Clarise Larson

The Juneau Assembly decided on Monday to delay voting on whether to adopt a ranked choice voting system for municipal elections beginning in 2026. 

Instead of voting on the ordinance at the Assembly’s next regular meeting later this month, members decided to push back the vote until November — after this fall’s Oct. 7 municipal election. They’ll still hold public testimony on the topic on Aug. 18.

Ranked choice allows voters to rank candidates by preference, instead of just choosing one. Alaska has used it for statewide elections since 2022, though there have been attempts to repeal it. 

Assembly member Ella Adkison proposed the local ordinance earlier this summer and advocated for its adoption at the meeting. She said the system aligns with Juneau’s values and it will encourage more people to run for local office.

“It really is good for races where there are lots of candidates in one seat,” she said, “I think Juneau, in general, likes having lots of candidates in races, because it means that the person that they feel represents them the most is the person who actually gets onto the Assembly.”

The topic received some pushback from residents at a meeting last week, as well as some support. A few testifiers questioned the need for the change, and argued that the decision on whether to adopt it should be up to voters — not the Assembly. 

It’s already too late for the system to be implemented for this October’s municipal election, but Assembly members worried that adopting it now might confuse voters anyway. Assembly member Alicia Hughes-Skandijs said she supports ranked choice voting, but wants to wait until there’s less going on. 

“My spidey senses feel like there is just a lot in motion, and there’s a lot on the ballot, and this just feels like too much change and is going to get lost in the noise — I wouldn’t want that,” she said. 

If the system is approved, Juneau would become the first major city in Alaska to adopt ranked choice voting for municipal elections.

Juneau Assembly members have rejected a plan to create a shelter safety zone with tightened restrictions on camping in the area around the Glory Hall homeless shelter in the Mendenhall Valley.

The narrow vote came during a committee meeting on Monday night, but members may reconsider the proposal in September. 

The city outlined a loose plan for the zone after staff, patrons and neighbors of the shelter asked the Assembly to take action to protect the Teal Street area. They say it has become unsafe because of threats from some unhoused people camping in the vicinity. 

The topic generated a lot of tension at the meeting. That was between Assembly members who supported what they saw as a public safety measure and those who saw it as a stopgap solution for the larger issue of homelessness in Juneau. 

Assembly member Wade Bryson voted in favor of the plan. He argued the Assembly’s inaction is putting people’s safety at risk. 

“We haven’t protected the patrons. We haven’t protected the staff. And we’re not talking about allowing people to camp near this property. That’s not really what the issue is,” he said. “We’re talking about protecting those very vulnerable, the most vulnerable of us, from the predators of our community.”

City leaders say the shelter safety zone is intended to increase protection for staff and people using the shelter’s services. It would likely make the rules for camping or loitering in public spaces stricter in the zone than they are citywide.

The City of Bellingham, Washington, created a protection zone surrounding a shelter last year following similar safety concerns. It added harsher restrictions on camping or loitering in the zone.

Some Assembly members who voted against the zone said they worried it would unlawfully target unhoused people and could open the door for possible lawsuits. Assembly member Neil Steininger argued it wouldn’t solve any issues, but merely move them somewhere else. 

“I just can’t see how it takes us forward as a community on this issue, more than just whack-a-mole on the next piece of the problem, without actually trying to address anything beyond one symptom of a much broader, much more difficult issue,” he said. 

Assembly members asked the city to look into other potential safety measures, like hiring private security to patrol the area or establishing a city-sanctioned summer shelter.

In an isolated town like Juneau, access to tattoo artists can be limited. But this past weekend, dozens of artists lined Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall for the third annual Ink Masters Tattoo Show downtown. 

Demetrius Bowen was tattooing a cartoon character on the leg of his client, Connor Woodhouse.

“I was so surprised to hear about something like this in Juneau,” Woodhouse said. 

He works for a cruise line that stopped in Juneau on Friday. His new ink is a Mario character called Shy Guy. Woodhouse heard about the show through word of mouth and decided to check it out. He said he’s glad he did. 

“So many different styles, so many different artists,” he said. “You could really walk around and pick and choose who you resonate with, and who you want to get tattooed by, which is so cool.”

It was the third annual Ink Masters Tattoo Show hosted in Juneau. This year’s expo featured nearly 50 artists who traveled from all over the country — and some out of the country — to come to Alaska’s capital city. From Friday through Sunday, Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall was filled to the brim with booth after booth of artists. Each one with their own chairs, needles and art on display.

Bowen was stationed in the center row. He’s based in New Mexico, but has been traveling with the show for about four years. He said he feels a special connection to Juneau and the people he tattoos here. 

“The fact that there’s all of these people come to this one spot, waiting for this one set event for the year — it means more than the world to me for them to trust me for whatever we’re gonna do for them,” he said. 

Theresa Bae is the host and manager of the show. She and her husband started the traveling expo nearly two decades ago in the Lower 48. They held shows in Anchorage and Fairbanks before adding Juneau to the list three years ago.  

“Each artist, even if they’re doing the same type of medium, their styles are just so different,” she said. “It just gives everybody a huge variety of artists that they have access to in one location.”

Bae says after her first visit, she realized two things: there was a huge demand for more artists in town, and that she loved Juneau.

“I’m telling you, Juneau is special,” she said. “Juneau is a special place.”

So, last year she opened up a local tattoo shop downtown and is in the process of making Juneau her new home. 

“We have four resident tattoo artists and then a piercer that comes every two weeks at the shop,” she said. “Even during off-season, we stay pretty consistently busy with our local clients.”

But even still, she said there’s always demand for more artists, and that’s why they plan to continue bringing the show each year. 

Autumn Dollison, who works in health care, said she waited all year for the expo to come back around. On Friday, she was getting an arrow tattooed on her arm to honor her Indigenous heritage. 

“I think it means everything,” she said. “I was just sitting here thinking and looking around how he’s doing mine, and how glad I am that our Juneauites can come here and get beautiful artwork on their bodies.”

The Juneau Police Department has placed an officer on administrative leave following a violent arrest on Wednesday that led to a man being medevaced out of town for a head injury. 

City and tribal officials have expressed concern about the incident after a witness posted a video online. But that witness said he felt protected by the officer’s actions.

Juneau’s City Manager Katie Koester released a statement on Friday responding to the incident and public outcry that has followed. She said the city acknowledges the “deep community concern” over the incident and is taking steps to review the department’s policies and procedures. 

According to Koester, the Juneau Police Department has requested an independent investigation by an external agency to review the use of force by the officer. Following the investigation, the state’s Office of Special Prosecutions will then review the case to determine if the officer was justified in his response. 

Koester said the city will also conduct an internal investigation of the case to examine the incident and whether the officer’s actions aligned with the department’s current policy. Body camera footage of the incident will be released to the public within 30 days of the incident. 

“We appreciate our community’s outreach and shared concerns, and are taking steps to review our own policies, procedures, and practices to ensure they are consistent with JPD values to preserve human life while meeting its mission to protect public safety,” the statement said. 

Police have not named the officer or the injured man – nor have they shared his current condition.  

According to the department, the incident took place after officers responded to a report of a woman fighting with a man outside of the Douglas Library. Police say the woman threw water in the man’s face and made racial comments. 

According to the department, an officer was attempting to place her under arrest and into a vehicle when a friend of hers appeared and continued to yell at the man. Police say the man then aggressively approached an officer. 

Police say the officer attempted to place the man under arrest and into handcuffs, but he resisted and was “taken to the ground.”

Ibn Bailey was the man initially harassed by the woman and who recorded the video of the incident that has circulated online. He said he was surprised by the community reaction to the video and said he felt protected by the officer’s actions.

“The officer was able to respond in the manner and the quickness in which he did, in what I can only describe as the most professional manner, given the circumstance,” he said. 

The Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, based in Juneau, has also responded to the video with a statement. In a social media post, President Chalyee Éesh Richard Peterson said the tribe is “deeply concerned” about the incident, which he said involved a tribal citizen. 

Peterson said the level of force used during the arrest raises serious questions and asked the mayor and police chief for several actions, including a meeting with tribal leadership and an independent review of the incident.

A Juneau man was medevaced to Seattle this week after being slammed to the ground by a Juneau police officer. 

According to a press release from the department Thursday afternoon, the incident took place Wednesday evening. Police say the man is 49 years old, but did not name him.

According to the department, the incident took place after officers responded to a report of a woman fighting with a man outside of the Douglas Library. It says the woman threw water in the man’s face and made racial comments. 

According to police, an officer was attempting to place her under arrest and into a vehicle when a friend of hers appeared and continued to yell at the man. Police say the man then aggressively approached an officer. 

Police say the officer attempted to place the man under arrest and into handcuffs, but he resisted and was “taken to the ground.”

A video of the incident has circulated online. It shows an officer arresting a woman, before panning to a man and another officer in front of a vehicle. 

The officer stands behind the man who is leaning over the vehicle. After a few seconds, it appears the officer wraps both arms around the man and slams them both to the ground. The video shows the man’s head hitting the concrete sidewalk. He remains there unmoving for the duration of the video. 

Police say the man was initially brought to Bartlett Regional Hospital with a head injury before being transported to Seattle. Police did not share the man’s current condition.

The department did not immediately respond to requests for more information. According to police, the incident is currently under investigation. 

That’s after the Juneau Assembly voted in June to increase residential water and sewer rates by 5% this fiscal year. The rate will continue to increase by 5% annually for the next five years.

City officials say the increments are needed to help offset hundreds of millions of dollars in replacements and repairs for the city’s water and sewer system in the coming decade. 

Juneau’s utility rates have gone up 2% each year since 2020, but those increases haven’t kept pace with inflation or maintenance needs. The increases approved by the Assembly in June are higher than that, but still much less than what the Juneau Water Utilities Division originally proposed and what studies recommend.

The Assembly recently voted down a ballot question for this year’s election that would have asked voters to help fund the repairs using $8 million in bond debt to offset more drastic rate hikes down the line. Members decided to postpone the question, potentially for next year’s election.