News from Assemblyman Patrick Flynn

Greetings,

I’ve had a few folks contact me about my comments at our Tuesday, March 26, Assembly meeting.  Some supportive, some not, and some whom I know well and am respectful of their intelligence & judgement (even when we disagree).  To help answer their questions I’ve posted my notes below.  They’re not verbatim (I’m not much for reading speeches), but they generally reflect my concerns regarding the process surrounding the labor ordinance.

Regards,

Patrick

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Last week I picked up my massive binders containing the almost-final version of the Title 21 re-write.  Assembly approval is one of the few major tasks facing us this spring so I’m slogging through it and will wrestle over inevitable final amendments but, in the end, I doubt I’ll vote for the darn thing.  My problem with this work product which, depending on your point of view, may or may not be a worthy one, is the process by which it was arrived at. 

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I know, the holidays are here, you’re either receiving or visiting family and the last thing in the world you could possibly need is something else to do, right?  But this one’s kind of fun – here’s how my neighbor put it (as slightly abridged by yours truly):

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Everyone makes mistakes.  Indeed, if humans were on some sort of mistake quota system I’d likely be cadging ducats from friends in order to keep myself within limits.  And I’ll let someone else tell you about the “negative example” marketing plan once proffered on my behalf.  But the important thing about making mistakes is learning from them and doing better the next time.

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One of the advantages of representing neighborhoods in which I grew up (no snide remarks about my maturity, please) is the opportunity to address issues in different ways.  Here’s an example:

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I was copied on an e-mail reacting to a media story about potentially cutting police officers whom the city just trained and hired, and chastising the mayor for the situation.  As readers can ascertain for themselves, the administration once again blames both the previous administration and existing labor contracts.  Unfortunately for them, matters are rarely so simple.

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I recently received an e-mail with a pretty simple message – “will you ever blog again?”  The answer is yes; but I’ve been spectacularly busy and recent Assembly activity has been relatively mundane so the sense of urgency has been a little low.  Have faith, though, as budget season is approaching and with it many topics will surely come to the fore!

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Regular followers of this blog may recall I’m a big fan of Alaska’s Golden Heart City (that would be Fairbanks for you Cheechakos).  I’ve spent a lot of time in the Interior over the years (yes, mostly in the winter) and developed quite a fondness.

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Like many other Alaskans, I awoke this morning to a headline about who met the filing deadline for seeking a seat in the Alaska state legislature.  An item that did not, apparently, earn mention in local coverage was the entrance of two of my former railroad colleagues into the fray.

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I’ve been so immersed in the work related to finalizing Anchorage’s new Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP), which replaces the former Long Range Transportation Plan, that it took a question from a Fairview friend to remind me I hadn’t provided a recent update.  Oops!  So, operating on the better-late-than-never theory, here’s what’s up.

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