This story has been updated to note the candidate not at the forum, Mary Marks, supports the Ship-Free Saturday initiative.
Opposition to the Ship-Free Saturday ballot initiative and support for an additional private cruise dock operated by Huna Totem Corp. were voiced by all of the Juneau Assembly and mayoral candidates participating in a forum Tuesday night focusing on downtown-related issues, although one absent member said later she favors the ballot measure.
Opinions were more divergent about the future development of Telephone Hill, supporting two bond measures on the ballot funding nearly $23 million in municipal projects – and continuing to provide municipal government funding to the Downtown Business Association, which hosted the forum at V’s Cellar Door restaurant.
Both candidates in the two-person mayoral race and the two-person District 1 Assembly race, and four of the five candidates in the District 2 Assembly race took part in the 90-minute forum. Some of the six candidates for the Juneau Board of Education also offered brief statements about their reasons for running before the Assembly and mayoral forum began.
The forum was among the first of a multitude of similar events leading up to the Oct 1 municipal election (see schedule below). Voters will choose a mayor, two Assembly members, three school members, decide whether to recall two school board leaders not up for reelection, and decide the three ballot propositions related to cruise ships and municipal bonds.
A contrasting situation mentioned repeatedly during Tuesday night’s forum was downtown Juneau having 17 vacant buildings despite record cruise ship tourism last year and a similar number of visitors this year.
“We hear from restaurants who have closed: ‘This isn’t normal when you have such a high (vacancy rate),’” Duff Mitchell, a DBA board member moderating the forum, told the candidates. His question to them was “we already have all these studies and ideas; what actions would you take and partnership(s) to have a more vibrant downtown Juneau?”
Angela Rodell, a former CEO of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. who is challenging incumbent Mayor Beth Weldon, said economic vitality throughout Juneau is important “because if we have people doing well in the Valley and Douglas and downtown, people will come downtown.”
Weldon, responding immediately after her opponent, said “I think one of the biggest things to do to help with the vibrant downtown is to get people to live downtown,” citing a proposed high-density residential redevelopment of Telephone Hill and possibly some other downtown sites as possibilities.
Connor Ulmer, a tribal council executive assistant seeking the District 1 seat, said in addition to getting more people living downtown “I think one of the biggest things that we as a community need to shift towards more is targeting the independent travelers that are coming to Juneau.”
His opponent Neil Steininger, former budget director to Gov. Mike Dunleavy, said he’s seen some people investing in new businesses downtown recently and the city should take actions to further encourage such investments such as beautification of the area, improved year-round municipal services and helping ensure there aren’t barriers to obtaining financing.
Among the District 2 candidates, retired school nurse Maureen Hall said workforce issues need to be addressed so employees are available to work at businesses people are trying to start up.
Nathaniel (Nano) Brooks, an owner of several local businesses, discussed previous proposed ideas such as a land raffle or land lottery to incentivize development, as well as trying to lure new industries to town to generate economic activity.
Beyond incentives for development, said Emily Mesch, a rideshare driver, “we need to be disincentivizing empty storefronts…we need to talk to the city attorney see what options there are.”
Answering last, Dorene Lorenz, a communications consultant, said the city should be spending some of the millions it has set aside for projects not being built — such as a new City Hall – and use them to make targeted improvements in downtown buildings, such as elevators so they can be used as housing for families and the elderly.
The other District 2 candidate, Mary Marks, did not participate in the forum. At a subsequent forum on Thursday she said she favors the Ship-Free Saturday measure as well as the Huna Totem dock.
The opposition to Ship-Free Saturday, which would ban cruise ships with capacity for 250 or more people on Saturdays and the Fourth of July, came as a simple yes-or-no question. However, some of the candidates’ more nuanced positions on tourism were voiced as they also all agreed on the proposed Huna Totem dock several hundred yards away from where the main cruise dock along Franklin Street is located.
Environmental benefits such as not having a ship idling in the channel while tenders ferry passengers to shore were mentioned by Ulmer, Steininger and Mesch. Hall mentioned the potential for year-round businesses operating at the dock site, Lorenz referred to similar Huna Totem projects elsewhere in Southeast Alaska that have benefited those companies, and Rodell said it will “generate a tremendous amount of positive energy in a part of Juneau that needs it.”
Brooks said it would be a disservice not to support Huna Totem since “they went through the proper process and steps that were set forth by the assemblies,” while Weldon said she has long supported the project — but was unable to say so due to a lawsuit challenging the project that recently was resolved.
Opinions differed slightly more when asked if City Hall should be kept downtown, an issue that has been highly controversial the past two elections due to the Assembly putting bond measures to pay most of the cost of a new building on the ballot that were rejected by voters. The city is now in the process of transferring some staff and operations from buildings it leases in the heart of downtown to the Michael J. Burns Building near the Douglas Bridge, along with the nearby Marie Drake Building recently vacated by the Juneau School District.
There was general, but not absolute, agreement among the candidates at Tuesday’s forum about keeping City Hall in the general vicinity of downtown, with some candidates speaking in more general terms about a need to ensure a vibrant downtown workforce that includes state government and other employees.
Among the questions where differences were more pronounced was a yes-or-no response on the two bond measures — one for $12.7 million funding public safety items including new police/fire department radios, the other for $10 million for wastewater treatment upgrades — with Rodell and Brooks stating they will vote against both.
Some candidates also risked incurring the wrath of their forum host when asked if they support continuing city funding for the DBA, which according to Mitchell has already been recently reduced to $40,000 a year instead of the previous $75,000.
Lorenz said she supports such funds as well as “other benefits that also have a financial implication,” based on similar relationships between entities in Seward and Anchorage. Mesch also expressed support, stating “if our local business owners are succeeding, that’s a pretty good sign that the city is succeeding too.”
Brooks — beginning his answer with “don’t hate me, but no” — said the city is witnessing a lot of financial struggles with the school district and elsewhere locally, and “we need to prioritize any available money to get on top of these way-larger issues that are affecting the health and safety of everyone in the community.”
Qualified support for specific partnership projects was expressed by Steininger, but “checks out the door without necessarily any project behind them I’m less supportive of.” Hall voiced similar sentiments, while Ulmer said he’s supportive with the condition of wanting to know more about specifically how such funding is being used by the DBA.
Weldon said she has been a longtime supporter of such funding, with Rodell said she opposes it because “where I’m coming from is affordability” and using the funds elsewhere is more likely to help achieve that goal.
Other upcoming election forums include (this list may be updated to reflect additions, time changes, etc.):
• Sept. 5 (Thursday): Gastineau Rotary Club forum for school board candidates, 7 a.m., Ramada Inn.
• Sept. 5 (Thursday): Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce forum for mayoral/District 1 Assembly candidates, noon, Juneau Moose Family Center.
• Sept. 5 (Thursday): Public safety forum for mayoral/Assembly candidates, 5:30 p.m., Alaska State Museum.
• Sept. 8 (Sunday): Friends of Douglas forum for mayoral/Assembly candidates, 2 p.m., Douglas Public Library.
• Sept. 12 (Thursday): Gastineau Rotary Club forum for mayoral/Assembly candidates, 7 a.m. Ramada Inn.
• Sept. 12 (Thursday): Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce forum for District 2 Assembly candidates, noon, Juneau Moose Family Center.
• Sept. 17 (Tuesday): League of Women Voters mayoral/Assembly forum, 7 p.m., KTOO studios (televised).
• Sept. 18 (Wednesday): League of Women Voters school board forum, 7 p.m., KTOO studios (televised).
