One of aspects I enjoy about serving on the Anchorage Assembly is the opportunity to work with a wide variety of people to address disparate issues. In doing so I am frequently reminded that whatever our differences we are usually more alike than not and can often find common ground to solve problems. That’s another way of saying that there’s more to folks than media depictions can portray.
In addition to our three-hour “special” meeting Tuesday night, we had another two-hour work session on budgetary matters on Friday, February 20. Despite that additional time we still haven’t managed to wade through the administration’s explanation of their cuts and the reasoning behind them, so we’ll have yet another work session this coming Friday. While excessive pontification by Assembly members certainly bears part of the blame for the amount of time spent on this subject, it’s worth noting that a fair amount of time at the Tuesday meeting was spent discussing the new IBEW contract.
This evening – Tuesday, February 17 – marked the first of two “special” Assembly meetings scheduled to address Anchorage‘s estimated $17 million budget shortfall. (I didn’t find it very special, mostly because I missed my wife’s birthday, but no one forced me to take this job.)
With bonds now set for the April ballot, a topic to which I’ll likely return prior to the election, I’d like to switch gears a bit and cover a somewhat different topic. Below is a copy of an e-mail I sent to my Assembly colleagues on Thursday, February 5: (more…)
Copyright - Patrick Flynn, All Rights Reserved