Unlike those seeking to defund the police, two Eagle River Assembly members and the president of the Alaska Black Caucus will work together to find the money to pay or equipment for Anchorage police, including body cameras and replacements for squad car camera systems.
Assembly members Jamie Allard and Crystal Kennedy, along with Alaska Black Caucus President Celeste Hodge Growden, are opposed to a proposed special tax levy on Anchorage private properties to pay for the equipment. They think there is a better way than to tax people at this time of economic stress.
The special tax is being proposed by Assembly members Forrest Dunbar, Meg Zaletel, John Weddleton, and Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Allard and Kennedy asked the Assembly to hold off on an ordinance that would have placed the additional property tax on the April ballot.
Allard believes the money should come from the alcohol tax and Hodge Growden believes this is the wrong time for a new tax. She said she is willing to search for grants to help pay for the equipment.
The group will need to come up with $3 million to fund the list that was proposed to go before taxpayers.
Hodge Growden was one of several people who testified Tuesday that this is not the time for new taxes. She reached out to Allard and Kennedy to see if the three women could work together, and on Thursday, they announced their plan to do so.
