[Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] n [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] B [Music] a [Music] [Music] n [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] w [Music] oh [Music] [Music] a [Music] a [Music] a [Music] oh [Music] n [Music] a [Music] n [Music] a [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] come [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] we'll be getting started shortly we'll be a few minutes late e e e e e e e e e e e we about ready looks like it good good evening everybody welcome I now call this meeting of the Anchorage assembly to order it's December 19th 2020 there's our regular meeting of 2023 2020 that's funny um Madam cler could you please take the role assembly member Myers here assembly member Martinez present assembly member Rivera present assembly member branga here assembly member Johnson here chair constant here Vice chair zotel here assembly member cross here assembly member vand happy to be here assembly member broy here assembly member Sut here assembly member Perez verdia here and it's my understanding the youth representative is excused this evening he's excused chair Conant you have a quorum thank you madam clerk now I'd like to uh begin with the Pledge of Allegiance would you please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance Mr Myers I I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all next we have the land acknowledgement Mr Martinez thank you chair a land acknowledgement is a formal statement recognizing the indigenous people of a place it is a public gesture of appreciation for the past and present indigenous stewards ship of the lands that we now occupy it is an actionable statement that marks our Collective movement toward decolonization and Equity the Anchorage assembly would like to acknowledge that today we gather on the traditional lands of the denina athabascans for thousands of years the denina have been and continue to be the stewards of this land it is with gratefulness and with respect that we recognize the contributions Innovations and contemporary perspectives of the upper Cook Inlet denina thank you thank you Mr Martinez next we have minutes of previous meetings I would like to ask for a motion to approve the minutes from the special meeting of May 18th 2021 arpa and regular meeting of November 7 2023 so moved second moved by m alel seconded by Mr vand like to ask for unanimous any objection seeing and hearing none those items have been adopted next we have the mayor's report uh thank you Mr chair I believe that uh Mario bird Chief of Staff will be giving the report thank you Mr bird thank you Mr chair good evening everyone in the mayor's absence I'll be providing his report tonight first of all I'd like to highlight snowplow operations I want to recognize and thank the snowplow operators of the Municipality of Anchorage we're experiencing the snowiest winter on record and our Street Maintenance Crews have been working around the clock to make sure the snow is cleared from roads and sidewalks as quickly as possible after the November storms the mayor's office conduct an internal after Action meeting we discussed The Good the Bad and the Ugly it was a great information sharing session I was able to report back to the assembly and share our lessons learned during the special Enterprise and utility oversight committee meeting on December 6th and one of the main takeaways Mr chair was to continue to improve communication to the public about snow plying operations and to educate the public on a response plan and the expected timeline the mayor's office maintains constant communication with Street Maintenance and has been able to disseminate snow flying operation status updates to the public through social media and they've generally been well received the mayor has tasked the office of emergency management to put together a formal snow and ice emergency plan and that plan is expected to be complete by December 31st next I'd like to highlight the South Central mayor's energy Coalition last week the mayor announced the formation of the South Central mayor's energy Coalition this Coalition consisting of Mayors from communities across the South Central Region who will consider the energy needs of Alaska and explore options to meet those needs while assessing costs and the availability of Natural Resources primary goal of the Coalition Coalition is to be a voice for local governments and to maintain close communication with communities across our region utility companies and lawmakers as well and work together to address the natural gas production shortage the first formal meeting of this group will be scheduled for mid January following the start of the legislative session in Juno finally I'd like to highlight the upcoming mayor Citywide job fair our efforts to increase recruiting efforts of the municipality will culminate in the mayor hosting a city-wide job fair on January 12th at the denina center we're inviting all departments within the municipality to have a booth at the job fair free of charge and we've coordinated with easy Park to offer free parking to attendees we hope that by offering free free Booth spaces and free parking that participation is Equitable across Anchorage the goal is to streamline the hiring process by quickly vetting candidates with on thepot interviews and if applicable a conditional job offer we anticipate a large turnout and we look forward to this event that concludes the mayor's report thank you Mr chair thank you Mr bird so good evening everybody Welcome this is the last regular meeting of 2023 I'm glad to wish everybody a happy holidays and a happy New Year as well I hope everyone has a restful and joyous break over the next few weeks I know I am ready for a break it's a really packed agenda tonight and there are lots of people here for different agenda items so we'll do our best to keep the meeting on track and move efficiently through all the items we have to get done tonight on that note I would point out that there is an assembly code of conduct posted on the front doors and throughout the room this is a business meeting and we're here to do the work of the city I ask for all of your help in creating a climate of respect in the chambers we surely won't agree on all of the issues but in the end we are all still neighbors and working to make our community a better place that said all speak specifically there was an appearance request that was made and granted some have called it a special appearance request it is not that it is a code driven appearance that any member of our community can file for and if there is any business that the assembly has conducted in that Arena then the assembly isn't granted the opportunity to deny him that said any member of the public is welcome to file an appearance request and I would welcome that that item will come up later next I'd like to talk about a year in review I'll dive into my report by saying last week the assembly conducted our annual review and began setting out our work plan for the upcoming year as we reflect on the past year I want to thank all of the members for your incredibly hard work it's clear that each and every one of you care deeply about our community and are committed to make it a better place we can't do this work alone though I want to extend my thanks to the staff and the administration and our Community Partners and the public for supporting the work of the assembly and helping us craft legislation fund important services and hold our local government to account finally I want to thank the families of our assembly members you and the mayor's staff you didn't sign up for public service and yet you make great sacrifices of time and effort to support your loved ones in their work to represent our community next we have an election code update and election Observer hand update tonight an important item of note tonight is the annual update to the election code final step the title eight and the Observer also the Observer election Observer manual handbook this is something that happens every year and it's an important step in the process to make Anchorage the best vote and home jurisdiction in the United States we strive to review each election take feedback from the public and hear from experts so we can strengthen our elections more each year this year it took on especially important function because we had to run through a process to understand broadly what happened in relationship to allegations that the Ombudsman found of tampering with the election and I think this business tonight concludes that effort as we begin the process of opening the 2024 regular election that is happening through April 2nd on to the topic of the UTA River a few weeks ago we held a joint work session with the native Village of akuta the first ever in the history of our government to government relations I thank the native Village of akuta and auta ink for the informative and compelling presentations on why full restoration of the UTA river is such an important goal The Proposal that is currently before us from the owner group leaves just a Mile Stretch between the lake and the river unconnected that's not river restoration we can't just stop short of The Last Mile our meeting with the owners group was productive and I'm hopeful that we can get to a place of agreement in the near future and bridge that Gap so with a full agenda tonight I'll do my best to move us along so that we can conclude at a reasonable hour this is a business meeting and we are here to do the work of the people please help create a climate of respect in the chambers refrain from personal attacks and speaking out of turn shouting or clapping and pacing except when clapping for IND indviduals receiving recognition under the 10A section of the code keep signs to 8 and 1 half x 11 in please keep the aisles clear except when lined up to testify please also do not approach the dis if you have something to share with the chambers hand it to the clerk for distribution up here please do also do not approach the dis please stop speaking if the point of order is called so I may rule on the point of order and the record is clear if rules are not followed I may interrupt speakers to call for compliance if compliance through rules doesn't occur then I may pause the meeting and if there's an actual disruption I will give a warning I will note that we have out on the glass doors an affirmative notification to members of the public that if you're being disruptive you will be asked to leave that is considered a first warning if there's an EXA if the disruption persists or happens again the person will be asked to leave and if you're here to testify in a public hearing item when you come forward please state your name which part of town you're from and please stay on topic and direct comments to me or other people on the dies I'll interrupt if you're off topic it's helpful if testifiers provide comments on any proposed amendments you'll have three minutes and Community Council Representatives will have five thank you and now we'll go to committee reports Mr Myers nothing to report thank you Mr chair thank you Mr Martinez thank you share the last meeting of the community and economic development committee met on December 14th and the topics of discussion were uh preparation for the permitting and building season particularly focused on Staffing and particularly making sure we have enough staff uh in positions like inspectors and permit counters at this point we are severely understaffed and in preparation for the season that is a concern that our committee will continue to explore we also continue to have the discussions uh around uh local compliance with state regulations with respect to uh the marijuana ordinances and this particularly covers areas that the state has uh moved on with respect to uh drive-thru and samples um more uh information on those fronts are available on the community and economic development committee's website and I'd also just shout out that uh last week or so ago I had a chance to travel to a conference focused on Creative economy and this is an area that is really important to me uh as we uh look to making making sure we have other opportunities for growth in our community and I expect that we will continue to explore areas of of opening up the creative economy uh in our city through our committee so uh stay tuned our next meeting is in January and that those are all posted on the website thank you chair thank you Mr Rivera thank you Mr chair uh Ain the Alaska Municipal League conference uh was held December 6th through the 8th here in inage um overall it was very much a resounding success for Anchorage and I would say the entire State there were uh four resolutions that were passed that the two AML Representatives member Broly and I brought forward uh one of them was regarding housing another regarding homelessness a third regarding port and harbor infrastructure and a fourth regarding Behavioral Health three of those resolutions were the first time that AML has spoken about these issues in a comprehensive way um so it'll be great to have those resolutions come before um the legislature in the upcoming session I think even more successful than those resolutions we had a great showing of both assembly members and members of the administration at the conference uh AML staff and participants really took notice of that and I appreciate everyone who attended uh any part of the sessions held during that week uh thank you Mr chair thank you Mr ver M branga thank you chair uh Health policy committee met on December 6th we heard from Volunteers of America that talked about their program struggles with um their drug treatment program and Outreach to schools they have a Continuum of Care from preventional prevention to residential treatment and they are having difficulty with Medicaid uh reimbursements and funding for programs that are especially outpatient um where they can keep the teen in the home um they recently hosted a trauma and Ford camp at a local school that had had um some suicide and they were working with the kids in the aftermath of that um so they they do a lot for our community we also heard from the covenant house that is housing uh teens that are homeless and not in a safe place in their own home they are seeing three to five overdoses a week um fenol is uh definitely big time in town as you probably all have heard um they said that the change they're seeing is that these teens are seeking it out more than ever it used to be they may have got some fenol and they were surprised now they are seeking it out getting their um Narcan kit and going and using which is alarming they also talked about a drug called xylazine which is moving east to west and it is a GameChanger it's uh the Naran kits don't work to um reverse the action of that we also heard from the health department which has had lots of efforts probably in the wake of covid and just everything going on um and they have uh been working on efforts to attract and retain mainin their staff through um having a professional development company work with them staff development company called managing me and they're working on making changes in processes and onboarding and trying to make um just the employes feel more a part of the team there and that is all I have thanks thank you um Mr Johnson yeah thank you Mr chair uh the Enterprise and utility oversight committee uh met on December 6th and as Mr bird already touched on the topic of discussion was snowplowing um real quickly since I know this is a topic of interest for a lot of people I'd just like to remind you that if you want to find out more pres presentation materials and the recordings themselves are available on the assembly's website if you go down to committees just a couple high level takeaways uh from the meeting um first off thank you to the administration uh and the folks from Street Maintenance and state DOT who came out and talked through what happened with us um vacancies remains a serious issue at B both the state and local level that was certainly one issue that was highlighted state do has something like 70% of their mechanic positions unfilled um and then we still have 14 vacancies uh within the municipality and plow operations uh something that's been a topic of concern for the assembly and the administration we've taken I think some substantive steps to try and address that including amendments to the recent budget for 2024 and I believe we have an additional item on the agenda tonight uh to get to that but simply put when we all the people to dry the plows or fix the plows uh that affects our ability to respond despite the heroic efforts of The Operators and and the people out there doing the work um also want to touch on people expressed a lot of concerns to us about the delays uh especially in getting the neighborhoods cleared of snow during the big snow event back in November so Anchorage has a a kind of weird hodgepodge of responsibility when it comes to maintaining roads a lot of our roads are actually maintained by state DOT not just the sewart highway but a lot of the major arterials and their equipment is generally not well suited for clearing those neighborhood roads so what happened when we got that heavy snowfall is they asked the municipality to assist in clearing uh a lot of those major roads ali uh Northern Lights um handful of others the administration made the decision to go ahead and lend our equipment to help them with that response um that may have been necessary given the fact that those are important uh access roads then we need them for public safety reasons amongst others but the consequence was that is that the municipal equipment was not a available to go out and plow the neighborhoods um as quickly as they otherwise would have been and then what happened by the time they were able to get into the neighborhoods a lot of that snow had set up so jobs that would normally take six minutes like to clear a CAC we taking 12 minutes or more so when you start adding those things together the fact that it took us longer to get the equipment into the neighborhoods than expected and then once they got there it took them longer to deal with the snow than it normally would kind of all added up to to the fact that it just took us a long time to get it resolved uh during that snow event November um whether not is it just how it is or if we can do better I think remains a topic of conversation uh we need to continue to discuss what are realistic expectations and then make sure that we have the resources available to meet those uh and I'll leave it at that thank you Miss alel no report thank you Mr um cross nothing report chair Mr band no report thank you chair Miss broy yeah thank you um first thank you to member AA for giving the uh Alaska Municipal League report I just have a couple of brief uh reminders for committees uh first is that the budget and finance committee our last meeting of the year has been cancelled that would have been on Thursday December 21st so our next meeting will be Thursday January 18th 2024 12:10 p.m. City hall5 on our usual schedule uh similarly uh the legislative committee actually had our last meeting of the year on Wednesday December 13th we heard a briefing from our federal lobbyist blank roome about the port of Alaska funding federal budget and other legislation of interest and had an opportunity to ask some questions um the next uh meeting of that uh committee will be Wednesday January 17 2024 12:45 p.m. City hall5 where we will be hearing from our state lobbyist um presumably uh about upcoming session which also starts uh that that week the third week of January thank you thank you Mr salt thank you nothing to report Mr pres yes just a quick update let's see sorry um on uh on this week of December 21st from 4:30 p.m. to 6 o00 will be a meeting of the Anchorage Anchorage Equity Committee of the assembly um they'll be um addressing a couple of different items they'll be having a presentation from change lab legal analysis also a presentation from Alexis Johnson to discussing housing and homelessness in anry encorage um they'll also have a presentation from Trevor stores president of the Alaska children's trust discussing the prop 14 work on developing that with the the the assembly um I encourage the public to attend thank you thank you next we'll move on to the addendum to the agenda theend includes items that are added to the agenda and prepared by Friday before the assembly meeting and the assembly formally does this through a motion to incorporate the addendum but before we get to the addendum to the agenda we're going to address late on the table items which incorporate any late on the table items into the agenda so we do have number of laid on the table items at least eight at this time maybe more later several of them are new several of them are supplemental we'll take up the new ones first so a new laid on the table items at the time of the meeting requiring eight member vote to lay them on the table so first we have item 10 B6 resolution AR 2023-24 a resolution of the Anchorage assembly approving the continued temporary delegation of the acting director of The municipality's Office of Management and budget position to sharen lechner so lay on the table uh I would ask for a motion moved by Miss broy second seconded by Miss zelel um Miss zelel would you like to speak to why this time sensitive sure this is time sensitive because the confirmation for Miss lechner is on our agenda for tonight um and the request is to postpone it out aside of the initial 60-day time period so these two items have to write along um postponing the confirmation and the ordinance they have to ride together thank you any questions hearing I see none U members May proceed to vote the question shall this be laid on the table again it takes eight votes on the affirmative a vote of 12 to zero that item has been laid on the table next we have item 10 B7 unnumbered resolution a resolution of the Anchorage assembly providing further guidance on the mission critical pay appropriation for snow removal Miss move delay on the table Mo by Miss elel seconded by miss broy miss thank you um there's a deadline in this resolution that asks for Action to be completed by the 23rd of January so this is to create the longest runway possible for that action to be taken so is any discussion on this item hearing and seeing none members May proceed to vote the motion is to lay the item on the table on a vote of 12 to0 10 B7 has been laid on the table next we have item 10 G8 this is an ordinance being laid on the table AO 2023 un numbered an ordinance authorizing the competitive disposal of portions of Heritage land bank parcel 6011 6016 and 6017 legally described as track one Prince addition alasa Subdivision plat 87131 P 075 311 0400 track b gwood elementary school Subdivision plat 85- 38 P 075 031 32000 and track 9A section 9 Township 10 North range to East plat 73- 220 P 07504 13100 seey Investments LLC is described in the development agreement between the developer and the Municipality of Anchorage dated April 29 2022 and amend the Heritage land bank 2021 annual work program move to introduce and set the public hearing for January 9th second third moved by Miss alel second by member Ven and third by member cross next we have supplemental items I think the rest of them are supplemental so I'll just read them 13 A3 am unnumbered to a20 23- 112s an ordinance authorizing the disposal by Perpetual non-exclusive electrical easement to chash Electric Association Inc on portions within 10 Municipal Parcels legally described as a section 36 t13 n r3w p 007 32101 007 331 01 007 341 01 007 371 01 007381 01 Section 1 T12 nr3 WP 014 56101 014 591 01 014 60101 014 63101 section 12 T12 North R3 West P 0146 41-01 that item has been laid on the table next we have item 14 A2 ordinance number a20 23-1 129s an ordinance of the anchor Municipal assembly amending Anor Municipal Code section 23030 to clarify the authority of the assembly to manage its premises and resources that item has been laid on the table accompany is 1483 am number 10008 d223 next we have supplemental item 14 E5 assembly memorandum number am1 06223 ordinance number 2023 3- 81s an ordinance of the anchor Municipal assembly adopting the public naming panels unanimous recommendation to name the port of Alaska is daang Port of Anchorage then we have uh next item 14 that has been laid on the table item 14 E6 AO 223-8129 7- 2023 those items have been laid on the table and finally item 14 F5 information memorandum 238 D 2023 an ordinance the Anchorage assembly amending certain provisions of Anchorage Municipal Code title 21 to create a classification of residential development for three and four dwelling unit constructions apply the residential design standards for one and two family deels to such developments and conforming code amendments that is Del lay on the table procedure so now I'd like to ask for a motion to incorporate the adim as printed and distributed and a lay it on the table items so moved second moved by Miss zotel seconded by Mr Cross is there any objection asking for unanimous consent hearing no objection that item has been passed unanimously which brings us to appearance requests before we dive in I I'll read a little bit more next on the agenda are appearance requests appearance requests are an opportunity for members of the public to speak to an issue of relevance to the municipality that's not on the agenda the process for appearance request is outlined in AMC 23040 and the provisions limit the duration and frequency of appearance requests but with limited exceptions do not restrict the subject matter the speaker wishes to discuss in the particular case of a speaker tonight a speaker had specifically asked to appear to ask the assembly to pass a resolution addressing an issue of global concern therefore because the assembly has ained and re not so fre infrequently does aine on matters of global significance by resolution this request does not fall into one of the exclusions and the chair and the assembly do not have the discretion to deny this request simply because we disagree with the speaker's Viewpoint additionally at times appearance requests are used to express viewpoints that are controversial and sometimes even make disparaging remarks about other people or groups the Supreme Court has consistently held the political speech that the average person may find offensive discriminatory or bigoted nonetheless constitutes First Amendment First Amendment protected speech that may not be restricted by the government provided it does not rise to the level of obscenity or the threat of incitement of violence as such it is the duty of this body as much as we regret it to receive such testimony as we would that of any other citizen without interruption provided it conforms to the regulations we announce at the beginning of every meeting with the time place in manner of the testimony in other words the same rules apply to all public testimony regardless of the Viewpoint of the testifier now I've received recently email communication from a leader from local Jewish Community describing in detail threats that were levied upon their Temple and this week that were very violent in nature and I believe our community is a community that is welcoming and is at its best when we are looking out for our whole community so I do not have the right or authority to tell this person they do not have the ability to speak at this time and so Mr Patterson you have three minutes hello my name is Michael I'm an organizer with the party for socialism and Liberation thank you for the opportunity to speak even though it sounds like it really pains you to do it I speaking today because PSL Anchorage is asking the assembly to introduce a resolution expressing for support for a ceasefire resolution in Gaza approximately 20,000 people have been killed in Gaza thousands of children have been killed Gaza is being called a graveyard for children Millions have been displaced Israel is has deliberately targeted schools hospitals and utilities we are watching a genocide unfold in real time we have a unique responsibility as Americans and alaskans to speak up and demand a ceasefire the federal government not only bankrolls the Israeli Defense Force the federal government directly supplies Israel with Munitions our tax dollars are facilitating the ethnic cleansing of Gaza as alaskans we contribute approximately $7 million to the IDF via through our federal tax dollars Anchorage accounts for approximately three million of those dollars we are facing a moral crisis as a nation our national leaders have failed us and our state leaders have failed us we need our Municipal leadership to say something and do something because where the pandemic I think tested America's resolve and resilience and which we failed that test I think Gaza is a moral test for this country and I think we are failing very very seriously and the simple fact that even before I even got up here the chair tried to accuse me essentially of being anti-semitic and the group of being anti-semitic not once did I hear anything say about the 20,000 people who have been killed because you can watch videos of people losing their loved ones in real time this event in Gaza the genocide in Gaza is the single largest loss of life for un Personnel the UN General Assembly has passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire many cities across this country have called for ceasefire and the frankly you know if the attitude of the assembly is just to kind of say oh this is anti-Semitic I just think that's anti-democratic and frankly just lazy because the the the simple fact is that we have to do something we have to do something something and if you're all going to ignore what is happening right now I don't think history is going to judge you very well and at a bare minimum you need to introduce a resolution because I think as Citizens and residents of this city we need to know how you all stand on this issue on the public record you can't ignore hundreds of people in the city who have been calling for a ceasefire you can't ignore the fact that there are Palestinians that liveed here you all did something for Russia and Ukraine you did something but you're not going to do it now for Palestinians it's hypocrisy you all need to do something because you are moral leaders of the city expired a different topic next we'll hear from mattus Electric Association good evening my name is Sabrina Colmes I am with Madusa Electric Association uh this year mea's board of directors approved more than $3.2 million in general Capital Credit retirements to pay out the remaining Capital credits owed to the 1988 Co-op membership meaning that Capital credits were paid to me's longest standing members including the Municipality of Anchorage so I am very proud tonight to present a check to the municipality for $3,379 69 and thank you for being MAA members going thank you for coming Miss CS we appreciate you so next on the agenda Mr Baxter welcome where did my agenda go welcome please state your name what part of town you're from you'll have three minutes you have to hit the green or blue button to turn the mic on there you go I'm I'm William Baxter I'm from a Fairview area 133 Merra and I consider myself a foreign evangelist and Christian evangelist and uh I go around with these uh shirts and and do this and I think the the best thing to do is put them on on the People Mover buses stuff on the People Mover buses to encourage people and that and uh stuff like that I I do the lot of this and uh people love them and I think the buses should like like this and other things just to enh enhance the positiveness of of community okay that's about all I got to say thank you sir all right next we'll move on to the consent agenda the consent agenda items are number 10A through 10f and are typically routine or non-controversial items such as bid Awards new business information and reports and ordinances and resolutions for introduction items on the consent agenda may be accepted introduced or approved by the assembly by a single vote on a motion to approve the consent agenda prior to the approval items may be pulled by assembly member for discussion and separate vote on each of those items under the assembly rules of procedure all ordinances and some resolutions will have an opportunity for public hearing at a future date so we'll start with Mr Presa thank you Mr chair no items thank you Mr pres and Mr salt I'd like to pull 10 B1 and 10 Delta 5 all right that's 10 B1 and 10 D5 next uh Miss broley yeah thank you I'd like to pull 10 B5 and 10 d10 and that's it so that's 10 B5 and 10 d10 thank you Mr Bond No items thank you Mr chair thank you Mr Cross no additional items thank all right Miss alel thank you I would like to pull item 10 d11 and item 10 G7 and a apparently um I need to pull items 10d 15 and 10d 28 through 31 um and at this time may I please ask that the clerk an item oh that that's yeah associate item 10 f five with item 14b thank you td1 thank you next we have Mr Johnson no items Miss brona 10d 15 that was already pulled so um Mr Riva thank you no items all right and Mr Martinez no additional items Mr Meyers no additional items thank you chair all right so go through the list we have item 10B one Mr salt 10 B5 Miss Bry 10 D5 Mr salt 10 d10 Miss Bry TD 11 15 28 29 30 and 31 Miss allall and then 10 G7 did I miss anything 101 oh and 10 D1 sorry that's right 10 Mr const did you have me down for 10 D5 Delta 5 can I sorry can I change that to 10 Delta 15 oh that's pulled okay never mind okay so do you not want to pull 10 D5 no I do not okay so Mr chair y go ahead but your mic is off 10 D5 okay okay I'm going to go back through the list now just to make sure we're really clear so we have item 10 B1 Mr salt 10 B5 Miss broley 10 D1 Miss alel 10 D5 Miss branga 10 d10 Miss broley 10 D1 15 28 29 30 and 31 Miss alel and then 10 G7 melto is that right Mr Su sorry can I add 10 GF one sure okay anyone else last call uh no yeah no we're going to leave that one so um okay now I'd like to ask for a motion to approve the consent agend a minus the pulled items so moved second moved by m alel seconded by Mr Rivera I'd like to ask for unanimous consent is there any objection hearing and seeing none the consent agenda has now been approved Miss Broly thank you I'd like to uh lay an item on the table please title you're going to have to read the title okay um a resolution of the Anchorage assembly Anchorage Municipal assembly recognizing with gratitude our dedicated hardworking Municipal Workforce who keep our city working for the people second third so motion a motion to lay that unnumbered resolution which would be 10 A2 on the agenda has been made by Miss Bry and seconded by melal um is there any objection hearing and seeing none that item has been adopted so we'll take that one up first are there um any members of the executive staff here anyone at all emplo employees mun employees all of you please stand up come forward right up to the microphone now we're going to do something tonight that I don't think an assembly has done before so come forward all of you come on down come tight right in the middle that includes the chief that includes all the community workers Alexis you too come on down everybody be so uh as a body we really decided we want to tell you all who work every day in and day out that we really appreciate you and so we want this to go to you and through you to all of your staff it was laid on the table so now um I'm going to read the title AR 20234 36 a resolution of the Anchorage Municipal assembly recognizing with gratitude our dedicated hardworking Municipal Workforce who keep our city working for the people is there a motion to approve move to approve second second moved by Miss broley seconded by Miss alel I'd like to ask unanimous consent is there any objection hearing and seeing none okay so hold on we're going to get started now Mr Myers whereas was a snowy day in Anchorage and all through the town mun workers are working the best staff around from akuta to Girdwood from the mountains to the coast they keep our city running so we want to boast and whereas we got many departments and none are the same and each have great people too many to name let's stop to in let's stop in to see them one at a time and say thank you we're grateful and do it in rhyme and whereas we'll start with people mover our public transit team they keep things on schedule so bus riding is a dream if you're Transit curious just download their apps tickets right on your phone along with route maps and whereas next to the health department who looks out for us all with air quality to Clinic care vaccines and food stalls young babies to seniors every age in between people and animals public health for all is what they mean and whereas then a trip to the library where adventure begins find books music movies maybe even new friends if you've got a question asking a librarian is smart but it's not just about knowledge libraries have heart and whereas in all weather and season our parks and trails shine Parks and Recreation Works year round to keep them looking fine everyone has a favorite Trail there are many to choose but the best trail in Anchorage no question the moose and whereas we rely on Public Safety our fire and police keeping our streets and homes safe and keeping the peace when things get bad when we're hurt body or mind the mobile crisis and intervention teams are the best help you find and whereas speaking of streets we wouldn't make it far without M Ando that's maintenance and operations for those who don't know from snow plows to potholes maintenance takes work thanks to our great plow Crews when Nature's a jerk whereas if you've got something to build Elmore is the place to be planning Keeps Us on track toward the future we want to see development services and building staff ensure our homes are strong and with Community Development you really can't go wrong and when you're talking about lands real estate is the place home of Heritage land bank mun buildings and public space if you're thinking about transport how to get from here to there start with our traffic and project management engineers and whereas now downtown to City Hall and up to the eth floor the mayor's office welcomes with a smile and open door across the hall Municipal manager keeps everyone on task while management and budget tracks expenditures not a small ask and whereas on the topic of money we rely on our finance team skills dealing not just with this year's budget but paying all City bills managing savings writing contracts overseeing Bond sales from CFO to purchasing they keep our finances on the rails and whereas the City Works smoothly with professionals who help look to HR and IT who keep our people in Tech working well government runs with many rules so la lawyers are needed Municipal attorneys advise defend and ensure cases get completed and whereas we all know in govern government there's room to do better internal audit Keeps Us honest and tracks things to the letter the Equal Rights Commission is a champion for the fact we are equal equity and Justice Works to help the city listen to the people and whereas the port of Alaska keeps shelves stocked across the whole state and Solid Waste Services reminds us we must divert more waste Maro field connects Anchorage with places far and near while AO keeps us all healthy with water that's clean clear and whereas last but not least we'll visit the assembly Branch home of the clerk from elections to licenses meetings it's a lot of work legislative Services turns ideas into action supporting 12 of us the Ombudsman works for all of us to keep the Public's trust now therefore the Anchorage assembly celebrates all members of our Municipal Workforce who work every day to make our city a better place to live passed and approved by the Anchorage assembly this 19th day of December [Applause] 2023 you're all going to come down and grab you but I'm going for people there you go there's yours Transit hit Hub a special shout to Anna Broly who wrote that [Applause] thing want picture take pict that was great fix thank you since I had a picture someone's going have to stand to stand up there thank you thank you but wait there's more wait wait there's more hold on we ready over there hold on serenade for our Workforce got a mic right behind your head oh oh dear turn it [Music] on Still Still [Music] Still night C [Music] and the [Music] Virgin armold war and sa the Christ child holding still still still the might is cold and [Music] [Music] CH my [Applause] [Music] you my k [Music] dream dream [Music] dream the Savior King guard Angels watch beside him Mary tender will guide him dream he sleeps [Music] theor We wish you a Merry Christmas we wish you a Merry Christmas we wish you Merry Christmas and happy New Year good tidings we bring to you and your good tidings for Christmas and happy New Year now bring us theg ping now bring us the figgy ping now bring us the figgy ping C of good cheer we won go until we get we won go until we get some we won go until we get some so bring it out here good tidings we bring to you and we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year we wish you a Merry Christmas we wish you a Merry Christmas we wish you a Merry Christ Christmas and a happy New Year thank you uh to singers from the Anchorage Opera who came to help us tell our staff we're grateful for all that you do next up we're going to continue with the business we have item 10 B1 move to approve thank you moved by Mr salt second second seconded by Mr Cross there's an amendment move your Amendment like to move the amendment number one second moved by Mr salt seconded by Mr Cross Mr salt I'll defer Mr Cross Mr Cross pull it up real quick so um this amendment uh reinstates the paragraph on page 18 of the well it's not it's 18 in the B's handbook but in our P our packet excuse me just one second I want to get the amendment thanks Dan it's Pages 16 and 17 to retain the unchanged paragraphs uh that were strike through and then uh which would require is adding back in the uh the form uh on pages 39 and 40 so what we heard is from the election commission I think it's really important that we read and let me just go to this and pull up the election handbook that you read that paragraph essentially what it states is that if a complaint is found to be truthful and not properly addressed by un municipal clerk and has uh sign it's not significant ramifications but could overturn the outcomes of election that they would fill out that form it must be truthful and honest and it would go to the elections commission and I feel as if this is a very important oversight to have I believe the the municipal clerk although I I believe in our staff does work for the assembly they're hired by the assembly and therefore there may be seen that if the municipal clerk doesn't address this what must be a truthful articulated concern uh must be evidenced and it also must be um worthy of overturn election that they would they would be able to make their complaint known to the election commission I believe this is in parent I mean believe this is app parent and also vitally important to election transparency and I don't see that it benefit say to remove this this paragraph thank you m al thank you um I I'm not surprised to see this amendment after the discussion um at the work session where we invited the election commission as explained in the work session um when Mr hurt detailed the changes in The Observer handbook um this paragraph Was stricken from the handbook to bring us in alignment with code and so if there is the um intention to have this kind of process the better place to have that conversation is within the title 28 code rewrites because the handbook really does need to align with the processes set forth in code um and it's for that reason um that I won't be voting for this amendment um if um I hope members got a chance to listen to um that work session because we really did dig into um the things that are laid out in code and the intersection of code um to really be the guide um for how we deal with complaints and the timing of those complaints in the context of our elections thank you m broley yeah thank you um and I'm I am calling back to that uh work session but you know looking at this language again I'm just wondering in the current handbook it says if found to be true um but it wasn't resolved by the clerk I guess I still wonder you know what what standard is that being held to um I think the language that's in the handbook now seems to be unclear so I'm I'm not necessarily comfortable with keeping it in there um because as I understand it the the as as members zadel stated the process is that it goes to the assembly and then there's an investigation in which point we could you know give it basically back to the election commission to investigate further so it does feel like um it does feel like there's some problems with the way that this handbook was written um so I do not support this amendment Mr thank you Mr chair I would encourage support for this amendment because I think it's important to have an independent body uh which is what the election commission is now so they can review any any issues that may arise instead of sending it directly to the assembly um so anyway I would encourage support for it thank you anyone else on the amendment members May proceed oh Mr Cross yeah I just wanted to respond and so I guess my question would be uh if we amended code uh would you support it if the code stated would we would those individuals who are opposed to it support that change um I don't see anyone in the queue to answer that question but Mr bird has put himself in the queue thank you Mr chair um I just wanted to thank the um members Myers cross and so bring this amendment forward the the executive branch does feel like it's important to have uh the election commission play a role in elction complaints as you know Mr chair it is the um it's the purview of the assembly and the legislative branch to oversee elections it's clear in the charter we don't dispute that we do think that there is a role for the executive branch we also think that the fact that the election commission is confirmed by the assembly places a good balance of power over who goes on the election commission so I just want to reiterate that uh the executive branch um supports this amendment as well thank you m alel thank you um so I'm going to respond to Mr bird and then answer Mr cross's Question um you know I think we need to go back to where the charter puts us and where um the code puts us which is that the assembly is in charge of administering our elections there is not a role for the executive to play um Additionally the code really lays out quite clearly what the election commission um is supposed to do um and then to answer Mr cross's questions I don't know because I don't know how it would be framed in code however I do see there is a title 28 change in the making perhaps where um those um administ those complaints not specifically related to what would be reviewed through canvas um some of those process complaints like we talked about at the work session I can see an opportunity that within the closure of an election for those complaints um to be affirmatively reviewed by an election commission and that their recommendations and results of that review be brought to us for further title 28 process consideration and that and to do that right on the heels of an election instead of waiting until we take it up later so it's fresh in their minds um and they can really then I think carry out a number of their roles in that way um that are already um enumerated in code which is to advise us I think where we we run into in a problem is if you just blanketly say the election commission can take up any complaint that arises but then they don't advise us when we make title 2 eight changes there's a disconnect between the processes so possibly depending on how you try to marry the processes um in an actual code change thank you anyone else the Amendments before us members May proceed to vote that Amendment fails 3 to n next we have the main motion before us anyone wish to speak to it hearing seeing none members May proceed to vote on a vote of 9 to3 AR 2023 d423 has passed the body next we have item 10 B5 10 B5 oh miss alel thank you um I see that we have some uniformed officers here um so I would like to go ahead and change the order of the day to take up item 14d the um collective bargaining agreement with apda second so there's a motion to change the order of the day to take up item 14 moved by Mr alel and then seconded by Mr vau I think I restated your motion that works so um is there any objection to the motion uh 14d yeah so the reason for the motion is because there uniform officers who are otherwise on shift who um would be represented by that contractor are here to participate or hear our conversation thank you okay so why don't we go ahead and members May proceed to vote on the motion to change order of the day on a vote of 12 to zero the order of the day has been changed we'll now take up the public hearing for item 14d 14 AR 2023 405 a resolution approving the administrative agreement AA 20232 between the Municipality of Anchorage and the Anchorage Police Department employees Association regarding a collective bargaining agreement extension public hearing on this item is now open anyone wish to be heard come on down if you want to be heard Now's the Time welcome please state your name on part of town you're from we have three minutes it's on yeah hello my name's Terry Drake just one question tonight why do we have on Duty Officers here to listen to this why are why are they not out on the streets welcome please state your name what part of town you're from you'll have three minutes Dustin Darden I uh I urge the body to move to uh delay this agreement between the uh Anchorage Police Department employees Association and the company in which uh the corporation which I fund the municipality of ancorage for various reasons first and foremost uh as a shareholder of the Municipality of Anchorage myself and many others were disenfranchised through the chair through the clerk in the election which you were just speaking about and last April when individuals included myself Mr D I have to kind when individuals included myself hold on Mr D this is about the Anchorage Police Department employees Association collective bargaining agreement so I'm going to have to ask you it's public hearing to speak on that topic the funding for the Anchorage Police Department comes through monies that you take from my taxes in which I'm a shareholder of I'd appreciate if you stop interrupting my brief amount of time in which I have to express my first amendment constitutional rights to petition my government for redress grievances Mr D I'm going to remind you a second time that this is a public hearing the clock has stopped public hearing on this resolution so please tailor your comments to this resolution you have officers right now that work for APD who had a $9 million lawsuit against them by David nordland David nordland was assaulted he was stunned gunned in the face he fell on the ground he filed a $250,000 $250 million in the state court he appealed it to the federal courts he was a grand he was Alaska grand jury Rights Association member out on the ground and you want to tell me when he had two named APD defendants the Municipality of Anchorage and APD that he mysteriously died as APD was refusing Discovery this is a corrupt event and everyone involved is going to be exposed I you to look up David nordland versus Municipality of Anchorage and to stand up against these tyrants who continually assault our ability for redress and Justice welcome please state your name what part of town you're from you'll have three minutes oh five minutes yeah good evening and thank you uh for letting me talk first of all I am grateful and I mean grateful for our police department and our fire department uh you were all up here earlier this afternoon and we had a another big fire in the park that's the fourth big fire in a couple of weeks um I am Chris stoner I'm president of the Midtown Community Council and I support ar202 3-45 and I'm asking you to also support it the uh mtcc has been hit with a huge uptick and cream and crime since April of this year when the Sullivan was closed and people needed a place to camp we can substitute we can substantiate $1 million in theft and vandalism from April 15th to the 1st of July we would estimate that there has been another million dollar in D damage and theft since that time we feel this AR would help with the retention of our trained officers thus keeping more of them on the street to combat crime we currently have more officers leaving the department than we can hire to replace them with I want to talk about crime a little bit and consequences of crime the mtcc board wants criminals arrested and prosecuted not because a person is homeless but because they're criminals when criminals are walking free and continuing with their misdeeds the entire homeless population can be judged negatively because of the actions of a few bad apples this summer The National Archives Camp had a vehicle chop shop until a car burned and then those working with the Chop Shop they lost their tools and parts I know of two large bicycle chop shops that did business in the camp hard drugs large amounts of alcohol are consumed in the area abuse of women occurs in the camp offic and fire department employees react to one or more calls daily to the issues in this camp we have a gang operating and controlling the camp they prey on the campers sell drugs buy the stolen goods and a part of a criminal element that controls this Camp I've been told not not to walk in certain areas of the camp because of the gang this does not scare me it infuriates me the idea that I cannot walk in a public park because of a gang is wrong and we need to fix it we need more officers patrolling the street and working against the criminal element that has taken over this area AR 20 23-45 will provide raises to our officers and hopefully work toward Wards better retention of those valuable APD employees and thus lower the rate of crime please support this AR thank you thank you thank you thank you welcome um I think we probably could give you five minutes since you're in charge of an organization but if three minutes we do that's what we'll give you your call thank you uh good evening my name is Daryl Evans I'm a sergeant with the Anchorage Police Department and I'm the president of the Anchorage Police Department employees Association I would just like to say that uh this agreement in front of you has been reached in good faith between the administration and the apdea it has uh been overwhelmingly ratified by our membership and I would appreciate your approval on this uh our biggest goal when we went to negotiations was to improve in recruiting and retention uh it's our number one goal uh right now we are down 42 sworn officers and 19 non-sworn so this agreement before you uh is a good start to that recruiting and retention issue that we have um I've already been contacted by some of our members that have said that they were thinking about retiring in the next year and now they're thinking about staying longer so hopefully the uh the retention uh part of it will uh that will start to play out so I appreciate your time uh again uh our m membership is in favor of this uh of this agreement and I hope that all of you are as well thank you thank you anyone else wish to be heard anyone at all seeing and hearing none public hearing of this item is now closed what's will the body move to approve second motion to approve by Miss alal seconded was that Mr Myers seconded by Mr Meyers so I'll just briefly tell members new members um as a collective bargaining agreement we have no right to amend this we only have the right to vote Yes or no and um if it if we vote no then it goes back and Lord knows what process the Labor Relations team has to go through to discuss this but if it's yes then it's affirmed and it goes into effect so we don't have the authority to make any amendments so miss alone thank you Mr chair um I just want to speak briefly to this um one is this is the kind of Collective baining Agreement I want to see brought not just with apda but with a number of our bargaining units across the municipality it's no surprise and it's no secret we have a huge Recruitment and Retention problem and only by really showing that we value the employees of this m municipality will we be able to stop um the outmigration of employees that we've had um and two um I want to thank the membership uh for passing the additional guidance specifically as to this contract I think that that was helpful um you know we passed we've passed General guidance that General guidance I don't believe has been updated since covid um but as we have the opportunity to put more specific guidance tailored to the type of work and the type of incentives that will achieve our goals of employee retention and recruitment I think we should be looking at doing that the window is often very narrow for that but I I think it's worth um getting those ideas out for um both the administration um and the um bargaining units to consider so I am happy to approve this tonight and again I hope we see additional agreements like this that really take into account what is necessary to make sure we have a robust and experienced Workforce thank you Mr Rivera yeah thank you Mr chair echoing similar comments to miss zotel I'm happy to support this item um but I also think that we need to take a broad perspective and I feel like we're doing that uh with the municipal wide Workforce study that we funded through the budget um until the administration goes through that process completes that Workforce study goes through various um bargaining agreements and uh administrative agreements with all of the collective bargaining units um I'm fine going with a pacem maail effort that prioritizes our first responding uh first responder agencies like APD the fire department um Street Maintenance and the Anchorage Health Department in my opinion those all um our departments that need some love right now thank you anyone else seeing hearing none members May proceed to vote on a vote of 12 to Z AR 2023-24 as pass the body congratulations Mr Evans so we'll roll back in the agenda now to 10 B5 wait 10 yeah 10B as in bravo 10 B5 resolution AR 223-4325 Mr Rivera Miss broley yeah thank you and uh bear with me I just have a few brief remarks um about the plan so thank you thank you to everyone for engaging in this process from the foundation laid last year in 2022 with the assemblies uh taking action on both broad policy and specific actions uh policy actions as well as thank you to the many conversations that our community has engaged in um around our critical housing shortage this short plan is jam-packed with the direction we've set to address our housing problems and a robust menu of actions for us to continue working on into the next year planning and action must go hand inand to accomplish our goals and our Comm should feel good that we're working hard to do both with this plan as the assembly's guide for the work ahead um I want to briefly touch on a few themes of feedback things that you won't see in the draft but that um some folks commented on uh the first one was that people wanted more uh more in the plan about how housing relates to the rest of the community so things like our jobs Transportation Etc um so I want to acknowledge these topics are really important many of them are addressed in our comprehensive plan in our transportation plans other local plans our uh uh economic strategy so there's a lot of places really where we talk about other other ways that that they all Impact each other but this is really focused on housing the second theme is that there was a lot of folks excited around around getting from the what to the how so getting into the specifics talking about code changes we need to make and that's really great I love the energy um for this plan we're trying to keep the plan simple and the actions high level um but it's really great that people want to jump in and work on the details so that's really where we're going and and what we're already working on doing um so please stay engaged the third one is there was some healthy skepticism about some of the actions so I just want to acknowledge you know we don't agree all agree on everything and there's going to be robust discussions about these um some of the wording we did change so that it wasn't you know saying specifically we're going to take this step or or this is the answer but we really need to work on all of these things together so we don't want to take ideas off the table but this plan will be a living document um and it will I anticipate that some pieces of it will change lastly I want to briefly address a comment that we um have gotten and I know that comes up over the years in planning and that's really the reference to the phrase maintain neighborhood character so I wanted to really ex um talk about that one specifically uh that you will not see in this plan it is a common term in planning it's and it sounds comforting really you know you want your neighborhood to remain a nice place to live but also that same phrase has been used um to justify policies that restrict property rights slow down or stop new development and really push back on change in the built environment so I don't support adding this to the plan and here's why first the nature of cities is that they change the built environment changes we can make policies that support and enhance our quality of life but if we don't allow our community to involve and grow it will stagnate we can't regul regulate ourselves to stay the same forever second as I mentioned this phrase has been typically used when talking about quote unquote nice neighborhoods where people with enough resources can afford to live but all neighborhoods have character so when we say that we want to maintain character are we also asking neighborhoods that many in our community perceive as disadvantaged disinvested in need of revitalization do we want them to also maintain their character when some people say we want our neighborhood to stay the same it sounds like they're also saying and those poor neighborhoods those we tell other people to avoid maintain that character too and I don't really think that's that's the direction that we want to go certainly neighborhoods should not look the same but we also have to allow for the idea that they will change over time and positively reflect the people who live there so thank you for the opportunity to uh mention that and again thank you so much for those who worked on the plan and looking forward to continuing the conversation you Mr rera yeah all right uh thank you Mr chair um yeah I want to as Miss uh member broy did I just want to thank everyone for all of your uh efforts regarding the plan it was a great collaborative effort um you know I think we have done a lot of great work with regarding to housing over the years um it is absolutely been a priority of this body no doubt now with the adoption of this plan the hopeful adoption of this plan uh we can share a Clear Vision and direction that we will as a body possibly consider for our housing work over the next couple of years and I think that's important for us to be able to communicate that with the public um I'm most excited for the expansion of our scope and way of thinking about housing to include affordability retention and other similar ideas that Focus Less on the technical aspects of title 21 and title 23 but are just as important in my opinion not that we aren't focused or haven't been focused on those things in the past but I think this plan says that we're going to be doing this work in a very holistic and intentional way um so I am absolutely in support of adopting the plan today and I hope everyone is get is ready to get to work thank you anyone else not see anyone else in the Que um members May proceeded to vote on a vote of 12 to Z AR 2023-24 has passed the body next we have item 10 D1 am 957-2220 a motion by melel to postpone to Jan January 22nd February 27th February sorry February 27th seconded by Mr Rivera M zelel thank you um so we passed an item under the consent agenda already 10 Bravo 6 that was the um resolution that was laid on the table which basically extends the time period in code um and the whole intent here is to give us a chance to meet and confer with Miss lechner um she had some leave early on um in the first 60 days and she's really expressed her wish to ensure that we get the opportunity um to meet with her so um this will give us plenty of time to do that um especially outside of the intense budget process um and then bring her confirmation back before us on the 27th thank you anyone else hearing and see none members May proceed to vote the motion is postpone to the meeting February 27 on a vote of 11 to1 that item has been postponed we'll be back before February 27th next we have item 10 D5 TD5 is am 96122 Watershed and natural resources advisory commission Lee Cruz Miss brona I pulled this one um Mr Cruz so okay we actually need move to approve sorry second thank you very much You' think I'd start getting that now that's okay you will takes time okay so I my understanding and I may have this wrong too that the commission appointments should be someone who has technical qualifications in the field and I'm not seeing where uh Mr Cruz's qualifications are it he's got a lot of banking he's got a a lot of uh Oil Company type work but as far as aquatic resources Creek restoration fish passage hydrology I'm not seeing that and it's that's a little bit concerning to me so that is why I wanted to look at this closer could you put that in the form of a question does Mr Lee have qualifications in hydrology Creek restoration fish passage and Aquatic resources Mr bird through the chair thank you perfect through the chair to member branga uh thank you for the question so um no I don't believe he has qualifications in hydrology however he does have qualifications in natural resources and that is part of uh the the tile of this commission he served previously with the 49th Angel state board and I I understand that although we were thinking that board was going to Sunset it may not as soon as we uh perceived he would like to continue his Service as a board and commission member and with his natural resources background U he applied for this seat he also has a financial background um and we thought it would be a nice compliment to the board as it as it uh currently is composed I believe of um of the sort of expertise that uh member brong has already brought up Mr chair thank you miss branga that was your question you okay with that thank you all right so miss broy yeah thank you and I appreciate the uh natural resources background um however I have the same concerns as Miss branga um because really what this commission deals with as I understand it would be issues like um Wetland drainage issues and it's really a technical Advisory board so I think there is value in having a diversity of experience and perspectives on boards but I think it's also important that when they have a technical function um that we are looking to use the expertise in our community thank you Mr Myers thank you Mr chair I know Mr Cruz he lives in Eagle River so he's a constituent of Kevin and myself um I would just encourage your support for him on this board I know him to be incredibly sharp and and well studied and I think he would do a great job right anyone else you see none members May proceed to vote Mr salt you can you say out loud and I will yes thank you on a vote of 8 to4 a 96122 3 is pass the body next we have item 10 d10 assembly memorandum am 96722 3 Soul Source contract with blankrome government relations LLC BRGR for lobbying Services miss brona or Miss broy move to approve second moved by Miss broy seconded by Miss alil um Miss broley yeah thank you um I had pulled this one actually I think for similar reasons I see there's a amendment that is along the same lines of thinking so maybe we dispatch with that as first can want to go and move the amendment someone sure uh move constant amendment number one second so Amendment moved by Miss alel seconded by Mr vand Miss alel yes this amendment conditions the assembly's approval of this contract um on a minimum of twice per year briefings to the assembly in person or via video conference and this can be accomplished at a work session our committee meeting this is really to ensure that um as that any lobbyist working for the municipality works for the full municipality and that we're fully briefed um in addition it requires a regular submission of a detailed written report describing the efforts and activities undertaken on behalf of the municipality due on the 15th of each month again so that we are well aware of what our lobbyists are doing thank you Miss Bry yeah thank you um when I read the original um well first I support this amendment when I read the original memo um I noticed that there was not an explicit reference to both the administration and the assembly in that memo in contrast to uh the next one that that will be taking up I believe after this and so originally I was going to amend um to include that but I actually believe that this is a much stronger uh set of language so I support it thank you anyone else hearing seeing none members May proceed to vote on the amendment on a vote of 12 to Zer the amendment has passed now we have the main motion before us any discussion hearing and seeing none members May proceed to vote on a vote of 12 to zero am 96722 3 as amended has passed the body next we have item 10 d11 AM number 969 d223 Soul Source contract with legislative Consultants LLC for professional lobbying Services U Miss alel move to approve second who is the second Anna Miss Bry okay moved by Miss Cel second by Miss bar Sal thanks move Conant amendment number one second so we have an amendment before moved by Miss zotel seconded by m Broly any discussion um just briefly Mr chair this is an amendment very similar to the one um before so it just ensures that we're well aware of what's Happening um as well as being able to ask questions and provide direction thank you all right any discussion hearing seeing none members May proceed to vote on the amendment on a votee of 12 to zero the amendment is passed now we have the main motion any discussion H seeing none members May proceed to vote on a vote of 12 to0 am 969 d223 as amended has passed the body next we have item 10 D15 go ahead Miss alel thank you um item 10 D15 um deals with the Anchorage Coalition and homelessness of which I'm the executive director I believe I have a conflict and as well as 10 D28 through 10 D31 they are part of a unified funding proposal that was put forward by the encorage coalition to end homelessness and these entities um as a package in the alcohol tax so with that I would ask to be excused for those items there's determination you do in fact have a conflict on this item and you excused from this as well as items 10 D 28 10d 29 td30 10d 31 so now before us we have item 10 D15 again am 972223 Grant agreement with the Anchorage Coalition and homelessness for year round Outreach Services is there a motion move to approve move second by Miss Broly seconded by Miss branga anyone wish to discuss the item Miss branga so I just had a question on um the we're moving potentially a lot of people into permanent supported housing and I was wondering about the street Outreach and if this should be going down somewhat um because we plan to have less people in camps and I I also and I did not get with Miss Johnson to ask her the question that I know the health Department themselves does outreach and you know as we are seeing less people in camps possibly the health department could fill the role um or volunteers so anyway I just was wondering if we should be seeing this get smaller is Miss Johnson in the house it's okay maybe Mr Rivera uh yeah thank you Mr chair um so I can speak to it from my perspective as the chair of the housing and homelessness committee um so Street Outreach is going to be a very critical component of the housing work um in fact uh I think Miss Johnson did state that um we are going to attempt to mirror some of the work that Houston did with regard to moving folks directly from encampments to housing and in order to make that successful you have to have robust Street Outreach so I I believe it is a critical component of the work perhaps in future years we can look at lowering that number once the total number of people experiencing homelessness that are unsheltered reduces but I think for at least a few years that's going to be important for us M broy yeah thank you um I'll just briefly speak I I support this and um yeah I think I think we certainly are seeing good news that there are folks moving from from being outside being on the street into housing as well as shelter into housing but I think it's important to understand Street Outreach is really a trust building exercise um I have not personally engaged in it but I'm very aware um that that it involves you know having learning somebody's name um going back a few times and really helping them it's it's not just that you can get somebody to suddenly trust the government that maybe has has done them wrong for a long time through OCS or through Corrections or other systems and so it's really important to understand that it does take time and it's important to keep um our you know not our staff right but it's important to keep staff and in those positions so that you can maintain that relationship because that's really what helps somebody be successful um and helps them kind of take that next step and then eventually becomes more independent and so I think it is really important and it's really important to acknowledge how much of the relationship building um it feels you know squishy but it really is such an important part of our social services thanks Mr pres thank you just want to voice my support as well and and to say that that um in looking at models outside of Alaska this is always a core to a successful um strategy for addressing uh houselessness and housing in in a community and so having a robust Outreach system having a strong data system those are those are just core things that we we can't re redo each year we've got to build them we've got to invest in them and make sure that they're getting better and better if we're going to begin to solve this this this challenge in front of us so I urge your support Mr Martinez thank you chair I also want to Echo this the uh the call for supporting this particular item I wanted to just describe an ecosystem of support and similar to the way uh member broy just described building those relationships and trust is not just about one point in time and the intervention at one particular moment it's about really building from the street level that relationship to uh vulnerable populations and a trusted person who will be the entry point into a Continuum of Care so uh I hope that we see less numbers in the street I hope that we have less uh bad activity happening and I hope that we have more housing and more advancements of of Pathways of dignity but at this point I don't think that we're in any position to pull back on Outreach funding I want to make sure that that funding is in place for the coming season and uh and so I want to just echo my support as well thank you chair all right Mr call thank you Mr chair I just wanted to note that Miss Johnson is available if members had questions regarding what Mr Rivera said in initial response to that question thank you thank you Mr salt thank you appreciate it so I've spoken with um some um shelters in car springs and one of the things they talked about was how to address homelessness through trans transactions you know nothing's free you're going to you're going to give us something in return and sometimes that's just your real name it's about building incentives for people to get off homeless homeless get out of homelessness um again kind of nothing's free concept and about Partnerships and relationships that we've heard here a lot working with other nonprofits which AC is that Central group that we've picked to bring all the nonprofits the community together to make our response also we recently heard from Houston about all their decisions are data driven and that's one thing um a manages our hmis system as well as these Outreach programs are critical to Gathering that data updating ensuring it's accurate thanks thank you Miss brona again I just want to clarify that I do support Street Outreach I'm just wondering when the pivot level is that this starts to go down a little and I think the community wants to know that too I would just note that um we used to live in a time and a place where these Services were provided by volunteers and um they never met the mark and having skin in the game is the answer um and ideally we do refine and reduce when we can where we can um but I would not ask our health department staff who are chronically understaffed to be doing this work there's probably the highest level vacancy of the munity right there right now and we're trying to fix that and then volunteers it takes a very rare amazing person to successfully navigate The Challenge of going out into the place where vulnerable people are concentrated and encamped it's not it's not for the weak at heart it's not for the Casual Day Tripper it's definitely if if I were to say it's for someone who has Insurance to do that kind of thing um because it's high-risk work and so um for me I'm strongly supportive of us funding a robust Outreach program until such a time as we do see really see the results which I believe we're going to see soon so anyone else here I see none members May proceed to vote on a vote of 11 to0 0 am 972223 is passed the body next up we have item 10 D28 10 D28 is am 99022 3 Grant agreement with Catholic Social Services for complex care shelter operations for the Municipality of Anchorage Anish Health Department um so this one was pulled by melel is there a motion move to approve second moved by Mr Rivera seconded by Miss broy so I've asked um an amendment to be passed around it's coming your way once you have a chance to read it I'll move constant Amendment one thank you second who is a second okay so member Rivera moves and uh member Wallin seconds the amendment um do you want to speak to it Mr R uh yeah thank you Mr chair I appreciate you putting this amendment forward for this item as well as 10 Delta 31 um this uh basically puts in some policy parameters very similar to the policy parameters in our prior Appropriations dealing with um The Benchmark of optimal maximum stay of 90 days and hmis and coordinated entries as really Hallmarks of our emergency cold weather shelter system to make sure that it's a housing first Focus system thank you all right so Sor so um there is an amendment on the floor any more discussion of the amendment hearing and seeing none members May proceed to vote on the amendment on a vote of 11 to zero the document is amended now we have the main motion before us anyone wish to speak hearing seeing none members May proceed to vote on a vote of 10 to1 AM 99022 3 as amended as pass the body next we have item 10 d29 AM 991 d223 Grant agreement with Covenant House alasa for youth day shelter services for the Municipality of Anchorage move to approve second moveed by Miss broy seconded by Mr Rivera any discussion hearing seeing none members May proceed to vote and a vote of 11 to0 am 991 d223 has passed the body now we have item 10 D30 am 992-2238 move to approve second moveed by Mr Rivera seconded by m broley any discussion hearing seeing none members May proceed to vote on a vote of 11 to zero am 992-2238 am number 993-2025 grant agreement with Catholic Social Services for Brother Francis shelter operations there a motion move to approve second moved by Mr broy second by Mr Rivera I'll go ahead and move constant amendment number one second a motion to amend by Mr Rivera second by Mr Bry any discussion it's the same motion as before the previous item okay okay anyone wish to discuss hearing see none members May proceed to vote on the amendment a moot on vote of 11 to zero that item is amended now we have the main motion before us any want discuss the item here and seeing none members May proceed to vote on a vote of 10 to one am 993-2025 as amended has passed the body next we have we can welcome back Miss Al till next we have item 10 one second second 10 G1 by Randy next we have item 10 G1 motion to approve second move to introduce move to introduce thank you second is there a third third third okay nothing happen so who moved it Randy moved by Mr salt who seconded zotel and third was Daniel Mr band okay okay next we have item 10 G7 AO number 20 23-36 in ordinance the Anchorage Municipal assembly amending building codes at Anchorage Municipal Code chapter 23.10 Anchorage Administrative Code 2018 addition to allow optional independent plan review of structural design for commercial building permits move to introduce and set the public hearing for January 23rd second third motion by Miss salel second by Miss Broly third by Mr Rivera okay that I believe concludes our consent agenda so at this time we will go ahead and take our regularly scheduled break we'll be back in approximately 20 to 25 minutes e e e e e e e e e e all right welcome back everybody we'll go back on the record now we now have before us item 11a a 11a AO 223-225 S as amended in ordinance of the Anchorage assembly amending Anchorage Municipal Code 830 offenses against public order to expand the scope of criminal activity punishable as an election violation and to insert a new section 8301 190 codifying the offense of tampering with the public record in the third degree public hearing was closed on 125 2023 Miss alel moved to approve second by Miss broley amended 12520 20 23 action postponed from 125 motion to approve is on the floor Miss zotel thank you uh question for Council um my our my understanding was we postpone this item so that um assembly and legislative Council had the chance to confer with um Municipal Department of Law um were there any in that conversation were there any suggestions changed to the proposed ordinance or any problems that needed to be taken up thank you uh through the chair uh no the uh the well uh yes we did have the opportunity to meet with the Department of Law and know there were no changes identified at that meeting we met with both uh the municipal attorney and uh the attorneys from the prosecutor's office Mr uh Pearson and um there were no proposed amendments and now that the municipal attorney's here um I'm would defer to her to confirm that there's there's no issue with this that we saw from our side thank you um if Miss hler would like to also answer I just asked if you all had a chance to confer on 11a and if there were any proposed changes being brought forward thank you through the chair thank you yes uh attorney herd and attorney Dean Gates met with our office and our municipal prosecutor and we had determined that um there were no changes necessary thank you So based on that information Mr chair I would just like to uh recommend to the body to approve the item thank you all right thank you and would note that this item was substantially amended at the last meeting it took out one half of the effective action so this is only relating to the the tampering with public records so anyone else hearing seeing none members May proceed to vote on a vote of 11 to1 AO 223-225 S as amended has passed the body next we have AR 223-4201 Ben bokei DC Anderson Ice Arena capital reserve account revenues with the Anchorage Bowl Parks and Recreation service area Capital Improvement funds 461 800 for repair replacement maintenance and improvements of the Ben bokei and Dempsey Anderson ice R is the office of the municipal m manager action was postponed from 12:5 with no motion pending move to postpone to the meeting of 1 n uh per the chair's request thank you second so a motion to postpone by Miss elel and seconded by Mr B if I I'll speak to it briefly just that I'm almost there with the information that I need I'd requested a detailed Ledger of expenditures for repairs at the Sullivan about um which have been um on us which should be on the other party who has the the use agreement that was authorized and I was Grant I was given the list but the list didn't have any dates of when the work was done or when the appropriation was made and they said they would get it back to me soon so a list of expenditures without dates as meaningless when you have an agreement that moves from July 1 2023 forward and so these expenditures were all from back as far as 2022 so just waiting for a little bit more info Mr Cross and do we know if this delay in repairs or putting out for bid is going to have significant impacts on the ice usage and ice time for this season or next what are what are the unintended consequences of the delays in getting the work done I don't know where Mr Co is Mr brff around neither well would have been nice to know yep Mr salt yeah similar question just sounds like the way you worded it the the repairs have been largely already done it sounds like uh was different kind of a different facility but Mr Co the question is um if we wait until the 9th of January so I can receive the spreadsheet with the dates instead of just the spreadsheet is it going to have a major impact on bokei and Dempsey and then if I may chair go ahead uh through the or to the chair rather I guess um there are some items that we would consider critical the doors are broken the front the main doors need some repair work um so that's causing some some security and other efforts for uh M Ando so our our our preference would be to have it go tonight thank you and um I know that you got I'm sorry Mr chair I know that you got at least a partial response and then asked for more information I believe that m is working on it I don't know when that'll be delivered thank you yeah it wasn't that I asked for more information I asked for the information I asked originally for but I received part of the information that I had asked for in advance six weeks ago so okay so if I may follow up then just based on that information I I would prefer to just to vote on it and pass it I mean what it looks to me doing is we're we're micromanaging Kent here and the purchasing department in order to get the Ben bokei repairs done so we can see every repair that's been done by our our tenant under their lease or by the municipality and the Capital Improvements that's required Under Our obligation under the same lease and so I mean I'm I mean I trust that we have a purchasing department and we have a municipal manager there for a reason I don't want to hold this up anymore knowing that it needs doors and it's the hockey season while we just you know I guess while we just sit here and do their job job for them so I have myself in the queue Mr conon thank you I'm I'm not attempting to do their job I'm attempting to do my job which is to understand who's paying for What whose responsibility it is and what's actually happening and I don't know how we can continue to operate a municipality if when basic information is requested that should just be accountable and ex exportable it has to be generated and then it's generated but it's not complete and then weeks go by and so I'm not trying to do the manager's job I'm just I don't have many levers to pull when it comes to getting information and one of them is to say we can't approve this until we get the information we need so we can have a full and complete understanding um this is a small potato item I know that it needs to get done um it doesn't break my heart if it passes tonight but it's just a part of a recurring pattern where I get maybe the information months later maybe partial information and then I'm made to look like the bad guy for trying to get the actual information so um it's hard to square that it's not me trying to do their job it's me trying to do my job and being hampered Mr Coes excuse me thank you Mr chair I I um I guess I would offer my apologies that the information that was provided wasn't complete um I know that M department is aware of the your following requests clarifying or reiterating what you were asking for I know they're working on it now I also know that that although it sounds like an excuse that department as the others as our others are very busy um but I will revisit with them the need to um provide this additional information to make your initial request complete thank you thank you m broy yeah thank you um and I appreciate I know these two uh facilities or at least one of them is in West Anchorage and um that there's a lot of folks who um use the the Dempsey for example I guess my question um probably to Mr kese would be um if this is approved and then and then you know the the worst um concerns of Mr constant are are true which is that you know the municipality is for example paying things that the contractor should pay then what recourse do we have and I by I don't mean we the assembly I mean the municipality to make sure that the agreement is being followed through the chair to M to member Broly I my recollection is that the chair is asking for information on the Sullivan Arena I believe that's correct um so this is the Dempsey and the bokei um I mean I we have um we have facilities folks and um others who manage the contracts and and oversee the operators I mean I think if we discovered that work was done that was more appropriately the responsibility of the operator as opposed to the minicipal we'd go to the operator and and correct that Miss alel thank you um you know I support the postponement because it feels like we get incomplete information and then it's just too little too late um I I appreciate that we could go to operator and ask or something but frankly the whole Ben bokei Dy Anderson Ice Arena and Sullivan Arena um deal for me is under a a bit of a a black cloud um it was an agreement that you know only through our taking a closer look at it got fixed in a manner that didn't really um put the municipality in a position where it would be paying substantially um I trust that um you know that folks are watching over these things but I also realize the reality of the municipality right now heard Mr cooh say you know our folks are busy yeah they're busy things are going to possibly fall through the cracks we don't have enough personnel and frankly I don't trust purchasing um to monitor these things closely again and again and again we keep having to bring items back where there's been a problem with the procurement or purchasing process and purchasing has had their hands all over this agreement and its implementation so I would rather error on the side of caution um and I would hope that when assembly members make a request for information that it come back and be as complete as possible and then shared with all members if one member ask for it on the Das sen it Wars a postpone it I think all members are then interested in it thank you I'll just finally say that again my heart isn't broken if this item passes tonight I just I know the answer to the question of we're going to ask ask them to pay if we paid for it isn't that what's going to be is we're on the hook the taxpayers have paid and we'll get sued if we try to make them pay because we've already done it and so that's my experience now long enough and enough times through this process that the reality is the ship has sailed and we've paid those expenses and the only thing we can do is make it known if in fact that issue arises and so in some ways that argues just to approve the contract because there's no real recourse here anyways the money has been spent so U members May proceed to vote on the amend motion to postpone so the motion fails 6 to six so now uh no motion pending move to approve second moved by Miss elel seconded by Miss Broly so I just reiterate my concerns and members May proceed to vote on a vote of 11 1 at AR 2023 d412 has passed the body next we have item 11 C am 89622 3 Board of Ethics action was postponed from 1121 and 125 no motion is pending well the body move to approv second moved by Mr vond seconded by Mr Cross anyone to speak to this item Miss Al thank you so the board of Ethics I believe is one of the really important advisory boards that we have in our municipality and there are a few features of the board of Ethics that I think are really important that we consider one is that to the extent possible they issue timely opinions timely opinions to guide us and municip staff um about potential conflicts of interest and help us navigate those two is to be able to take the facts as presented and the disclosures um and be be thought Partners in trying to help uh Municipal Employees and members uh navigate potential conflicts of interest um and and third is to be really open to a variety of circumstances um because I think we think we may have seen every potential circumstance that could come before the board of ethics and then something new will come up um and so for those reasons I cannot support this nominee thank you anyone else Mr bdon uh thank you Mr chair um through the chair I think the administration uh proposed an A version so I think we'd ask the move of the the a version If U there you're right that's what was moved and then uh Mr chair if I may respond uh on behalf of the administration we think u i the administration agrees with member zel's uh comments Mr chair except of course for her conclusion um we do think in our our local government it's largely two parts we don't have a Judiciary like uh our state or a federal government except I think for the ethics board and the ethics board does have the opportunity to to weigh in on on both branches um and also the boards and commissions and the school district members um it is uh again the administration agrees with Miss member zotel it's a vitally important um board for the health of our local government we think that uh Dr neighbors is an excellent candidate um because of his his U his status at the University and his AC of public engagement and we think that uh he'd be a wonderful candidate to serve thank you the only disagreement I'd have with your words there Mr ber is we do have that third branch of government the courts it's just they're the state and we can Avail ourselves of them so but miss broley yeah thank you um I I share a lot of the concerns that uh members zotel does and um I do not support this nominee thank you anyone else hearing and see none member oh Mr acoss yeah I I guess I don't understand what the issue is not only is this gentleman have tons of experience but I actually was sitting there late when breakfast and uh just decided to hop on YouTube went in and watched a bunch of videos and lectures that he spoke in I found him to be extremely articulate very reasonable um and highly educated and well informed so I'm I guess I'm just a little amazed but thank you anyone El hearing and seeing none members May proceed to vote on a vote of 8 to4 m 896 d223 a has passed the body next we have 11d am 93922 23 plating board Sarah Brian no motion pending will the body mooved to approve second moved by Miss alel seconded by Mr vand any discussion hearing seeing none members May proceed to vote one minute I need Mr Cross Miss Broly and Mr pres Ria on a vote of 12 to0 am 939 d223 is pass the body next we have 11e m940 d223 planning board Patrick Jones no motion pending let's will the body move to approve second moved by Mel seconded by member Walland any discussion hearing seeing none members May proceed to vote you got someone you had Kevin oh I'm sorry Mr Cross yeah this is this is my question I guess for uh for the administration whoever wants to hand it so this is another platting board and I see Patrick Jones here another you know nothing nothing against their qualifications uh Federal Credit Union and we right now it seems like we're stacked heavy with real estate industry professionals I know I realized the platting board um I'm curious on do we currently have any geologists um you know water table and land surveyors or any experts like that it looks like we're leaning towards real estate sales industry which I'm part of which I don't complain about but when I served on the platting board we had a wide spectrum of individuals across a myriad of issues dealing with platting it was great to have land surveyors have geologist have a paleontologist at one time have a real estate attorney who dealt with land trust and dealt with a uh disputes between land ownership so I'm kind of curious on that makeup of that board and do we have a wide variety or are we just right now sadly looking for just people to so we we have a we have a quorum anybody can speak to that because I I haven't seen a whole lot of other individuals and again I'm not saying that I wouldn't approve them but I think we need to be intentional about making sure that our platting board has a wide variety of history and experiences through the chair to member cross um I don't have that information but I can get it in a few minutes that's okay I'm willing I'm ready to vote on this but I would like to make sure that that concern is is is noted it would be nice to know what the work history is of our current plotting board it's critical for our Land Development and it's also make sure that we have the right people in the right chairs that we're we're looking at the entire prism of repats from a myriad of perspectives not just the sales industry which I come from so thank you all right anyone else the roll is up members May proceed to vote on a vote of 12 to0 am 994-2022 is passed the body next we have item 13A 13A is ao20 23-12 an ordinance authorizing disposal of the Perpetual non-exclusive telecommunication and electrical easements twoa electric ink on portions within 10 municipal Parcels public hearing on this item is reopened anyone wish to speak on this item welcome please state your name what part of town you're from you'll have three minutes you have to hit the blue button there you go Dustin Darden I want to make sure I make the record that there's still pink duct tape on the carpet indicating how to walk as I approach the podium uh chak Electric Association was um given a large amount of power in the conglomeration of it in mlmp which was pushed by many of uh past board members and the past executive branch in that the power that it wields is intrusive and uh there's no competition and there's no question as to its maneuverings or posturings of disposals of properties which is why we are here today talking about this current disposal to the best of my knowledge a thorough review of what the contents of this procedure has been thoroughly vetted and produced in a manner that could thoroughly be absorbed by the general public for this reasons and many more including the abilities of technological Empower grid contractors and large figure heads such as this when we look at Mankind and its ability to live and move when we have this much power that can be a Associated within the confines of the residence of man and woman to where they're subjected to harm from these companies all said issues should be thoroughly vetted and address before the members thoughts anyone else wish to be heard welcome please state your name what part of town you're from you'll have three minutes hi my name is Brian whiskey I go by Brie she her pronouns 14 years trans female from the Alex at the current moment as far as it goes yes there is a monopoly in the uh chuak Electric Association and as far as Anchorage goes especially now that mlmp is gone and we often wonder where we might get more money for the municipality but we know we already sold it so it's already gone as well as everything else that the municipality used to have for reasons that I can't always uh mention or speak of because I was not here to speak of them then as far as it goes as far as disposal of partials legally described as such and such such such if that's the will of their company I mean we gave them all the power like the gentleman did say but at the same time we had entrusted members make those decisions so I remind you as always when moving forward that the red tape is important so I agree with uh some of our procedures and processes being looked at and vetted to make sure that things are right because many times such as Maybe this maybe not this we can't always go back and fix them thank you anyone else wish to be heard anyone at all seeing hearing none public hearing on this item is now closed what's will the by move to approve move to approve the S second okay so the motion to approve the S version by Miss branga seconded by m miss elel any discussion miss brona you have the floor so the S verion was um put together with the help of former assembly member John wedon Anne helzer helped and Mr Gates and of course um members allel and basically we were very appreciative that we when you dispose of Parkland normally there is a public vote that would come into play and by digging through and looking at the history of it we were able to establish that the transfer of ownership as an easement was the same as a ride of way and happened in the 60s and so um a public vote is not required but what we did want to include language which is in the S now in the section three that the whereas 3 that um states that it follows the park commission's recommendation s that we really get strong language that those easements are still in the park and they still are for public use there are lots of trails under those easements there are there's a mushing trail that goes underneath them there's plenty of ski trails and there's also parking areas and so we just wanted to make sure we clarified that um that use would not be interrupted unless it was a safety hazard for some reason Miss alel yeah thank you um so I want to thank Miss branga for coordinating everyone on this um and then uh Council for working with us um I felt like the S was warranted because there was a disconnection between the parks and recre commission resolution and the actual item and there isn't anything identified in the process to marry those two so the S version does that um if we're going to require these to be sent to the parks and recck commission and they weigh in and they have recommendations um I'm happy to see that the disposal actually reflect those recommendations versus just having a Parks and Rec commission resolution ride alongside it which um doesn't really get the language into the record as firmly um as us adopting it in the resol um in the disposal itself thank you anyone else hearing and seeing none members May proceed to vote on a vote of 12 to zero a20 23-12 s has passed the body next we have item 14a 14a is 20 23-1 129 ordinance the Anchorage assembly amending AMC 23030 to clarify the authority of the assembly to manage its premises and resources public hearing on this item is now open Dustin Darden welcome please state your name what part of town you from you'll have three minutes by nature of the association of the said following uh assembly member reference at the end of this ordinance um due to a thorough neglect of knowledge and to the effect of having knowledge and the abuse of the knowledge of people's right to speak the continual documented destruction of thought and petition from the public Mr Darden I'm going to remind you this is a public hearing on AO warned your intimidating methods are not going to work in the United States you want that go to Korea fin final warning Mr Darden you don't warn the public to not speak your testimony is over Mr Darden what are you security security please have him moved away from the DI please have noce the of security excuse me Mr D creating an actual disturbance it's time to move along I have a minute 45 seconds no your time has expired you're arrar there a public hearing because you are St pleas can I have en did you witness public is reminded that the purpose of a public hearing is to take testimony on the specific item that we are hearing it does not speak about all manner of topics that's what we reserve audience participation for at the end of the meeting so this public hearing is now continuing anyone else wish to be heard on this item welcome please state your name what part of town you're from you'll have three minutes thank you Irene qu now west Anchorage I know you can't answer any questions um but it says here on page two of three under item I mean point one the new sentences the assembly May by resolution designate those spaces it deems necessary for its use as assembly premises if I understand this correctly you can go and you can go out in let's say the world of Maron theater and by resolution designate that as an assembly space and then you have control over that space that concerns me you can designate anything then as an assembly space and have total control over it you can then um determine if people can come in you can determine how many people come in where is the limitation all it says is that um you can designate a space that you deem necessary as an assembly space and that could be anything and I'm that that that's way too much power that you can just designate anything as an assembly space and then take control over that thank you thank you anyone else wish to be heard anyone at all seeing hearing none public hearing on this item is now closed what's the will of the body move to approve the S second moved by the S version is moved by missel seconded by Mr Rivera any discussion Mr salt go ahead or Mr Cross I'm sorry you're in the queue yeah my question is um for Mr bird um or Hower uh you heard Irene quiz uh quid's concerns here what is your interpretation of of this change and I guess I'm kind of curious on what problem we're solving thank you through the chair to member cross um I'm sorry to be a lawyer and give a disclaimer but this is not the legal opinion this is just the opinion of the chief staff um we do see a um the executive branch as being the branch that executes and ultimately for most of Municipal assets and resources that means that the administration or the executive branch controls those there's obvious exceptions Mr chair controls assembly Chambers the clerk controls other things that are within the purview of the legislative branch U but the the highlights that um the member of the public public had uh to express I think closely mirror what the administration sees which is if by resolution the legislative branch can appropriate to itself the control of Municipal resources without meaningful limitations what's the function of the executive branch so that's that's our position member cross thank you Mr chair thank you and so then my my question is would my next question would then be uh I guess for the chair or is what what problem are we solving what is this what is this hoping to accomplish I'll go and speak to that Mr constant thank you so most of you weren't here when this project started it's taken me a long time to get it on the table but this project started when it was asserted by members of the other side of this room that they could shut this room down that they could lock the doors that they could set the lights off or on that they could turn off the video stream they asserted that they had that power it's not true I think um the mayor's chief of CH staff just talked about meaningful limitations that that there needs to be meaningful limitations or there isn't if we can pass this by resolution but the reality is the mayor has a check on a resolution and that's the veto that's a meaningful limitation he also has the ability to persuade and talk to us but practically speaking we're in a position where it's quite possible we could be told you have to leave your offices you no longer have possession of them because there's no document that demonstrates that that's the case and so what our intent to do is by resolution establish a process by which we clearly identify which properties or which offices within the properties are assembly premises I I could go on and on about the fine details about what's happened here but um it it starts three years ago Miss zel thank you Mr chair um so I think what needs to be realized here to is beyond this particular incident that the assembly branch is a co-equal branch of government in the municipality and until Mr Rivera's we'll call it herculan efforts we didn't even have offices we we would have to meet with constituents in coffee shops you would have to try to grab a corner if you had a press interview at City Hall I remember having to try to hide my coat and purse off to the side so it's not in the camera shot so I think what this reflects in addition is that we are a co-equal branch of government and we need to be able to conduct our business in a lot of the same ways that the administration is allowed to conduct its business which means adequate meeting space for us to do our work adequate meeting space space for us to meet up to three members no more because of open meetings act ability to convene and meet with constituent groups or constituents as well as ensure that our legislative services are able to support us right now we have done I think um real we've been very efficient in that work in kind of keeping all in our offices but that doesn't mean that we will never be able to grow or do anything and so by doing this by resolution what you do is you place it on leadership in the chair to justify why we need additional space it's sub it's subject then to a discussion and debate and vote of the body potentially compromise and then as the chair said the ultimate check on that is the mayor can always veto it if he disagrees and this assembly then in order to have that space would have to muster the super majority to override The veto this is actually a very cumbersome way for us I think think to get equal real estate in Municipal assets to do our work we don't have any form of equality we have the minimum I would say to get our work done so I I think this is probably long overdue and it is a reflection that this branch of government um has grown in an appropriate way to get closer to being a co-equal branch to not be we are a co-equal branch but to have the manifestation of a co-equal branch of government if you go look at state government or you go look at federal government you see separate leg legislative offices in space we barely have that thank you all right next than you have Mr Martinez thank you chair just a clarifying question to Mr bird um and you feel free to bring the legal ease that you have um you conceded or was conceded that this this chamber is a chamber of the assembly why is that uh through the chair to member Martinez I my opinion is that uh this assembly Chambers is the the legislative Branch's primary function but I will defer to the municipal attorney who I think has a legal opinion on on the matter and can opine with more legal ease than I'm currently able [Music] to the chair uh member Martinez would you kindly uh repeat the question because I was I was occupied why is this the assembly's chamber the assembly is uh provided the place to hold meetings and uh to engage the public and the assembly is afforded both this chamber and also spaces in the municipal is the city hall office um so who is who who is affording what with respect to the separation of powers I'm getting to the heart of the question it was conceded that this B this chamber is the assembly chamber and what you described was not necessarily in the language of the separation of powers so I would just encourage us to land this with respect to the separation of powers so we could just get to the bottom line is it the assembly's right to determine that this is its space to operate or is it afforded the space from the administration how does the separation of powers play out there the charter provides that the assembly have a a place to conduct um legislative function and so you do have the ability to have a space for legislative function and the determinate the determiner of that space is who according to the Charter the designation of space is an operational function in the city so the operation the operational function are covered under the executive branch so is it the case that the executive branch controls the space and the meeting time of a of a a separate and equal branch of government is that the argument that's being made today they are co-equal branches of government yes but they have there's a balance of power and the balance of power is because there are separate Powers distinct powers and the operational function is under the executive branch so to follow up to go to Mr constant's point is it the opinion of the municipal attorney that the administration could shut down this room today right now and eject members of the assembly from conducting its business I don't believe so because that would result in an imped of the legislative function and the assembly is entitled to conduct public meetings and to conduct um to operate and the charter gives that to the assembly thank you Mr chair Mr Rivera yeah thank you Mr chair um so I just want to uh put all of this discussion into context for folks uh so this ordinance which I do appreciate um the original version of this ordinance all it was doing was adding a sentence to uh a part of code that was actually adopted and clarified in 2021 when a prior version of this body approved an ordinance to really clarify in detail what assembly premises means what didn't happen though in 2021 is give a a function outside of the the chair just making that determination or the or their design making that determination of what an assembly premises means so I actually think that this ordinance the the S version and and the original I think add an added layer of protection for for both the executive and the legis ative in case there are other members who aren't in leadership who maybe disagree with the chair's determination of what an assembly premis this means then we can vote down this resolution or if the executive disagrees with the determination of the assembly they can veto this resolution so I do think that this actually makes the process as Miss as member zotel stated a little bit more cumbersome but I think it that's needed I think we need that additional layer of of a mechanism to make this kind of determination thank you thank you Mr Coes thank you Mr chair I was in the queue to uh make sure that Mario bird and Miss Hells were able to speak and they did thank you Mr salt thanks I I personally think this is a a waste of time I mean it's a it's a pissing match between two sides of government you know hey should we have a security threat assembly should have their own Police Department should we happen to have a fire in here we should probably have our own fire department maybe we should have our own maintenance department also where are we going to get water and power from we should probably have our own utility and and Sewer and Water Treatment Plant it's this is just a a childish childish argument between uh essentially two branches of government and I just I just don't see the purpose we need to stay aligned on the important topics thank you I have myself in the queue Mr Conant thank you number of things to point out Mr Rivera I think you really hit it on the head that and same with Miss alel the use of the tool of the resolution is what takes it out of the it's just an assembly whim just the the kind of a the assembly want it is once a resolution is adopted is in fact the policy of the branch of government and so it's that tool which in fact makes it official not when I as the chair say these are our offices or when the administration says we Dain to allow you offices because we think that might be something interesting no the offices are in fact where the legislative function happens it's where we go to print out draft documents it's where we go to draft documents it's where we go to share and meet with our staff and meet with the communities and so the idea of using the resolution as the tool makes it a formal communication of the assembly the second branch of government and so it's an essential ingredient otherwise we are at the whim of the other branch and what does that look like there are people in the back with cameras here who witnessed when this branch of government over here attempted and nobody that's on the Das right now so I'm not pointing at you but this branch of government attempted to turn off that video feed and in fact told the police not to respond so if the argument is well if we don't if we do this then we need to have our own police that we settled because the police decided they were going to follow the law instead of the order and so because the law was more important to them so we've been down all of these roads before those of us who have sat here a long time what is proposed here is actually a modest proposal it is actually a granting of power to the process to the mayor Dev veto by us saying this resolution is the official communication of the assembly Branch Miss Hower you're in the queue thank you I just through the chair I wanted to address uh member Martinez um Charter 4.04 c um has designated the place where the cham where the uh public meetings take place to the assembly um the but the use of municipal code is not an appropriate tool um to it's not it's not an appropriate use of legislative power to determine where your space is in my humble view this is this is for discussion between the executive branch and the legislative branch to determine what areas of the of the office are available for use um and this is a very New Concept the the 2021 ordinance that uh member Rivera raised uh was an appropriation of executive and administrative power to itself to the legislature itself um and it granted itself the management over assembly premises so I would encourage the members to to go back to that 2021 ordinance where that appropriation was made and I would argue that that appropriation was inappropriate thank you Mr B thank you Mr chair um so I do not view this ordinance as a waste of time for a couple reasons number one um there may be a situation at some point where for whatever reason the chambers are not usable and so we may have to designate another space to do our legislative business um and I think that the assembly being in the in the driver's seat um if and when that time were to come would be a good thing I also to the chair's Point um stood in the back of the room at a meeting where M deboski went back to the media room where Mr Trombley took down the plexiglass divider from the podium um where mbasi reportedly sent security out of the room and so everything that you're saying I was here for that and that was before I was elected to this body that was when I was just attending as a a citizen an interested citizen um and I'll just say that felt very scary to have the executive branch to watch as an encourage resident interfere with the proceedings of the of a meeting in a way that made the other branch and the attendees less safe um and so for that reason I strongly support this ordinance thank you Miss broy yeah thank you um first in terms of doing legislative business I want to express appreciation that we have offices um as others have pointed out it's difficult to do this job if you don't have the space to do it whether it's meetings um doing the work conferring with staff and just having a place that isn't a coffee shop that isn't a business that I need to go um sit for 2 hours and take up space so that's the first thing second thing I'm glad Mr vand and others have brought up um October 2021 I remember uh I was also in the room not on the 7th but several days before that um and I remember feeling unsafe and also I remember watching what was frankly childish behavior from members of the administration um who uh fought over which seats people could sit in and and fought the idea that that the assembly um should should not have access to this space essentially so if we want to talk about childish behavior that's what that looked like two years ago and so I appreciate this and it does not feel like an overreach for us to say where where we are going to do our business and I think there's very little risk that we would be frivolous or designate infinite spaces that we wouldn't use I think that all of us I think would agree that that we need to do business and that's what we're focused on so I do support this Mr pres Veria thank you Mr chair I don't want to repeat um the comments of my colleagues but um but I I was on the body when when the the the things that we're talking about happened and and and I will just say that that beyond all those things just the ability to to to schedule a meeting when we needed to schedule a meeting just the ability to um to have um the a minimal amount of control over um doing the business of the assembly and um and I I will say that these are these are problems that I don't think we ever imagined would would be in front of us because because we we thought that an Administration and assembly um would conduct themselves in in a in a way that that wouldn't wouldn't require us to put these things into um code or into in writing but we do because that's the reality we Face we Face a reality where um where people are trying to break down systems that have um that have kept us clear for a long time so I I I I I support this and I and I think that it it simply gives the assembly the ability to manage the the time and space to do the business and and makes it very clear that they have the right to do do that so I I would encourage my colleagues to support this and let's move on thanks Mr teller you're in the queue again through the chair um we cannot um do anything about the past um but the past does not justify the assembly taking on power that it really was not designed to have there is nothing in the charter that allows the assembly to designate Municipal property for its own use potentially at the expense of another department that that might need it or another operational uh situation that calls for that space however that's not to say this is distinguished from a situation where the assembly may need the property and that's done in in collaboration with the executive branch that has the operational authority to provide that and Charter provides that the assembly would have a place to hold as public meetings and I learned today that it wasn't until 2009 19 that the assembly had its owned offices so historically the assembly members did not have that and they have fairly recently received that and so I would ask that that that that be considered so I have myself in the queue and I'll just say that the municipal attorney just asserted that it is the ad Administration the mayor who gets to establish the time place and manner of our our business she just asserted the mayor gets to establish the time place and manner of our business and that we can come to him and ask and if he agrees we can have a place but only if he agrees that is what was just said so we can hear it in another way however we want but members of this body you just heard it was say stated to us that it is the administration the mayor's power to determine the time place and manner of our meetings and so the bottom line for me is maybe there is a conflict in the charter the charter grants us the authority to set the time place and manner of how we operate the branch of government which includes elections which includes the clerk which includes our legislative team which includes the Ombudsman and which includes the assembly we get to choose the time place and manner of which our business is done we don't need to ask permission from Dad Miss alel oh wait Miss brona I'm sorry you haven't spoke okay thank you chair I just feel like I will probably support this but I feel like it's picking a scab every meeting we come back to talking about the time that the cameras were turned off and the time that people felt unsafe and I mean I wasn't here and so I don't have that same framework but I do know as I campaigned I loudly heard from people that I care about deeply that they want to let some of this go and move on and so that that make that troubles me that we're digging in again and if there is another was there another thing that happened other than that did we were we denied the use of a conference room I'm just trying to really understand if there was something else Miss Al thank you I mean it is sad that we have to get to the point where we have to legislate these things um and it's not digging into it it's it's twofold um one is what if we want to hold a work session on a issue that's particularly of interest to Eagle River Chugiak like we have before in Girdwood in Girdwood we used a community building there wasn't a municipal building for us to use but what if we wanted to use a municipal building in Eagle River and we were told no you know what we then have to do we have to rent someplace we have to spend our budget because the administration right now could just tell us no and we would have a justifiable reason for wanting to take a question to the community in which we're going to have the conversation and so that's like part of the Practical implication to this is that we shouldn't have to ask in order to go do what's the right thing to engage with the public second this isn't picking at an old wound I don't think I think it is being recognized as a co-equal branch of government and frankly this has been around since 2021 so it's a couple years old um and we're amending that now and if the administration thought it wasn't appropriate then then they could have taken action to stop it and they didn't it is now the law it is in our codee and so I think we um Can refine it to add the process so that the entire membership has the ability to weigh in when we need additional premises um one of those options might be right think of the upcoming election here's another potential example and if there is City Hall is a place for voting where do we typically vote in city hall room 155 what if we also need to conduct business in room 155 and we can't get any other room in City Hall because no one's going to give us a conference room now we can't conduct our business so I think it really does come down to us being able to do what we need to do within our branch of government have that flexibility but have the O you know recognize we're a 12 member body and we speak as body um and that the chair doesn't speak unilaterally for us and this is the way to do that thank you Mr Martinez thank you chair my final thoughts on this I am not an attorney but I am a political scientist and I think the opinion from the municipal attorney is flawed because uh fundamentally I do believe in the separation of powers and I'm not going back to any scabs that were picked I'm not on I wasn't on the body at that time so there has no impact on me this is fundamentally about the separation of powers and what I recognizes the maturation the maturation of our local government so that respectfully we've heard today that there were that this body had not had offices until recently that's a maturation of the ability for this body to do its work as the as the world moves more complex issues are coming our way we have to continue to expand our ability to be responsive so fundamentally with respect to the the nature of I think it was described as a pissing match is that accurate right on thank you Mr sut the separation of powers always feels that tense until things have the equilibrium that is required to have the actual separation of powers and the different branches doing its work that is the tension of government that is the tension of the separation of powers that is what makes democracy both beautiful and messy at the same time so uh I just wanted to just reiterate that from a political scientist perspective again not a legal perspective I think we're we're we're witnessing the maturation of a body coming into its own based on the the the understanding of the separation of powers and the equal coexisting branches of government so chair I encourage my colleagues to support this thank you so you guys get to choose Mr bird or Miss helzer through the chair I'm I just like to clarify some things the assembly is certainly a co-equal branch with the executive branch but if the mayor determined that there is a specific meeting space needed for another purpose in the department then that falls with his within his power to determine if it is needed for an execu for a legislative function then then you would certainly be provided that opportunity because it's within the realm of a legislative function what I understand you're saying is that the assembly has the priority over other departments to take control of Municipal property and that is certainly not within the power of the assembly to do all right so um I think we have a fundamental disagreement oh Mr Myers go ahead I'm just curious what Mr bird had to say you can ask him a question we've been a little loose with who gets the floor from the administration um the manager when in the in the absence of the mayor has the right to participate but the others really are supposed to answer questions not be offering testimony and so we've been a little bit loose um but you can ask him a question you have the floor Mr Burton thank you Mr chair um through the chair to to member uh Meyers uh I was just going to bring up the fact that as I think Mr chair mentioned in a previous item we do have a third branch and that is the court system we don't have it in our local government we were talking about as the ethics board being something like that but when there is disagreement uh member Meyers through the chair over fundamental issues like this in the past that has been the way that those things have been resolved so that is a true statement now if there's no one else members May proceed to vote on a vote of 9-3 ao20 23-1 129s has passed the body next we have item 14b AO 2023-the sembly amending the Anchorage Municipal Code to add a new section 26302 to EST establish an official policy for the restoration of the UTA River subject to the 1991 fish and wildlife fish and wildlife agreement with the UTA power purchaser state of Alaska and the federal government the public hearing on this item is now open I'll remind people public hearings are to hear a testimony on the specific item that's before us not on any subject so anyone wish to be heard on this item anyone at all seeing hearing none public on this item is now closed what's the will the body second uh moved by Mr Miss alel seconded by Mr Cross Miss alel thank you um so this resolution or sorry this ordinance is because we have passed a series of resolutions that frankly to date feel like they've been ignored um so Alaska has largely avoided the mistakes made in the lower 48 when it comes to too many dams being built on too many Rivers Dam dams are now being removed across the lower 48 at a rapid at a rapid Pace dam removal is a proven tool to restore River Health Rel vitalize fish and wildlife populations Safeguard cultural values and reconnect communities to their River Rivers River restoration also benefits the economy every $1 million invested in restoring watersheds generates 16 jobs and up to $2.5 million for the economy River restoration Works River restoration work feeds a hunger for a tangible action removing the lower UTA Dam in 2018 galvanized South Central Alaska and captured national attention but removing the lower dam was just the first step in fixing the akuta river which Still Remains dry for miles below the upper Dam Alaska is a worldwide leader in Salmon conservation we can join the Vanguard of river restoration by completing the job at auta and removing the upper auta Dam that is River restoration not a on M pipe that fish might survive going through and we need to codify that policy um and the reason we need to codify it why is the role of the assembly to do so is because there are taxpayer implications of the proposed plan by the owners there are rate payer implications for awo customers in the proposed plan and we are the stewards of taxpayer and rate payer resources and so I think not only do we need to be clear on our position but we need to make sure it is incode that it is the position that we bring forward as one of the owners group um we are a 53% owner in this project I think it is really important that we assert what the policy is and in all of this time that we've been passing resolutions what has also happened during this time is we've established govern government government to Rel government to government relations with the native Village of UTA and we have committed to them through resolution um through many member comments that we're going to walk alongside them in their goal to restore um the UTA River um so this ordinance does that now there is um an amendment that was suggested um and it's not before you um we learned through an RCA opinion um recently shared with us that right now we're not voting members in this 1991 agreement because there is currently no one qualified to be in charge of the hydroelectric utility and until we can do that we really don't even have a true seat at the table that is appalling frankly and very concerning because there's money in the budget to pay for that position um and so it be really ra raises this question of who has the municipality been taking its direction from in these talks and who has been re representing the interest of the municipality because if we aren't a voting person voting entity because we don't have someone in the Hydro power seat who should probably be at that table representing our interests then who's who is saying the Moa is a part of this owner group and this current set of options put forward in the draft plan because it certainly doesn't it certainly is not the policy direction that this assembly has provided for the municipality for a number of years so I think this ordinance moves forward in being crystal clear on the policy um it should go an ordinance because after the 1991 restoration is done it has to come back again um I think every 30 years for a period of time it also signals hopefully to the state of Alaska and to the governor where the municipality stands on this because ultimately this decision is going to lie with the governor um and finally I am hopeful that it signals to the administration we are very clear on our position we want to have any advocacy done um on behalf of the municipality as an owner consistent with the policy stated in this ordinance and anything else really just Falls far short of the commitments we've made not only to our community but also to the native Village of akuta the final thing I'll say is this is a big deal the restoration of the aluta river is a big deal and right now what a lot of the public doesn't know is that there is a draft plan by the owners group which is chugat electric M matusa Electric and the mun municipality or not the mun the hydroelectric which it's the mun has a controlling interest in um to comment on and the proposal is to not restore the river the whole way but to basically insert a tube and hope that fish will travel a mile down a tube to get to from from the lake to the river um and that is what they're taking public comments on um and I think that it is really important that you pay attention to this um as members of the public because the vision brought forward by the native Village of aluta and as expressed in this ordinance is full restoration of the river maybe the opportunity to go fishing in auta like you now go in Kenai it could be amazing but we only get that if we all stand together and demand that that is the outcome for our community so I really urge your support um for this ordinance and hopefully um it has the effect um that we're hoping for which is to make our position Crystal Clear thank you Mr Cross thank you Meg and thank you uh yes Echo everything she said saved a lot of breath if if you are not aware of the history of the village of auta the auta people The Village the river and the dam how that all came about and how those people were treated as we sat in these talks as I went through I I did not even grasp a fraction of it had an idea but until I started talking with the native Village of akuta and realized what we did you should all be pissed period okay we took one of the best the highest producing King uh King Salmon producing rivers in the state of Alaska with a thriving community and chopped it off with no consideration compens compens ation or compassion and it's been that way for 100 years and now we're mandated now you got to open up you got to do something you got to do what you did you got to make it right and I know there's lots of conversations about there oh you're you're impeding you're reducing the power and you but you know what if you if you support small limited government if you want a large government that come and just seize your property seize your assets do whatever and just scatter you to the wind just read what happened to the clua River and what happened to those people we we Anchorage does not clua does not reside in Anchorage Anchorage resides in the lands of cuta so some historical perspective is very important so I would encourage you all to look into it because as citizens of Anchorage we deserve to be good neighbors to each other thank you myself in the Q Mr C I strongly support this um we've done a couple of resolutions in which we established plainly the policy of this municipality um you know it was really shocking to me to read the analysis that the Municipality of Anchorage does not have a voting seat in the producers group and so we don't have a role there we sit on the side and talk but we're meaningless and what I find interesting about that and this is probably a subject for an executive session with the law department is that we've had an attorney working with the producers with this group and now I have major questions about who the client is that's been working that that the law department has been working with over there because I come lately to understand that for a long period of time we don't have a vote we just have the power of persuasion and so that doesn't amount to a whole lot um I have real concerns about the nature of representation that we have brought to the table in this process because I think there have been two clients one that is the municipality and one that is the power producers group and I don't think that that's within the bounds of professional practice of an attorney and so um I don't want to get into that much here other than to say that at some point in the not too distant future this is an area of consideration we probably need to meet on so I can understand how it is that we can have somebody serving them I watched him serve them in this room so no argument can be made that that didn't happen but we didn't even have a vote so I have real real concerns about the way this whole process has worked needless to say the fact that the Congress authorized the power producing group without having the native Village of autant at the table Mr V thank you Mr chair um one I I guess thing that I don't want to have left unset I I want to Ping back to member zel's um comments and just say you know when the 1991 agreement was made dams being taken down to benefit ecosystems was not the norm we are a long way removed and I would say evolved um in terms of our understanding of of a river restoration um since this agreement was entered into and so I think that we need to be uh forward-looking um and as as much as possible um we do need to be able to assert our position as the policy makers for Anchorage thank you Mr chair t so I just wanted to speak uh uh to the amendment that we had drafted um and sent to assembly Council um there is a misstatement of fact in this particular ordinance um in the whereas statements um and I haven't heard from anyone that there's any interest in ensuring that that misstatement is corrected and that has to do with the ownership interest and the lack of voting rights so we have Ben Bowman here who would be happy to speak to that in the event there are any questions but um I would just encourage you to at a minimum amend that for clarity in the future thank you m al thank you we did receive um some proposed amendments from the administration um to uh actually through our Council um they were only sent to the sponsors of the item um as a sponsor of this item I'm not choosing to bring any of those amendments forward um if any members want to see them I guess you could ask Council to distribute them um and there is no one here um capable of moving it on behalf of the administration because the mayor is not here tonight so um it really the amendment I believe went to um the position we're now in which is we don't have a voting right um I spoke to it on the record I think that provides clarification but if members want to see the amendment or potentially move the amendment um you certainly could ask Council for it Mr pres Ria thank you I think it would be helpful to have some clarification about what we're talking about so um if if either Miss helzer would be more specific about about what exactly she sees as um as a misstatement a fact that would be helpful and and it would be helpful uh to to understand Miss zel's perspective if she believes that that's not necessarily A misstatement of fact so I'm trying to make sure that I understand where the conflict is or not conflict thank you so um I maybe start with Miss helzer and and and get clarity about specifically what what she sees in there as a misstatement of fact thank you misser so thank you through the chair I'm happy to explain it although it is rather complicated and I would almost recommend that this be something that be postponed so that there can be a more full opportunity to EXP explain uh the how complicated this actually is um but this is on page 2 line 10 through 14 it says whereas the Municipality of Anchorage retains an ownership interest in 53 or a majority interest 52% in the clua hydroelectric project um this is that makes it sound like there is ownership and control and there is really no control at all and so uh the suggestion was to add the Regulatory Commission of Alaska's order um to this ordinance or at least a reference so that a person who is interested in finding out the reason for why there is no control uh they could go back to that order uh provided by the Regulatory Commission and Trace the steps this has absolutely no mechanism for a person who is curious about the history of this to trace the steps and so that was my suggestion um and that was forwarded to uh Dean Gates and Matthew hurt um a while I think this past I I can't remember when but it was before today and then we discussed it again today and we received feedback that the uh sponsored had sponsors had declined to uh accept that change thank you m thank you um so um to answer your question Mr Perez viia it says yeah that um the proposed language is that the ownership interest is 53% in the euta hydroelectric plant starting on line 10 of page two um the additional language um the Administration has suggested with chwat Electric Association and Matt newco Electric Association um the other piece it does yeah as s are say was would say whereas pursuant to the RCA order references u-1 18-12 um 44 Municipality of Anchorage was required to and surrendered its voting rights on operation and management decisions on the utina operating agreement regarding the UTA project in the 1991 fish and wildlife agreement the reason I chose not to move that particular member is I don't believe it tells the full story because there's a way to restore those rights as well um and it's only a portion of the story and really when we get down to it what we are resolving is as to the policy of the municipality um and frankly this has been introduced for two weeks and we had a work session a joint work session with the native Village of auta um during that joint work session with the native Village of akuta it was not discussed with us about the surrender of its voting rights of our voting rights and Anchorage it did not come up until an offhand comment after the meeting which was then later follow followed up with the email by Mr Bowman to members which contain the RCA order so I believe the ordinance as is is fine and sufficient um and the RCA order we've talked about it is now a part of the legislative record um is something someone could um ask for and search for if one deemed it wanted to um and is also um in our emails as members thank you thank you thank you for the clarification and if Miss helzer would like to explain um why we don't have a vote because it's not even in the amendment I think that that's important context because I believe it has to do with an unfilled position and and things we well actually we've had our Council look at it in particular we've had legislative Council and my understanding and talking with them about the RCA order is that it's because we do not have a qualified person at the Helm of the utility um that would satisfy the RCA's requirements um and they of course are free to correct me if I am wrong through the chair I I understand Mr Gates also agrees that it it is a it's a clar it's a clarification issue here in the where as statements that um we really should fix um and that we discussed this at the break as well um and so uh I would recommend um making that clear as far as the decision that was as I understand it um due to the mlnp uh discussions and that the municipality was required and did surrender its voting right rights under that agreement so I have Ben Bowman is here and he could better explain that he's the attorney that is most familiar with this in our department I don't see him at the moment but I thought he was here there he is so I'm I'm sorry I I wasn't asking I asked Council if I had summarized what they had told me correctly and I'm seeing Mr hurt nod his head yes um and I think when the administration determines it wants an amendment um it needs to have someone here available to move on if members don't want to um and there was no direct Outreach to the sponsors by Municipal um Department of or to membership by the Department of Law it was only through councel to the sponsors um and so that is where we're here at the this is why we're here in this position at this time I think we've talked about it sufficiently to make a full legislative record thank you Mr Myers I would just like to hear Mr Gate's opinion since his name has been brought up a couple times and we have not heard from him and he is our assembly Council um uh sure I will do my best like Miss hoser said it's a complicated topic however um I uh she said that I had agreed well I'm not sure I'm going to get her exact words right that some clarification is needed here and I do think that this one where statement it um hints that leing a little bit and that's the one at page two line 10 where the municipality of anage retains a majority interest 52% in the including hydroelectric project and the next talks about the three utilities as part of it and what it doesn't say here though is uh what that drafted floor amendment that was emailed to you recently adds and it's that the municipality had to surrender any voting right um in the uh EOC the um operations committee for the Cuna power project and um what that said is that the missal doesn't get any vote that chat electric does and the me does for the operations that that that utility so these warehouses we don't suggest that they suggest we have a majority vote control which I think um is slightly misleading so I thought this amendment is a really helpful clarification for the members as well as the public who read this document and so I did I suggest that it would be a good addition here a good Amendment uh it reflects the I guess reality of the mln P cell and the Regulatory Commission of Alaska and its order its order in its case is public and it's order 44 and Order 39 and page 57 it lays out its reasons and the RCA is the entity the regulatory Authority that ordered the municipality to surrender its voting right and uh that's just not reflected here but I think it's sort of an important element of all of this it doesn't affect the fact that the assembly can enact a policy position on what should be done with the dam and restoration of Thea River so uh I mean like I said it's complicated if this H Mr would like to add anything I invite them Mr Gates I have a question to clarify though you never answered the question I think is core what was the rationale of the RCA for removing the right to vote of the municipality we keep spinning around it's because the order what part of the order What specifically is it curable is it just done uh well I guess to answer the last part first it is curable the RCA embodied municipality too when it has an appropriate person in place apply for approval and then we could send the US surrender voting rights what it set on page sort of in the conclusion part under the circumstances we cannot unconditionally find that the MHP which is the municipalities ownership Municipal hydrop Power is manag are technically fit to maintain majority ownership in the inate project uh it requires um excuse me I'm skipping down a little bit it's 157 page uh it cannot be lifted until such time as MHP has shown to our satisfaction that MHP has acquired the expertise required to fully participate as a voting member of the EOC and there's no other key language um excuse me okay that's enough Mr I think I think you got us there and you got us to the point where it's a decision by the administration to sacrifice the vote so it's actually not a a condition that is is uncurable it's a choice by the administration and so um it's a very interesting choice and I've heard they didn't fill it because of cost savings but um I don't know the truth to that um but I do know that we've been spending a lot of time with no vote and a lot of money so I'm glad you brought that fact up it's not simply because the RCA ordered it and it's not simply black and white done it is curable if we only had competent leadership Mr yes that's correct thank you Mr chair so I have questions along the same lines how long has that position been vacant and maybe this is for Mr coaste or Mr bird how long has that position been vacant have efforts been made to fill it why or why not and and what efforts have been made if there have been efforts made to fill the position to the CH Mr vand I don't know how long it's been vacant it's been vacant since I since the sale um Mr th advises me it's been vacant since the sale I do know that uh this past summer I made Outreach to a highly qualified individual who expressed High interest in taking the position and as we were moving to um bring that person in for um interviews um Unfortunately they informed me that they um had taken a position out of state and we no longer available so that's the effort we've made today thank you okay okay thank you Mr salt so I don't know if this will help move this along but I'll go ahead and move amendment number one second a motion has been made by Mr salt um we need to circulate the amendment in print so we need an imprint so okay e all right so we have the amendment that was moved by Mr salt and seconded by Mr Meyers um Mr salt do you want to speak to it oh he do Mr salt do you want to speak to your Amendment or is there enough of a record yeah it sounds like we're largely in agreement with the corrections that it's making as we' said we've already set it on the record so I just want to get through the amendment get get through the main motion and move on Miss salel thank you I'd like to amend the amendment so after the second whereas Clause I would like to add a whereas Clause that says whereas the RCA ordered that the voting right of the Municipality of Anchorage can be cured if an appropriate person is hired to run the accua hydro hydroelectric project and the RCA signs off on it as an adequate hire second motion to amend the amendment by melel seconded by Mr vau clerk did you get that so the notes are going up there just really briefly if I may speak to the amendment to the amendment I think it completes the story it brings it full circle and is what's necessary because the way the original amendment is it suggests that we've just surrendered the right and we don't have any way to go get it back it's something that's solvable um and by putting that in here um along with the policy statement I think then it it suggests that the we want to effectuate the policy statement including taking the steps to get our voting right back and solving it and getting back in front of the RCA thank you any discussion on the amendment to the amendment hearing seeing none members May proceed to vote on a vote of 12 to zero the amendment to the amendment has passed now we're back on the amendment as amended is there any discussion hearing and seeing none members May proceed to vote on a vote of 12 to zero the amended amendment has passed so we now have the amended main motion before us any discussion hearing and seeing none members May proceed to vote thank you Mr salt on a vote of 12 to0 a2023 d131 as amended has passed the B next next we have item 14 C AR 2020 3-47 resolution of the Municipality of Anchorage adopting the Municipality of Anchorage public transportation agency safety plan public hearing on this item is now open welcome please state your name what part of town you're from you'll have three minutes hi my name is Brian whky she and her pronouns 14 years uh residing currently at the Alex manard location um I do not know the full scope of the transportation safety plan I can say that you know when it comes to our public transportation many things are being overlooked in many different faets of our our government and and industries one is being uh pay I know that our transportation people need uh that adjusted as uh you guys hold the keys to the cab industry and the amounts that we get paid per meter I need to bring awareness that we haven't had a meter change in almost 10 years currently driving cab and I can tell you as far as following safety laws and whatnot we are lucky to be making $16 to $20 an hour at maximum and even though the company I work for does not run maximum at maximum the mathematics says $16 to $20 an hour I am a skilled driver of 27 years I do believe I make more sents on the road than somebody starting at McDonald's so I would like for you guys to put that in Arrangements seeing how is when your guys' buses come off the road Anchorage holds its taxi cabs as the next in line for the most affordable fairs Uber and LT I know is was brought in by the state not by you guys they are allowed to adjust their rates sometimes three to four times the amount to normal us cabs are not we are still out there battling for our lives on these roads to make sure that people get around as they need be at almost no pay back to the scope of things like I said our transportation needs all the plans it can when it comes to safety for inclement weather we are going to see more of this every year from here on out so I do encourage that you guys use that wisdom and the knowledge that you guys have to please make these arrangements as like I said 28% hike in the cost of living in the last 3 years and we haven't had a meter change in almost 10 thank you all right anyone else wish to speak on this item this is Public Transportation safety plan hearing seeing none public hearing on this item is now closed let's will the body V to approve second second moved by Miss elel seconded by Mr W any discussion seeing and hearing none members May proceed proceed to vote on a vote of 12 to Z AR 2023 d417 has passed the body next we have item 14e item 14 e is ao20 23- 81 an ordinance the Anchorage Municipal assembly adopting the public naming panels unanimous recommendation to name the port of Alaska as the Don young Port of Anchorage public hearing was closed 9912 referring to the naming panel again 926 2023 public hearing was reopened on 926 2023 at the naming panel it's now before us there is an S version and there is an S1 version public hearing on this item is now open we're go ahead and call the individual on the the list Jim Json hi there Mr Janson this is the Anchorage assembly on the phone and we are uh having public hearing on AO okay uh Mr chairman can you turn your TV off as well or turn the volume sure thanks okay Mr chairman and members of the assembly my name is Jim Jansen I am the chairman of the lynon companies and a member of the port renaming committee our committee unanimously recommended that the port be renamed the Don young Port of Anchorage Congressman young tirelessly served Alaska for 49 years he was the only licensed Mariner in the US Congress with the Anchorage International Airport named after Senator Ted Stevens it is appropriate that Alaska's largest port be named after Congressman Don young it is also appropriate that the port be named after Anchorage not Alaska ports and airports are named after cities not States Alaska has 17 active ports with Anchorage being the largest handling about 50% of all of Alaska's Maritime cargo but it is not the port for all of Alaska it is disingenuous to name the Anchorage Port after our state I urge you to approve the name change to the DA young Port of Anchorage thank you thank you Mr Johnson anyone else want to be heard on this item anyone at all seeing hearing none public hearing on this item is now closed let's will the body we do approve the S1 second S1 has been moved by Miss alel seconded by Mr Rivera and Z thank you the S1 um would rename the cargo docks the so it would REM the port would retain the name the port of Alaska and it would be the dawn young cargo terminals at Port of Alaska um so I dove deep into Port names like really went down a rabbit hole and most ports in the United States are um named based on their body of water or their port or their point of terminus and here that means um this would either be the port of Anchorage or Port of Alaska we just made the name change about 5 years ago um to signify the importance of the port as a state resource um and that it is really the jumping off point for so many Goods within our state um but naming the cargo docks or the Caro cargo terminals I should be more precise in my language um after Da young still allows um recognition of his contributions um and I think it's a great compromise position um and doesn't put us really out of out of the port naming conventions um the top 50 ports by um the tonnage brought across are all named after their location or Waterway and I don't know why we would be the exception to that um and to the testifiers um point about the airport being named um after Ted Stevens airports are frequently named after individuals whereas ports are not similarly High stretches of Highway are often named after individuals um but again ports have not really picked that up as a naming convention thank you we got a hot queue here so we got a lot of people almost everybody Mr Pria thank you I just want to voice my support for this I think it's a it's a great compromise and and a way to honor uh don don young and I I I won't repeat the the the information that was shared by Miss altel but but but it is very true that it's it's it's it's very it's very rare or I I was not able to find actually any ports that were named after in in individuals especially large ones like ours but I wanted to make another point and that is that that in the in the code it uh what this also does is it really it really um gets us back on track in terms of the criteria that is in the policy and under um 39725 in the criteria number eight it says support the preference practice of honoring individuals through naming of internal areas fixtures and features integral to public spaces um and so this really allows it to be closer to what the intention of of of that of that PO policy is that rather than naming it by a sort of a land area it is the it is the naming of an actual facility which is I think um um a better fit for this um so I think it's a great compromise I think it's a way for us to honor him and for us to um ensure that our our Port maintains its current name thank you Mr thank you Mr chair um I want to Echo a lot of what Mr presbia said you know I think that this S1 version is a stroke of Genius so well done members alel um I think what this S1 version does is respect the legacy of Da young and I know that there are significant interests in the public to respect that Legacy and there are also significant interests in the public that don't want Da Young's name on our Port I think we have to acknowledge both of those realities um and it complies with I think a part of the old code and a part of the new code which focuses as Mr member Perez Ria stated on naming a part of something after an individual versus the whole thing uh after an individual so I think this is well-crafted it does what it should do uh which is to honor the legacy of daong in I think a very tailored way and also I have to disagree and and honor and respect and thank the naming panel for their work but have to disagree with the idea that um the naming of the port of Alaska is somehow inappropriate this is the port of Alaska it should be named that way and I don't think we should go so easily uh change that name thanks Mr V thank you Mr chair yeah I'm trying to wrap my head around this and I think uh maybe I'll be sort of one voice of dissent um just because this S1 version it seems a little conflicted to me um members alel who who worked on this um mentioned in her comments that most ports and she looked at um many of them are named after their location or Waterway sort of their ter and one of the things that the naming panel brought up is usually ports are named after a city and I guess I would have a question for member zotel of that the locations that you looked at were of these ports named after a state um no there were some named where they were between two rivers or if they were located in a county um there aren't really any ports that I looked at that kind of played the same Statewide significance um and uh I'm not wed to Anchorage or Alaska I just figured one less change thank you I know I appreciate that um you know I think perhaps uh an argument could be made that uh we have a very unique situation here in Alaska for many reasons in that so much of our state is served by our port and I understand you know there's a part of me that understands the messaging and appreciates like the marketing aspect of calling it the port of Alaska um but we certainly have other ports in Alaska um so I I guess I don't know I'm I'm I'm I'm internally conflicted about keeping the name Port of Alaska rather than following the recommendation to change it back to Anchorage um and then I gu I guess the other I I definitely appreciate member pres verdia um bringing that sort of policy up about um a preference for naming internal features for individuals um but it seems to me we had a naming panel set up to name the port of Alaska and now we're sort of substituting something else and I don't know if that's like a normal practice if that's been done before maybe members who who are on the body who um maybe have more institutional knowledge can um provide if there was other examples that you're aware of but it I don't know it just I for me it appears to undermine the work of the naming panel and I I think for for my part I I would still be interested in maybe having this go under our our new um uh naming commit that ordinance that we passed earlier but I don't know that those are my thoughts I'm working this out for myself thank you Mr chair thank you Mr Cross no I absolutely agree with Dan ven that it undermines why do we have a naming panel and a naming commission if we're not going to follow their advice and if you read through it I mean there's paragraphs and paragraphs where every question that we had on there had their legal decision where they talked to uh you know where they talked to attorneys and they dealt with all these questions regarding hey 20year renaming it was named the state of the port of Alaska back in what 20156 and that was so that was a recent change and then that's why we got the Commission in order to you know I guess why are we putting these commissions together and why are we doing panels who go through months of work a stack of documents and massive conversations with attorneys to come up with a name they all unanimously approved so at the last minute we go got a better idea that just seems like a huge colossal waste of all these people's time so no just approve their their their suggestion it was a bipartisan group of individuals who spoke with attorneys and came up with what I think is a legitimate solution so thank you Miss brango so I've been thinking a lot about this um dyang was not someone that I supported at all and I ran across this quote uh from Mark Twain politicians are a lot like diapers they should be changed frequently and for the same reasons Don young had his day for Alaska but he aged into someone who was insensitive a bully and disrespected women rewarding a public figure for this bad behavior because he brought the state money is not in the best interest of our city the naming of a volcano after him is in my opinion way more fitting and so I could not support the actual naming of the port after Don young but I do like your suggestion member zotel Mr bird thank you Mr chair um it is a daunting task to persuade the body uh after hearing the uh position far but I'll I'll do my best best on behalf of the administration to the first point of the process that it's taken us to get to this point the Administration has has done this now three times taken this issue before a naming panel with two appointed members from this body and two appointed members for the administration to consider whether we should rename our Port that is in fact why this body did not vote back in October and sent it back for the third time because we were told the process is important if the process is important then having a lay it on the table S1 version attempting to rename the daang port of Anchorage to the daang cargo terminals for all of Alaska does not seem to follow the honor that we have afforded process up to this point and the administration wants to follow the process and I think we've we made a good faith argument that we have done just that secondly I want to bring up what Mr Jansen who mentioned the fact that he is an expert in Maritime things he's the chairman of Lyndon he knows what naming conventions are throughout the maritime Industries he was on the panel and he just pointed out in his testimony that it is entirely appropriate to name our Port the port of Anchorage the da young young Port of Anchorage we should not disregard the experts that we name to our naming panels when they testify on matters that are within their subject matter expertise the third point I'd like to make is that we are very honored and in a in a certain sense we have the the Mr chair we have you and the body to thank for this we would not have had the Congressional Delegation write a letter in support of this had this not gone back before the naming panel for a third time and in that sense we can say the process has been successful all three of our Congressional our sitting Congressional Representatives Senator marowski Senator Sullivan and representative pela all of them have signed a letter in support of The Da young Port of Anchorage we should not simply disregard the support and the time that they have lended to this especially because they are now fulfilling many of the same roles that Don young fulfilled for many years love him or hate him Don young achieved an order of magnitude as a a Statesman in Alaska that should be recognized and maybe more so than anything else that's why we should name the Don Young Port of Anchorage and not the da young cargo terminals it reflects the same thing that the people of this state and city thought about Senator Ted Stevens love him or hate him Senator Ted Stevens was a big deal and that's the way the administration feels about Don young the last point I'd like to make Mr chair is as some of you are already aware there is a bill in the legislature that addresses whether or not anguage will maintain control of its own port that bill is s sp1 55 it was introduced at the end of last session should this body approve a renaming of The Da young Port of Anchorage to instead the da young Port of Alaska or the port of all Alaska that will simply be an argument for the state to take control of our Port that is not something that the taxpayers of Anchorage have expected for the last 50 or 60 years and the administration's position is that the tax ta payers should be respected Mr chair we appreciate the the process and we ask that the body would consider following the process laid out in code which is to honor the decision by the naming panel after three different public hearings stretching back to June of last year thank you Mr chair still have a load of people in the queue Mr Martinez all right I'm going to try my best to work through a few of these items here first is it accurate and anyone's willing to answer that's fine is it accurate that naming panels offer advice and are advisory is that accurate uh to Mr bird or Miss Miss H helzer is that accurate to uh member Martinez yes it's an advisory commission thank you so when it's PR presented to us to honor the work of the advisory the honoring is to review it essentially and make a decision about it it is not to conform necessarily to the advice that would be further than honoring uh the space so I wanted to highlight that because I that's that's all for me respectfully I don't have many good much history around Don young but I do I want to Pivot by saying this we open this meeting with a land acknowledgement after we do the Pledge of Allegiance we heard earlier today a discussion around UTA and restoring uh land uh under the river and and we heard about the the kind of legacy of harm in fact so at this time of decolonizing it feels off to me that that we were moving in a direction without an alternative um to name something after someone who has uh both the stature of that Alaskan respect and a history of personal advocacy that if you find folks out in the community who met and know Don young he's helped them and he helped those folks so there's that relationship but then there's also when Don young in 2013 called Latinos wetbacks and just that it's a it's a parallel with what member brona described that there had been a history of championing against people who look like me uh who have a who come from backgrounds where I come from so I was struggling with the the the totality of it in the first place I think it is a good compromise for us to utilize our discretion to take the advice and then to make a determination of what we feel comfortable with that both does honor recognizes the Legacy but also holds some territory of discontent and additionally though I'd like to add I did study all of the trans RS of all of the meetings and one thing that I am not prepared to do is be more paternalistic than those who are most affected so I I used Aaron leot who was my North Star in this conversation because Aaron leet is uh a leadership from auta so it was important to me that everyone notes that Aaron leot and the members of the committee of the panel voted unanimously so I'm not prepared to Champion more than others but I want to I want to find a balance between respect and also moving past this the the the history of some of the challenges that Don young brought and some of the relationships between colonialism that Don didn't necessarily bring but people took advantage of certainly and I know this because we're just now moving to restore auta so respectfully I think that uh I appreciate apprciate my colleagues bringing forward another uh alternative and lastly I would also say that I don't remember anyone of any stature or H with any credibility bringing a forceful argument why we should not have changed the name in the first place five six years ago I don't remember those arguments what I do recall was uniformed understanding that if we celebrate the value by changing the name to the port of Alaska and communicate that value that then we would get more leverage for the port and fundamentally that was correct because the delegation and the State Delegate and our state uh caucus all have aligned to supporting our port and we've gotten resources because of that alignment so it's I just land on a space where I appreciate the alternative I think that it's a it's a red herring to describe the changing of the of the of the name back to give some sort of pressure for the state to then take over the port which they fundamentally can do even if we change the name that was recommended so I just wanted to encourage my colleagues to support this particular change I think it does strike a balance between honoring following conventions but also not going too far uh down the legacy of locking us into uh that brand thank you chair Mr Johnson yeah thank you Mr chair um she's got it I I'll be honest this is a tough one but more than anything else I I feel kind of sad that this is the way this is where We've Ended up you know we we talked about the the work of the naming commission and um you know Mr Cross asked the question why why convene them if we're not going to accept their recommendations or at least take them seriously I mean the fact is is this started with the presumption that was made U by an action of the assembly just a couple weeks after Mr Young passed away I mean someone correct me here if I get this wrong but shortly after he passed a decision was made to convene a commission to consider this specific name and I I understand they followed the process but it doesn't look like at any point other names were even really considered as far as I can tell this decision was made long before any of us were on the body and now we've just been expected to endorse it and I I understand that there is a strong desire to to recognize and honor Congressman Young's Legacy um frankly I have mixed feelings about that but I'm not here to say that he I'm not here to say definitively that I don't think he's deserving of of this honor but I wish that we had gotten to this point through a more thoughtful and considerate process I wish that we had really put in the time to decide whether or not we think this is the the best name for this you know um so yeah I mean the the fact is is this is just I I I don't think it's a good position I don't think it's a good way for us to to go about this um I'll say though whether or not we attach um Congressman Young's name to the port of the Congo cargo terminals uh I'm willing to consider Arguments for against however what I will say strongly is I do believe that if we are going to change the port again or the name of the port again which um we seem to do with some regularity but if we are going to do it I believe it should be the port of Anchorage whether that's the dang Port of Anchorage or is simply the port of Anchorage with the dang cargo terminals there there's a presumption I think to naming it the port of Alaska that I find problematic um it's not the only port in Alaska it's not the only Port that's a vital piece of infrastructure or is essential to its Community or even its region I don't think we have any more right necessarily to claim the title of Port of Alaska than any of the other ports within the state um and recognizing that the general con uh convention is to name it after the place where it terminates I I think anage is fitting there and I think it's important for us to not present ourselves as saying that Anchorage is somehow above or more important than the other communities in the state and that I don't think we're any more entitled to that name than than anyone else so I would say whether we de size as a body to go and attach Don Young's name to the port or not it should be the port of Anchorage so I think now I have to see the list hold on so Mr salt I think you're you and I and Miss broy I don't see yep you and I miss broy they only on all right thank you Mr chair oh and Scott so um I'm gonna go ahead and start with Mr salt okay thank you Mr chair um yeah I I I definitely like naming the entire Port um I'd like it to you know the Ted Stevens jetway at Anchorage International um that's kind of what we're we're attributing this to um love or hate Don young we elected him time and time again so there's definitely a legacy um definitely and we the majority of Voters he has a special place in the development of Alaska um I personally kind of like the port of Alaska I just like the Ring of it but again going back to what Mr Cross others have said we put this commission together to consider naming the port this is the recommendation they gave us um unanimous unanimously and I it carries special weight that Mr legot was part of that committee as well and I I'll leave with that and hope members will support the original version thank you so next will be Miss broley yeah thank you um I'm glad the chief of staff brought up process and uh Mr Johnson I I'll make one small correction um that it was actually mayor Bronson who introduced this in March 2022 so it was on an assembly meeting um and the Practical reality from my perspective is that the outcome of this process was decided the minute that the mayor introduced that in March 2022 so really all of this process that we've gone through is really attempting to to ensure that we're following something where it feels like the decision was already made certainly before I got here um the way this proceeded to me illustrates the Deep flaws in our naming panel process and this is not the only one that I've I've never participated on our naming panel I've watched them happen and practically speaking it is impossible to say no to the members of a grieving Family Once the idea is out in the public that is the reality that's how it's happened in turnig again that's how it's happened in other places and again I'm not speaking to the merits of an individual I'm pointing to the fact that if you bring something and say yes we would love to name something after your family member who just passed away who would say no to that there is no there is no other answer to that except yes um so I am frustrated by this um I also understand this current process where you know right now we are debating the debates of a name that really illustrates the value of having a naming commission so not just a panel not just folks who are brought together again to say do you agree or not agree with the uh proposition that's already been put forward but rather to have a larger View and to really look holistically at how we name things I totally understand that this process was already in in place or or this particular naming recommendation was already in place before the code was changed so I don't recommend that we um go back on that and say that we shouldn't do it that way but this makes very clear the value that we did that we got in changing that process um and now I'm also frustrated by the fact that we are being apparently pressured by the federal and state levels um to do something that is really in our purview to decide um so I do take exception to the statement that somehow retaining the phrase of Alaska on our Port is going to mean that it's more likely it becomes a port authority and taken by the state I think that is a a misstatement um and I also it it is unusual for the Federal delegation to write us a letter and it feels like I'm not allowed to say no and that is frustrating to me again this is not about an individual this is about whether this process is actually a process or whether we're just wasting time because this was already decided a year ago so honestly I don't have a strong opinion on whether we add this name what we add it to I would prefer to call it the port of Alaska because that was what was decided and I am extremely frustrated by the way this is played out thank you U Mr Myers you're next and I I have an amendment so please don't make that motion you love to make it's an important Amendment so Mr Meyers thank you Mr constant chair constant I should say I uh I agree with Anna I'm frustrated but I disagree with Anna member Broly in the fact that um we had a naming panel it was a bipartisan panel from what I understand and they unan unanimously agreed on a name so if we're going to as member cross pointed out and member volan have them spend all that time countless meetings we're going to have a really hard time getting people who want to sit on panels and commissions if we just go and throw their work away so I guess I would ask if we're going to disregard what they chose maybe we should send this back to the naming panel Fair Point all right so being the last member who hasn't spoken I have myself in the queue and uh two things first some comments then an amendment um to the idea of calling ourselves our Port this port the port of Alaska is like us setting ourselves up because there are other ports there in fact are no other ports in Alaska like the port of Alaska because what happens at the Port of Alaska is that 85% of the population is served by of the state of Alaska like all the way everywhere the road goes every barge that heads out west it all comes through here and so there is a significance to how the that Port is different than all other ports in the region in the state and even far and wide Honolulu is in some way similar because it's the lone major port that then serves as a hub for the rest of the state of Hawaii but really for the rest of the country there's nothing like it and um if one wants to argue that we should follow the process then we simply shouldn't rename it because effectively it was renamed six years ago and the code says 20 years but I agree with my peers who say unintentional pun I guess that ship has sailed um to suggest that the state will not take control of our Port if we make this change but if we don't make this change they will smacks of extort I smacks of a really bad motivator and it in another day might have raised a lot of ir but I'm pretty tired and ready for the end of the year to happen um the state's going to do what the state's going to do and it's going to be the legal fight of the century when we demand that they provide consideration for the taking if they in fact move on that goal it'll be a very interesting fight but it has very little to do with what we call the port the argument that it was a bipartisan panel is not in fact true in the sense that lots of people like to see binary but the assembly members who were appointed were not Democrats we not liberals progressives one was a tribal leader and one a a leader of a organization that does elections work both of them nonpartisan not registered to any party and so I don't like to ascribe to people that they are a part of some party or some faction they're not a part of when in fact they're just citizens and residents who came to the table to participate now this is an advisory commission and in the end I really don't care what we end up naming it so but I do have an amendment that needs to be made and so um Miss alel would you move this for me Conant Amendment one I move it second so moved by Miss elel seconded by Mr Walland um what this does like several weeks ago several meetings ago we dedicated a park that's track J that is considered part of the port and if this amendment is adopted it removes from the naming process that dedicated Park land to ensure that that Park doesn't get caught up in this process but instead can be named after the neighborhood's interest and what the panel and commission we create goes through a fair process for that Park that we've created so I would ask for your report on this amendment to take that 8 acre section out of what is being named whatever we land on anyone wish to discuss that motion hearing and seeing our Amendment motion Amendment members May proceed to vote a vote of 12 to zero that Amendment has passed now we'll roll back up through the queue Mr pres Veria thank you I just want to make a a few comments and clarify some comments that I've heard from members I think it's a helpful distinction between panel and commission and historically what's happened is that a panel is formed when when when a group of citizens want to name something after a person so the person has already been chosen and in many cases the place has already been chosen so it's just a matter of a process to put a group of people together to name that person after that or that place after that that person that's exactly what happened here is that the these these people came together with with a decision already made that they were planning on naming the port after Don young there was there was no other locations considered there were no other people considered that's all that they were there to do so so the hard work of doing that was not about looking for other locations considering other names this was only about figuring out a way to name the port after Da young so that's that was their job and that's what they did because that's what they were asked to to do um is to is to overcome any barriers that would that would not allow that to happen and then to vote unanimously to bring that forward so that's what happened and that's that's not to undermine the the panel they did their job and they did it it well um uh the other thing to to consider is that most of these panels that are formed over the last many years are relatively small um pieces of they're small Parks they're a building there these these sort of things right um and so it makes sense to have um a few citizens coming together to do a panel they're not the port of Alaska which is a major major part of this State and the decision to to name that should not be put in the hands of four citizens who are are coming together to do that I will also note that there was a public comment period and there were three people that came the wife and two daughters and so there there really has not been a robust public process to determine whether this is what alaskans want or not so with all that being said um I I I I want to make sure that I'm giving full respect to the fact that this panel did come together they did their their job and I appreciate that um but but I I do think that ultimately this is our decision and and that's the way the process works and I do think that this is a really eloquent way for us to honor Mr Young and to and to name something that is very significant after him and and for us to maintain the current name of our Port which I think is important as well um and I think the conversation about whether we should name it the port of Anchorage or Port of Alaska is a different conversation to have because that's not really what's in front of us today so with all that being said I I do encourage my colleagues to to move forward with this and um and for us honor um Congressman young with with um the naming of the cargo to terminal which is a very significant thing for our entire State and for us to maintain the name of our Port thank you Q is getting slim Mr vond thank you Mr chair um I'm going to make a motion to refer this to the public naming commission that was established to be a AO 2023 48s second motion made by Mr vand seconded by Mr Cross motion is to refer so we now have a public naming commission um we no it's it's now a public naming commission um and that commission has qualifications required of its members um that bring would bring a a level of expertise um into naming substantial infrastructure in Anchorage um I think that would be appropriate public process um and hopefully you know would get at the intent uh of that legislation in creating names for our public places that reflect the diversity of Anchorage um and that don't have as member Perez verdia pointed out a a predetermined outcome um and so I would like to trust the public naming commission uh with this and get their recommendation thank you Mr chair that commission is not yet impanel Mr Cross yeah I would support that and the commission may not quite be built but is there a rush to do this overnight I mean we obviously can't agree on this I would much rather take the time to make sure that we agree with the I mean the naming panel we're going to discard that but we're going to we're going to name the the larg port and Anchorage with a laid on the table or a name that we just got here shortly and discard their information uh I would prefer to slow roll it and make sure we do something wise that gets more public input if that's what we want and I will tell you that this whole situation here kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth because Don young love him or hate him did more in his lifetime than all of us on this thing combined and the badmouth the dead is shameful just give it to a committee we're obviously too politicized to handle this turn it over to somebody another committee that can handle it because I'm not very proud of the way of what I've heard out of people's mouths regarding a man who did more than than I'll probably ever do for the state thank you thank you m salel yeah I have a question as to the referral I thought we Exempted this item and any pending items at the time that we instituted the commission and the changing of the naming process and I want to get clarification on that before we determine that we can send it through a new process because I think that that's what we said um and I think Mr Rivera might have something to add to that so yeah thanks so I was in the queue to speak to a few things so um I I'll get to members all as hell's question in a minute but um first uh this motion I'm assuming to refer to the commission which I think as the chair stated hasn't been in panel just yet um I'm assum assuming that this is just to start the process over right to start from scratch okay so I'm getting a nod a head nod from the Mover of the motion um so you know if that's the case and if that's what the Mover of the motion wants to do I mean I would suggest that we just scrap this entire item and just start from scratch once the naming panel has been impanel and just introduce a new resolution asking the commission to do this work rather than do it at this point um because I think it makes more sense to just start fresh no offense to the the current naming panel they the naming panel can give all of their work to the new commission um but I think it makes more sense to start fresh with regard to what member zotel had stated um we did this was something that was very very important to the administration um and and I remember this because we debated for a long time about this about this um Amendment and I frankly didn't care but but the administration cared very much about this amendment um to make sure that all of our prior n our existing naming panels and the administration wanted to specifically point out this naming panel um that they would operate under the old code and not operate under the new code and that was something that was put into that ordinance um so I don't necessarily feel good about going back on something that we had agreed on during that deliberation um I won't at this moment opine on what Mr Cross said thanks silence speaks volumes Miss broley yeah thank you um I do not support this um I appreciate the effort and and perhaps there would be a better process if we did that however as others have said um this was already Exempted and I I just did the math between March 2022 and December 2023 is 21 months so we've already granted it hasn't been on every single agenda we've taken almost two years just to talk about this and I'm not confident that the result will be different if we follow a different process because of what I stated before so I do not support that thank you Mr Johnson yeah thank you I I I support this motion to refer to the commission um and not because I believe the outcome will be different and in fact if we go through the process of allowing the naming commission to um weigh the various Al Alternatives and and they make the determination that in fact the best name is the da Port of Anchorage or Port of Alaska I I'll say right here on the record I would support that um I just think it is a better way for us to uh get to an outcome um than simply we we're see in here I I I I don't feel very good about the way we are going about this conversation not any disrespect to members of the body I think we're all doing the best we can given the circumstances here um but a decision this magnitude in this conse quence I I don't think um I don't think this is how it should go about so I I fully support Senate commission again I'll say it here on the record if the commission comes back says Don Young's name should be attached to it then I will fully support that recommendation at that time Mr salt thank you so just a point of Cl or clarification are we referring to the commission to name something after Don young or to rename the port of Alaska I think name the port of Alaska and yeah essentially to start from scratch um the work that the panel did um but without a predetermined outcome and with members of that commission who meet the qualifications that were spelled out in that legislation so I I believe Dean is going to get on and say that the motion to refer to that commission is really not allowed by the code because the way the process happened before um I think is that a fair statement Mr Gates um well almost I think Mr chair uh I pulled up the ordinance that we passed that established our new co- chapter 1804 Republic name commission um it's not called the Comm but uh we had a subsection e on page four of this ordinance uh that's going to be cified it's not yet published online I think it passed in September but it says uh basically that um this chapter and acted blah applies to any new naming project initiated per 184a after the effective date of the ordinance and here's the key part naming of public place projects initiated by a memorandum of the mayor a resolution of the assembly prior to effective date of this ordinance shall follow the procedures of chapter 397 being repealed by this ordinance and their conclusion or final action and uh this was clearly initiated prior to this ordinance our new naming uh public naming commission so I guess though if you want to send it to the naming commission this item needs to be postponed indefinitely rather than referred because initiated prior this referral action to commissions is isn't allowed by our new code you could refer it to the same naming panel or you could postpone indefinitely Or vote it down and then you could start all over again to send to the new public naming commission I just had a sidebar with my colleague and we in agreement on that so I don't know that I heard anything different than what I said just more um but I'm going to make the suggestion now that we were send that motion and that we postpone for a month and that we have a work session in January where we take all of this and workshop it use our legislative process because at this point we're making sausage we have three options one might be this one be that that one and so um I I believe that we'd respect everybody's time more if we just came back to this after a little more thought but not giving it to someone else let's just do our job is my suggestion so miss El thanks um yeah I don't support referring it back because I think we're Bound by the code that we're stuck in the current process and I mean had this not come before us through an assembly memorandum from the mayor I wouldn't be for changing the name of the port at all I think it was fine and I would have been just fine with that so uh with that in mind I moved to postpone indefinitely second we have a motion to postpone indefinitely made by m elel seconded by Mr Pria you have the floor thank you um so what this does is it won't be an item that existed before um or prior to the change in code um additionally um I think it signals to the administration if they really want to honor Don young to um consider which route they want to take whether they're looking to rename a place or they are looking to honor a person because when you put the place and the person together it appears to be a predetermined outcome and it really starts to constrain the options on the table um I think that through the debate today I my S1 version wasn't making sausage or anything like that I considered all of the options on the table the recommendations um but we were kind of hem as Miss broy said we were hemmed in to some kind of predetermined um conclusion so postponing it indefinitely puts the power either with the administration to bring back a place naming or a person naming or the members of this body by resolution under the new section of code um it will hopefully also catalyze the Implement of the commission um which needs to be done thank you Mr bird thank you Mr chair uh the administration doesn't support a motion to postpone indefinitely I wanted to just address um the public process I think was followed for 49 years in that public process loveed or hate it was Alaska electing Don young to be its US Representative just as we did elect representative pela we think this is the best and fitting way to honor somebody who served longer than anybody else and I don't think it serves his memory nor this body nor the city well to postpone inde definitely thank you Mr chair all right no one's in oh miss bro yeah thank you um just to be clear what I understand the postponement indefinitely is not making a final decision on this but it is to basically retire this item so that we can takeen up in a new way so yet again I am hearing language that basically says um that that if we don't vote a certain way that that it will come down on us again and I am frustrated by that and I'm especially frustrated by that because I would fully expect to see um something out on online uh later tonight or this morning that would basically mischaracterize this discussion say that we were against uh Mr Young our former representative dong young and and basically further um politicize this entire conversation so I just want to state that um that that seems to be a pattern I hope it doesn't happen again and that is very clear that what we are talking about is postponing this particular item and not the entire question thank you no one's in the queue I'm going to call a question members May proceed to vote the motion is postpone indefinitely on a vote of 8 to four the motion has passed all right we can move on actually I'm GNA give us a five minute break theyve always e e after 14g to take up 14 J and then 14 L L and then there will be some time remaining for audience participation and final member comments if we get through the rest great so moved okay so the motion would be to change the order of the day after 14 f and g take up 14 J and 14 L point of order it's a difficulty hear in the chamber yep thank you it's uh we're going to do fgj L and then uh for sure we will make time for audience participation as the the code requires so I had a motion by Miss elel second by think Mr Rivera it wasn't you oh miss oh miss broy sorry okay so we'll at least try to get through as many as we can but for sure those four and so if we get close close to 14 L and we still have time we'll take up some other items because that's an item that we'll be excusing Miss alel for so that's the plan and we'll do our best to stick to it so the next item on the agenda Hot Topic oh sorry is there any objection to the motion I'm not seeing any objection so the motion is carried unanimously thank you next up we have item 14f 14f is a 2023 103 an ordinance of the Anchorage assembly amending certain provisions of Anchorage Municipal Code tile 21 to create a classification of residential development for three and four unit dwelling four dwelling unit construction wave reading thank you so the public hearing on this item is now open welcome please uh come forward name what part of town you're from you'll have three minutes so I won't start your time yet hit the button that's blue and the red light will come on there you go you're good got it you're on thank you uh my name is Marne isacs I'm resident of Turan for 45 years uh tonight I'll be representing myself AO 2023 103s uh is an excellent effort this is good uh focusing on expanding the role of thre plexes and fourplexes can provide help to address Anchorage houses housing crisis it is a much needed middle real estate market to be clear uh based on assembly ven's testimony before the December 4th Planning and Zoning commission meeting that we are discussing terms in 2023 103s for Triplex and fourplex structures but that allowing these multif family dwelling units as permitted use in R2 and r2d is not subject to this ordinance the pnz approved the ordinance without inclusion of r2a and r2d I'll keep my comments brief first regarding priority code requirements that I believe are important to to keep in front of mind and then conclude with some thoughts on opportunities to increase this inventory I I think we need to put some muscle in this whole Market okay code priorities parking having lived in an older Anchorage neighborhood for over four decades it's quite clear overnight Street Parking Can quickly cause unsafe conditions for traffic plows and pedestrians in Winter these streets are not designed to support the extra on Street parked vehicles that Triplex and fourplex will bring if there is no designated on-site parking many neighborhoods do not have alleys require one on-site parking space per unit snow storage location for disposal of the site snow storage must be designated if not neighborhood lots and right away become deao snow dumps with negative social and safety and consequences and perhaps flooding side setbacks the current 10 foot side sitpack should be maintained for privacy and noise reasons but primarily for fire safety concerns I believe this is also the position taken by the fire inspector particularly for the fourplex uh these three items parking snow disposal and setback should be required as use by right contained in the code not rely on the site plan broader and this is the main reason I'm testifying broader opportunities hopefully to develop more thre plexes and fourplexes create an inventory of properties either abandoned or in a re of payment of Mo MOA property taxes work in partnership with banks to include the properties that are in forclosure develop a process for Mo MOA to auction these properties for the development of three and fourplex structures Heritage landbank expedite review of existing undeveloped land particularly in the commercial and Industrial sections propos acreage to be reassigned as family multif family residential if needed subsidize Mo MOA utility service provide public transit work with electrical utilities to extend service consider property tax incentive uh thank you for your opportunity happy holidays thank you all right thank you thank you welcome again please state your name what part of town you're from you'll have three minutes and I appreciate everyone's lined up that'll help us keep moving hi my name is Brian witzky I go by Brie she and her pronouns transgender 14 years of the Alex at the current moment so I appreciate that we are looking into uh unique ways of trying to ease some of our homeless situations and availability situations I want to make sure as we said we change different components like this in our code that we take the time that those that uh have tried to do this in the past get recognized for their efforts because we're looking at it now uh it's kind of like a hot topic now but yet when many people were stating this I do recall uh just a couple years ago it was shut down quickly so again that shows us growth that we're looking forward and I appreciate that as well as the fact being over the homeless I can uh you know I can say thank you for looking at these and taking this seriously as well as the fact that I know as this is coming about to be and many uh renters uh or many owners are looking at allowing some of their grants to be used that they stay attuned to the fact that I'm Alaskan so when we're using these grants that are here in Alaska I appreciate their acceptance there's other states and other entities that are contacting private individuals that are of rental property and taking these grants that are out here and moving people up here because we're a sanctuary City please remember that when we're doing something like this because we need help for alaskans to help alaskans that we we conduct business in this aspect that we keep alaskans first thank you thank you welcome again please state your name what part of town you're from you'll have three minutes good evening my name is Marton Hansen Mr conson um I have trouble hearing you your mic is the lowest of all uh here okay my name is Martin Hansen I've lived in the South Edition uh for almost 40 years in Anchorage um one thing that's pretty obvious now is snow burms are simply a fact of life they've always been a fact of life and they always make our streets narrower um I am very concerned about this proposed ordinance because you're going to start throwing uh vehicles for a fourplex that's four five six seven eight on street parking vehicles on the streets in the South Edition and we won't able to get through until we know how emergency vehicles road graders snow removal vehicles and school buses will get through the neighborhoods I think this is uh proposal should be sheld you can solve that problem we need a map that shows where all the um lots that would be available for fourplexes are located and what streets they're on and then we can see where it's appropriate and where it isn't please choose which areas would benefit because we all agree we'd use some more housing closer to downtown and find out which neighborhoods will be harmed before you pass this thank you for your time and I thank you all for the hard work you've been putting in this evening thank you Mr Hansen all right welcome again please state your name what part of town you're from you'll have three minutes hi my name is Julie I'm in uh Rogers Park District I oppose h a2023 d103 you want to rezone single family dwelling neighborhoods why not P or pursue commercial property for this effort there are enough hotels in Anchorage just check down on SE Street how many hotels does Anchorage need the tourism has drastically decreased with the multiple with multiple Hotel Beds empty year round Anchorage has become a San Francisco due to the decrease in oil development and exploration companies are leaving Alaska this has contributed to the decrease in population along with the economy in Anchorage you said that there's no land to build on head down Sea Street past Diamond there are plenty of there's plenty of land and that I believe was commercial property a few years ago there I thought there was a business being built across Cabellas that land is still empty in 2018 and Andre Spinelli had plans to develop in South Anchorage homes that came with a to use what happened to that multiple Multiplex units imply rentals not permanent housing the duplexes that already reside in college village have created overflow parking into the streets impinging on neighbors rights away right away and minimizing the amount of pavement service service pavement service service sorry um tenants have not maintain the yards criminal activity has taken place in a number of rentals including multiple police calls SWAT teams a house that was involved in Flames due to drug activity during the winter the vehicles on on the streets snowplows have had to maneuver around them and left streets down to one lane additional housing and would impact aging and fr in infrastructure and overload the sew and Electric Services Transit housing or Transit residents tend to not have an investment in the neighborhood so care for surrounding area is non-existent property values to adjacent homes will diminish a number of duplexes on Northwestern have stopped renting to proper renting um their properties um and have turned them into a more profitable Airbnb due to the damage left behind by the renters a few questions that I had were are are the landlords to these these plexes going to be living on site as they do adus if there are if they're determined affordable housing are they rentals or permanent housing will these Multiplex housing units be subsidized vouchered in 2017 the municipality pushed adus in housing for low-income and homeless and that sounds like this is what this is what your goal is thank you welcome please state your name what part of town you're from you'll have three minutes hi thank you my name is Graham Downey I live in the valley of the moon I'd like to thank the assembly for your leadership on this issue I think this is a very small but very significant forward step it's a common sense way to make the rules more fair and more elegant um and better for our city I speak from personal experience last year my partner and I were looking to buy a home here in Anchorage and we were hoping to buy a multif family unit because we wanted to live with friends which is like associated with happiness and quality of life it's like the best thing you can do for your health is to live near friends we could not find anything to buy we searched for a year looking for multif family housing and everything was either too dilapidated or too expensive for us to afford and we ended up in a single family home so I think we just don't have meaningful housing choice in the market right now because we've only allowed single family homes to be built and this is a very incremental step towards legalizing three and four plexes um at a more macro level Professor Bob ellon who teaches land use at Yale has defined exclusionary zoning as making cheap housing illegal and that's functionally what this bill is taking at least one small step towards correcting we're making it slightly easier to make housing affordable for people in Anchorage um we've seen this work in many other places Spokane passed much more ambitious middle housing bill which had most significant effects where they legalized fourplexes so Spokane both legalized duplexes Citywide and fourplexes only in certain zones along with lot splitting which this bill does not do most of the new housing happened in the four Plex zones so we can can see that in the fourplex zones it's a really crucial thing to legalize because it really encourages that investment that we desperately need in Alaska right our main housing problem zoning is great it's very important that we're addressing it but investment is really the key problem fourplexes help to drive investment so it's a really important step you're taking here Minneapolis saw the least inflation of any major city in this during the co epidemic a lot of analysts credit that to zoning reforms that kept in rent flat or even decline in terms of real value so again thank you for your leadership on this issue especially to the sponsors um really appreciate you taking this positive step forward thank you welcome please state your name what part of town you're from you'll have three minutes hi there I'm Deborah Hansen I live in the south Edition for the last 40 some years uh I asking you to delay reconsideration for this for some of the same reasons Mar Marne Isaac's brought up um I agree we do have a housing problem I've got two kids one would really like to buy a house the other one we're hoping will move back here um in 1982 I moved up here and I bought a house I came from San Francisco and I made I came up here partly because I could make a lot more money with my Stanford MBA and the houses were cheaper in 2023 you can make a lot more money in San Francisco than you can here the houses are still less here but I think money is the issue it used to be teachers made a lot of money here I had friends who who moved up here as teachers there was good retir same for city city and state employees police so what you call middle class made a good income and could buy houses now my son who's got an MA in architecture can't afford to buy a house uh building materials are expensive there's a lot of reasons for that but I think some of the things you need to think about are really it's the income levels and what's going on with our whole economy you guys can't solve all that I think this I think you've got some good ideas here but I think it's a little bit too sledgehammer I would like to know more exactly how it's going to affect our neighborhood um Martin brought up the parking there's a lot of other things um one of the things that people forget about is in 1982 the state had a program where they repaid student loans um we don't have that anymore also school is cheaper when I went to Stanford it cost 9,000 a year I got student loans but they weren't real big and I got to pay them off you know 10 years later um but the more complicated problems that the ordinance raises is we don't totally understand the effects that's I think one reason why the South Edition Community Council voted no um our assembly person didn't know even how many Lots would be affected in our area um and I also think you've got to adjust short-term rentals in our block there's five airbnbs and I know for sure three of them were rentals because a friend of mine rented and she was kicked out when the owner turned it into air a remote owner turned it into an Airbnb um there's a lot of complicated issues I think it's more complicated than the ordinance comes out the other thing that bothers me is the ordinance has got factual errors which I'd be happy to go over in any detail um and I looked into all the associated backup documents and there are some errors in that title 21 originally took years of meetings do you remember the Sand Lake Gravel Pit when that was closed contractor said oh my God construction is going to go up we're never going to have new houses if you look at it now it's full of houses and the gravel pits have gone away which has improved the quality of life in 2023 Anchorage is a lot more attractive city than it was in 1982 so I hope you guys consider all that when you consider this so please delay thank you very much thank you all right welcome please state your name what part of time you're from you'll have three minutes my name is Alexa Dobson and I live in Fairview um I'm speaking in favor of the ordinance tonight and uh my remarks are going to sound a lot like when I spoke uh earlier this month at the Planning and Zoning commission uh essentially I support this because I am an owner occupant of a fourplex I think it's fantastic and I think that it should be an opportunity that's available to more people um I was born and raised here in Anchorage Alaska the family home that I grew up in is in Kempton Hills um off of Huffman and you should have seen the look on my mom's face when I told her that I bought a fourplex in Fairview but I love it it is a Fant fantastic place to be for all of the um access to Recreation and access to downtown and things that matter to me my tenants are great we get along really well we take care of the property and it's been a fantastic experience I feel like a lot of times when people think about multif Family Properties they think about absentee landlords and crappy tenants and things like that so I want to share this you know experience that I've had the other important thing about it is it's the only way that I was going to afford to become a home homeowner um you know and this was a property that I purchased just a little bit before the pandemic hit um you know I'm a young professional I'm single I was working on a you know my salary um from a marketing agency I could not afford a300 or $400,000 single family house and utilities and the upkeep for that kind of thing so this was the path to home ownership that was available to me um and frankly I think that it would probably be in my literal my interest to say no we shouldn't have more fourplexes we shouldn't have more housing and Anchorage because then I could charge more rent my you know uh my home equity might go up if my uh you know home values go up but that's not what I believe in and I don't think that I should be pulling up the ladder behind me just because I got into a good position I believe that this is an opportunity that should be available to more folks so um that's why I'm speaking tonight in favor of making it easier to construct three and four Cor lexes in areas where they are already zoned to be allowed uh so I hope that you'll support this tonight and thank you so much thank you welcome please state your name what part of time you're from you'll have three minutes hello uh my name is Ben moal can you lift that microphone up oh sorry yeah thank you that better y sweet um my name is Ben Morrow I live on East Ridge right next to Merill field um I've lived here for three years uh I lived in Spokane right before coming to Anchorage Alaska I think it's special about Alaska that we have so many fourplexes there are not that many other places in the country where you can have such easy access to such a great investment opportunity to help build wealth um it is an attractive place that can draw even more people uh to uh Anchorage um I think well as all of youall know just as well as I do we have a housing crisis uh why not put four buildings into one uh building is is the simplest way to do it so why would we make that more difficult to do uh with a little bit of prudence of course I think uh valid concerns as brought up earlier for we need to have fire safety and and clear roads um that need to be brought into consideration for zoning Etc um but ultimately why would we make it more difficult to allow for investment opportunities uh for the community and for um those who can be disciplined to jump into that game and um build wealth for themselves in a great opportunity um ultimately I'm in support of the motion for it and I appreciate your consideration to it and lastly in closing Merry Christmas thanks thank you very much all right welcome please state your name what part of town you're from you'll have three minutes hi my name is Keen Kenny and I use she her pronouns and I live in the Northstar neighborhood off of fire weed and spinard I'm testifying in front of you all tonight night as a supporter of the three and fourplex reforms from a public health perspective as someone who serves the state of Alaska in the realm of Public Health I am well versed in understanding the social determinants of Health social determinants for context are the conditions in which people are born live learn work play worship and age all that affect a wide range of Health functioning and quality of life the social determent of Health that I want to focus on tonight is neighborhood and built environment as evidenced by the name and of that pillar of Health neighbor neighborhood and built environment are critical components to the health and well-being of each and every individual Anchorage is experiencing an undeniable housing crisis almost every day I am reminded of this whether it's looking at the different prices of homes that go for sale in my neighborhood or talking to a friend who would love to be a first-time home buyer but doesn't have the ability to do that even though they're in their mid-30s simply because only single family homes are on the market I also see it talking to folks who are in their later stages of Life who are unable to downsize to a smaller home because of lack of ability and high interest rates I also see it as I Transit throughout our streets and interact with the unhoused population everyone is impacted by this housing crisis sure part of this can be attributed to National level inflation but in Anchorage there is simply not enough homes to begin with thereby further inflaming this issue this crisis is an indiscriminate issue that not only affects our most vulnerable population but also those who are already privileged enough to have a home to call their own reforms such as the free three and fourplex are going to help combat this issue and therefore benefit everyone in our community nothing is going to change with this reform in terms of where three and fourplex places can be built rather it will simply make it easier to build the three and four plexes that the people of Anchorage so desperately need housing is a life cycle firsttime home buyers need smaller places to live just as much as those downsizing later in life it's therefore time as time as a community to change these prohibitory restrictions to three and four plexes and take a necessary but small a small but necessary step forward to having a stronger housing base and therefore a healthier Community thank you thank you welcome again please state your name what part of town you're from you'll have three minutes hello my name is Emily Weiser and I live in Airport Heights um I moved to Anchorage in 2019 for what was basically my dream job in my dream location I was I felt really lucky to be here and I came up for a conference a couple months before I moved up and I had one free day to find housing to line up for for when I moved up here and managed to find a place which you could never do now like people are looking for months to find a place to rent so I was looking for a small unit um it was just me and my two cats so I was looking for something small and affordable and in a certain area of town and I found it in a Triplex which ended up just being the perfect place for me um it was owned by a woman who was an empty nester she lived well she sometimes occupied the the upper unit and I was in one of the lower units really well taken care of great landlord um the only reason I left is because I was then able to buy my own place and so this was really a key stepping stone as it is for so many people to rent a small unit while saving up to buy a place so I would really love to see more triplexes and fourplexes across Anchorage including an airport Heights my neighborhood although I realize that's not on the table today um but yeah it's really astonishing to see how current code really limits where those can be built even in the zones where they're allowed the restrictions are so restrictive that they're not being built um so I do support the S version today um with one change I would request that you remove what I believe is currently in their requiring snow storage space um if they're not required to have car parking on site anymore which they are not thanks to last year year um I'm not really sure where the snow would come from that they're now required to have storage space for so that seems inconsistent and I'd ask that you consider removing that from the S version um otherwise I support it I think this is a really sensible and reasonable change it's very much needed and there's been an extensive collaborative process to move this forward so I urge you to vote Yes and I urge you to vote Yes tonight thank you thank you welcome please state your name what part of time you're from you have three minutes are you speaking on behalf of council uh no just uh cook Inland housing just great myself hi uh chair and members of the assembly my name is Tyler Robinson I work at C Inlet housing I'm here to speak in favor of both ordinances to title 21 and title 23 that will help hopefully further some more development of triplexes and fourplexes for about the fast past 10 years Sia has been building small infill developments in Anchorage this has included duplexes triplexes fourplexes all kinds of different configurations uh we've done it in Fairview South Edition umed spinard um I believe these small projects add units to existing neighborhoods while remaining relatively simple to finance it did not take us long to experience something we refer to as the triplex triggers in this work things in zoning code building code Municipal policy there's Easter eggs hidden all over the place that as soon as you go to three units it makes it significantly more challenging it drives sight drainage and lighting requirements which has cost implications both in design and in construction our first experience Mr chair you'll remember this was a triplex in fair viiew that resulted in us being required to upgrade the the alley while the duplex we built directly next door required no such upgrade I want to thank the sponsors of these ordinances for first of all recognizing the challenges and then being committed to do something about it it is simply much much easier and cheaper to build a duplex than a Triplex even if that building is larger than the triplex this leaves units off the table and often doesn't result in smaller unit types to meet today's smaller household sizes the two ORD the ordinances are written to really achieve two policy outcomes the first is really allowing us to build these structures where the code says we should be able to do it already in other words just making that line go from a Triplex to a fiveplex this was the primary reason why Cook Inlet housing started to build these in the first place we wanted to identify where those challenges and problems were it's simply past due time that we remove barriers to build and it's mindboggling to me that it is hard to build a triplex in a standard R3 Anchorage lot that should not be the case um we urge you to pass these two ordinances both are improvements to facilitating and and really implementing what I believe our comp plans say but I'd also urge you to do the following please urge the administration to make further changes in support of these efforts this includes amending the design criteria manual which currently exempts duplexes from significant zoning requirements this requirement should be based on area of disturbance not units secondly urge clarification in MOA policy and procedure to ensure that private development canel department does not automatically require offsite improvements the moment you move from two to three or four units it's really important it's not in a code that can fix that it's really an operational issue finally we urge you to ask staff or our working group to review the recently adopted 2023 50 parking and site access the working group did not review this ordinance since it was not in code at the time that we were meeting regrettably standards effect January 1 would make it impossible to build our triplex on McCain Loop one that's sort of held up as an example I don't believe that was the objective of that ordinance thanks I have a question for you quickly um Tyler so did you or um your staff send us those very specific um administrative requests in writing I we we provided about three pages I believe we've covered it all just emphasizing it for for the group I needed to know y thank you Mr chair I won't remember thanks okay welcome please state your name what part of time you're from you'll have three minutes uh hello my name is Janette Lee I'm Alaska research director for a sightline Institute a nonpartisan public policy Think Tank since moving to Alaska in 2005 I've lived in five different neighborhoods I started in Fairview went to turnig again moved to Airport Heights went to Rogers Park owned a home there was a landlord there um and I currently live in San Lake um I support 2023 103 and 130 um last year I wrote an article that Amplified the long-standing concerns of affordable and market rate housing developers like Tyler who've been trying to diversify our housing stock to serve smaller households and more wallet friendly price points after that I was able to witness the real work that went into this ordinance with multiple City departments and Community stakeholders applying their expertise to the effort um the ordinance would take a modest step toward adding more variety and easing prices in our housing market you know making it easier for maybe many of the young people in this room to afford rent or to uh own a home in our city it does so at little cost to the City by removing regulations that make it extremely difficult to build small multif family homes on Lots where they are already allowed among the upsides to Bringing more three and four unit residences to Anchorage um it helps alleviate housing home prices these units T tend to be less expensive though there's no reason upmarket multif family can also be an option um it would add variety to the housing market to accommodate different life stages um it would put Anchorage on a path to diversifying our transportation op options by raining and sprawl and using the land we have slightly more efficiently um they can also easily easily be designed to be indistinguishable from single unit homes and in fact many existing single unit homes in Anchorage are large enough to be internally subdivided into multi-unit homes in ways that are not noticeable to passers by if that is the concern um finally I want to add that it it will DEC decolonize our Zone in Code by making it less exclusionary I'm not going to go into this at all as there's no time but Anchorage has a long history of using land use code to discriminate on the basis of socioeconomic status race um much of our stock is 40 to 50 years old built during the pipeline years we should be making it easier to improve the character of our neighborhoods by refreshing that stock without having to pay above and beyond the cost of building the same size single unit home or duplex finally I'll note that an ordinance passed earlier this year um AO 202 350 requires some cleanup to remove additional barriers to three and four unit homes thank you very much for considering this issue thank you all right welcome please state your name what part of town you're from you'll have three minutes hello good evening I'm Aaron bald one day I live in Geneva Woods I grew up in Airport Heights uh with a 10-year Hiatus in Texas which was too long um I am here in support of this ordinance U because I Envision an Anchorage where housing is plentiful and people can afford to live in it uh it strikes me that the current bias in the zoning code towards single family homes and duplexes does not help to resolve the housing crunch that we're experiencing as has been noted by others tonight um and the fact that our current zoning code makes it more difficult to build three and four plexes in places where those are already an option really seems inefficient when we're talking about a a housing crisis I appreciate that this ordinance gives developers Builders and property owners more choices about the structures that they can reasonably build and that effectively increases the number of units that can be built on a given property in a structure of identical size and the reality is that we don't have enough housing units available in this community and I happen to work alongside some really great folks who are struggling to find safe reasonably priced housing I'm talking about restaurant servers and Baristas and college students and first year teachers and Retail workers I'm talking about the folks we called essential employees during covid I I think renters are often miss characterized as the Boogeyman in these sorts of conversations and that strikes me as disingenuous I'm particularly mindful tonight of an intergenerational family of six that I work with who want to purchase a home together and they cannot do so because a single family home with an Adu in Anchorage is beyond their price range financing for a Triplex or a fourplex pencils out but there are no such units available I happen to understand the scenar scario personally my partner and I purchased a single family home with an Adu in Geneva Woods in 2009 so that my father could live with us we could never afford our home if we were to try to purchase that same property today we would be in a similar situation looking for a property um um a 3plex or fourplex which presently does not exist in our housing market if we are truly interested in building a vibrant Community where many different sorts of households can Thrive we must be bold in expanding housing choice in Anchorage and this ordinance represents a common sense step in that direction and I want to thank you for taking this up and for placing this before us for consideration tonight I encourage you to vote Yes all right thank you um I am going to Pivot to the phone briefly we have two people that want to be heard on the phone and so um Travis would you go ahead and call um Miss Holmes this is Dian Holmes and I'm going to speak for myself okay thank you uh Miss Holmes then we're here on um the A2 20 23- 103 so you'll have 3 minutes yes um this is a complex issue that really deserves more time and public understanding because among other things I've heard a lot of misinformation in those who have just spoken before you I'm in favor of allowing the three and four flexes to be removed for from commercial building codes but but with infield where designated in 2040 and where public utilities and infrastructure exist and Del removes snow storage requirements that's obvious the recent housing Summit speaker highlighted building for what people want to live in not just for density I believe 6,000 squ foot lots are too small for three and four plexes and Landscaping is a big part of what makes our city decent don't delete that and consider keeping warranty guarantees think of Industry way in Huffman Business Park in a very minimal space it is one of the nicest be short drives that we have some have asked what's the difference between a single family versus a three or four Plex on the same siiz lot well three or four Families versus one bring different views of safety and usage to the table that's why safe cannot be compromised side setbacks are to me a safety feature and should not be reduced plus Landscaping can't succeed in 5 fet keep the commercial marine commercial District free from three and four plexes not even with a conditional use the quest to build more housing in that Quest let's not go back to the 60s and 70s when codes were pretty much by whoever was holding the hammer let's build something where you would want to live finally please read the detailed rabbit Creek Council comments with their support for AO but with conditions and I totally agree that density calculations need to include adus they must be considered the rabbit CR council's comments which I did not contribute to is are very late because they have fallen victim to this fastpac AO with his changes and at the holiday time this is a perfect example of how speed causes too much pressure for a meaningful public input so slow this down please by the way the close captions um on YouTube do not seem to be working in case you can fix that thank you Mr chair thanks for that feedback all right and we G to have one more person on the phone Calas peace hello this is Nancy peas I'm speaking this evening for rabbit Creek community council hello yep hold on one second I'm fixing the clock welcome Miss pce uh this is a public hearing on ao20 23103 you'll have five minutes yes I'm speaking this evening for rabbit Creek community council our Council voted on December 14th unanimously to submit comments which you should have received by email today rabbit Creek requests that you delay a vote until the planning department can provide a visual and quantitative analysis of this most recent version version of 103s and then have further Outreach to councils and the public prior to your final vote our request for postponement is based on three main points con concerning process first the need for analysis in past changes to title 21 planning staff has produced excellent graphics and datar Rich analysis on 103 there has been almost nothing to help the public understand the physical effects or long-term patterns here are three ways that lack of analysis leaves the public blind and blindsided to the impacts of 103 three first it's very difficult for the public to figure out where all the r2m and B3 zones are at a scale that lets them find their own Street and neighborhood features second as Mr Hansen said earlier there's no easy way to find out where the 6,000 squ foot lots are that um effectively opened up to three and fourplexes for the first time third the public can't figure out the effects of design changes 103 proposes a change in maximum height and length for three and four plexus and a skinnier sidey yard it should be relatively easy for the planning staff to do a concept drawing of how a taller bulkier building will affect the shading on an adjoining lot a visual image is essential for residents in the r2m to understand how new standards may affect Gardens yards tree survival privacy and solar access without this analysis the public feels skeptical at best and blindsided and distrustful at worst so that was the need for visual and quantitative analysis our second main point the time allotted for public participation has been inadequate this ordinance has been in a continual state of revision with regard to design standards setbacks which zones are affected and so on community councils cannot give a timely well-informed response especially when their last minute revisions during public hearings as occurred with the Planning and Zoning hearing a 45-day period is optimal for a council to get an issue onto an agenda and to inform residents and then prepare comments but that also assumes adequate staff analysis and a pause on ongoing revisions otherwise the public wastes both its time and its trust our third point on process this zoning impacts future density patterns without due diligence toward the comprehensive plan we assume that a zoning ordinance to implement increased housing should not work against other goals and policies after all the goals in our land use plans are given equal importance the goals are not ranked we find that 103 ignores key guidance from the land use plan regarding targeted infill and Redevelopment that is intended to be coordinated around commercial centers and Transit corridors we also feel that 103 does not address goals six and seven which call for things like quote placemaking upgrad when density is increased as well as quote preserving the character scale and identity of established neighborhoods we therefore request that the impact of 103 be addressed with regard to the overall density patterns and infrastructure intended by the comp plan as well as the comp plan goals for neighborhoods I'll close with specific revisions and our input here is limited by our limited access to analysis and data we support keeping three and four pex's out of the Marine commercial District we support keeping snow storage and current Landscaping requirements and we also recommend that side setbacks be 10 feet not 5T to better ensure safety viable landscaping and the character of neighborhoods other existing standards we feel important to retain in the r2m are yard space sunlight access into every unit sunlight access for joining Lots Windows facing the street lines of sight for casual surveillance of the street and again the current landscape requirements for multif family housing including the two-year landscape survival bond to summarize we request postponement and a specific request to planning staff for visual and comprehensive plan analysis so that the public can understand the effects and make informed comments thank you for your continued work for affordable housing thank you um Mr Rea yeah thank you Mr chair um so I know that um and this isn't for M uh Miss P I'm making a motion to extend um so I know that we typically don't like to jump from 11: to midnight even though I think we are going to be going to midnight tonight but um I'll go ahead and make a motion to extend to 11:30 second motion to extend let me to 11:30 made by Mr Rivera seconded by Miss elol takes eight votes is there any objection to the motion heing seeing none we are extended to 11:30 so um thank you Mr Rivera uh next welcome please state your name what part of town you're from you'll have three minutes Yaro Silvers East Anchorage I support this ordinance and I want to address some of the reasoning I've heard behind some of the opposition I'm going to read something from the citizens Coalition a shadowy group that has been bombarding random emails including mine with anti-h housing propaganda designed to elicit fear of multif family housing and the people who live in them r2m is des designed to be low intensity with sunlight protections yard space for play and gardening calm and quiet for raising children so families and children don't live in four es really many families rely on multif family housing for lowcost housing and yes some want to be away from busy highway corridors in safe quiet neighborhoods near schools and playgrounds what's more is that many of these triplexes and fourplexes have a smaller footprint than the mcmansions surrounding them so this argument as well as most of the rest of the neighborhood character excuses ring Hollow in the face of reality what this actually is about is economic segregation and wanting to keep lowincome individuals and families out of neighborhoods the social and economic costs of our current housing crisis are born by all of us inclusing including those who seem to rather have tent cities in their backyard than a fourplex we need to take action to remove barriers to increasing housing Supply in our city and honestly this doesn't even go far enough our strict building requirements contribute to the fact that in Anchorage we build just 400 units of housing per year compare this to 2,000 housing units per year built in the Matsu we desperately need to change a little bit of everything approach to addressing our housing shortage and treating triplexes and forp plexes the same as duplexes in building requirements is one smart policy that can help fill the Gap Plex construction is already allowed in these neighborhoods this ordinance just makes it a little more cost effective to build them I'm ready to welcome some new neighbors into my neighborhood and to do my part to alleviate our housing shortage problem this is what we need to do if we want to begin rebuilding a healthy vibrant economy where more people can actually afford to live thank you thank you welcome please state your name what part of town you're from you'll have three minutes all right good evening my name is Ain Barnett and uh I'm a resident of Fairview and I also grew up up in college village um I wanted to just Echo the comments of others here who've made really incredible and insightful um uh notes about why we should support this ordinance so I'm in favor of supporting this as well I think it is a very small step but a good one in reducing the racial economic um and uh disparities that exist uh in our housing and I also think that it's an important uh way to resolve um as was mentioned uh you know from a public health perspective uh social determinants of Health um I'll add that I heard a couple of concerns around snow removal and parking and just wanted to provide my take which is that with robust regular and affordable uh Transportation the need for cars reduces and with regular uh and reliable snow removal the uh concerns around um a space for storage of snow become less relevant so with Supportive Services uh those issues can be addressed and uh ultimately I support this again as a small measure uh towards reducing inequity um and improving uh Health outcomes and and uh ideally uh contributing to a um a healthier Anchorage for many so thank you thank you all right welcome please say your name what part of time you're from you'll have three minutes hi my name is Jeff lanfield U I know most of you but I wasn't going to speak but after hearing a lot of this I wanted to say a few things uh I'm a past president of the taku Campbell Community Council I moved to Anchorage in4 I was 19 didn't have much money and I I rented for eight years and even back then it was challenging to find a place uh compared to where I grew up in New Mexico and they were very expensive I worked I went to college I got a job I saved up some money and I was very lucky to buy a a condo on Old SE and Dowling near Campbell Creek that was a HUD forclosure at the time it was about $150,000 it's in a fourplex I'm on the board of River Park for the last 10 years there's 116 units that were built between 2000 and 2007 and they're they're basically two building three building two um two uh what is it uh unit three unit and four unit buildings and they were built by spanel between 2000 and 2007 I don't think those would be built today and the prices have gone way up the interest rates have gone way up and I was able to save some money and buy a place and I got you know pretty lucky the mortgage is pretty low the interest rate I got was pretty low and right now it's really hard I talk to people all the time who can't find a place to live here even people with you know good you know decent money and they're moving to the valley where they built half the houses in the state last year built in the m Valley they're the only area in the state that's growing everybody else is losing population so we got to do something this doesn't really go far enough but we we this is a good start we need to be able to to build houses and and multif family and duplexes and three triplexes and fourplexes and it's it's just really sad that we talk about this I mean there's a housing Summit a few week months months ago there's been housing Summits every year they're talking about housing all the time and nothing nothing's happening and a lot of these people testifying you know they're they're part of what I call the I got mine crowd they have their house they bought their house 20 or 30 or 40 years ago they don't want anybody in their backyard they're they're really happy they think people living in three plexes or fourplexes or apartments or I mean bad people or criminals it's crazy what they're saying so this needs to be passed more needs to happen and the fact that people want to come to Anchorage and can't find a place to live and are moving to the Matsu Valley or not moving to Anchorage at all because there's a lack of housing is it's just like a broken record and I really hope you guys pass this and I hope you guys do more to let people who are younger like me when I came to Anchorage with no money get a job save some money buy a place and now I'm still in that place and it's really nice to live there and I hope more people can do that so thank you thank you all right welcome please state your name what part of town you're from you'll have three minutes Eric Visser uh Visser construction I live in the taku Campbell area and uh first I want to say just thank you guys for bringing this forward it's definitely a small step in what we need to do to increase affordability here in Anchorage um and just some statistics that I brought up at our economic Summit for Anchorage home builders a couple of weeks ago um for housing affordability housing affordability is at its worst ever or almost at its worst ever right now so just to get back to the housing affordability rate we had pre pandemic housing prices would have to either drop by 35% interest rates would have to drop by 4% meaning they have to go from like 7 to3 or incomes would have to increase by 55% and that just to get back to where we were before the pandemic hit so what we're talking about with the triplex fourplex thing is there Triplex and fourplexes are already allowed in a lot of areas right what this is aiming to do is just make it more affordable more economical for us to build because if they were economical to build people would be build them all the time you know I think this ordinance we would be able to drop Triplex and fourplex prices by 10 to 25% you know we without going into you know permitting requirements um site design requirements that sort of stuff um and it really just makes sense I think it's a small step that we can take as a city as the assembly and um I urge you guys to support and pass this this evening thank you anyone else anyone at all welcome please say your name what part of time you froms my name is Aon RADS I live in college village I grew up in Airport Heights uh Grandma moved to Airport Heights in about 1951 mom moved to Airport Heights in about 1984 I attended East High she attended East High and Anchorage High uh some of you don't know what that is but that's West High and um I'm also a property owner I own several uh as people have died I bought those units I bought the house I grew up in on Oak Street in Lake Otis I bought my grandma's house when she died and all the things that these people are talking about are real uh big big deal stuff I I think that uh you'd be wise to increase your speed uh because what the other challenge that you're having that isn't reflected in any of these people's statements is the workingclass people need a place to live and if you don't provide that place for them to live they're not going to come here I uh service restaurants from Homer to Fairbanks the biggest issue every one of my clients has right now is employment my background just happens to be in human resources and if you don't have a place where people can live that they can afford to live then guess what you're not going to have anybody to clean your house you're not going to have anybody to serve your food you're not going to have anybody to mow your Lawns and and we really need to kind of take a different approach to how we might accomplish that mission and I think what you've heard tonight is a demand by the public to accomplish something and if you guys could do that I think that would be super awesome I have lots of very creative ideas I'm super entrepreneurial and crazy uh you're going to find out about that when I get a chance to actually say what I've come to say but um by using entrepreneurial crazy things you guys could all sing Kumbaya together as one and accomplish the mission that would really make this place an awesome place to live I grew up here my parents did a Blasphemous thing I moved from the East side to the hillside my senior year so my little brother only got to go to East for one year and then he got exiled to another school with an S but it wasn't South it was service the moral of the story uh every place in this town is a good place to live we just need to creatively get together move out the bureaucracy cut through the red tape and make it easy for people to develop stuff and get things moving as a property owner I would support that significantly and knowing the people uh that are clamoring for uh places to live um I would definitely say that would be the right motion for the houseless folks that are encampments as well and buying hotels I don't think is going to solve it I think building triplexes duplexes that'd be a great start thank you thank you welcome please I'm for state your name what part of John from you'll have three minutes hi you get one minute my name is Camila Hussein Scott I live in Eagle River I wanted to say thank you for working on this ordinance um change is coming I have three daughters I raised them in Eagle River they all moved out of state one even moved to Australia is not coming back because we cannot afford to live here and um so I you know I know we have a different um um in title 21 um land use plan in Eagle River but I think um there are sometimes people like to hold on what what is there and don't like to see change but this is a amazing new step in the right direction thank you thank you anyone else anyone at all hurry down please we Running Out of Time welcome please state your name what part of town you're from you'll have three minutes if you intend to testify please line up Stephen I'm Steven Callahan live in the university area I support this ordinance uh I believe it generally affects the R3 R2 primarily R2 zoning districts I don't think there'll be any effect on the hillside I don't think there'll be any effect in Eagle River but I think the uh denser housing is needed in the Anchorage area especially in the Anchorage bow so I support this ordinance for a lot of the reasons that have already been said that's all I have to say thank you anyone else anyone at all seeing hearing none public hearing on this item is now closed so um we're running out of time we have a couple of really must do pieces of business so I'm going to move to approve the S version so there's a motion to approve the S version by Mr Wen and second by Mr cruss um as much debate as we can get done in about five minutes and then either we move on and come back to this on the first meeting in January or I'm not sure what but we have some other critical items so Mr Rand great thank you Mr chair um I will try to make this quick um we have some amendments that I want to move I do want to say a couple things first um I had told the South Edition and Community Council that I was planning to postpone this and and continue the public hearing um however they took two votes at the most recent community council meeting um not only did they vote down a resolution um on this item but they also took what I think was the extraordinary step of taking a secondary vote to oppose this ordinance um and so for my part I feel like they've made their position clear and I have submitted it via memorandum as I said I would so that is part of the public record um and I feel we can move forward on this um we have some amendments that I'd like to move um number one uh I guess I'll move amendment number number one by assembly members cross band and Su second is it amendment number two for 14 H this one um we can do that one too whatever is that if that's easier for the clerk we can do proposed amendment number two B and cross so just do the one you wanted to do just I'm trying to find it you bet so it's amendment number one oh you're right okay so that's it's the uh it's assembly member blank so we can fill in bowan on that one amendment number one thanks you bet um briefly what this does is it restores the snow storage requirement for fourplexes currently in code single family two family and three unit are exempt fourplexes not the s- version contemplated also making fourplex exempt this restores the requirement um as recommended by right of way enforcement staff any discussion on the amendment um Mr C so Mr ven moves Mr Cross seconds any discussion on the amendment hearing see none members May proceed to vote on the [Applause] amendment Mr Rolland great I'll move um oh I'm sorry the vote was 10 to two sorry great okay I'm going to move amendment number two second I think amendment number two is in your packet say 14h B and cross the one that has the table but the ordinance at the top is 103s so we have a motion to amend one cross number two by Mr vau seconded by Mr Cross I'll go ahead and speak to it as briefly as I can what this does so these amendments are in response to feedback that we heard from this very public process that we've had um both from departmental um input and also from uh folks who have provided public testimony and emailed us um I heard a lot of concern about the reduction of the side setback from five uh from 10 feet for 3plex and fourplex to 5T that's despite the fact that the 5 foot or that the set back in r2m is already 5 foot for single family in duplex and for me I think we need to make a Phil philosophical shift when we think about zoning and get away from number of units being the priority and rather base it off the scale of neighborhoods because why can you build the same size building and house more families but you you require um a larger setback where you can build a single family home same square footage same height but you can have less of a setback so what this resolution does is it makes the side setback instead of based off of the number of units it bases it off the square footage so a residential structure between one and four units if it's under 5,000 square ft can have a 5ot setback if the structure from 1 to four units is over 5,000 Square fet then it will require a 10-ft setback and for me this is very consistent with Goal s of our 2040 land use plan that says current residents of the neighborhood often see new or different housing as being incompatible with their neighborhood scale character and livability the form and scale that new developments take more than its density is increasingly a primary concern so for me this is a way to keep things equitable between single family homes and fourplexes make it about the the size of the structure rather than the number of units thanks on the amendment missel so I have a question what is the setback for everyone else like right what is single family setback right now is it five in r2m single family and duplex are five R1 what's R1 setback is it five I don't know if that top of my head cuz that's that's where I have the question I would prefer to set a minimum setback and just have it for everything um and so this doesn't take into account yeah I I I need more time with this because I wasn't ready to contemplate um bulk and density requirements in an amendment um that I hadn't seen until recently can I follow up with answer so the overarching theme of this legislation this ordinance first of all there was U some public testimony that said we were upzoning single family that is not true um this this ordinance does not pertain to zones residential zones that only allow single family or two family the overarching theme of this legislation is to treat Triplex and fourplex the same as we treat single family and duplex in the residential zones where that level of construction is already allowed um and so it it's focused on I guess r2m really the S version and those dimensional standards thank you for the clarification and I think I've answered my question um this rear yard setback in R1 is 10 ft the side yard setbacks are 5T um and so yeah what I don't have time to do with the amendment of this complexity is to reconcile it across zoning districts where it wouldn't apply to know how it is different or um similar because I am very much interested in getting continuity across the code um so I think I'm going to have to pass on this amendment for now um but we'll see what the body does yeah it's really hard to chew this at the last minute this late is there um anyone who wants to speak on the amendment yeah but we have people in the queue for the main motion and so just real quick for the amendment okay Mr Cross just real quick is that when you're talking about a building over 5,000 square feet I think it's really important to note that all zoning all all your to they have a 40% maximum loot coverage and that would include your impervious surface for so I mean that has to be even to just get a building that's over 5,000 sare feet you're talking a quarter acre larger lot and so I mean on a quarter acre larger lot can we get 10 feet on either side if it's that big of a building understand a lot of people think there's just a buildable envelope but you can only be up to a certain percentage so this gives consideration that really Big Lots where you're put in a really big building we give 10 feet extra feet to make sure we have adequate drainage and those some of those concerns so thank you all right anyone else on the amendment I'm not seeing anyone members May proceed to vote [Applause] on a vote of8 to four the amendment has passed all right um so are we up to the queue I'm going to actually we're going to have to change the order and I'm just going to move us on to some other items now because we have some must-pass items and so um I can't take the risk that we don't get those done and so this may get done tonight or it may not so um the next thing we're going to do I'm going to ask the the body to change the order of the day that we can take up item 14 J next so moved second moved by Miss elel seconded by Mr Cross is there objection he I see none the order of the is changed item 14j AR appropriating 1,800 thou $810,000 of areawide general fund 101 fund balance to the area General Wide Fund 101 as a contribution and appropriating said contribution to the areawide general Capital Improvement projects fund 40180 for the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts pack elevators project public hearing on this item is now open anyone wish to be heard Let's uh ideally we keep it quick because we are running out of time so welcome please please state your name what part of ATT you from the mic is off there you go you'll have three minutes Mark Fineman I live in college village I'm here to speak as a u a resident uh of the community and also as a member of the uh Board of the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts um I'm also on the facilities committee so I appreciate the assembly taking up this uh resolution uh we take it very seriously ordinarily our CEO would be here Cody Castell but she's on the East Coast on a family emergency so she was on the line for as long as she could um but I'm here to uh to talk about um you know our position on the resolution as most of you probably know the uh the building itself was built in the late 80s the infrastructure is quite old um we're talking about 35 years or so the elevators are the the subject of this project are original um they are um failing uh they take a lot of Maintenance every year uh there are safety issues and operational issues associated with the with the elevator so we would definitely appreciate your consideration and and uh are here for any questions that you might have about this project so thank you thank you all right welcome please state your name what part of town you're from you'll have three minutes hi my name is Brian whky I go by Brie she and her pronouns 14 years currently residing in the Alex so I totally agree with uh the gentleman's last statements uh the the PAC is irreplaceable much like the Fourth Avenue Theater was and we won't go down that road but I can tell you from a person that is uh when uh I was young going through school they took arts and crafts out of our schools at rapid rates and they are still doing so now so I can tell you as we move forward in our future we need to make sure that availability of our great Arts is kept in our community it's part of those fundamental building blocks without them we do not have the the creative Souls that we have without our creative Souls we do not have great leaders much like yourselves if you guys did not have the awareness of not only our Performing Arts but also our best hearts as far as the city you guys wouldn't be in the positions you're at so I do leave it to you guys to make the best decisions that you guys can for the people as you guys always do and to the administration I'm still hoping that the mayor will show up you know we sure miss him thank you guys he already said thank you anyone else anyone at all seeing hearing none public hearing on this item is no closed I guess we do have Cody yeah I mean I have her number here she's on the East Coast yeah no okay thank you so the public hearing is closed let's will the body move to approve second um moved by Miss alel seconded by Mr Meyers M alel um very briefly to the CFO this was fund certified for fund balance um I know we discussed using 2023 revenues for it could you explain where you found the 1.81 uh million um in 2023 revenues please uh yes through the chair uh members alel I asked the municipal to go back and look at our Revenue projections for 2023 General operating fund uh and as you well aware we've had a very good year on uh with tourism for hotel taxes as well as the appropriated um uh rental car tax that goes along with that so some numbers are up some numbers are down uh but overall over the course of 2023 the treasurer is projecting that we will exceed our budget the budgeted Revenue in the general operating by 1.97 million which is enough to be able to cover the uh requested uh draw from the fund balance uh and that's why I gave my approval um I'd like to also say this project is very much supported by the mayor as well and would look forward to a positive vote from the assembly thank you for that Mr thern U the reason I asked is often when we ask for fund balance fund certifications were unable to get them so I just wanted to make sure we were um assured of where the money was coming from thanks Miss broley thank you um I do support this I'm glad that we were able to find a way to fund it especially um since the alternative was that it wouldn't have been able to get done until January so thank you to those who uh pulled that together and then I also just want to observe um I feel like there's a a discrepancy between um and and I understand how it happened but it's unfortunate that our convention centers um have their own Capital fund and are able to basically deal with repairs like this especially on an emergency basis or or short-term basis and then the Performing Arts Center does not so I know we can't fix that at this moment but I just wanted to note that thank you right thank you Mr rera thank you Mr chair I know this is unpopular but we got work to do I'm going to make a motion to extend the meeting to midnight second so there's a motion to extend the meeting by Mr Rivera seconded by Mr voland I'll go ahead and take a vote this is an eight vote requirement a vote of 11 to1 my motion is carried I'm with you Mr Johnson I'm with you um so now we're back on the main motion the main motion is uh move to approve is there any more discussion hearing and see none members May proceed to vote actually I hold hold that I'm going to say one thing um you know this was an item that was going to be entered into the budget for next year and used as tax revenue and um this is now funded if this passes this year out of money that we know is unspent and we know there's a ton of other unspent money in labor which I know the CFO is not comfortable spending that but we know it's there it's funny story to tell ourselves we think it might not be there with that said um it's a nice phenomenon when the branches work together um but I also want to point out a little more pointedly what was suggested by melel that um there's been a phenomenon that's occurred for us sitting on this side of the dis that um fund certifications don't come when we ask they only come when the mayor agrees and that's a really unfair form of government when uh it's a subjective approach and now I know it's always complex and it's always difficult but um I Tire of the argument there is no fund balance except when there is so I do appreciate the work that was done to get us here I support the project and I urge your support members May proceed to vote on a vote of 12 to0 AR 2023-24 has passed the body so um Mr Cross yeah I'd move to introduce a late on the table item please distri please distribute let's just take a minute to let that move around for so Mr Cross has made a motion to lay an item on the table item reads a resolution of the Anchorage Municipal assembly determining a vacancy will exist on the assembly in seat a for district 2 Chugiak Eagle River and initiating the process to elect a successor to fill the vacancy the next regular election on April 2nd 2024 motion to lay on the table by Mr Cross is there second second second bite miss alel Mr Cross thank you three in three days we're going to start seeing hold on hold on so um let's keep your main comments to the main motion all right this is just to lay it on the table lay it on the table yep sorry no problem yeah Miss alel go ahead thank you this item needs to be laid on the table tonight for Action um in order to um align with the timing for our election calendar coming up and we need to take action tonight if we were to wait till January um we would miss that window thank you and it would cost us $200,000 so um the motion to lay on the table as before so is there any objection to the motion I mean I object but um I'll still vote Yes why don't we go ahead and vote but I would totally object oh she already did it so is there any objection there's no objection the item has been laid on the table now a motion to approve move to approve second moved by Mel tell second to buy Mr across 3 days ago so three in three days Days uh we're going to start seeing more Daylight and before long another summer will be upon us and then shortly after it will be gone now some people measure life in years but having been born and raised in Alaska I measure life in summers and since they're short I based my calculations I have about some 20 Summers left in my life that's only if my knees and hips hold up prior to serving on the assembly I volun ered regularly working on construction projects for neighbor Works Habitat for Humanity Wounded Warrior projects and various other Outreach programs one of my most memorable projects that I ever worked on was building a wheelchair wheelchair ramp on in a front deck on an East Anchorage home for an elderly woman who had lost her leg from diabetes the project took me about 3 days and I worked all by myself but when it was done she cried she gave me a hug and she thanked me then we sat on her front porch and we just spent the in the afternoon sun and she just shared her loving stories about her deceased husband and her daughter she didn't complain once about her lost foot or her situation she only expressed love and gratitude I have never in my life felt so purposed in in in all my existence and and and the level of appreciation was profound now what we do here on the assembly is great importance and very few people realize just the amount of work we do particularly the staff and our support my experience has been it's mostly hours and hours of code reading legal opinions Department comments Community emails answering calls deciphering grasps and making sense of flowcharts to correct an Ever shifting sea of bureaucracy now important as these actions are this is not why God put me on Earth so I will be going back to serving with my heart and hands at a personal level I call it DeWalt therapy I will be investing more time in my family who loves me and to the lives of others who of those around me through humble acts of service free from politics my heart truly believes there is no amount of money no program and no assembly resolution that will ever replace the com The Compassion of a human hand and I want to be the set of hands that do that and I figure I have 20 or less Summers to do it in my life so today I formally announced my resignation to occur no later than April 1st 2024 this will allow my replacement to be placed on the upcoming ballot and save the Anchorage taxpayer over $200,000 the cost of a special election while also allowing my district to choose my successor thank [Applause] you all right so uh anyone wish to speak to this motion I'm gonna choke up Miss Al thank you so I I treat this resolution as something I don't want to approve but I need to honor a member's wishes um it's much like certifying election results um and so I take it in that vein I don't accept it because I want to see Kevin leave the body um or Mr leave the body um I but I would grant that wish to anyone on this body I think it is the professional courtesy we owe you um this job is hard it is timec consuming and it takes tremendous sacrifice um and and you've given that sacrifice so um I will vote yes very reluctantly you could tell the level of my enthusiasm with my motion to approve um it is very very low um and I just hope that in the time that you remain on the body um you take all the work because you'll be leaving it soon um and uh then we will be energized and ready to go but you'll be missed thank you Mr salt thank you Mr chair so can I lay something on the table no just kidding no I think um I think all the members on the DI understand and and know the work it takes and um you know I I I reluctantly will vote Yes but uh hey just appreciate everything you have done it's been a pleasure Mr band thank you Mr chair um I've really come to value your service and your friendship you were one of the uh first members I was able to team up with and get parking reform passed um and the ability to stay curious and work across the aisle I mean I think you personify a lot of of great things about being um a body that can work together so I'll be sad to miss you and I think You' be very hard to replace Miss broy yeah just just briefly um I know we've still got some time together but I'm I'm I'm sorry to hear this news but I also respect your decision um and to member zel's point that this is a hard job I think it is something that we should continue to think about is how do we make it possible for for more people um not just the policy nerds like me and lawyers and those folks who you know who who that's been part of our job how do we make people successful in this position so that we truly have diverse representation in our community thank you Mr Martinez we have time together Mr Cross but I wanted to bring a little hip hop to You Will Smith Summertime was the song and I wish you well on your sum 20 20 more 30 30 Summers to go um but we have many more meetings to work together so I look forward to it and to my peers uh before we vote I'll just say that this conversation started in I think August and or September and I figured out a way to twist his arm to stay through the end of the year my wife's yeah his wife is mad at me which then figured out a way to keep him through April so I'm working to keep a a highly functioning body so that you all have the benefit of the experience so um I am regretful and I honor the decision so with that members May proceed to vote and this vote calls a special election or regular election it calls a calls a election to happen for the seat put it on the regular yeah puts it on the regular ballot on a vote of 12 to zero the assembly regrets to have received the resignation letter of Mr Cross and calls for an election all right so now somewhere back on the agenda so um if there's no objection 14i is an item to be postponed indefinitely can we just quickly dispatch with that if there's no objection to change the order seeing hearing none 14 I is now before us public hearing on this item is now open Mr chair I move to postpone this item indefinitely second M alel has moved and Mr Rivera has second the motion to postpone indefinitely is there discussion and if anyone wonders there's a parallel item that was introduced tonight on the consent agenda that's accurate more accurate than this so hearing and seeing none members May proceed to vote on a vote of 12 to Zer ar2 23- 411 has been postponed indefinitely now if there's no objection we'll go back to the debates on item 14f I think uh Mr Wallen had the floor thank you Mr chair um I'm going to go ahead and if it's okay I'll move Broly amendment number three second second second there's a motion to amend by Miss broy or M Mr vand and seconded by Mr broy thank you so what this amendment does is it removes the 2.5 story limit in r2m and just retains the 30 foot height limit so keeps the same height just gets rid of the um 2.5 story requirement and I think this is really interesting and I I'll let um member Broly speak to it more but when I was investigating this question I asked members of the planning department well how tall is the story and I could never get a concrete answer about that so you can build a 10-ft story or you can build a 15ft story so I think we just need to just cap it at that 30 feet and give um uh builders that additional flexibility I have members in the queue but I don't know that they're on the amendment so um is on the amendment Mr Martinez on the amendment Miss broy on the amendment yeah thank you briefly and members can see uh basically I took a screenshot from something that I remember talking about for over a year uh five to six years ago at turnig again Community Council and that is changing this particular thing in our code in r2m zones from 2.5 stories to 30t and there was an entire project around it there this wasn't the only thing in it um so I was surprised to even see that that hadn't been done because that was again 2018 um and it took several iterations to get that far and so um I'm bringing this back simply because this was clearly something that even the planning department had ident identified as part of implementation of the 2040 plan and the only reason that I did not uh propose changing this in the table for the other R2 zones is because as we've heard the um this this ordinance is not intended to deal with those thank you any further discussion on the amendment so I would just say for my part I strongly support this this one it's easy to understand what it does members May proceed to vote on the amendment a vote of 12 to zero that amendment has passed now we're back on the main motion tunder roll through the queue all right so Mr Johnson yeah I would make a motion to postpone until the meeting of January 9th there's a motion to postpone to the meeting of January 9th is there a second I second it who is that GE Mr Martinez okay motion to postpone by Mr Johnson seconded by Mr Martinez Mr Johnson yeah thank you I I first off I'd like to you know thank the sponsors for the effort they put into this um generally the the spirit of what we're trying to accomplish here is something that I feel strongly in supportive you know when I first moved to Anchorage when I was or moved back here when I was like 22 I my first Department was in a Triplex and it was very affordable and I was grateful for that opportunity my second place I lived in Fairview was a duplex that the Builder uh had desired to make a Triplex but found that the the barriers to do so were insurmountable and so it ended up being uh simply a duplex so I I I I like what we're trying to do here however I recognize that between the yes version and the Amendments we have made some substantive changes uh to the underlying ordinance that I frankly um I would be more enthusiastic about supporting uh this if I were afforded a bit more time to to consider the impacts and to ask some additional questions and I've heard that from members of the commit as well even people who feel good about what um we're trying to accomplish but just simply Desiring more time uh to to to to consider it and and weigh in on it and I I don't see a problem with that I mean certainly we need to address housing sooner rather than later but I don't think uh the consequences of delaying this by a couple weeks will be that impactful notably you know and the the changes we've seen in the S version uh there are changes to uh setbacks and and dwelling units per acres and things that I would appreciate more time to to consider and in fact notably some of these changes are contrary to the recommendations of the planning department and then I don't see anyone from planning here and I'm also mindful of the fact we're running out against the clock I would like to have the opportunity to speak to them to understand what their concerns are and whether or not uh the changes in the S version actually are necessary and beneficial so with that I would just appreciate the opportunity to take a little bit more time on this one all right anyone else on the motion to postpone yeah um okay so I'm going to create my little sidebar que zotel Walland Broly go ahead Miss Al thank you um so the S version was in the addendum and we have to be able to roll with substitute versions in the addendum and it's our job to do that um this addendum or the S version that came out of the addendum actually um was really a direct result of planning zoning commission's work um and the loudest request we've heard from postponement is from a community council quite frankly that took a stance on this and it's just opposed um and in the time since the S version hit to today I was able to work with the planning department to get all of my questions answered as well as a map which I had shared with all members of all available r2m a breakdown of the Lots how those lots have been developed across the community um and really get to the answers to the questions that the community has so I don't think a postpone is warranted thank you Mr vand thank you Mr chair I have to correct member Johnson because the S version which was on the addendum is responsive to the planning Department's recommendations in fact it adopted all of their recommendations that were in their original staff report to the pnz commission um and that was a collaborative drafting between assembly Council and the planning department as well as legislative services and then that's what we brought to pnz and was what was passed unanimously by pnz recommended for approval thank you Miss broley on the amendment yes thank you um I don't postp yeah um I don't support the motion to postpone I understand the request um I guess I would also point out you know the Practical reality is that January 9th feels like far away but we have multiple holidays in between uh we aren't returning to work until January 3rd and that brings us to January 5th which is a Friday and then our meeting is the 9th on Tuesday so I think if if you would like to postpone I would recommend doing it longer but again I do not um support that for a number of reasons thank you anyone else on the okay Mr Johnson on the amend motion to postpone yeah thank you I I would just like to point out and this is what I'm looking at here when I I speak to my concerns about wanting to get more information from the planning department looking at the S version here on page two of three in the memorandum uh the second par parh down for the change to section one in which the the Dua which was I think 15 in the original version was changed to 30 which feels like a potentially significant change which could um you know when we speak about things like parking concerns and snow removal um feels like it could make a difference there and I know the plane Department recommended an increase to 20 daa from 15 uh and now we have ended up with 30 so I'm I'm not sure I understand there was it sounds like an effort you know to be responsive to planning zoning recommendations but I do see here in this bull point anyways something that that seems to be a point of contention okay thank you Mr Johnson Mr salt yeah real quick I know one of the one of the issues with this has been public process but uh if you look in the packet you know aim1 193-202 3 Mr vand laid out the timeline which shows I think more than adequate public process and as always if we pass it tonight you can always come back and make changes later to improve the code thanks thank you and one thing for my my take I I I support proceeding but there's an old adage in this work that um your opponents are going to attack your ideas when they fail to persuade you on the ideas they're going to attack the process and if they fail there they're going to attack your reputation and that's just how this work rolls and so um the arguments about the process aren't fair so um is there anyone else to speak on the motion to postpone Mr Martinez thank you chair we're we're we're looking at two items today and part of the challenge that I have this evening is that uh it seems like we have gotten away from the core work that was to reduce barriers for tries and fours in places that they could already exist um this seems to do a little more than that and it's incredibly complicated and I respect the work that my colleagues did um but I also spoke to uh planning today as well and uh fundamentally the change to the design standards with respect to the trigger point of a Triplex is different than this particular particular item it's the other item that we're focused on so there's been on the Fly changes and amendments to something that is a little more deeper than just well if you pass things you could go back and fix things um so I would encourage that folks uh postpone this move on to the next item because uh I'm interested in making sure that we do reduce barriers but there seems to be more work here and and just respectfully to the this is the first public hearing that we've had is that accurate is this the first public hearing that we've had on this item first public hearing the assembl had there was a public hearing held by Planning and Zoning commission this month sure so but I'm only speaking on behalf of our body and so if this is the first hearing on this I think that there's another opportunity for more voices to come in and I am particularly focused on these items because my district is where we have a lot of Working Families where we have a lot of the r3s that already can take triplexes but the trigger point to commercial is a different item than this so I I don't mind pausing and I don't even mind the uh the suggestion that we moveed to the the later meeting of the 23rd if that's something that um uh Mr Johnson is is open with because I think member Broly mentioned the timing and I think that's accurate um but M volen mentioned that he was interested in potentially pausing but because of the temperament and the reactions that he had he had a different approach so I would hope that we can go back to the the breath of a pause to take these substantive questions very forward but also get to the the item that I'm really excited about which is reducing uh changing the design standards for triplexes and fourplex to put them into residential to remove them from commercial dist is not that item so I don't have a problem with the pause any other discussion on the motion to postpone hearing SE none members May proceed to vote on a vote of 2 to 10 the motion to postpone has failed the main motion is back before us any further discussion I have members in the que Mr Mar oh something happened on my que Mr Martinez on the main motion yes chair uh thank you so tonight we've heard several different items uh things and first I wanted to just put some clarity on things renters matter and renters pay property taxes through the rent that they pay to the to the building owners so fundamentally when people have a a disposition about renters in their neighborhood I think that's a a red herring and something that doesn't fly well with me I like the idea of getting the ball rolling but we've also heard a lot of testimony today that there seem seems to be some understanding that this is the a like the Panacea like there's going to be housing opened But Chuck and I'm going to go back to that person because a lot of my colleagues uh identify with the way Chuck describes Chuck says start with where you are with what you have and so today on the books we do have places where triplexes and fourplex are able to go without changing the language in r2m I have significant areas in my district where they currently can go but the trigger point to commercial review is the is the sticking point and it seems that that's a really great step for us to advance and take a bite out of this challenge get the ball rolling get a little more uh thoughtfulness about things that are way more complicated than the average assembly members time and that's respectful to the people that are doing this work but but I just wanted to be clear I support us for all summer we were talking about triplexes and fourplexes and removing barriers and I think that's exciting but I also know that I don't need bigger changes to activate where that can go today in the corridors of of that are on our land use plans so I'm open to ideas of changing in this direction but I'd like to take a a first major step in reduce that barrier um and and I'd also want to make sure that we're Focus us on the the communities that are most effective uh by this and fundamentally they are the working uh members of our community the working uh Working Families and uh so it's important for me that we activate housing but I'd like us to activate it with what we have today without making radical changes to code that we can come back to fundamentally I think the biggest change that I like to see is reducing the trigger for tries and fours so we can actually activate that and see what the market does thank you so I'm going to skip you Mr vaugh because you spoke to the main motion already um Mrs alel yes very briefly um so we have 13535 r2m lots 45% of those are currently used as single family um 27.5% are used as condos fee simple um 2.8% are only only 2.8% are currently used as three plexes and 2.8% are currently vacant Parcels this is not going to be the this this shouldn't be feared right this is a very small percentage of the existing Lots um that are vacant and could be developed in like the potential first wave of development um more are to M Lots at 14% are used as duplexes so it really goes to show that this zoning District isn't going to suddenly change the landscape of our community particularly if you look at where these vacant Parcels are located on the maps they're actually pretty well dispersed around um with the exception of the hillside Eagle River and Girdwood thank you next I have Miss broy yeah thank you I just want to address um I know that we've gotten many emails opposing this ordinance and we've certainly heard some opposition tonight uh because it changes residential zoning many folks are uh citing the comprehensive plan and the land use plan and how this is in conflict with the plan's intent so I just wanted to quote briefly from the comprehensive plan which again was adopted in 2001 uh it's it says that our preferred scenario is urban transition that downtown Midtown and older Intown neighborhoods develop a more intensive Urban character initiatives to Foster more intense mixed use development and neighborhood renewal in the northern half of the bowl are introduced and similarly it says infill and Redevelopment will gradually Revitalize older areas and bring more residents to downtown Midtown neighborhoods in and if you read the plan you'll see that it's referring not just to downtown and Midtown but the residential areas around them so there is a disconnect between the policy Direction in both our comp plan and our land use plan and the structure of our current zoning code I want to remind folks that our zoning code was adopted in 2013 our land use plan was adopted in 2017 many of the policies and actions in the land use plan call for fixing flaws in our zoning code that are barriers to achieving our plans intent and this ordinance is doing exactly that lastly I want to quote um our our housing policy resolution from August again recognizing that we need to represent all residents of Anchorage the assembly recognizes its duty to weigh the interests of all Anchorage residents and adopt public policy informed by diverse perspectives and I quote these things because I really want to underscore that the the claims that were not following our land use plan or our comp plan are simply not true and so I really wanted to put that on the record thank you Mr V thank you Mr chair um I appreciate member broy bringing that up code should follow plan not the other way around and so the reason that my co-sponsors and I are recommending the 30 dwelling units per acre instead of the 20 is because r2m is included in two land use designations in the 2040 land use plan compact mixed residential low and compact mixed residential medium the upper end for comp compact mixed residential medium is 30 dwelling units per acre so we need to Encompass that full range and want to read you the housing types that should be found in compact mixed residential low attach single family two family Cottage home courts um compact housing Town Homes smaller apartment structures here's the types of housing that should be found in compact mixed residential medium single family to two family tow houses Garden Apartments accessory dwelling units lowrise Apartments so what this legislation is attempting to do is reconcile title 21 with our already publicly adopted plan that has been through robust public process and as member Raley pointed out is now dated are we going to allow the types of housing in zones that that is already envisioned by those plans and I will also echo echo member Martinez I am very disturbed by the derision toward renters in Anchorage a lot of the the public testimony that we've received looks down on renters until two years ago when I bought my duplex I was a renter all my life and I bet everyone in this room either currently rents housing or at one time did so we need to create opportunities for renters in Anchorage to be part of our community part of our economy we are contending right now with a a a vacancy rate of about 3% we saw the largest increase in rental rates in over a decade we've got to do something to create Housing Opportunity A diversity of options for everyone in our community and every neighborhood has to do its part every neighborhood should be asking the question I love my neighborhood how can I welcome more neighbors to live here and love it too thank you Mr chair Mr salt I'm good thank you Mr martinz thank you chair just final thoughts I want to love a little Clarity if for the members of the sponsors um first it seemed that from what I was from my understanding a a lot of this started with a working group that was focused on reducing barriers for triplexes and fourplexes and the first part of that was focused on the commercial versus residential design standards is that accurate or not if was both what of the barriers to where Triplex and fourplex or to Triplex and fourplex being built is where they can be built and following up so this legislation would free up about 3,700 lots to be either developed or redeveloped for Triplex or fourplex following up and thank you for the answer where can triplexes and fourplexes be built today especially after we remove the trigger barrier on record where can they be built now that was one of the arguments building things where they can go already where can they be built today r2m R3 r3a R4 and r4a those residential zones um what we are trying to do is reconcile the dimensional standards in those zones where that level of development is already allowed to fit the 2040 land use plan so what I'm what I'm hearing is that um from my vantage point and this is what's really interesting to me uh about this is that in East Anchorage today especially in the Northeast Corridor there are areas where we can and it was described by Mr Robinson from Cook Inlet with the r3s and even commercial corridors where there are areas where we can move a Triplex and a fourplex today is that is that fair to say that there are without the r2m just other areas where triplexes and fourplexes can be built today if especially when we remove the barrier of commercial all right so goes back to the value of starting with where you are with what you have respectfully I don't think I'm going to have to interrupt I'm sorry we're we're running out of time no problem just final thought chair uh this doesn't seem like it's necessarily focused on the Working Families of East Anchorage um for me it I'd like to see us activate what we have today to get the ball moving without a lot of the the bigger changes at this point but thank you chair thank you all right I'm going to just call it members May proceed to vote on a vote of 11 to1 ao20 23-13 as amended has passed the body Mr Rivera thank you Mr chair um so I I had hoped to speak to this a little bit more um broadly when we got to item 14 L but we're not going to get to it today so I am just going to do a motion to introduce an unnumbered AR resolution of the inage assembly appropriating $500,000 from the alcoholic beverage retail sales tax fund fund balance to the Anchor heal Department 2024 operating budget all within the alcoholic beverages retail sales tax fund for a pilot program from modular units as transitional shelter if I can get a second on a third this will be for us on January 9th thank you it was introduced by Mr Rivera seconded by Miss alel who was the third I'm sorry branga and Mr vand so uh Rivera branga vand Mr Rose we're going to give you the last word audience participation until we adjourn it midnight if you want to speak speak now so I'm I was just contemplating that I was not going to get to speak tonight I just want to make it quick you can hit the buzzer I'll do it in a minute or less um I wasn't present for a discussion about myself the other day and I apologized to the administration for that I I I didn't think that uh um some unfortunate events that have transpired in the world of uh that I lived in for a little while but I'm so grateful to be able to stand here before you tonight I appreciate those that wanted to spare my life for another day by putting forth a uh delay in the Judgment of Aaron rhods um as I mentioned my grandma moved here in 1951 um I'm good people I I'm innocent I would never treat anybody uh inappropriately or stand by I come from a family of six boys I'm number four so we had the quick and the hungry but I have three daughters uh one son and one foster daughter and one Foster son I I just wouldn't do what and I was convicted by public radio in this very uh place here not entirely but I got six votes against four votes so I lost uh but the mor all the story is I always come back I've been knocked down a lot I got up a lot uh but I just propose to you uh honorable uh assembly members I am innocent thank you for for the time yep thank you so uh the code thank you Mr y um rhs the code provides that our meeting adjourns automatically at midnight and so um we don't have but half a minute left of testimony before the meeting is over okay well I'd like to talk since you only G me half minute your name my name is Cynthia gachupin I've been here for probably over six hours I've worked an 8 hour day have three children at home right now um as you can see there are tens of people here that have been waiting to participate in this and you all have around the clock on this and we all know that's the truth um and we see you for what you are the meeting is adjourned yep e e e e