News from Assemblyman Patrick Flynn

Tomorrow morning Assembly committees will be officially announced, though slightly differently than what Assembly members learned Friday night.  Here’s what we heard then:

These will be posted on the web Monday morning; chairs are underlined:

COMMITTEES:

LEGISLATIVE: Patrick Flynn, Jennifer Johnston, Chris Birch, Dick Traini

BUDGET/FINANCE: Bill Starr, Adam Trombley, Ernie Hall, Patrick Flynn

PUBLIC SAFETY: Paul Honeman, Elvi Gray-Jackson, Ernie Hall, Dick Traini

MUNICIPAL AUDIT: Elvi Gray-Jackson, Harriet Drummond, Adam Trombley

ELECTIONS/ETHICS: Harriet Drummond, Paul Honeman

COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Chris Birch, Ernie Hall, Harriet Drummond

TITLE 21: Debbie Ossiander, Harriet Drummond, Jennifer Johnston, Ernie  Hall

AMATS: Patrick Flynn, Chris Birch

ENTERPRISE OVERSIGHT:  Jennifer Johnston, Chris Birch, Patrick Flynn, Ernie Hall

LIAISONS:

ANCHORAGE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: Member: Chris Birch, Alternate: Ernie Hall

CHUGIAK-EAGLE RIVER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: Member: Debbie Ossiander, Alternate: Bill Starr

ACVB: Member: Chris Birch, Alternate: Ernie Hall

AEDC: Member: Chris Birch, Alternate: Ernie Hall

NLC: Member: Elvi Gray-Jackson, Alternate: Dick Traini

UAA/APU: Member: Ernie Hall, Alternate: Dick Traini

AML: Member: Jennifer Johnston, Alternate: Elvi Gray-Jackson

MILITARY & VETERANS AFFAIRS: Member: Dick Traini, Alternate: Paul Honeman

ANCHORAGE CULTURAL COUNCIL: Member: Harriet Drummond

FCC: Member: Ernie Hall, Member: Debbie Ossiander

ENERGY REPRESENTATIVE: Member: Jennifer Johnston

ACDA: Member: Ernie Hall, Alternate: Chris Birch

HISTORICAL PRESERVATION COMMISSION: Member: Ernie Hall

For me there are no real surprises, though I expect a couple changes prior to this list becoming final.  Here’s a few comments:

• Given that I’m one of the few Assembly members who worked in Juneau my chairing the Legislative Committee makes sense.  That said, in recent years we’ve traditionally had co-chairs of this committee because, even though the Assembly generally works in a collaborative manner, the perception that we approach issues ideologically necessitates a “balanced” leadership approach.  To that end I heard from my friend Jennifer Johnston that she’d like to serve as co-chair and happily affirmed to Assembly Chair Debbie Ossiander that I wouldn’t mind that one bit.  (Brief aside here;  the reason for this balanced approach began during the Begich administration when the mayor rarely traveled to Juneau, so a “Mutt & Jeff” routine worked well.  Our current mayor, a former lobbyist, goes to Juneau frequently so the Assembly doesn’t feel the need to send multiple members, just one or two, as necessary.)
• I didn’t ask to be on Budget & Finance but, given my role in shaping the past couple budgets while bringing focus to Enterprise activities, I can understand why I landed there.
• I’m pleased to continue on AMATS and welcome my third Assembly partner in four years, Chris Birch.  Mr. Birch has worked for and with DOT for years, and previously served on AMATS, so he’ll bring an informed perspective to the post.
• As I predicted previously, the Port committee will morph into the Enterprise Oversight committee in order to spend more time on those five entities; AWWU, ML&P, Solid Waste Services, Merrill Field and the Port of Anchorage.  While I’ll chair our next meeting on May 6 (11 am, at City Hall) I told Ms. Ossiander that I’d like to hand over that gavel and, given her interest in several of these entities, Ms. Johnston taking over is a very good choice.  I’m staying on as a member, which works for me.

All that, and we have a loaded agenda for Tuesday night that’ll likely result in several topics being pushed off for a couple weeks.  Away we go!

Regards,

Patrick