Assembly Report for December 19, 2006

LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM INTRODUCED; SCHEDULED FOR ACTION ON JANUARY 9, 2007: The Assembly on Tuesday briefly considered and then postponed action on Mayor Begich’s proposed 2007 (state) legislative program until Tuesday, January 9, 2007. Emphasizing public safety, transportation, and community and economic development, the twenty page program is a wish list of capital projects and state grant requests together with changes in state law the mayor recommends legislators consider. The Assembly will act on the program on January 9, 2007. A full copy of the 2007 legislative program can be found
on the Assembly's agenda for December 18, 2006.

Top funding priorities for the mayor include municipal revenue assistance, critical to his plan to actually reduce real property taxes by some $41M this year, help from that state in funding retirement programs for local government and teachers, and reinstatement of the senior citizens/disabled veteran’s property tax relief program.

Priorities in public safety include increased funding for additional judges, prosecutors, and public defenders as part of the mayor’s anti-crime initiative. The mayor also recommends stricter state laws on methamphetamine “precursors”, court ordered monitoring devices for gang members, vehicle impoundments for driving while a license is suspended, together with late fees on unpaid court costs and increased penalties for unpaid traffic tickets.

Despite warnings from Gov. Sara Palin that the 2007 state capital budget will be slashed, the mayor’s proposal includes 13 pages of detailed requests for hundreds of millions in capital grants, ranging from $17.5M for expansion of APD’s headquarters building, an additional $10M for the Anchorage Museum, $14M to replace Covenant House, and $35M to replace the aging municipal health department building at 8th and L St. An additional $25M is requested for the port, together with $18M for a “fishery information and learning center.” Highest priority transportation capital projects totaling over $80M made the list as well as scores of other transportation projects throughout Anchorage.

JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS, FREE AMBULANCE RIDES IN CHUGIAK: Thanks to Assemblymembers Debbie Ossiander, Anna Fairclough and a few of their elves on the Assembly, residents of outlying areas of Chugiak Eagle River will get free ambulance rides to Anchorage hospitals next year. Expressing his grave concern over the financial impact of the new ordinance Mayor Mark Begich warned the Assembly that the ordinance had not been thoroughly researched by sponsors and should not be passed. The mayor also noted the measure saves no money for areawide ambulance services and effectively shifts costs of providing ambulance transport for Chugiak residents to residents in the Anchorage Bowl.

Chugiak residents already enjoy lower mill levies for fire protection because they have a separate volunteer fire department. The ordinance now exempts those residents from ambulance charges as well, even though sponsors could not back up their claims that Chugiak residents are entitled to free ambulance service because that service is provided by volunteer firefighter/paramedics working for the Chugiak Volunteer Fire Department.

Assembly debate on the ordinance revealed that critically needed approvals from Medicaid and private health insurers such as Blue Cross and Aetna were not been obtained in advance by sponsors, nor had full costs of EMS service in Chugiak been researched before the Assembly majority waived ambulance fees in Chugiak. Rushing to pass the ordinance, members ignored repeated warnings of special counsel to first make sure the state’s Medicaid program will go along with the meaure.

Ossiander and Fairclough also refused to address the mayor’s recommendation that they consider forming a separate service area in Chugiak to provide cheaper EMS and fire protection at reduced levels rather than shifting costs of ambulance trips to residents of the Anchorage bowl through the new ordinance.

Mayor Begich has seven days to consider veto of the ordinance.

JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS II; ANNA’S GOING AWAY PARTY ON THE CALENDAR: At taxpayers’ expense, Assembly Chair Dan Sullivan will convene an extraordinary meeting of the Anchorage Assembly at a restaurant in Eagle River at noon on Friday, January 5, 2007 to honor departing Assemly member Anna Fairclough who earlier this week resigned from the Assembly, effective January 5, 2007.

The date of January 5th for the special Assembly meeting was selected by Fairclough to accommodate her personal schedule because she will travel to Juneau to join the Alaska legislature on January 8, 2007. She unhorsed fellow Republican and former house speaker Pete Kott in the August, 2006 Republican primary and was elected to the state house in November, 2006.

Assembly members attending the special event in Eagle River will travel by motor coach from City Hall to Fairclough’s favorite Eagle River lunch spot, Garcia’s Cantina and Cafe for the meeting. Once inside, they will say their long good byes to Anna and, in her honor, actually hold a public hearing a special Eagle River park ordinance, AO 2006-182.

Only Assembly members will be given free rides to the gathering and taxpayers are paying picking up the tab at Garcia’s Cantina. Although the public will be speak only on AO 2006-182, the public can observe assembly members during the luncheon. The public is not invited to share in the food.

Last month Fairclough and Assembly conservatives howled down a request to use $75,000 of their unrestricted savings (fund balance) left over in the Assembly’s budget for police recruitment. Instead, they opted to set the money aside for the Assembly’s use, presumably including the costs of hosting the special meeting and lunch in Eagle River on January 5th.