Juneau Independent

Putting a cap on property taxes sounds appealing at first blush, but I like the services I get from the approximately 37% of my tax payment left after the other 63% goes to fund education (about 52%) and debt service (about 11%).

Southeast Alaska communities are different from most of America. We're not connected by roads. If we want to move vehicles in or out of town, we rely on barges and ferries. That's why Alaska Marine Lines' (AML) recent decision to stop shipping electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles is so troubling: it cuts us off from affordable, reliable transportation that fits our communities perfectly.

I am writing to share why I wrote to Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Nick Begich to tell them I would not be writing to them again. Not that they would care.

Before voting on Ballot Measure, I ask your to please consider what the City and Borough of Juneau accomplishes with your taxes. Do you really want to jeopardize the quality of life that we now enjoy? 

I'm encouraging my friends and neighbors to vote no on Propositions 1 and 2, and yes on Proposition 3.

Forget the notion of one person, one vote. Election map makers have a new slogan: One person, one favored voter, the others don’t count.

While some Alaskans are disappointed that Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted for the Big Ugly Bill, she is an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump and one of very few moderate Republicans left in the Senate. Her departure from Washington would be devastating for the entire USA.

As a regular observer of Assembly meetings, I’ve heard residents complain about vote-by-mail, but until the introduction of this ordinance, I was not aware of anyone begging the Assembly to adopt Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) for our municipal elections.

If you pay any attention to the news, this is a confusing time. If you pay too much attention to the news, as I do, the chaos of life is an overwhelming hubbub. It’s constant, like the tinnitus ringing in my ears, but not as steady as the tinnitus. It’s like being in a racquetball court with 100 people hitting balls. Enough already, my weary brain proclaims.

After seeing many videos of masked, armed ICE agents harassing and pulling peaceful, law-abiding community folk off the streets, while at the same time making slow progress on deporting undocumented criminals, Americans are beginning to sour on Trump’s immigration policies. 

The City and Borough of Juneau recently announced it will purchase two floors of the Michael J. Burns Building from the Alaska Permanent Fund to serve as the new City Hall. The proposed purchase price is $9.3 million for two floors of the building and the establishment of capital improvement reserve of $2.7 million. 

The recent alleged assault of an unarmed Alaska Native man by a Juneau police officer was committed amid myriad other instances of police brutality and a history of abuse of Alaskan citizens, both Native and non-Native.