The Alaska Municipal League kicks off three days of meetings for city officials from around the state. But anyone who plans to attend must show proof that they have been vaccinated with a Covid-19 shot. Optionally, they can show a negative Covid test. The event takes place at the Captain Cook Hotel Nov. 15-17.
Attendees must upload their vaccination papers into the AML “CrowdPass” portal, using the instructions shown above. CrowdPass is a government-approved information-gathering system.
The event is expected to draw 400 or more local municipal officials, mayors, borough assembly and city council members, municipal managers, administrators, attorneys, and other appointed officials or municipal staff. Many state and federal officials attend, alongside Alaska’s business leaders and community organizations.
The organization said that it will take other measures to prevent the spread of Covid, including testing on site, vaccinations on site, distancing, and mandatory masking.
DRAFT AGENDA
Alaska Municipal League 71st Annual Local Government Conference
Sunday, November 14
4:00 pm Registration Open
6:00 pm Networking Reception Quarterdeck
First-time Attendees and Newly Elected Officials
Monday, November 15
7:00 am Registration open
7:30 am Breakfast Discovery Ballroom
- Announcements – Nils Andreassen, Executive Director, Alaska Municipal League
8:00 am Opening Session Discovery Ballroom
- Welcome – Pete Petersen, President, Alaska Municipal League
- Land Acknowledgement
9:15 am Untold Stories
Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, local governments have served on the front lines, working to protect the health and wellbeing of our residents, and driving economic recovery in our communities. Together, local governments have highlighted our critical role and the key services cities and boroughs provide, demonstrating to the public and to our federal partners that local government matters.
Now, we have an opportunity to tell the full story of our efforts and how we have made incredible differences in the lives of our residents through the CARES Act and American Rescue Plan Act, historic investment in our nation’s counties and cities. Let’s demonstrate how local governments are helping our residents stay in their homes and keep food on the table. How we are supporting small businesses. How we are steering our communities into the future and helping our residents THRIVE.
11:30 am Break
12:00 pm Lunch and Funders Forum Discovery Ballroom
Moderated by Lisa Parker, City Council, City of Soldotna
1:00 pm Break Exhibit Hall
1:15 pm Concurrent Sessions
- Regional Water and Sewer Utilities Endeavor Room
Moderated by Mark Springer, Mayor, City of Bethel
- John Nichols, Director, Rural Utility Management Services, ANTHC
- Chris Cox, Alaska Rural Utility Collaborative
- Structuring Health and Retirement Benefits Fore Deck
Moderated by Nikki Velock, Council, City of Wasilla
- Josh Franzel, Managing Director, MissionSquare
- Thomas Showalter, Services Director, Alera Connect HR
- Alaska Municipal Climate Network Mid Deck
Moderated by Michelle Hale, Assembly, City and Borough of Juneau
- Carole Triem, Assembly, City and Borough of Juneau
- Willy Dunne, Assembly, Kenai Peninsula Borough
- Donna Aderhold, Council, City of Homer
- Childcare and Early Learning Adventure Room
Moderated by Terry Haines, Council, City of Kodiak
- Stephanie Berglund, CEO, thread Alaska
- Anna White, Program Manager, Early Childhood Success, Institute for Youth, Education, and Families, National League of Cities
- Shawnda O’Brien, Director, Division of Public Assistance, DHSS
- DCRA Municipal Refresher – Elections Club Room 1
- Mike White and Melody Nibeck, Local Government Specialists, DCRA
2:30 pm Networking Break Exhibit Hall
3:00 pm Concurrent Sessions
- Alaska’s Broadband Strategy Endeavor Room
Moderated by Nils Andreassen, Executive Director, Alaska Municipal League
- Hallie Bisset, Chair, Alaska Broadband Task Force
- Christine O’Connor, Alaska Telecommunications Association
- Housing and Homelessness Adventure Room
Moderated by Valerie Therrien, Council, City of Fairbanks
- Chris Kolerok, Director, Public Policy and Government Affairs, Cook Inlet Housing Authority
- Daniel Delfino, Director, Planning Alaska Housing Finance Corporation
- Brian Wilson, Executive Director, Alaska Coalition of Housing and Homelessness
- Kelda Barstad, Program Officer, Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority
Moderated by Fannie Suvlu, Mayor, City of Utqiagvik
- Jake Kowalski, Government Finance Officers Association
- Tim Mearig, Director, Facilities, Dept. of Education and Early Development
- Tim Sandstrom, Director, Rural Programs, Alaska Energy Authority
- Benefiting from SEMT Mid Deck
Moderated by John Whiddon, Council, City of Kodiak
- Katherine McDonald, Office of Rate Review, DHSS
- Sheavon Brunelle, SEMT Coordinator, State of Alaska
- DCRA Municipal Refresher – Open Meetings Act Club Room 1
- Jed Cox and Mike White, Local Government Specialists, DCRA
4:15 pm Afternoon Break Exhibit Hall
4:30 pm Committee Meetings
- Legislative Position Committee Endeavor Room
- Sabrena Combs, Chair, Legislative Position Committee
- Resolutions Committee Endeavor Room
- Jim Matherly, Chair, Resolutions Committee
5:30 pm Nominating Committee Library
The AML Nominating Committee will conduct this formal meeting to develop and approve the final candidate slate for the AML board of directors.
- Pat Branson, Chair, Nominating Committee
6:00 pm Awards Dinner Fore Deck
A relaxing evening recognizing municipal leadership in Alaska.
- Elected Official of the Year
- Municipal Employee of the Year
- Vic Fischer Lifetime Service Award
- Emerging Municipal Leader Award
7:30 pm Adjourn Day One
Tuesday, November 16
AMAA Concurrent Quarterdeck
7:30 am On-site Registration and Testing
7:30 am Breakfast and AML-JIA Business Meeting Discovery Ballroom
- Kevin Smith, Executive Director, AML Joint Insurance Association
- Joe Evans, Founding Trustee, AMLJIA Board of Trustees
8:30 am Announcements
8:45 am Concurrent Sessions
- Cybersecurity Endeavor Room
Moderated by Lyn Carden, President, Alaska Municipal Management Association
- Rita Reynolds, Chief Information Officer, NACo
- Jacob Wylie, Support Engineer, WaveRider
- Brian Sams, President, Tanium
Moderated by Bruce Botelho, former Alaska Attorney General and mayor of Juneau
- Dawn Begay, Native American Affairs Coordinator, City of Albuquerque, NM
- Terry Sloan, Intergovernmental Tribal Liaison, City of Albuquerque, NM
- Christopher Constant, Vice Chair, Anchorage Municipal Assembly
- Meghan “Sigvanna” Topkok, Council, Nome Common Council, and Staff Attorney, Kawerak Inc.
- Dennis Robinson, Vice Mayor, City of Unalaska, and Qawalangin Tribal Council board member
- Steven Eisenbeisz, Mayor, or John Leach, Municipal Administrator, City & Borough of Sitka
- Encouraging Alaska Business Development Mid Deck
Moderated by Stephanie Nowers, Assembly, Mat Su Borough
- Jon Bittner, Director, Small Business Development Center
- Katie Ashbaugh, Buy Alaska
- Professional Development Opportunities Adventure Room
Moderated by Melissa Jacobsen, Alaska Association of Municipal Clerks
- Tim Rahschulte, PDA Leadership
- Teri Cothren, VP, Workforce Development, University of Alaska Anchorage
- DCRA Municipal Refresher – Title 29 Jeopardy Club Room 1
- Jeff Congdon and Lydia Mielke, Local Government Specialists DCRA
10:00 am Senator Lisa Murkowski in all rooms
10:15 am Networking Break Exhibit Hall
10:30 am Concurrent Sessions
Moderated by Rob Palmer, Borough Attorney, City and Borough of Juneau
- Ranked Choice Voting Adventure Room
Moderated by Meghan Topkok, Council, City of Nome
- Jason Grenn, Alaskans for Better Elections
- Gail Fenumiai, Division of Elections, State of Alaska
- ARPA Implementation, Reporting and Compliance Fore Deck
Moderated by Brent Johnson, Assembly, Kenai Peninsula Borough
- Eryn Hurley, National Association of Counties
- Municipal Bond Packages and Cash Management Mid Deck
Moderated by Joan Miller, Alaska Government Finance Officers Association
- Deven Mitchell, Alaska Municipal Bond Bank Authority
- Garrett Macdonald, Cashvest by ThreePlusOne
- DCRA/AEA Municipal Training – PCE and Bulk Fuel Loans Club Room 1
- Lydia Mielke and Jed Cox, Local Government Specialists, DCRA
- T.W. Patch, Director of Planning, Alaska Energy Authority
11:45 am Break
12:00 pm Lunch Discovery Ballroom
Gubernatorial Candidates Debate
- Mike Dunleavy, Republican (invited)
- Les Gara, Democrat (confirmed)
- Bill Walker, Independent (confirmed)
1:15 pm AML Membership Announcements Discovery Ballroom
- Legislative Position Committee – update to members on 2022 Position Statement
- Resolution Committee – update to members on 2022 resolutions submitted
- Nominating Committee – update to members on the slate of AML Board candidates
- Board Candidates – candidate one-minute intros
2:00 pm AML and Partner Program Services Discovery Ballroom
- Affiliate Reports
- Melissa Jacobsen, Past President, Alaska Association of Municipal Clerks
- Lyn Carden, President, Alaska Municipal Management Association
- Scott Bloom, Alaska Municipal Attorneys Association
- Joan Miller, Alaska Government Finance Officers Association
- Rich Everidge, Chief, Alaska Fire Chiefs Association
2:45 pm Networking Break and Exhibitor Drawing Aft Deck
3:15 pm Concurrent Sessions
- Ports and Harbors – Coastal Infrastructure Fore Deck
Moderated by Alvin Osterback, Mayor, Aleutians East Borough
- Mike Fisher, Northern Economics
- Rachel Lord, Executive Director, Alaska Association of Harbormasters and Port Administrators
- Kolby Hickel, Port of Alaska, Municipality of Anchorage
- Robert Venables, Executive Director, Southeast Conference
- Quality of Life Mid Deck
Moderated by Walter Sampson, Assembly, Northwest Arctic Borough
- Nick Farline, Valdez Parks; Alaska Recreation and Parks Association
- Beth Weigel, Museum Director, Juneau-Douglas City Museum
- Modernizing (Online) Sales Tax Collection Adventure Room
Moderated by Suzanne LaFrance, Assembly, Municipality of Anchorage
- Clinton Singletary, Tax Administrator, Alaska Municipal League
- Karl Kaufman, Landye Bennett, Blumstein LLC
- Partnering with Nonprofits Endeavor Room
Moderated by Liz Lyke, Assembly, Fairbanks North Star Borough
- Laurie Wolf, President & CEO, Foraker Group
- State Procurement Partnership Club Room 1
Moderated by Dawn Wesley, Shared Services Director, Alaska Municipal League
- Linda Polk, Office of Procurement, Department of Administration
- Jonathon Harshfield, State Property Manager, Department of Administration
- Mindy Birk, Procurement Policy Officer, Department of Administration
4:30 pm Afternoon Break
6:00 pm Trivia Night Fore Deck
A fun event to socialize and reconnect.
8:00 pm Adjourn Day Two
Wednesday, November 17
8:00 am Breakfast – AMLIP Annual Meeting Discovery Ballroom
8:30 am Elections Registration Desk
Vote for new board members and officers
9:00 am Annual Meeting Discovery Ballroom
Members take actions on:
- Policy Statement
- Resolutions
- Elections
Concurrent Sessions
Grant Writing Workshop
12:00 pm Adjourn Annual Conference
12:00 pm ARSSTC Annual Member Meeting
4:30 pm Side Session – Coastal Caucus
Ok, so Anchorage and lotsa other municipalities are getting together to show how woke they are. Woke, not bright! The jab doesn’t protect a person from covid, the mask has a minor effect, if any(if worn properly) distancing(the jury is out). What a bunch of dipsticks!
Super spreader event! I bet masks are not required even though there is a municipal ordinance.
Shame on them. That is simply discrimination!!
Tell me again Alaska is a conservative state.
Alaska is a conservative state
“Pete Peterson, President.” Tells you everything you need to know. Boycott it!
What the hell is putting it nicely. Did they not see dr doom and gates back walking the vaccine and other scientific info the shot does not work. You need boosters forever. Especially after the 5th circuit shut it down. They both admitted it did not work as advertised and you need boosters to protect your immunity. enough bring out the pitchforks and take back our country. Damn i pray for those that were crazy enough to take the shots who still can catch and spread the virus. I also condemn the business’s that mandated the shot. You are IDIOTS and lost good hero workers. LEAVE OUR CHILDREN ALONE.
Dav, I equally condemn all those agencies and businesses that demand the ridiculously ineffective and dehumanizing masks. DAMN those stupid masks already! One might as well wear a piece of wire screen over their face.
Vaccine passports need to come with expiration dates. In order to maintain your vaccine passport you must faithfully adhere to the vaccine protocol.
I’m not resisting the vaccine alone. I am resisting the protocol which will call for at least one booster per year or maybe even two. No spank you.
Vax Passport required for AML annual conference? Uh huh. That requirement reveals what AML is really all about. It is simply a lobbying group for more big government. Vaxed or not, I would never stoop to involuntarily showing anyone a card as to my vax status.
AML is always whining about low attendance at their annual conference. I sincerely hope they experience the lowest attendance possible this year in response to their outrageous policy. They are showing their true colors.
Commie central.
“Your paperz? SHOW ME ZE PAPERZ!!”
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Now we know how Jews felt in Nazi Germany circa 1937.
No one cries over these bureaucrats taking the death jab. In fact in the long run it will probably be good for Alaska.
Don’t go. You will not become kings.
From akml.org/about/ we see the Alaska Municipal League’s mission is to:
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“Represent the unified voice of Alaska’s local governments to successfully influence state and federal decision making.
Build consensus and partnerships to address Alaska’s Challenges, and
Provide training and joint services to strengthen Alaska’s local governments.”
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That’s “governments”, not people… especially not people whose lives and livelihoods were wrecked by the same bloody “governments” in the name of China flu.
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From amlip.org/ we see the Alaska Municipal League Investment Pool has $505,262,328.71 of taxpayers’ money safely stashed out of taxpayers’ reach.
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Those would be the same taxpayers whose lives and livelihoods were wrecked by “governments” in the name of China flu… the same taxpayers who need to be vaccinated with income and sales taxes so “governments” can continue to live safely in the style to which they’ve become entitled.
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The plight of wriggling parasites forced to wear masks and ingest strange chemicals for the dubious privilege of comingling and figuring out how to stiff more taxpayers for more money should excite little more than contempt from productive Alaskans.
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One might even be forgiven for a bit of schadenfreude when the inevitable, nocturnal exchanges of participants’ body fluids create what could be euphemistically called “super spreader sessions”.
And who is oaying for this atrocity of wokeness?
You and I.
Jefferson is correct, public funds. AML is financed primarily by dues from member municipalities. Unless things have changed in recent years, dues are weighted according to population but voting strength is not. In other words, Anchorage (2020 Census pop. 291,247) has the same vote as places like Shageluk (pop. 100), Whale Pass (pop. 86), Anvik (pop. 70), Cold Bay (pop. 50) and Kupreanof (pop. 21), while paying far more into the organization to be a member. The bulk of small rural cities in Alaska were incorporated at the urging of Eben Hopson and Byron Mallott when they worked in the Local Affairs Agency (pre-DCRA) during the Egan administration. The joke is that this yearly trip to the big city amounts to the main benefit of incorporation.
It’s an individual decision I guess but I would not download squat to attend. I had the shots but it’s none of their business. I hope nobody from the Kenai Penninsula attends.
Comply!
Resistance is futile!
Drones all of them.
I wonder if the governor complied? And what about all his department heads that are presenting?
We know Les and Bill did as they show as confirmed on the agenda. Then there is Lisa…
This is truly illuminating. These are individuals representing the residents of this state, and we see how they view themselves. Drones all of them!
Good thing you run an ad for “VaxCard” on your website! We’ll all have easy access to a solution for this!
They want 500,000 new covid 19 virus variant next fall to not only plague and kill the covid19 vaccinated and partial vaccinated but also the covid unvaccinated.
Be more useful a Common cold/flu syrup FOR covid19 variants and early treatment medicines when the covid vaccinated and the covid unvaccinated take their turn getting a variant or another one.
Don’t think just because of YOU are fully covid19 vaccinated with your annual boosters that you don’t get sickened by Covid sometime in your life and can’t fight it. Lots of patients who got their annual Flu-coronovirus shots and when they got older they became sickened by the Flu and it became complicated and a flu varient killed them. So we need Early medicines such as the Monoclonal, ivemectin, and HCQ.
Coronovirus are as fickle as us humans, continual changing and mutating, Always trying to better itself!
Smart rule: keep those losers away and more will get done.
More destruction of freedom and our hard-earned wealth, I agree.
Guess our covidiotic mayor and governor will be giving this a pass. Good! Maybe something positive will actually be accomplished!!
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