The Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday night showed it was dealing in bad faith all along with the Bronson Administration regarding the homeless plan that it was negotiating for a year.
In August of 2021, the Assembly and Mayor Bronson appointed their top negotiators to be part of a mediated process to develop a plan, which was approved. The sides were far apart, with the leftist Assembly wanting to proceed with former Mayor Ethan Berkowitz’ plan, and Mayor Dave Bronson forging a new direction, as tackling homelessness was one of the issues he ran on.
Retired Admiral Tom Barrett was the mediator. That hammered-out plan included a navigation center that was important to Bronson, and some other things that were important to the Leftist Assembly majority. The navigation center was the hub of the agreement, however, as it would reach some of the most hard-to-help people in Anchorage, those who don’t work out in traditional congregate shelters and who need a lot of services.
Navigation centers are buildings that are transition centers for homeless and provide a number of services, including referrals to drug and alcohol treatment. Navigation centers are “low-barrier, service-enriched shelter targeting high-needs adults experiencing homelessness who are living in encampments, and who have acute behavioral health issues that may prevent them from staying in regular congregate shelters,” according to a description of a similar center in Seattle. The location for the navigation center in Anchorage is near the Elmore and Tudor Road intersection.
The Assembly had even appropriated a $9 million start for the project to get it under way.
But on Tuesday night, the Assembly reneged on the plan that its negotiation team had approved, saying it would not approve a payment to Roger Hickel Contracting, which has already started work on the site, including the pouring of some of the footings that will support a steel structure that will be covered with industrial-level building fabric.
The Assembly on Tuesday decided to delay the decision on the payment to late October, forcing the project to be put on hold and driving up the costs. Concrete cannot be poured below freezing without a tent, and by delaying the project, the Assembly has increased the expected construction cost by as much as 30%.
The truth is, the Assembly majority never intended to let that part of the negotiated plan go forward.
But the contract was in place and work has proceeded on schedule — a schedule provided to the Assembly in May.
Roger Hickel Construction will not get stiffed on the bill. However, Hickel may have to send a demand letter or even sue the city for the money to get paid for the work done. And Hickel may not wish to continue on the project, if payment is going to be held up by the Assembly time and again.
Hickel Construction was also given $2.0 million for the building itself, which is currently under construction out of state. The steel is ready for shipment on Oct. 8, and with the concrete completely poured and cured by then, and the plan given to the Assembly was that the building would be up and ready by Nov. 23. The groundwork and utilities are already done, and the fixtures have been shipped.
But progress has come to a halt because of Tuesday’s refusal by the Assembly, which gave specious reasons that are unsupported by facts, to approve payment for work completed.
The negotiated agreement was a four-point plan. So far, the Sockeye Inn was purchased and is now housing 83 medically fragile individuals, people who used to hang around the streets in wheelchairs and on walkers. The city and philanthropic partners provided funds to purchase the Guest House (bought by the First Presbyterian LLC), which will house workers who can’t afford housing. The Rasmuson Foundation and other philanthropic partners have matched the Assembly’s $6 million appropriation with $6 million, and $6 million in funds have been transferred to the Alaska Community Foundation, which was to serve as the clearinghouse for the public/nonprofit/private partnership, which included Weidner Apartment Homes.
On Tuesday night, Assemblyman Felix Rivera said that the delay was needed because he wanted to look at alternative sites. He said he didn’t know anything about the schedule. He said the Mayor’s Office has not informed the Assembly of anything.
Observers of the Assembly’s behavior over the past year predicted the Assembly would do this in the end — delay the navigation center to the point where it was not feasible, and then try to impeach the mayor for something unrelated. Over the summer, the Assembly put in place an ordinance that will allow it to remove the mayor at any time, for any reason.
It appears that the Assembly has no intention of allowing the navigation center to proceed this winter or ever. And if it does, the cost of constructing the building will most certainly explode. The Mayor’s Office will now have to figure out what to do with the building that is being constructed and is nearly ready to ship.
