Local Government

Eaglecrest wants to hear from you.

The city-owned ski and snowboard area is conducting a survey to gauge community interest in future development. The survey is part of a long-range master plan being prepared to guide the course of the area over the next 20 years.

The online survey can be found at skijuneau.com. Topics include a range of development from controversial motorized use of the mountain to hiking and biking trails, lodge expansion, alcohol sales, even building condos and cabins.

A public meeting on the master plan is scheduled for Wednesday, from 7 to 9:30 p.m., at Centennial Hall.

Juneau Deputy Mayor David Stone is back in his old job at the Alaska Department of Labor.

Commissioner Click Bishop today (Tuesday) renamed Stone deputy commissioner, a position he held prior to last fall’s state election. In December, Stone accepted a job as chief of staff for newly-elected Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell. He rejoined the Labor Department earlier this year as an assistant commissioner.

Greg Cashen – who had been executive director of the Alaska Workforce Investment Board – will take over Stone’s assistant commissioner job, Bishop announced.

Jeff Selvey is the new director of the Workforce Investment Board, which helps plan employment training programs in Alaska. Selvey is a longtime educator in Alaska, and previously worked as the board’s career and technical education coordinator.

AWARE’s effort to build a new extended stay shelter for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault could get a boost from the City and Borough of Juneau.

The CBJ Assembly Human Resources Committee last night (Monday) recommended the city partner with AWARE to apply for up to 850-thousand dollars in federal pass-through money for the project.

Since 2007, the Juneau nonprofit has been planning a six-unit residential shelter, with four 2-bedroom apartments and two efficiencies. Executive Director Saralyn Tabachnick says the facility would serve as transitional housing for women and families who utilize AWARE’s emergency shelter. “Transitional” meaning four months to two years.

“We say that we’re a 30 day program, and the reality is for people trying to find housing in Juneau, it’s very difficult no matter what your means are. So we often extend the 30 days,” says Tabachnick. “And it would be helpful to have transitional housing – some longer term safe shelter where they can continue to build stability and safety.”

If approved by the full assembly, the city would partner with AWARE to apply for a grant through the state’s Community Development Block Grant program.

The grant – combined funds already secured by the organization – would help AWARE complete planning and start construction, estimated at 3.5-million dollars.

Tabachnick says a long-term domestic violence shelter has been a need in Juneau and all of Southeast for as long as she can remember.

“This is a regional need. There is not a transitional housing facility for domestic violence survivors in all of Southeast Alaska,” Tabachnick says. “Our service area is Juneau and then nine northern communities in Southeast Alaska: Haines, Hoonah, Klukwan, Skagway, Gustavus, Elfin Cove, Pelican, Yakutat, and then Tenakee Springs.”

Community Development Block Grant applications are due in December 2nd. Proposals from around the state are judged by the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development, and funds will be awarded early next year.

CBJ Assembly Meeting
October 17, 2011
Agenda

Petersburg’s city council plans a more active role in advocating for borough formation. Lands within Petersburg’s proposed borough were previously slated for annexation to the City and Borough of Juneau, which is responding with an annexation proposal of its won. The issue was discussed at length by the Petersburg council on Monday night during both public and private sessions. Matt Lichtenstein reports.

For months now, Juneau City Manager Rod Swope has warned that a shrinking tax base, less federal support and a lower return on investments add up to a potential 7.5-million dollar shortfall for the city’s upcoming biennial budget. His projection hasn’t changed.

“The first year we’re figuring probably try to reduce the budget by $5-million, and then the second year we’re anticipating we’ll still have to take further reductions of about $2.5 million,” he says.

Swope’s strategy for dealing with the deficit also hasn’t changed. He told the assembly that vacant positions will be held open as long as possible while city departments look for efficiencies. He’s also asked all department heads to take a two-week furlough before July. But Swope says the assembly will decide if the shortfall warrants cuts to city services.

“My plan was to go ahead and work with the departments to identify those, list them out to indicate what the service currently is, what the proposed reduction would be, and then clearly state what the impact would be to citizens in the community,” he says.

Swope thinks he can give the assembly his list of proposed service cuts by the end of November. Mayor Bruce Botelho says the assembly agrees with that approach.

“His proposed strategy is one that the assembly simply affirmed. It confirmed the direction that he intends to take the city,” Botelho says.

Swope will leave his budget proposal in the hands of the Assembly before he retires on March 31st.

Botelho expects the assembly will hold several meetings to review the hiring process for a new city manager, beginning October 31st at another work session. Swope retired for the first time almost three years ago. But when a nationwide search for his replacement fizzled, the assembly asked him to come back on a two-year contract, which he agreed to do after a six-month hiatus.

The whole assembly will decide whether to do another search for a city manager. But this time around, Botelho supports promoting Deputy Manager Kim Kiefer, who was acting manager during Swope’s sabbatical.

“She is thoroughly familiar with all the issues that are taking place in city government. She is thoroughly familiar with and dedicated to, committed to this community,” says Botelho.

Kiefer did not apply for the city manager’s job when Swope retired the first time, but says now she’s up to the challenge.

“Part of it for me now is that I did do it for six months and I have a better understanding of it. And I’ve got another two years under my belt, so I feel like I’m in a better position,” Kiefer says. “And also I think, from the city’s standpoint, when we’re looking at a 7.5 million dollar deficit, that trying to keep things as stable as we can when we move forward is a good thing for the organization.”

Kiefer has roots in Juneau, having moved to the Capital City in the sixth grade. She attended Auke Bay School and graduated from Juneau Douglas High School in 1977. She returned after college and started working for the city in 1984. She’s been deputy manager since 2006.

If selected as manager, Kiefer says she knows one thing for sure: “It’s definitely a two-person job, because I did both for the six months. Having a deputy city manager and a city manager as that team is really critical.”

At its retreat Tuesday, the assembly also discussed a list of capital projects that could be funded by an extension of the city’s one-percent temporary sales tax. The current extension expires in 2013, and would need to be reauthorized by voters next fall. Botelho says a five-year extension could bring in 35- to 40-million dollars over the life of the tax. The list of projects being considered is about 150-million. The mayor expects it will be pared down between now and next summer, in time for the assembly to approve a ballot proposition to go before voters at the fall municipal election.