from the timely business at hand and welcome community partners to our table to discuss the good things happening in our community. Often our focus is on things that are going wrong, and things that aren’t working right, so I want to take some time to appreciate the many things that are going right.
The first session will be on March 15 at 11:30am and will focus on Anchorage’s music economy. We’ll hear from community partners organizing festivals and our opportunity to amplify local music.
Future sessions will include innovative new programs to house people who’ve long struggled with homelessness, and a presentation from a delegation who recently visited Oulu, Finland to learn about snow removal and non-motorized transportation ideas.
State Legislature
Next, onto Juneau and the State Legislature. Tonight, you’ll see a number of resolutions of support on the agenda for bills in the state legislature. Issues like housing affordability, child care, and supporting families so that parents can remain in the workforce are critical to the future of Anchorage, and issues that the Municipality has done our best to address.
However, some issues are too big for local solutions and we need the state to step up and do their part to ensure the vitality of our economy, schools, workplaces and local communities. I want to thank our colleagues in Juneau, especially the Anchorage Delegation, for listening to the Municipality’s concerns and working to find statewide solutions to some of our toughest problems.
Elections
Finally, my ongoing reminder about the upcoming election. Ballots will be mailed to voters on March 12, and the last day of voting is Tuesday, April 2 at 8pm at any of the multiple drop boxes, accessible voting centers or through the mail, as long as it is stamped before 8pm. The mayor, several school board seats, service area board of supervisor seats and the open District 2 Chugiak-Eagle River Assembly seat will be on the ballot, as well as a proposed Charter amendment and several bond propositions.
I encourage you to sign up for Ballot Tracks, which is an amazing tool where you can sign up for text notifications of when your ballot leaves the mail house, when it is delivered to your home and when it arrives back at the Election Center. You can sign up at
AnchorageVotes.com.
February 27, 2024
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Good evening everyone and welcome.
Anchorage Priorities for the State Legislature
Last week, we had a delegation of Assembly Members and staff fly down to Juneau to take Anchorage’s 2024 Legislative Program to the Legislature. I want to thank Members Brawley, Rivera, Johnson and Sulte, and staff member Brandi Heasley, for adding to your usual duties to represent the case for Anchorage to the state legislature.