By PAULETTE SIMPSON
In the hierarchy of things that matter, Juneau’s current Assembly seems really confused.
What most people want from local government is a safe, orderly, clean, and affordable community – and good schools.
It should follow that Assembly goals, priorities and new ordinances would align with the genuine needs of residents. The dollars and hours add up and time is short. Wasting resources does a disservice to everyone.
If Juneau residents were asked to rank community problems most in need of solving, I suspect the following issues would make the list:
Mendenhall River flooding, homelessness, lack of affordable housing and childcare, outmigration, tourism, taxation, a middle class that’s shrinking and a landfill that’s expanding, and every aspect of what it takes to make Juneau more affordable.
As a regular observer of Juneau Assembly meetings, I’ve heard residents complain about vote-by-mail, especially the way it was foisted on us, but until the introduction of this ordinance, I was not aware of anyone ever begging the Assembly to adopt Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) for our municipal elections.
Yet in February, our Assembly directed City staff and the attorney’s office to spend their time and our tax dollars researching and writing an ordinance to enact RCV for use in our municipal elections.
Perhaps preparing for the expected August flood had become tedious and they were weary of fielding public concerns about the ongoing issues generated by a small criminal element of our homeless population. Who knows?
The Assembly cheerleader for RCV is a legislative aide to Juneau Sen. Jesse Kiehl. She explains her sponsorship saying, “Juneau likes ranked choice voting.” So what? Whom are we supposed to rank? The sponsor herself is running unopposed for re-election to her Assembly seat in October.
RCV was cooked up and first used in Maine in 2018 to supposedly narrow the ideological divide between Republicans and Democrats, primarily at the state and national levels. Supporters said the system would make campaigns more “civil.”
RCV was designed specifically for a partisan system. Juneau’s municipal elections are non-partisan. Why not keep them that way? Or is there evidence to suggest that Juneau suffers from uncivil Assembly campaigns?
I think most Alaskans want their Assemblies and City administrations to engage in meaningful work to fix what we all know is broken.
In Juneau, that means focusing on finding a long-term solution to Mendenhall River flooding. Figure out a legal and compassionate way to help our unhoused population. Protect Valley and downtown businesses trying to survive in an increasingly unsafe environment. Make Juneau more affordable.
This ordinance has nothing to do with good governance, yet most Assembly members are eager to enact this reform. I think I know why.
Craving praise and weary of criticism, RCV is a convenient distraction for an Assembly that has somehow managed to anger just about everyone in town.
The list is long: Those opposing the reckless $9 million demolition of Telephone Hill; downtown and airport area business owners at their wits end about the vandalism, vagrancy and drug use near their homes and businesses; Valley residents in the vicinity of the Mendenhall River, still reeling from the expense and stress caused by the third summer of flooding, callously being told to prepare to pay for the second phase of HESCO barriers.
RCV is the shiny object Juneau’s Assembly needs to dangle to distract their worn-out and cranky constituents. By switching the conversation and controversy to a politically trendy fad, they can feel good about themselves.
We can’t brag about Juneau being the most affordable community in Alaska, but by golly, we have RCV!
Expect this Assembly to handily, gleefully and probably unanimously pass this ordinance at its Nov. 3 meeting. Members will either say nothing and just vote or repeat esoteric, sophomoric soundbites extolling RCV that have no relevance whatsoever to Juneau’s urgent needs.
Maybe the Assembly will even direct the Juneau Economic Development Council to use some of its plentiful grant funding to incorporate RCV into its “Choose Juneau” marketing program and ask the Juneau Chamber of Commerce to add it to its list of reasons to move to Juneau.
Just how cool is that?
Paulette Simpson lives in Douglas.
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The most telling points made are that RCV is designed to ameliorate partisan elections and promote “choice” for voters.
Given that candidates don’t run on a partisan basis in Juneau and because there are often very few candidates who run for local office in Juneau, there really is no genuine basis for adopting RCV as part of Juneau’s local municipal election procedures. It’s almost as dumb as the more expensive and slower mail in ballot measure the CBJ adopted.
RCV on the local level is a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist, just like adopting mail in voting was as the default setting was for electing our local officials.
Respectfully disagree that RCV is a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. It is a tool that is very good at depressing turnout and electing democrats. Perhaps the backers think elections in Juneau are too close and not enough democrats are elected with large enough majorities. RCV is one of several solutions to that problem. Cheers –
Ahhh, Mark, Vitoria suppression may be a goal you support but it’s not widely held and in any event hardly suppresses actual voting unless you can’t figure out how to read a menu.
Where do the homeless vagrants in Juneau and Kodiak come from? It is not easy to arrive in Juneau or Kodiak with limited or no funds. Anchorage’s homeless essentially come from the villages. The route from the villages is not difficult or expensive.
A lot of them wander in courtesy of the native corps. Some used to be seasonal workers things didn’t work out for. Another group come from the smaller villages in the Passage.
If you give them free things, they will find a way to get here.
Great article Paulette, you nailed it!!
Amen to that. Well done Paulette!!!
That’s why it’s illegal to feed moose intentionally. They become conditioned to the “free” food and eventually become reliant and defensive of “THEIR free food”. Plant human dependency on a nanny-state government that nurtures this sense of entitlement (in exchange for votes) and watch the whining and further dependency grow. It’s the way of things.
Juneau’s population is not shrinking. We’re in a construction boom and I’ve noticed the increase in traffic and crowds. Some are seasonal but we have major condo projects popping up like weeds and very large homes being constructed. What we really have are an apathetic population when it comes to candidates and voting. Our voter turnout is low and the field of viable candidates shrinks every year.
I’m not sure what you’re seeing most the rest of CBJ isn’t.
The population isn’t growing by any meaningful measure. Especially where children are concerned.
Much of the growth you are seeing is a long overdue effort to deal with the chronic and unaffordable housing issues we’ve had for at least 16 years.
The increase and continuation of house and condo building is a result of changing demographics. This is a nationwide/global issue. More single ocupant homes. Fewer families, fewer children etc etc. Instead of averaging 4-5 people per household we now have one or maybe two. Thus more housing units are needed for the same amount of people.
The Assembly cheerleader for RCV is a legislative aide to Juneau Sen. Jesse Kiehl. The sponsor herself is running unopposed for re-election to her Assembly seat in October.
Who is the legislative aide by name?
Who is running unopposed by name?
Senator Jesse Kiehl is a total idiot. The legislative aide is an idiot.
The unopposed person running for office is an idiot as well.
RCV is a joke
All I can offer
Until we vote them out, why should they listen to us?
So, after they’re voted out, then they’ll listen you Masked Dude?
I’ll buy lunch for the 1st person that outs the Masked Avenger 😂