The liberal majority Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday voted against a $240,000 appropriation to ship a municipality-owned structure to Anchorage that would shelter hundreds of homeless people. Some 900 people will be unsheltered in Anchorage on June 1 when the emergency cold weather shelter season ends.
The shelter is part of Mayor Dave Bronson’s original “navigation center” plan to erect a “sprung structure,” which is similar to a massive heavy-duty tent. He offered the navigation center plan when he was first elected, but the Assembly has fought him every step of the way. The building was purchased by the municipality in 2022, and the foundation has been set for it on city property near Tudor Blvd. and Elmore Road, but the structure needs to be shipped to Anchorage. Fixtures for the building have been purchased and have been languishing in a warehouse in Eagle River for two years, as the Assembly fights the mayor.
The Assembly failed to adopt the resolution to the regular agenda, citing there is no emergency to warrant moving quickly on the transportation of this shelter structure. The funds for shipping the shelter would come from opioid settlement funds.
Assembly member Felix Rivera, who leads the Assembly’s homelessness committee, indicated there is no emergency that would make it necessary to put the item on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting as a “laid on the table” item, although the Assembly members themselves often put such items on the agenda that are not emergencies.
“This afternoon, the Administration distributed a resolution to be laid-on-the-table at tonight’s meeting, which means that the legislation was not submitted by the regular or addendum deadlines to be included on our agenda and made available for public review. The resolution would appropriate $240,000 to ship a Sprung structure to Anchorage. The rationale given for laying this item on the table was for budgetary reasons only, which was rejected by a 9-2 vote. Members encouraged the administration to meet either the regular or addendum deadlines for the April 23 meeting to properly submit this item.”
Rivera continued: “Legislative process aside, the item brought before us today was not a plan or solution being presented to the Assembly. It was simply the appropriation of funds to ship the Sprung structure up to Alaska. If the administration has a plan to address the rise in unsheltered homelessness once Emergency Cold Weather Shelter closes, I look forward to seeing that in the future.”
Mayor Bronson’s response to the Assembly’s action was that the administration “is leaving no stone unturned to find a sheltering solution for the city’s most vulnerable citizens. Unfortunately, the Anchorage Assembly has denied every solution the administration has brought forward and has provided no alternative.”
The Alex Hotel in Spenard will close its sheltering rooms, which are paid for by taxpayers, on May 7. The Aviator Hotel in downtown Anchorage, now housing 274 individuals on the taxpayer dime, will close its sheltering rooms by May 31, and the shelter on 56th Avenue will be closed by July, unless state matching funds are secured. The 900 people being sheltered in these facilities will return to parks, greenbelts, and sidewalks throughout Anchorage.
