Reps. Cathy Muñoz and Sam Kito III have raised and spent the most money of the six candidates for Juneau legislative seats this election cycle. The most recent campaign finance reports for the 2014 general election cover the period through Oct. 25. See the infographic below for the amount of money each of the candidates reported raising and spending so far.
Full disclosure: Cathy Muñoz, George McGuan, Sam Kito III and Dennis Egan have all purchased underwriting on KTOO-FM this election season.
“We as an Assembly, we as a community, are going to have to get more comfortable with the word no,” he said.
Smith predicted the city and the state of Alaska will continue to face uncertain revenue forecasts, leading to budget shortfalls and the need for more fiscal restraint.
He said the Assembly should follow the lead of his fellow departing member, Randy Wanamaker.
“This man speaks with conviction,” Smith said. “He says no, and he means no.”
Smith served one three-year term on the Assembly. Wanamaker served four terms, for a total of 12 years. They both opted not to seek re-election.
Wanamaker’s parting comments were brief. He thanked the citizens of Juneau and city staff for the privilege of allowing him to serve on the Assembly, and for providing him with the information to make decisions.
Both Wanamaker and Smith are Tlingit, and their departure leaves the Assembly with no Alaska Native representation.
They were replaced by Debbie White and Maria Gladziszewski, who took the oath of office last night.
The Juneau Empire’s online paywall is temporarily down.
Director of Audience Abby Lowell says technical glitches were causing some customers to get locked out of juneauempire.com. So the paywall came down last Thursday.
“It’s supposed to remember users, their IP addresses, and the different machines and devices that they utilize, and basically it wasn’t doing that,” says Lowell. “So we just decided to take it down. No need to put our readers through that struggle.”
The Empire started charging for online content about a year and a half ago. It offers various prices for different levels of access, with full online access included for print subscribers.
Lowell says the newspaper saw a dip in online readership after the paywall went up, but the numbers are growing again. She says the company is not considering doing away with the paywall altogether.
“Our reporters work really hard every day,” Lowell says. “And we feel like if (readers) are paying for our content in print, there should be a small fee associated with it online as well.”
She expects the paywall to be back up by the end of the week.
Photos of Juneau Assemblies past and present hang on the walls of city hall chambers. While women like Sally Smith and Fran Ulmer have been mayor, none of the photos feature more women than men. Since the city and borough government formed in 1970, the most women to serve on an Assembly at the same time has been three.
That will change Monday evening, when Maria Gladziszewski and Debbie White are sworn in, giving women a 5-4 majority on the Assembly. White and Gladziszewski were elected at this month’s municipal election.
Women’s rights activist Barbara Belknap of Juneau says the first majority female Assembly is a noteworthy milestone.
“You’re going to look at that dais and instead of mostly men and maybe two women, you’re going to see all those women sitting there,” Belknap says. “So, just the optics of it are fabulous, just seeing those women there is great.”
Belknap says it will be interesting to watch how working relationships and priorities change with more women on the Assembly.
“For instance, daycare. You know, how much daycare is available,” Belknap says. “Is there anything the city can do to encourage more daycare centers?”
“One woman saying something often does not make a difference really,” she adds. “But if you get a group of women to come together in a critical mass and say something, then it can make a difference. It can move the needle.”
Incoming member White doesn’t think a majority female Assembly is a big deal.
“I’ve never let my gender define what I can or cannot do,” White says. “I’ve learned to operate a front end loader, I was in the painters’ union, I was a volunteer firefighter; just never really thought about it.”
White says her priorities include education, public safety and addressing the city’s budget shortfall – nothing she considers specifically male or female.
“I would think that those should be everybody’s priorities,” she says.
On the other hand, Assemblywoman Kate Troll says she’s excited for more women to join the Assembly. When she was on the board of United Fishermen of Alaska, Troll says she found her female colleagues were able to get more accomplished.
“I just find that there’s more of a collaborative style with women, and I just slide in and fit in easier,” Troll says. “It’s also a signal of progress.”
But like White, Troll doesn’t think the makeup of the new Assembly will change its focus.
“The economic plan, affordable housing, Housing First, the budget – it’s all front and center for us,” says Troll.
The Juneau Assembly meets at 7 p.m. Monday in city hall Assembly chambers. Outgoing Assembly members Carlton Smith and Randy Wanamaker will be honored before Gladziszewski and White are sworn in.
Demand is high for more assisted living facilities in Juneau, and an aging population means the need is only going to grow.
A new study of senior housing and services says the city needs an additional 327 assisted living beds over the next 30 years to meet projected demand. Right now, the only major assisted living facility is the 48-bed Juneau Pioneer Home, which already has an active waiting list of more than 100 people.
Margaret O’Neal with the Juneau Economic Development Council says by 2032, one in five Juneau residents will be a senior citizen.
“We have really limited options,” O’Neal said Wednesday at an event held to unveil the new study.
JEDC commissioned the report along with the Juneau Assisted Living for Seniors Task Force and the nonprofit Senior Citizens Support Services Inc.
The study makes several recommendations, including a public-private partnership, where the city would provide land or financing for an assisted living project.
Jim Scholl with the assisted living task force says some private investors are already taking a look at Juneau.
“We’ve seen interest from at least two developers so far, and I expect more interest now that we have a quantified demand,” said Scholl.
The study cost $50,000 and was produced by Anchorage-based consultants Agnew::Beck. The City and Borough of Juneau provided half of the funding. The Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority provided $10,000, and Senior Citizen Support Services came up with the rest.
The study is posted on JEDC’s website.
Absentee and questioned ballots counted on Friday boosted voter turnout in Juneau’s municipal election to just over 29 percent.
That’s 10 points higher than last year’s historically low voter participation, when just 4,591 voters cast ballots. This year, the number of ballots cast was more than 7,100 – a 55 percent increase.
The Juneau Assembly has a goal of improving voter turnout. On election night, Mayor Merrill Sanford said while the higher numbers are a step in the right direction, he thinks there’s room for improvement.
“Maybe we need to really seriously look at mail out ballots and everything and do that type of a system,” Sanford said. “I’m open to trying it, and seeing if that will help the turnout rate.”
The absentee and questioned ballots did not change the outcome of any races.
Maria Gladziszewski, Debbie White and Jesse Kiehl won Assembly seats. Brian Holst and Sean O’Brien won seats on the school board.
Voters also approved a proposition that allows the Juneau Assembly to delegate management of city swimming pools to an empowered board. The Assembly will consider the proposal after hearing about alternative management plans from the city manager and Parks and Recreation department.
There’s still time for more absentee ballots to come in by mail. The Canvass Board will meet Tuesday to certify the results.
