Assembly Report for January 29, 2008

ON THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF HITLER’S RISE TO POWER: Not satisfied with the Assembly’s 8-3 vote which killed a similar proposal he made on September 11, 2007, Assembly member Paul Bauer chose the date of the 75th anniversary of Adolph Hitler’s rise to power to introduce another measure that would draw Anchorage police (and local taxpayers) into a national war on illegal immigration. With the help of fellow conservative Dan Sullivan, Bauer sought to introduce AO 2008- 23 which would place an "advisory proposition" on illegal immigration before voters at the April 1, 2008 regular election. Bauer’s newest proposal would have asked voters to "advise" whether Anchorage police should "be empowered by [the] Anchorage municipal code to verify immigration status during routine traffic stops and criminal law detention". The ordinance also would have asked voters to advise on whether Anchorage shall "negotiate and enter into an agreement with federal Immigration Control Enforcement to train and deputize Anchorage police officers as agents in the enforcement of federal immigration laws". Bauer’s proposition would have effectively encouraged the Assembly to funding local enforcement of federal immigration at additional expense to local property owners.

Only Assembly member Dan Sullivan joined Mr. Bauer in introducing the new ballot proposition. Lacking a third sponsor, Bauer’s ordinance was declared dead (for now at least) under Assembly rules and no public hearing will be held.

REFUSE RATES REVISED: By a vote of 10-1, the Assembly approved a modified proposal made by the Solid Waste Services Department to raise commercial rates for refuse collection, leaving intact monthly rates for residential services. Set out in AO 2007-145S), the new rate schedule focuses on commercial rates and fees charged at the municipal landfill and transfer station. Fees charged for secured pickup loads will be raised from $10.00 to $15 at the transfer station and at the landfill from $10.00 to $15/load. A complex schedule of revised charges governing commercial containers is set out on pages 3-4 of AO 2008-146(S) as amended.

MAT CLAMAN AND DAN SULLIVAN OPENING THE DOOR ON SINGLE MEMBER ASSEMBLY DISTRICTS: Introduced Tuesday night by West Anchorage’s Matt Claman and Dan Sullivan, AO 2008-25 would ask voters in the April 1, 2008 election to re write the Home Rule Charter by providing that terms of Assembly members would be three years, regardless of whether they are elected from single member or multi member districts. The Charter currently requires terms of three years unless all members represent single member districts, in which case terms of Assembly members are two years. Approval of the Claman-Sullivan amendment would make it easier to convince the Assembly to later carve out eleven single member districts, an action that could take place as early as next year.

While Claman recognizes that the charter amendment he and Sullivan have offered would remove the major impediment to implementing single member districting, he adamantly denies he is not in favor of actually using single member districts. He is concerned that the current system of multi member districts might draw a legal challenge under federal election laws at some point in the future and apparently favors three rather than two year terms for Assembly members under any districting plan. Neither assemblyman has pointed to any real public enthusiasm for the measure, except Claman's spectulation over potential legal challegnes to the Assembly's current plan and orders from the Republican party whispered quietly to his new West Anchorage collegue.

Eight votes are required to send the issue to the voters. Only Assembly members Tesche, Traini, and Selkregg are known to oppose it, making its chances of passage in April excellent, once Republican money is brought to the table. A public hearing on the Claman-Sullivan proposition is scheduled for February 12, 2008.

$2M POOLS PACKAGE HEADED TO VOTERS: The Assembly on Tuesday approved a $2M ballot proposition it will send to voters at the April, 2008 election to finance needed repairs in five local swimming pools. Sale of $2M in local bonds is conditioned on receipt of a matching grant from the state of Alaska of an additional $2M, for a total package of$4M. To justify the required state match, sponsors point to the constitutional requirement that the State provide for a system of public education and that many pool users in Anchorage come from rural areas, particularly the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Pools included in the bond package include Bartlett, Dimond, East, Service, and West high schools. The pools package was authored by Dick Traini and Allan Tesche.

$100M BOND PACKAGE INTRODUCED: Contours of the 2008 bond package emerged Tuesday night as the Assembly introduced a package of ballot propositions asking voters to approve sale of $100.6M in general obligation bonds at the April 1, 2008 regular election. Included in the package are 34.3M for reconstruction of Chester Valley Elementary School, the Girdwood K-8 School and Sand Lake Elementary School. $9.4M is proposed for district wide facilities renovation, $$44.8M for roads, $6.9M for facilities renovation including the Sullivan Arena . . . $$3.6M for Fire capital improvements, and $1.6M for public safety and transportation improvements. Public hearings on the bond propositions are scheduled for February 12, 2008.

LOOSE DOG REPORTED AT 9TH AND E: Mayoral candidate Dan Sullivan touched off a new controversy with the Begich administration Tuesday night by proposing to sever $8.2M in road bonds for Mayor Begich’s E Street Corridor project from the city’s $100M road bond package. Sullivan would place those bonds in their own ballot measure to be voted on separately by voters. Sullivan would not answer questions about his action on Tuesday and instead promised to meet with interested groups such as the Anchorage Downtown Partnership before a public hearing on on February 12, 2008. Passage of Sullivan’s ordinance along with an amendment he offered to strip the E St. Bonds from the larger road bond package, would likely reduce the chance voters would approve the E St. bonds at the April 1, 2008 city wide election.