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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