Voting Underway With Important Issues At Stake
Early voting started Oct. 24, with over 30,000 ballots already returned. On the ballot this year are an adequately funded education system and abortion rights.
Anchorage School District (ASD) is facing a $68 million deficit, which will likely result in school closures, program cuts, teacher layoffs and larger class sizes. State funding of schools has been flat funded since 2017, with just a .5% increase this year, while inflation has risen 15.4% in the same period. Additional cuts have been made by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, including $62 million in maintenance funding this year. School districts across the state are facing huge budget shortfalls. If education is important to us as a state, and if we are to stop the bleeding of funding for our school system, voters will need to put pro-education candidates at the top of their ballot.
Although our constitution’s right to privacy clause protects the right to abortion, we have the question of a constitutional convention on the ballot, which would allow delegates to rewrite the entire constitution, including deleating the right to privacy. The pro-convention supporters, which include the anti-abortion and anti-marriage-freedom group The Alaska Family Council, are largely framing the convention around red herring issues such as the PFD.
There is also the possibility of a constitutional amendment if anti-personal autonomy legislators were to gain a large majority. Dunleavy made his position clear on a woman’s right to choose when he vetoed court system funding in retaliation for an Alaska Supreme Court decision protecting abortion rights. He also came out in favor of a constitutional convention after originally saying he would not take a side.
In Anchorage, you can vote early at City Hall (632 W 6th Avenue) or at the Region II Elections Office (2525 Gambell St.) Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Election Office also has Saturday voting hours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more voting locations you can visit the State’s website here.
Navigation Center Will Not Proceed With Open Purse Strings and No Plan
Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson’s attempt to strong-arm the Anchorage Assembly into approving his Navigation Center by authorizing Roger Hickel Contracting to secretly rack up an $3.2 million bill failed in a 9-3 vote.
Assembly members cited many reasons for not approving the project, including rising cost estimates which started at $9 million and are now up to $15.4 million. They also pointed to a failure on the administration’s part to provide a project plan, operating plan, concrete estimates, or to move forward on using the Golden Lion Hotel as a treatment facility or as homelessness housing.
Interestingly, it was also discovered last week that in 2013, Hickel Contracting and current members of the administration, Adam Trombley and Amy Demboski, had been in this situation before.
Ballot Initiative Approved That Would Clarify Procedures For Filling Vacancies
At the Oct. 25 Assembly meeting, a ballot proposition that would clarify the procedures for filling vacancies in the Mayor’s Office was approved to be put before voters. What started as a partisan and reactionary ballot initiative became a common sense clarification to charter, if affirmed by voters, after an amendment brought forward by Assembly member Chris Constant was approved 10-2.
The ballot initiative was brought before the Assembly by members Jamie Allard and Kevin Cross, both of District 2. It had problematic provisions that could have left taxpayers responsible for a $650,000 special election to elect a mayor who would then serve for longer than a 3-year term in lieu of electing a new mayor during the next regular mayoral election. Turn out for special elections is generally low and electing a mayor for longer than a full term during a special election has the potential to disenfranchise all but the most engaged voters.
The ballot initiative was largely written in response to partisan complaints that a special election was not held when former Mayor Ethan Berkowitz resigned. A special election at the time would have cost $650,000 and resulted in an interim mayor only serving for a few months. This was confusing for voters and wasteful of taxpayer money. Assembly member Austin Quinn Davidson was instead appointed to fill the role as acting mayor, in conformance with the provisions currently allowed in the charter.
The amendment brought forward by Constant clarified that if a mayoral position is vacated more than 270 days before the next mayoral election, the position is to be filled by special election. If vacated fewer than 270 days before the next regular mayoral election, the Assembly could choose to fill the position by special election or by appointing the Assembly Chair as acting mayor.
It also adds the provision that the Assembly seat vacated by temporary mayoral appointment can be filled temporarily. If this provision had been in place after former Mayor Berkowitz resigned, the West Anchorage Assembly seat that became vacant when Assembly member Austin Quinn Davidson became mayor could have been filled temporarily by appointment.
Coming Up This Week
Coming up this week is the Health Policy Meeting, which will include discussion about the Mental Crisis Team (MCT) and will shed some light on the administration’s proposal to move MCT from the Anchorage Fire Department to the Anchorage Police Department. There are several other meetings of interest including a public safety committee meeting and a worksession on amending the Charter to support and advance early childhood education. It is also the final week for campaigning before elections.
You can find last week’s This Week in Anchorage Politics here.
If you have any comments or tips please contact me at yarrow@thealaskacurrent.com
