As you may have read, last night the Assembly approved four of six proposed bond measures for consideration on the April 6 ballot. That same evening, we decided against adding an advisory vote regarding property tax exemptions to the ballot. Readers might be surprised to know that I opposed each of these items, but not because I was in a contrarian mood.
I was out of town most of the preceding week and monitoring voice- and e-mail from the road. Here’s a sampling of what I learned from those communications: (more…)
Returning to the saga wherein many question what happened during the last couple months of the Begich administration, we left our Assembly heroes steadily working on an ordinance aimed at strengthening financial reporting requirements such that any similar miscommunication wouldn’t recur. And yet, it hasn’t been that simple.
At the last Assembly meeting on January 19 six different bond proposals were introduced and will receive a public hearing on February 2, with those approved slated to appear on the April 6 municipal election ballot. After working through the budget process during the last couple months I expected to see one, or maybe two, bonds this spring so even though there are a couple nearly-duplicate submissions I’m a little surprised.
By now readers likely know my neighbor, Betti Cuddy, passed away last week. Publicly known as the matriarch of one of Alaska’s pioneering banking families, I knew her better as the mother of two of my favorite baby sitters.
Thursday, January 14, marked the monthly meeting of the Fairview Community Council. The primary item on the agenda was RuralCAP’s tentative proposal to convert the Red Roof Inn into housing and, unsurprisingly, it drew a large turnout.
During the time I grew up in Anchorage, centrist and liberal elected officials weren’t considered to have made their bones until they’d been excoriated at least three times on the opinion page of the Anchorage Times. While the venerable paper I delivered as a youth is no more, a faint echo of its spirit remains at the Anchorage Daily Planet and the occasional musings offered by Paul Jenkins.
In recent weeks two more alcohol-related issues have come to the fore, universal ID checks for package liquor stores and a proposal to convert the Red Roof Inn into housing for chronic homeless inebriates. Both have generated some concerns.
Clark Yerrington, a Mountain View resident and activist with a blog of his own, sent me a thoughtful list of questions to answer for posting on his site. You’re welcome to review them there or here:
Since my decision to cancel a work session on the so-called “Wheeler report” I’ve received a few inquiries asking why, and where we go from here? One woman even accused me from hiding the report from the public (incorrect, but I sent her a copy of the report just to make sure she had it).
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