Assembly Report for Tuesday, June 12, 2007

ASSEMBLY DELAYS ACTION ON A NEW NAME FOR TOWN SQUARE: Despite overwhelming public testimony favoring a n new name for Town Square to honor community leader Ruth Moulton, the Assembly on Tuesday postponed action on a decision until June 26, 2007. Making the motion was Assembly member Dan Sullivan who said he needed more time to fashion a "compromise" measure he says will pass the Assembly when written. The issue appears to be whether the Assembly will follow the recommendations of the two commissions whose advice it sought on the matter or decide for itself whether Ms Moulton will be honored by the naming on any portion of the Town Square in her memory.

About 26 persons testified before the Assembly, 20 in favor of naming the Town Square after Ruth Moulton; 6 had contrary suggestions, principally that a portion of the Square, but not the entire square be renamed. 20 community councils offered resolutions in favor; 2 councils were opposed. Recommendations of the Public Facilities Advisory Commission and the Parks and Recreation Commission in favor of naming the entire Town Square for Ms. Moulton were unanimous.

Only Assembly members Traini, Selkregg, Claman, and Tesche, opposed postponement and asked for a final vote on the matter. Sullivan offered no details on the "compromise" measure he intends to present to the Assembly on June 26th nor did he indicate which Assembly members he has lined up to support his position.

EAGLE RIVER TOWN CENTER IN THE WORKS: Passage of AR 2007-41 signals new life for the long dormant Valley River Center as the location of a new Town Center for Eagle River. Passed unanimously, the resolution recognizes the Valley River Center as a preferred location for the Eagle River Branch library and potentially other municipal offices in an area that already is rapidly developing as a commercial center of Eagle River. By separate action, the Assembly introduced and set for public hearing on June 26, 2007 a companion ordinance that would authorize procurement for library space and other municipal office space to begin in the site of the new Town Center.

ML&P HEADQUARTERS PROPOSAL DIES QUIETLY PENDING EXAMINATION OF POTENTIAL UTILITY MERGER: Crafted by a three person Assembly committee headed by Assembly member Shelia Selkregg, AM 345-2007 set out a detailed competitive process for site selection, design, engineering, and construction of a new headquarters building for Municipal Light and Power (ML&P). Curiously, that resolution was postponed indefinitely Tuesday night as Assembly members announced they wanted additional time to explore potential consolidation of Chugach Electric Association (CEA) and ML&P. The resolution was originally written following the Assembly’s earlier rejection of proposal by the mayor to purchase space for a new ML&P headquarters building in Mountain View’s new Glenn Center mall. As matters now stand, ML&P’s headquarters staff will continue to work out of aging facilities in Ship Creek, and the administration remains free to return to the Assembly with on any new proposal for moving ML&P into more suitable office quarters at another location.

Details on the possible consolidation of the two utilities were not provided to the Assembly.

CODE AMENDMENT BARS FELONS FROM REGISTRATION AS MUNICIPAL LOBBYISTS: On reconsideration, the Assembly unanimously passed AO 2007-72(s) which bars persons convicted of a felony from registration as municipal lobbyists.

NEW ETHICS RULE TARGETS INFLUENCE PEDDLING : Unanimous passage of AO 2007-74(S) bars "influence peddling" by elected officials and employees of the municipality. The ordinance make it a violation of the city’s Code of Ethics to state or suggest that, as a condition of some sort of official action on a matter, a private party hire or fire a particular employee, consultant, or lobbyist. Passage of the ordinance would deter municipal officials from steering subcontracts among private vendors doing business with the municipality or persons seeking official action by the Assembly.