News from Assemblyman Patrick Flynn

It was fascinating to read a recent article regarding funding for KABATA, the state-sanctioned organization committed to building a Knik Arm Crossing without regard for its effects – financial, traffic or otherwise – on Southcentral Alaska.  Even those who might be expected to tout development at any cost, like the Anchorage Daily Planet, are casting doubts.  But what’s most interesting to me is the dichotomy between various representatives of our governor.

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In a pleasant surprise, I recently received the following e-mail:

At Stateside Associates we have been reviewing blogs that cover local politics for several months to find the very best the web has to offer. Your blog was selected for inclusion on the Best Local Politics Blogs list. The list is a comprehensive review of blogs that cover politics and policy issues in cities, towns, counties and regions across the country. Stateside Associates’ Best Local Politics Blogs list has been published alongside the Best State Politics Blogs (published in fall 2011) on our website. It has also arranged into a printable FactPad insert that slides easily into a FactPad mouse pad, distributed free of charge to clients and other friends of the firm. In addition, we’ve published a press release detailing the release of the list and your inclusion on it.

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I’m not enjoying writing this in mid-November, in advance of events I expect to occur prior to my posting it, but I’m not sure I can avoid writing it, either.  When I do publish this it will be on the heels of an announcement that Governor Sheffield is no longer Director of the Port of Anchorage, perhaps assuming a post like congressional liaison, but resigned from the post he’s held since the Wuerch administration. (more…)

Happy one week ‘til solstice, when winter begins (unless you live in Alaska and it started back in October).  Tuesday’s meeting, on December 13, was the last Assembly assembly until January 17 so those afflicted with excess interest in local politics have no choice but to relax and enjoy the holidays with family and friends.  In an effort to tide you over, here are a few tidbits from the front lines.

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The Assembly’s agenda for Tuesday, December 6, is both light and heavy.  The former because it includes the municipality’s 2012 budget and the school district’s proposed bond, the latter because there appears to be general consensus surrounding both.  General, of course, does not mean universal.

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The Assembly will hear the most recent iteration of the mayor’s “sidewalk sitting” ordinance on Tuesday, November 22.  It’s been intriguing to view the e-mails on this subject with the vast majority opposing the measure as an affront to free speech.  Meanwhile the administration contends they’re trying to head off a larger problem and that the law is modeled after a court-tested version in place in Seattle.

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By now many readers already know that Brendan Joel Kelley, erstwhile editor of the Anchorage Press, was fired this morning.  Change happens, and hopefully this will ultimately turn out well for Brendan, whom I consider a friend, but what I know about the situation is troubling to me.

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If you’ve never had the opportunity to watch or listen to Alaska Edition (formerly Anchorage Edition) on KAKM or KSKA please allow me to recommend it.  Even if you aren’t a news junkie like me it’s particularly nice to see Paul Jenkins offering thoughtful commentary befitting his status as an elder statesman of Alaska journalism, rather than the sometimes-bizarre screeds he writes for the local paper.  But I digress.

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I’ve received a few questions, and more than a few compliments, for being the lone vote against the now infamous taxi cab ordinance.  To offer some perspective on this topic, below is a lightly-edited exchange I had with a gentleman who contacted me via Facebook and posted on my blog (please note I’ve removed his name to protect his privacy):

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At a 1 pm meeting tomorrow (Thursday, September 29) I expect the AMATS policy committee to release the draft Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) for public comment.  For those who aren’t transportation wonks, it might help to learn the MTP is the guide for allocation of federal, state and local dollars and will replace the existing Long Range Transportation Plan.  Here’s a story from the local paper that provides some insight.

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