Community

Chances are, if you’re registered to vote in Juneau, you didn’t the last time school board seats, candidates for the Assembly, municipal debt or sales tax extensions were on the ballot.

In the last municipal election in October, less than a third of the people registered to vote in Juneau actually cast a ballot, and that’s not unusual.

“It’s election after election, and, you know, there’s definitely a way to improve it. We just have to find the right way,” said Assemblyman Randy Wanamaker.

He thinks voting by mail could improve turnout. Ballots would be mailed directly to registered voters and cast by mail, like in Oregon or with Native corporations’ shareholder elections. There wouldn’t be any polling places.

City Clerk Laurie Sica, whose duties include running municipal elections, was the impetus behind a 2007 ordinance that empowered the Assembly to hold local elections by mail. All it takes is a simple majority vote, though it’s never been done.

Sica was jazzed about the possibility of holding elections by mail in 2007, especially for special elections when there’s less notice to hire poll workers. But now, Sica says she prefers the status quo, so that Juneau stays consistent with the state’s election practices.

“In terms municipal elections, I think anything we can do to improve voter turnout — once people start voting I think they’ll continue voting, and that’s what we want to do.  And if we can make it easier for them to participate, then I think it’s worth the cost,” Wanamaker said.

Cost estimates Sica put together in 2007 suggested that increased ballot printing and mailing costs would far outweigh savings in election workers’ pay. In 2007, she estimated it cost $41,800 to hold a traditional election, but $59,800 to hold it by mail.

Today, the cost difference between holding an election by mail may be even greater because of higher postage rates, and the possible need for signature recognition software. Sica says she has more research to do.

Coincidentally, 2007 was also the three-decade low for voter turnout. In that year’s June special election, only 5,231 ballots were cast out of 24,494 registered voters, about 21 percent. Ballot propositions in that election were the last in a series of multimillion dollar decisions put to voters related to the construction of Thunder Mountain High School.

Proposition 2 passed with a 70 vote margin. In terms of turnout, that’s less than one-third of 1 percent, or about a sixth of Juneau-Douglas High School’s 2007 senior class. If Proposition 2 had gone the other way, Thunder Mountain High School might not have a track and artificial turf field today, and taxpayers would have $5 million less in debt to repay.

When Wanamaker brought up vote-by-mail at the Assembly’s last regular meeting, City Manager Kim Keifer said she would put some information together for the Assembly to review at an upcoming meeting.

Juneau’s municipal elections are held the first Tuesday in October. Three seats on the Assembly and two seats on the Juneau School Board are up. Candidates can file to run beginning Aug. 2. Information about running for local office is available at http://www.juneau.org/clerk/elections/.

Imagine Woodstock, except on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway with neon light sculptures the size of buildings and three-hundred thousand of your peers screaming and dancing to the new sound of Electronic Dance Music. This is what Juneau native Marlon Lumba, known as Astronomar was performing three weeks ago at the Electric Daisy Carnival.

Now signed to the record label Main Course in L.A. and with an Australian music tour happening in August, Lumba is returning to Juneau for a series of shows to share his music with the community where he got started.

Lumba was 17 when he first scratched records before an audience, DJing with the Anamatronic Stage Show, a hip hop group with a rotating cast of local MCs, or rappers. During the early 2000s, The Alaskan Bar became the center of Juneau’s hip hop community with the weekly event Monday Night Raw.

Jake Good, an MC who goes by Audiovisual, was one of the founding members of the Anamatronic Stage Show. At Monday Night RAW, Good would mix records and rap with Lumba.

At the end of the night we’d open the mic and play beats and give people and atmosphere where they could experience hip hop and even participate in it if they wanted to. – Jake Good, MC Audiovisual

Scott Mackinnon was a regular at these early Juneau hip hop shows. Today he is known by his DJ name “Shorthand.”

Monday night RAW was originally Mar’s brainchild and that turned into Juneau’s hip hop scene. -Scott Mackinnon, DJ Shorthand

It was at Monday Night RAW that Lumba started to collaborate with Mackinnon and the pair formed the group Filejerks. Lumba came up with the name – a sort of metaphor for “ripping” music off the internet. The group employs a technique where small pieces of an original song are recorded and modified using effects to create a whole new song.

The Filejerks played nearly all the venues in Juneau – before hitting a ceiling in the local scene. In 2008, Lumba and Mackinnon packed up for Seattle, gambling their fate in a bigger market.

Moving to a big city from a small town is a pretty big test, you know, whether or not you’re going cut it. -Mackinnon

Though Lumba’s music was rooted in hip hop, in Seattle he became influenced by the sounds of night clubs. Using his personal computer and basic audio software, Lumba was able to create new songs he would play during live performances. He incorporated House Music into his sound, an electronic music sub-genre at 126 beats per minute, with a consistent four-four tempo.  Like most pop music, Lumba’s follows a structure. But instead of a verse, chorus, and bridge, his songs follow an intro, build up, and drop.

It’s like tropical hard house with some coconuts and graffiti mixed in there. -Marlon Lumba, DJ Astronomar

Lumba believes Electronic Dance Music is popular because just like disco and other genres before it, young people have a desire to detach from their problems, and let loose on the dance floor.

It’s like one of the most stressful times to be alive. There’s just so much happening, like technology’s crazy. There’s so much stimulus and people just want to let go. -Lumba

And people did let go – 600 of Juneau’s young people showed up last week at the Twisted Fish.

Despite living outside, Astronomar continues to be an inspiration for Juneau’s hip hop community. Juneau hip hop organizer, TJ Cramer, who goes by Manner will be at Monday Night Raw and looks forward to Astronomar’s presence at Juneau’s notorious hip hop event tonight.

You know there’s a time for everybody, and I think it’s his time. -TJ Cramer, MC Manner

It’s too much fun for just one day, so Juneau celebrates for just a little longer than most. July 3rd and 4th saw people from all over gather in the Capital City for food, fun and of course, fireworks.

Here are some photos of the festivities.

Tomorrow kicks of the Fourth of July festivities in Juneau.

The main events on July 3rd include the Community Picnic and Soapbox Qualifying Races out on Douglas starting at 6 p.m.

Fireworks over the Juneau harbor are scheduled to begin at 11:59 p.m.

On the 4th, festivities will start at 11 a.m. with the downtown Juneau Parade led by Grand Marshalls Jeff Brown and Jerry Harmon. The rest of the day will feature a variety of events, games and food around Douglas.

While out having fun remember to pay attention to where you park your car. Parade routes and other event areas will be closed to parking so keep an eye out for signs. The Juneau Police Department says vehicles parked in those areas will be impounded at the owner’s expense and will not be available for pickup until Friday, July 5. (Full road closure details listed below)

Map of the Activities

View Juneau 4th of July in a larger map

Full List of Events (Events are organized by start time)

July 3rd

6 – 9 p.m. – Soapbox Qualifying Races at St. Annes Avenue on Douglas

6 – 8 p.m. – Community Picnic, Log Cabin Shelter, Sandy Beach

6: 30 p.m. – Watermelon Eating Contest, Log Cabin Shelter, Sandy Beach, (during Community Picnic)

9 p.m. – Fish Fest at the Twisted Fish

11:59 p.m. – Fireworks over the Juneau Harbor

July 4th

11 a.m. – Juneau Parade in downtown Juneau

11 a.m. – Hot dog sale at the Douglas Fire Hall

11 a.m. – 5 p.m. – Barefoot Bouncy House (weather permitting) at Savikko Park Field #3

11 a.m. – 5 p.m. – Medieval Fighting and Dance at Savikko Park Field #4

Noon – 6 p.m. – Deep Pit Beef Barbeque Dinner at the Douglas United Methodist Church

Noon – 4 p.m. – Annual Sandcastle Challenge at Sandy Beach (CANCELLED)

2 p.m. – Douglas Parade

2 – 3 p.m. – Field Sports at Savikko Park Field #2

3 p.m. – Final Soapbox Challenge on St. Annes Avenue

3 – 9 p.m. – Dance, Music and other Entertainment at Savikko Park Field #2

3:30 p.m. – Super Dog Frisbee Contest at Savikko Park Field #3

4 p.m. – Make and Break Hose Race at the Douglas Fire Hall

Road Closures   (more details here)

Downtown Juneau

Parade route will be closed on July 4th from 10:30 a.m. until the parade’s end. This affects:

Egan Drive from 8th Street to Franklin Drive.
Main Street from Egan Drive to Front Street.
Front Street
Franklin Drive

Douglas

3rd Street from I street to St. Anne’s Avenue will be closed 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Vehicles will be re-routed to 2nd and 4th Streets.
2nd Street will be posted as One Way Northbound
4th Street will be posted as One Way Southbound

2nd, 3rd and 4th Streets will be marked as “No Parking.”

St. Anne’s Avenue from Summers Street to 3rd Street will be closed to vehicular traffic from 12 p.m. on July 3rd until 7 p.m. on July 4th.

The CBJ assembly is on its way to adopting an updated comprehensive plan. During last night’s committee of the whole meeting, Community Development Director Hal Hart introduced the new update, which has been in the works since 2011. The document contains 123 policies that guide and direct public and private land activities within the CBJ.

Hart says most of the changes are technical and are found in the chapters on housing, economic development, energy, transportation, land use maps, and utilities. Sections of the plan were substantially rewritten by the Affordable Housing Commission and the Juneau Economic Development Committee.

Between the 2008 plan and the current update, Hart says significant changes have been made to maximum residential density making it easier for developers to put more units in certain areas, “We’ve said where you have sewer and water and the kinds of things that support growth, you can get a little higher density.”

This is the first time the Assembly is seeing the update. Hart plans to work with the body in interpreting the changes, especially to the chapters on housing, economic development, and energy.

Governor Sean Parnell has reappointed two Juneau residents to state boards.

Zachary Jones will continue serving on the State Historical Records Advisory Board; and Ben Brown has been reappointed to the Alaska State Council on the Arts.

Jones is the archivist and collections manager for the Sealaska Heritage Institute and an adjunct instructor at the University of Alaska Southeast. He holds a master’s degree in comparative history from the College of William & Mary, and a certificate of advanced studies in archives and records administration from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. He’s currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Native American history from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Jones was reappointed to a seat representing Native American record-keeping.

Brown is an attorney and member of the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission. He’s a company member at Perseverance Theatre and has more than three decades of theatrical experience. He’s on the board of directors for the National Assembly of State Art Agencies and Alaska Public Media. Brown was reappointed to a public seat.