Alaska

City Hall transition report outlines potential issues with key services impacted by low staffing numbers

Published

55 mins ago

July 23, 2024

City Hall transition report outlines potential issues with key services impacted by low staffing numbers

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance’s administration has inherited a list of potential issues highlighted in a transition report from former Mayor Dave Bronson’s team.

The more than 150-page report covers several potential issues across multiple departments, including staffing and public safety challenges.

In the report, former Anchorage Police Chief-designee Bianca Cross discusses the municipality’s homeless population receiving fewer health and emergency services and how, in her view, that complicates how law enforcement can help them.

Speaking to the staffing issues, Cross said the inability to hire more officers and fewer job applicants overall have created morale and productivity problems. She says some of the morale problem has to do with low prosecutor numbers.

“Misdemeanor crimes are unlikely to be prosecuted due to low attorney staffing. This adds to morale issues as officers see repeat offenders free.”

Chief Administrative Officer Bill Falsey said it is an issue that current Municipality of Anchorage (MOA) attorney Eva Gardner is aware of.

“It is the case that the municipal prosecutor’s office had, I think, a pretty unprecedented level of vacancies — and that has caused some difficulties in prosecuting low-level crimes,” Falsey said.

Anchorage Fire Chief Doug Schrage reported calls for emergency medical services are increasing, and compounded by a lack of adequate mental health services and the unavailability of Anchorage Safety Patrol teams in many areas.

Additionally, he reported that hospital emergency departments are overcrowded, leaving AFD to receive more calls and increasing low morale and burnout.

Falsey said the “ripple effect” of low staffing impacts many departments and municipality in different ways.

“It actually can be more expensive to hold vacancies, because folks then start working overtime. But then the ripple effect of the paid overtime is that folks end up getting no breaks. So there were folks who were working snow removal last winter who literally did not have a day off for three months. And that eventually comes home to roost in lower morale, because people are just being asked to do more with less,” Falsey said.

Mayor LaFrance said her administration is looking at ways to offer competitive wages and improve work culture.

“We want to make sure that we’ve got a culture of respect and that it’s a positive work environment here for all employees, and that we’re pursuing opportunities for telework, for part-time work or flex time. Everything’s on the table right now to look at ways in which we can make these jobs more competitive,” LaFrance said.

Speaking to financial challenges, Project Management and Engineering acting director Melinda Kohlhaas reported that the municipality’s capital needs exceeded $2 billion. Furthermore, the loss of state grant funding adversely affected the municipality’s ability to address deferred maintenance and new infrastructure requirements.

In the report, she said between 1997 and 2014, MOA received about $512M in state grants for PM&E and drainage projects. Since then, PM&E has received $2 million in state grants for capital construction.

Maintenance and Operations Director Shay Throop said in the report that every division is dealing with budget constraints due to historical inflation and spoke to the “imminent collapse” of the MOA’s ability to provide basic government services such as police and street maintenance with an aging fleet.

Falsey acknowledged there’s been a historic level of underinvestment in the fleet, which he said needs to be addressed soon.

“Last winter, we had a number of graders that were just down for repairs. Some of those graders were from the ‘90s or from the early 2000s, have 10,000 hours on the engine, and are going to be in a place where they’re going to be constantly needing some additional investment,” Falsey said.

Lastly, former Housing and Homelessness Director Alexis Johnson reported possible future issues with sheltering services due to funding and operator issues — specifically the 56th Avenue shelter pending funding and Golden Lion.

“It’s a public safety issue in so many ways. And so right now, you know, we are we’re building a team and in that team building process is ensuring that we’ve got folks who are bringing specific knowledge and skills, as well as a commitment to working with all of our stakeholders and partners and coming up with a plan,” LaFrance said.

But Mayor LaFrance said the report did have a list of accomplishments.

In the report, former Mayor Bronson said despite mounting challenges — including taking office amid the COVID-19 pandemic — his administration was privileged to play a key role in the city’s progress, including delivering what he called a historic pay raise to members of the Anchorage Police Department.

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Alaska

Alaska Democratic Party endorses Kamala Harris after Biden steps aside

Published

8 hours ago

July 22, 2024

Press Room

Alaska Democratic Party endorses Kamala Harris after Biden steps aside

Alaska Democratic Party members at the state convention in a gym on the University of Alaska Anchorage campus in 2016. (Zachariah Hughes/Alaska Public Media)

Alaska’s delegation to the Democratic National Convention endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in the wake of Joe Biden’s announcement Sunday that he would drop out of the 2024 presidential race.

Party officials met Sunday evening and coalesced behind Harris, according to a news release from the Alaska Democratic Party.

State Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage, one of 20 voting delegates, said the news was bittersweet — Josephson said he’s proud of Biden’s record, but said Harris has a better shot to “reinvigorate the Obama coalition” and defeat Donald Trump.

“I think Kamala Harris will do a better job of making the argument and presenting the case against Donald Trump, and the fact that the Trump campaign clearly wanted to run against Joe Biden tells me everything I need to know about what they fear in Kamala Harris,” Josephson said by phone.

He said the decision to endorse Harris was unanimous among those who attended the Sunday evening meeting.

Delegate Ron Meehan commended Biden’s decision to step aside.

“I know that that decision was one that was incredibly difficult for President Biden to make, but one that further demonstrates his commitment to the country above all else — to doing what’s right,” he said in a phone call.

Meehan said he was optimistic that Harris could run on the Biden administration’s policy record, pointing to investments in infrastructure and the fight against climate change.

“Vice President Harris has a proven record of delivering for America’s working families and protecting our fundamental freedoms. She has demonstrated her ability to lead our country with strength, compassion, and dignity as Attorney General, Senator, and Vice President,” state Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson, D-Anchorage, another Alaska delegate to the DNC, said in a prepared statement. “I am proud to stand by her as the Democratic nominee for president.”

Fellow delegate Mike Davis said some floated waiting a day or two before moving to endorse Harris, but he said the consensus was for quick action.

“I think that the people felt like, hey, this needs to happen now,” Davis said in a phone interview. “It’s important that she knows from the get-go that she has the support of [the] Alaska delegation, and so that was the prevailing argument versus, let’s wait a day here.”

Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said in a social media post that she “respect[s] President Biden’s decision to act in the best interest of the country by stepping aside in the 2024 presidential election.” The other two members of Alaska’s congressional delegation, Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democratic Congresswoman Mary Peltola, had yet to comment on the news as of midday Monday.

Democrats around the country have rallied behind Harris, including some who had been floated as possible competitors. State Democratic parties in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Kentucky, among others, also endorsed Harris shortly after Biden’s announcement.

“Vice President Harris will carry on the legacy of President Biden with unprecedented investments in Alaska and our people,” Alaska Democratic Party Chair Mike Wenstrup said in a statement. “She is well-poised to earn the nomination and to win in November.”

Eric Stone covers state government, tracking the Alaska Legislature, state policy and its impact on all Alaskans. Reach him at estone@alaskapublic.org.

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Alaska

Some Alaska Republican candidates pledge to withdraw if they aren’t atop GOP votes in primary • Alaska Beacon

Published

15 hours ago

July 22, 2024

Press Room

Some Alaska Republican candidates pledge to withdraw if they aren’t atop GOP votes in primary • Alaska Beacon

In some Alaska races, Republican candidates have pledged to withdraw from the general election in November if they do not receive the top votes among fellow party members in the primary.

The most high-profile pledge was made by Nick Begich III, who is running for Alaska’s single U.S. House seat. Begich publicly pledged in April to withdraw from the race if he is bested by another Republican in the primary election. Josh Walton, Begich’s campaign manager, confirmed last week that Begich still plans to abide by his pledge.

Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom is another prominent Republican running for the U.S. House seat, which was won by Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola in 2022. Earlier this month, Dahlstrom said she will not drop out of the race if she places behind Begich in the primary. Her press team confirmed last week that her position has not changed.

Similar pledges were signed by some Republican candidates in two state legislative races in Anchorage.

Both of these pledges were written by Trevor Jepsen, who is the chief of staff to Rep. Tom McKay, R-Anchorage, and also consults part-time for campaigns. For Jepsen, the pledges are a way to “circumvent ranked choice voting” by treating the open primary like one under the old system.

In 2020, Alaskans voted to establish ranked choice voting in the state. Since then, Alaska has become nationally recognized for the system, drawing both praise and criticism.

Alaska’s ranked choice voting system is used in the general election, but not in the primary. The primary is open to all candidates, regardless of party, with voters choosing one.

The top four vote-getters in the primary advance to the general election. Then, in the general election, voters can rank up to four candidates. After the votes are counted, if a candidate receives the majority of first-place rankings, they are the winner.

However, if there is not a majority, the lowest-ranked candidate is booted from the count and their votes are reassigned to the voters’ next preference. This process repeats until there is a winner.

Right now, Jepsen is making what he described as a “main push” for candidates to commit to the pledge in Senate District H and House District 9 in Anchorage. According to Jepsen, Republican candidates in those districts risk losing because both races have multiple Republican candidates running against a member of another party.

“We can’t win that Senate seat with two Republicans in the race. The numbers don’t work out. It’s not possible,” he said. “And that district nine seat, we would have three Republicans going to the general. Even though that’s technically a Republican seat, you know, they split the vote, exhausted ballots.”

“Exhausted ballots” is a term for ballots that are not included in the final ranked choice count because the voter ranked only candidates who were already eliminated.

In Senate District H, which stretches from Ted Stevens International Airport to Campbell Lake, McKay and Liz Vasquez are the two Republican candidates on the ballot, as well as incumbent Democratic Sen. Matt Claman, D-Anchorage.

McKay signed the pledge to withdraw. Vasquez has been given the pledge but not yet signed it, and did not respond to an interview request.

According to McKay, he signed the pledge because he felt “like we could win that seat if it’s one-on-one” in the general election.

For McKay, the pledge eliminates the “complexity” created by voters with exhausted ballots. “When their ballot is exhausted, then they don’t get a second bite at the apple,” said McKay.

Meanwhile, in House District 9, which covers the Anchorage Hillside, Girdwood and Whittier, three Republicans are running against one independent. Two of those Republicans, Lucy Bauer and Brandy Pennington, have both signed the pledge.

Pennington proposed the pledge to the other candidates. The pledge was written by Jepsen, who is currently working on her campaign.

Bauer and Pennington did not respond to requests for comment.

Lee Ellis, the president of Midnight Sun Brewing Co. and the district’s third Republican candidate, was the lone Republican holdout on signing the pledge. Ellis described the pledge as an “ill-conceived effort” that ignored the voting history of the district.

Ellis said his campaign research shows that a significant percentage of House District 9 voters ranked their choices when voting in 2022. His choice to not sign the pledge, he said, is “about historical behavior.”

And while Ellis is more favorable toward open primaries, and less favorable toward ranked choice voting, he said he spoke with a number of campaign experts who advised him not to sign the pledge.

Ellis suggested that the candidates sit down after the primary election and “decide what the best pathway forward was,” but because the pledge was non-negotiable, he chose not to sign.

Anchorage attorney Scott Kendall was a key author on the 2020 legislation that launched ranked choice voting. While Kendall declined to comment on a specific race or pledge, he said that pledges such as these harm the party that is signing them.

The pledges rely too strongly, he said, on the assumption that Alaskans will always vote along party lines. “We’re a small state, people know each other. People know other people’s reputations. So this idea that you can drop out and just sort of give all of your support to another candidate seems very flawed to me,” Kendall said.

Ranked choice voting is praised for reflecting the complexities of voter identification, especially in Alaska, which has the highest share of independent voters in the country. In 2022, the first time that Alaskan voters used nonpartisan open primaries, more than half of voters split the ticket, meaning that they didn’t vote strictly along party lines.

Another issue with pledges, Kendall said, was their reliance on results from primary elections. Voter participation in primary elections is consistently lower than general elections, meaning that a candidate who receives a low number of votes in a primary could still prove very popular in the general election, when a larger group of people are voting, said Kendall.

“By taking one of your horses out of the running as a Republican Party, you’re lessening the chance the Republican Party will win,” Kendall said.

A proposed ballot measure seeks to repeal ranked choice voting. If approved by voters in November, in future elections, voters would choose only one candidate in the general election, instead of ranking multiple candidates. The state’s open primary system would also be eliminated, and political parties would be able to limit who can vote and who can run in primaries.

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