CBJ Assembly Meetings

Update | 10:44 p.m.

The Juneau Assembly has approved a ballot question seeking $15 million in new debt to pay for city infrastructure projects.

Monday’s Assembly action means local voters will be asked to authorize the municipal bonds in the Oct. 6 municipal election. If voters approve, the money should be spent on:

• school roof replacements and other critical school infrastructure,
• repairs and improvements to parks, and
• city streets and energy efficiency improvements.

The Assembly also approved another $12 million in spending from its share of federal CARES Act pandemic relief money:

• The Juneau Community Foundation will distribute up to $3 million in grants for nonprofits, worth up to $99,000 each.
• The Juneau Economic Development Council will distribute an additional $8.5 million to expand a small business grant program.
• Medevac service Airlift Northwest got $500,000 to maintain a plane critical to health care in Southeast Alaska. As an entity of the University of Washington, Airlift Northwest was ineligible for most other CARES Act funds.
• And the Alaska Municipal League got $131,000 to support its COVID-19 response.

The Assembly’s Human Resources Committee also met Monday. It discussed a revised version of Assembly member Rob Edwardson’s ordinance to create a Systemic Racism Review Committee. The committee members all expressed appreciation for the ordinance and its revisions. It’s next stop is the Assembly’s Committee of the Whole on Aug. 10.

The committee also reviewed an anti-racism resolution drafted by the Juneau Human Rights Commission. The commission intends to revise it and bring the resolution back to the committee.

Original post | 10:55 a.m.

The Juneau Assembly meets on Monday for public hearings and a final vote on a debt financing plan for local infrastructure and additional pandemic grant relief for local businesses and nonprofits. 

The Assembly is expected to pass an ordinance that puts a question on the ballots in the Oct. 6 municipal election to authorize the city to borrow up to $15 million through municipal bonds.

City Finance Director Jeff Rogers told the Assembly in committee that other city debts will be paid off within a few years. The money committed to repaying that debt could cover payments for this new debt. But Rogers noted that in the short-term, the Assembly would need to find a way to make payments on new debt.  

The money would be committed to three types of projects: 

• school repairs and roof replacements 
• repairs and improvements to parks 
• city streets and energy efficiency improvements 

The initial project list had an extension of the West Douglas Pioneer Road, instead of the streets and energy efficiency improvements. Mayor Beth Weldon proposed the swap in committee on July 23. She said she had doubts voters would pass the original bond package, and called the Douglas road extension controversial. 

“I think the other one is not very sexy, but it’s also not very controversial,” Weldon said. “And also, if we’re looking at this bond package to spur the economy and get people to work, there’s going to be more workers working on several projects than one big road.”

The Douglas road project has been in the city’s long-term plans for decades. It’s intended to open up hundreds of acres on the backside of Douglas Island to development. 

Goldbelt Inc., which owns a lot of land the road extension would provide access to, did not return requests for comment. 

Public Works and Engineering Director Katie Koester said replacing boilers, heating and ventilation systems and other energy efficiency improvements in city buildings would be money well spent, reducing the city’s emissions and energy costs. 

More local CARES Act relief

The Assembly has two more ordinances up for final vote that would provide more than $11 million in additional pandemic relief grants to local businesses and nonprofits. It’s federal money from the CARES Act. 

One would make $3 million available in grants of up to $99,000 to nonprofits. 

Another lines up $8.5 million in small business grants. It’s an expansion of an earlier $3.5 million business grant program. 

The public can testify on both of these items. 

Anti-racism resolution and systemic racism review committee

Before the full Assembly meets on Monday, its Human Resources Committee is meeting jointly with the Juneau Human Rights Commission. Their agenda includes an anti-racism resolution and discussion of Assembly member Rob Edwardson’s ordinance to create a Systemic Racism Review Committee. 

The racism committee ordinance has been revised since the Assembly’s last discussion of it. Two significant changes appear to address what Mayor Beth Weldon flagged as deal-breaking problems for her:

In the initial version, the committee’s review of proposed ordinances and resolutions was required before the Assembly could act on them. The latest version says emergency legislation can skip the review. And that the committee “should” review regular legislation and report out its findings before Assembly meetings, but it is not required. It urges a committee review after legislation is adopted if it wasn’t completed before. 

The committee meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. Monday, and the full Assembly’s regular meeting follows at 7 p.m. 

The Assembly is holding both meetings over Zoom video conference, and the full Assembly meeting will be streamed on the city’s Facebook page. Live radio coverage of the full Assembly meeting begins at 7 p.m. on KTOO, 104.3 FM. 

Instructions on how to testify are available on the city’s website. 

Updated Post — 8:10 p.m. by Adelyn Baxter, KTOO

During a special meeting Monday night, the Juneau Assembly passed an emergency ordinance mandating face coverings in public. The mandate takes effect immediately and lasts for 90 days, unless the Assembly decides to end it earlier. It includes exemptions for people with hearing or breathing issues and young children.

Twenty-two people testified during the public hearing for the ordinance. More than half were in favor of a mask mandate.

Juneau resident Chris Sperry is a member of the Alaska Pharmacists Association. He said scientific evidence clearly supports masks as a means of limiting the spread of COVID-19.

“This is a very simple thing. We don’t have medication for this disease. We do have masks,” he said. “So I am pleading with you to please approve this, to have an ordinance where masks are required.”

Kelly Fishler testified against the ordinance, saying face masks can be triggering for victims of sexual assault and will cause people with breathing issues who choose not to wear them to be bullied.

“I have been harassed, already, in town by people that had no idea what was going on,” she said.

The Assembly passed the ordinance unanimously. Several members said they felt mandating face coverings was the best way to keep businesses open and make it safe for schools to reopen next month.

Juneau has seen relatively few serious cases of COVID-19. But a recent outbreak at a local seafood processor was on many people’s minds during Monday’s special assembly meeting.

Mayor Beth Weldon, who contracted and recovered from COVID-19 earlier this summer, said she did not want to mandate masks. But she said she felt it was the best course of action considering the fears expressed by the public that increasing cases could force businesses to close again.

“In order not to close the businesses, increase the community transmission, I would reluctantly vote for this,” she said.

Weldon asked the community not to shame people for not wearing masks. The city will not require anyone with a disability or health condition exempted under the ordinance to carry proof with them.

The ordinance says people are allowed to remove face coverings to eat and drink, and that violators will be subject to fines of up to $25.

Original Post — 5:00 p.m. by Jeremy Hsieh, KTOO

The Juneau Assembly is taking public testimony this evening on two hot-button issues in two separate meetings.

First, the Assembly will consider imposing a public mask mandate through an emergency ordinance. Public testimony on that ordinance will happen during a special meeting that’s set to begin at 5:30 p.m.

The emergency mask ordinance needs at least six of the nine members of the Assembly to vote “yes” for it to pass. It would take effect immediately, and last for up to 90 days.

If the emergency ordinance fails, a parallel, non-emergency version is on tonight’s committee meeting agenda following the special meeting. It could advance to public hearing and final vote at the next regular Assembly meeting on Aug. 3. Regular ordinances require a simple majority to pass, but don’t take effect until 30 days after adoption.

With some exceptions, most people would be required to wear a face covering in public indoor spaces and communal spaces outside the home.

Separately, the Juneau School District adopted a mandatory mask policy for people at its facilities and events at a board meeting last week.

During the committee meeting, the Assembly is taking public testimony on an ordinance to establish a systemic racism review committee. That committee would review the city’s proposed ordinances and resolutions for systemic racism, and present potential fixes.

The Assembly is holding both meetings over Zoom video conference, and both will be streamed on the city’s Facebook page and on this post. Instructions on how to testify are available in the meeting packets.

The Juneau Assembly is holding its regular meeting tonight, beginning at 7 p.m.

The agenda includes public hearings and likely votes on several ordinances:

• extending zoning alternatives for construction in downtown Juneau and downtown Douglas into 2021,
• committing $90,000 in Docks and Harbors capital and Alaska Department of Fish & Game grants for infrastructure improvements at Statter and Harris harbors,
• committing $50,000 of Rasmuson Foundation matching grants to local arts and culture programs, and
• committing $234,000 of Alaska Energy Authority grants for Juneau’s first electric bus.

The City and Borough of Juneau’s meeting will be streamed over Zoom and Facebook Live, and embedded here. It will also air on KTOO at 104.3 FM.

The Juneau Assembly will hold a virtual special meeting tonight at 5 p.m. before its regularly scheduled finance committee meeting.

During the special meeting, the Assembly will hold a public hearing on an ordinance related to the city’s emergency rental assistance program and extends the program through the end of the year. The ordinance changes the funding source for the program from the city’s Affordable Housing Fund to local CARES Act funding.

The Assembly will also review a draft ordinance requiring people to wear face coverings in most public indoor settings. The assembly will likely review the legislation at its next committee meeting on July 20.

After the special meeting ends, assembly members will discuss a number of topics related to CARES Act funding during the finance committee meeting.

The meetings will be streamed on Facebook Live and via Zoom Webinar. You can also watch below.

Details about how to participate in the special meeting can be found on the city website.

The Juneau Assembly will hold a regular meeting tonight at 7 p.m.

The meeting agenda includes several public hearings, including an emergency ordinance that would mandate masks for anyone attending Friday’s fireworks display outside their cars. Even though the Assembly previously voted in favor of holding a fireworks show, they did so contingent upon making masks mandatory at the event. The emergency ordinance needs 6 votes to pass, otherwise the show may be canceled.

Another emergency ordinance is related to the vote-by-mail municipal election in October.

The virtual meeting will be streamed on Facebook Live and via Zoom Webinar. It will also air live on KTOO 104.3 FM. You can also watch below.

Details about how to participate in the special meeting can be found on the city website.

The Juneau Assembly has a full schedule this evening.

Starting at 5 p.m., the Finance Committee will review ordinances appropriating CARES Act funding for an outdoor work program and the second phase of the city’s business sustainability grant program.

That will be followed by a special assembly meeting at 6 p.m., during which the Assembly will receive an update on local COVID-19 response and vote on the final appropriation for the conservation corps program.

Then at 7 p.m. the Assembly will hold a listening session to hear from members of the public on issues of policing, racism and social justice. Last week, members of the Assembly asked Juneau Police Department about its policies regarding use of force after members of the community called for more accountability from the department. Police leadership, the school district superintendent and members of the school board have also been invited to listen.

As usual, the City and Borough of Juneau will stream the meetings on Facebook Live and via Zoom Webinar. You can also watch below.

Instructions for how to participate in the listening session can be found online.

5 p.m. Assembly Finance and 6 p.m. Special Assembly meeting:

7 p.m. Listening Session: