Assembly Report for October 9, 2007

COMING TO YOUR BACKYARD THIS NEW YEARS: If midtown Assembly member Dick Trani has his way, fireworks will be lawful in some areas of Anchorage, at least for a few hours on New Year’s Eve. Tuesday night Traini introduced AO 2007-132 which would allow detonation of fireworks for a five hour period on New Years Eve. The ordinance would not allow News Year's fireworks in public parks, the downtown central business district or within 500 feet of certain noise sensitive facilities such as hospitals, nursing homes, or libraries. A public hearing on Trani's ordinance is scheduled for November 6, 2007.

BAUER PUNISHED BY ASSEMBLY FOR ETHICS VIOLATION: Last night the Assembly voted 9 to 0 to punish Assemblyman Paul Bauer for violating the city’s new Code of Ethics. Receiving a rarely given "admonition" Bauer was also required by his colleagues to attend a special course in the municipal Code of Ethics. The sanctions were recommended by the city’s Board of Ethics while ruled on September 6, 2007 that Bauer broke the law by holding a press conference on March 20, 2007 to publicize a Notice of Possible [Ethics] Violation he had filed against Mayor Mark Begich. AMC 1.15.070(K) expressly forbids disclosure of ethics complaints before the Board has completed its investigation of the matter. Despite a warning by city clerk Barbara Gruenstein before his press conference began, the Board held Bauer "knowingly violated" three sections of the Code by holding the press conference and distributing copies of the Notice of Possible Violation he had filed with the Board. The Board’s decision can be found at
http://www.muni.org/Assembly2/ethicsviolationreports.cfm

SULLIVAN DROPS OBJECTION TO TOWN SQUARE RESOLUTION; COMPROMISE MEASURE APPROVED: The Assembly unanimously approved a compromise resolution AR 2007-206 which resolved the controversial issue of naming Town Square Park.. Prepared by the Begich administration, the compromise measure honor the three citizen activists (Shirely Brundage, Aves Couples, and Moulton) who battled City Hall for twenty five years by naming discrete portions of the Square for the women, but leaving intact Town Square as the name for the park. The compromise was intended to replace an earlier proposal to name the entire Square after late Ruth Moulton. The measure was delayed for several weeks after Assemblyman Dan Sullivan heard one of the families objected to the design proposed by Mayor Begich; after some conversations between the families, Mr. Sullivan, and the Mayor’s office consensus was reached on the compromise measure.

NEW PEDESTRIAN PLAN APPROVED: Incorporating a long list of sidewalk and crossing projects into the plan, Assembly members on Tuesday night enacted the Anchorage Pedestrian Plan as part of the city’s 2020 Comprehensive plan. The plan, with some amendments inserted by the Assembly previously, sets policies and lists over 200 pedestrian improvements to be constructed within the municipality. The goal of the plan is to reduce vehicle trips within Anchorage by improving the city’s sidewalk system. As adopted by the Assembly, the plan calls only for "review" of extending mandatory sidewalk snow removal throughout Anchorage, and does not extend that requirement beyond the central business district.

PUBLIC HEARING CLOSES ON I/M PROGRAM REPEAL; ACTION DELAYED: A parade of witnesses ranging from environmentalists, a physician, a radio talk show host, and dozens of auto mechanics testified for more than two hours on an ordinance (AO 2007-122) which would end the city’s mandatory vehicle inspection and maintenance (I/M) program. Public testimony was sharply divided between two groups: an unlikely coalition of auto mechanics who admittedly would lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in business if the inspection and environmentalists who insisted that Assembly members keep the program in place to fight global warming and prevent any worsening of Anchorage air quality. Opponents of the program claimed recent advances in automobile emissions technology have dramatically reduced CO2 levels in Anchorage, making mandatory inspection and maintenance of vehicles for air quality purposes unnecessary.

The Assembly appears sharply divided on the issue. Although Dick Traini claims he has six votes to end the I/M, his margin is razor thin and already members are talking of compromise measures that would delay elimination of the program or bring it back after several years. The assembly will take up I/M, without further public testimony, on October23, 2007.

NEW RULES FOR "BEER AND WINE" ZONING PERMITS: Action on an ordinance that would allow an "administrative official" to issue zoning permits for restaurants to sell beer and wine was postponed until October 23, 2007. Currently, the Assembly makes those decisions only after public hearings and after receiving input from community councils. The ordinance is sponsored by Assembly Chair Dan Coffey.

CHANGES COMING FOR "NEIGHBORHOOD" PRISONS: Assemblyman Dan Coffey introduced an ordinance Tuesday night will make it easier to locate new "community correctional residential centers" (halfway houses) in business districts. AO 2007-139 would drop current restrictions on housing felons in these facilities and would shorten required separation between new and existing halfways from 1 mile to 1,00 feet. The ordinance would limit new CCRCs to thirty inmates. .Although the ordinance would apply to all halfway houses in business districts throughout the city, it is supported by a group which wants to locate a new facility in (where else) Mountain View. Public Hearing is set for November 11, 2007.

EAGLE RIVER ASSEMBLYMAN DRAWS A LINE IN THE SAND WITH BUDGET RESOLUTION: With barely six months in office, freshman Eagle River assemblyman Bill Starr has drawn a line with two term Mayor Mark Begich in the the 2008-9 general government operating budget now before the Assembly. For each politician, the stakes are high: Starr is seeking is first full term on the Assembly next spring (he was appointed to complete Anna Fairclough’s term last January) and he is staking his political career on the success of a budget resolution his conservative pals passed on September 11, 2007, to cap all city spending for the next two years at current (2007) levels, without adjustments for inflation or voter approved measures. In the other corner is arguably the most popular mayor in Anchorage’s history and a master politician who has worked his way with the Assembly for almost five years without using a single veto. Begich is widely rumored to be a candidate for national office in next year’s congressional elections. If Begich runs, this will be his legacy budget.

Passed on September 11, 2007 the "Starr Resolution" boldly announces the Assembly’s intent to limit city spending for the next two years at current levels because local homeowners have re ached their "capacity" to pay for local government services. On the surface, this fiscal policy plays well in conservative Eagle River neighborhoods who have long enjoyed tax subsidies from the rest of Anchorage and who complain loudly of any taxes. Below, the surface, however, the resolution is an iceberg waiting quietly for the next passing ship. Starr makes no adjustment for inflation which even Assembly conservatives cannot outlaw: rising health care costs, fuel, and contributions the city must make to keep its retirement system solvent. Starr hasn’t noticed the effect his resolution will have on new state grants: by omitting grants from its calculation of just what constitutes baseline spending, the resolution essentially forbids the city from accepting new grants unless it is willing to reduce some other part of the budget to keep spending in line with the resolution. Unlike the citizens’ tax cap approved by the voters in 1983, the Starr Resolution make no allowance for voter approved measures such as roads and parks bonds approved only last spring. When asked why his resolution may no reference to the Anchorage School District (about half of your property tax bill now goes to schools) Starr lamely blamed Assembly Chairman Dan Coffey for not asking him to look into school district funding as well. Finally, Starr mistakenly used $399M to calculate his "baseline" for capping future expenditures the revised 2007 budget, together with supplemental appropriations of state grants actually totals $410M

If the Assembly passes a budget on Anchorage under the Starr Resolution, $25M in existing programs and services will be cut in order to keep municipal spending at Starr’s level of $399M. Already, many of his Eagle River constituents who use the Bartlett pool are now protesting in the streets the cuts this resolution will require. We can only some of his pals with more experience in municipal tax policy grab the tiller before we hit something waiting for us in the water. Public hearings on the General Government operating budget are set for October 23rd and November 6th.