Business

Bill Brown of Juneau has resigned from the Alaska Board of Fisheries with nearly a year and a half remaining in his term.

The news was first reported Tuesday by Deckboss blogger Wesley Loy.

Brown says he submitted his letter of resignation to Fish and Game Commissioner Cora Campbell on Monday. He says “personal reasons” and “personalities” played into his decision, but declined to be more specific.

“I did not want to resign,” he said. “But I spent about a month thinking about it. I talked to the commissioner. I talked to other board members about it. It was a decision I made.”

Brown says he was not asked to step down, and that some people at Fish and Game wanted him to stay on the board. He also says health concerns did not play a role in his decision.

He was first appointed to the Board of Fisheries in 2008 by then-Governor Sarah Palin. He was reappointed by Governor Sean Parnell in 2011, and his term was due to expire June 30, 2014.

The seven-member board of fisheries is responsible for setting seasons, bag limits, gear restrictions, and policy for subsistence, commercial, sport and personal use fisheries in state waters.

Brown says he’d like to stay involved in fisheries policy in some capacity.

“I’m passionate about fisheries in the state. I’m passionate about conservation,” Brown said. “I’m also passionate about the fact that people make their lives that way. That’s what they do for a living. It’s their lifestyle and I respect that. So, yeah, I’ll stay involved.”

Brown makes his living in the fisheries support industry. His business, Taku Reel Repair, services equipment for commercial and sport fishermen. He also has a doctorate in economics from the University of Colorado, and has taught college economics classes, including at the University of Alaska Southeast.

Parnell Spokeswoman Sharon Leighow says the governor has 30 days to make an appointment and is currently soliciting applicants. The appointment is subject to confirmation by the Alaska Legislature.

Juneau Veterans for Peace is appealing a recent Planning Commission decision granting a conditional use permit for an indoor shooting range at a proposed gun shop near the airport.

Phil Smith is president of the local Veterans for Peace chapter. He says the city’s community development staff did not do a thorough review of how the range would affect “public health or safety.” The facility’s owners plan to allow customers to fire automatic weapons under the supervision of gun store employees.

“There’s really no analysis of the security steps that will be taken in the building and there’s no setting of accountability for ensuring that those steps are taken,” says Smith. “There’s nothing about reviewing the backgrounds of those who want to use the facility. So, there doesn’t seem to be any accountability.”

Smith also thinks it’s likely the project developers had private conversations with members of the Planning Commission and Juneau Assembly, which may have influenced the outcome of the commission’s decision. The gun store and shooting range is being developed by Juneau Mercantile and Armory, a limited liability company co-owned by Planning Commission member Dan Miller.

“There may have been some off the record communication. I’m not saying its evil or wrong or immoral. But it may have satisfied most of the questions that commissioners had or Assembly people had before they took the actions they did,” Smith says. “And in that case it was improper, because the commission in particular is an adjudicative body, and obviously there will be two sides to most issues that come before them, and they broker based upon a record that is developed publicly. And we think the record is pretty thin.”

Miller declined to comment on the appeal, which has yet to go to the Assembly.

The city’s Deputy Community Development Director Greg Chaney says the project review gathered input from other departments, including Juneau Police.

“There really isn’t much that they’re worried about,” says Chaney. “These type of weapons are legal within the City and Borough of Juneau, and to be using them in a basement that’s designed for it, is probably the safest place that they can be discharged.”

Initially, the Planning Commission was unable to approve a conditional use permit for the project. That’s because a city ordinance banning the discharge of firearms within a quarter mile of a road did not include an exemption for private gun ranges. The Assembly in November changed the ordinance to exempt private ranges after hearing public testimony from Miller and project opponents.

But Chaney disputes the notion that Miller or his business associates may have had off the record discussions about the project with members of the Planning Commission or Assembly.

“I talked to Mr. Miller quite a bit about this,” Chaney says. “When the item was considered by the Planning Commission he recused himself and left the room, which is not required but is good form. So, I think it’s kind of a groundless accusation at this point.”

Smith says Juneau Veterans for Peace wants the Assembly to accept the appeal and either deny the permit or remand it to the Planning Commission, which the group wants to appoint a citizen panel to review the proposal.

He says the goal is not to ban guns, but rather to make sure safety is adequately considered.

“Most of us veterans, of course, served in the Armed Forces in order to protect our Constitution, and swore an oath to do so,” Smith says. “We’re not trying to weaken or undermine anybody’s individual rights. But we are trying to review and make sure that our collective rights as a community are not jeopardized by an unwise public policy decision.”

Smith adds that the group’s decision to appeal the permit was made before the recent mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, which thrust the issue of gun control into the national spotlight.

Chaney says the issue of mass shootings was discussed by the Planning Commission, but again is an issue outside the panel’s purview.

Smith says the Veterans for Peace would like the Assembly to immediately suspend the permit if the appeal is accepted. Chaney says permits typically stay active during an appeal, but developers continue working on projects at their own risk.

The Assembly will decide whether to accept or reject the appeal at its meeting on Monday.

A Juneau Assembly member is under fire for an alleged conflict of interest by opponents of a controversial cruise ship dock project.

Assembly member Carlton Smith is the real estate broker for a property that could benefit from dock expansion. The 70,000 square foot parcel on South Franklin Street just south of the Marine Parking Garage is owned by Archipelago Properties, a subsidiary of Morris Communications, which owns the Juneau Empire and Capital City Weekly.

Smith’s website advertises the property as a “waterfront development opportunity,” and notes that the soon to be completed Panamax docks will allow cruise ships carrying up to 3,000 passengers to tie up.

In the past, Smith has recused himself from voting on issues pertaining to the property, notably when the assembly last summer OK’d the purchase of a right of way through it for an extension of the downtown seawalk. But he says he did not see a need to disclose a possible conflict of interest in November when the Assembly heard an appeal of a Planning Commission decision approving dock expansion permits.

“The cruise ships are already at that location. It doesn’t matter whether the larger ships tie up to the new dock or not,” Smith said.

“I have conferred with the city attorney on this and I will take his direction, and if I have to step down on future votes I certainly will. But I doubt that my vote’s going to make a difference in the outcome.”

The Assembly is scheduled to vote Monday on a written decision upholding the Planning Commission permits. Smith did not say whether City Attorney John Hartle advised him to recuse himself from that vote. Hartle declined to comment, citing attorney-client privilege.

The attorney acknowledged receiving an email from Linnea and Arthur Osborne, the commercial fishing couple who appealed the Planning Commission permits. Hartle characterized it as an “informal” third party complaint, in which the Osbornes requested that the Assembly not take further action on the appeal and refer the matter to a hearing officer, citing Smith’s alleged conflict of interest.

The Osbornes could not be reached for comment.

Smith says the timing of the complaint is suspect, given that it came after the Osbornes lost their appeal.

“My involvement with that property has been disclosed twice. I’ve recused myself twice. Our signs have been on the property for over two and a half years,” he said. “Its broad public knowledge that I was involved with that, and for it to come up now is a little bit curious.”

Hartle says the written decision on the dock expansion appeal remains on the agenda for Monday’s Assembly meeting.

Smith says the property remains for sale, with an asking price of $175 per square foot, or about $12 million for the entire parcel. He says there’s “nothing happening” in the way of interest in the site.

Unemployment in Alaska has been lower than the national rate for nearly 50 months.

Alaska’s unemployment rate  historically had  been higher than the rest of country, but the state weathered the recession much better than the Lower 48.

Now data suggests some segments of Alaska’s employment scene are beginning to resemble other states, according to state labor economist Neal Fried.

“You look at things like health care, you look at things like retail,” he said, “and you know we have a similar proportion of our workforce that is tied to those industries than the rest of the country.”

Fried says the gap is narrowing in health care, with just 9.6 percent working in health care in Alaska, compared to 10.8 percent in the nationally.

About 11 percent of the U.S. workforce, including Alaska, works in the retail trade industry segment.

Fried says it may be a process of Alaska catching up in some job sectors.

“We were sort of under-retailed a decade ago.  We had less, and we still do have a little less in the health care area and that may also be demographics, but we are catching up,” he said. “In retail, we have caught up.  I know a lot of Alaskans don’t want to believe this, but we have almost as much retail here as far as people working in that industry as we do in the nation, so in a sense you can say we have arrived.”

Alaska remains unusual in the amount of government employment, where a quarter of the work force is employed, compared to 16 percent nationally.

The December issue of Alaska Economic Trends looks at the state’s employment scene and how the industry mix compares to the U.S. as a whole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Juneau School District officials and supporters of the Glacier Swim Club are celebrating the selection of Juneau as the host of next year’s state high school swimming and diving championships.

An announcement on Thursday notes that the Alaska School Athletics Association has picked Juneau for next year’s competition. It’s the first time in over two decades that another venue has been selected outside of Anchorage ‘s Bartlett High School.

Glacier Swim Coach Scott Griffith says as many as forty volunteers will devote their time and effort to successfully hold the meet at the relatively new Dimond Park Aquatic Center in the Mendenhall Valley.

Proponent of the center and swimming parent Max Mertz said in a prepared statement that they told the community five years ago that they would work to bring such meets to Juneau.

“We’re happy that five years later we were able to make this happen,” said Mertz.

As many as 500 people including athletes and their parents, coaches, and officials are expected to converge in Juneau for four days next November. The event will officially run November 8th and 9th, 2013.

The U.S. Attorney’s office in Anchorage on Wednesday announced an indictment by a federal grand jury for wire fraud and false statements to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The indictment is in connection with the construction and management of Valley Dairy, doing business as, Matanuska Creamery in Alaska. The six-count indictment named Kyle E. Beus, 48, as the sole defendant.

Bues is a co-owner of the dairy. U.S. Attorney Kevin Feldis says the allegations in the indictment charge that as early as 2007, Beus was involved in a scheme to defraud the USDA through federal grants.

“Its alleged in the indictment that he submitted false invoices to obtain payment for things that he didn’t really purchase or spend the money on. In total it’s alleged that over $120,000 was fraudulently obtained.” Feldis said.

A call to the owners of Matunuska Creamery was not returned before deadline.

The entire amount of the USDA grant was approximately $643,000.

The Matanuska Creamery is located off the Palmer-Wasilla Highway. It sells wholesale and retail dairy products through a storefront at the creamery, which has been open for about four years.

Feldis says the USDA’s office of Inspector General worked closely with the FBI to put the case together.

The maximum penalties are up to 30 years in prison and $1 million dollars in fines.

A trial will be set for U.S. Federal court in Anchorage within 70 days.