Candidate profile: David Morris, Juneau Assembly District 2 challenger

Mark Sabbatini

2 hours ago

9 min read

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

Brad Sapp: Juneau Assembly District 2 candidate

Age: 67

Occupation: Lifeguard and swim instructor

Length of residency in Juneau: 47 years

The following questions and responses have been lightly edited for clarity.

Q: At a recent Assembly meeting the city manager asked for members’ opinions on third-party management of the city’s parks and recreational facilities, as well as Eaglecrest Ski Area. What options would you have suggested?

A: "I would have told her that I believe that Eaglecrest is out of the city's venue to take care of and the best thing for that to happen would be to turn it over to Goldbelt. They have a very good plan to run it summer and winter — we talked about cost and stuff, and it would still be to where the Juneau residents could afford to use the facilities."

Q: When you say "we" who are you referring to, and are they consistent with the city manager stating certain conditions are off the table such as selling Eaglecrest or linking a takeover agreement to approval of the cruise terminal Goldbelt wants to build in West Douglas?

A: "They will take it on if they get a certain amount of portion of the property and the city can turn that over to them to make it a viable option for the citizens."

Q: The city manager says that’s not legally feasible. Do you disagree? A: "I disagree. They can turn the property over."

Q: Do you believe you can get four other members on the Assembly to support that option? If so, how? A: "Well, I just explain what I know about the project and ask for questions, and anything that I could clarify I would do so at that point in the Assembly, and then say ‘This here is what I think was is the best.’ The city is looking at a shortfall…so they need to step out of Eaglecrest. I think it's too much of a burden for the citizens to take care of."

Q: What about the suggestion for third-party management of other city recreation facilities?

A: "I don't think a second-party takeover of the recreational facilities would change things that much. If a second party took it over it'd be much more expensive. They're not really high in price now for what you get and they could actually raise that a little bit. People aren't going to like that, but that's OK."

Q: Do you feel the city has been responsible with its budget lately?

A: "I don't think the city has been spending its money real well. They've got several projects that they've spent millions on that didn't pan out very well. Peterson Hill, I think they want to leave the building to the builders and stay out of that section. Then there's Telephone Hill, that’s so rich in history that should be made a historical district because what they want to do with it with the condensed housing, they're going to have to shore up that whole mountainside to be able to do that and it's not feasible in my opinion. And so it should be a historical district. The oldest house that's ever been lived in in the state of Alaska is up there. The Folk Festival was started there with Jeff Brown. There's a lot of history there, and they could use that as part of the tourism loop."

Q: Is there something in the most recent budget passed by the Assembly where you would have voted differently?

A: "I would have voted to put the old City Hall out for sealed-bid (auction) because they would have gotten more money for it."

Q: Juneau has seen a long-term population decline that is expected to continue through at least 2050. What should be the Assembly’s policies when planning for that future?

A: "My policy is we need to open up land and let the builders build the houses. What's coming in with the Coast Guard coming in is we need single-family houses. We don't need apartment buildings or condos because they want to live in single-family housing…Affordable housing needs to be available housing to what the people want that are coming in here. I'm looking at 100 to 200 homes and that would bring the base up to where it will cover the debt shortfall, if we get that done."

Q: Assembly members and candidates have talked for years about a need for more housing. If your approach is making more land available, how do you want to put it on the market and how would you get a majority of the Assembly to support it?

A: "If they put the land out in a bid process, a lottery draw, and then they have the chance to purchase that property and build on it."

Q. Nano Brooks proposed that when he got elected to the Assembly last year and it got nowhere. If that happens again what other options are worth considering?

A: "They need to build more. I said that the taxes have gone up to the point where the young people can't live here anymore, and the problem is available housing, not affordable housing. And if they raise the taxes, then all the rooms that people can rent or apartments or anything else, all those go up too. So we need to stop raising the price. The people spoke very strongly at keeping the mill rate at (nine), and no tax on food and fuel."

Q: What are your thoughts on who should pay the city’s share for a long-term solution for glacial flooding — the people in the affected area and/or residents citywide?

A: "A bond initiative that would be for everybody in the city because it's not just a flood zone problem; it's a whole city problem."

Q: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is pursuing an approach it says will hopefully be faster and cheaper than the traditional regulatory process, but will also involve some unknown risk. Do you believe that tradeoff is worth it?

A: "I've heard the people that own both mines speak, and they are there to back anybody that does that up because they know the area around here. They know the rock. They know how to fix the problems. If they run into a soft spot or a hard spot they know how to do it, and they said they would be there to consult and help them with that."

Q: The Assembly recently voted 5-4 against a proposal making the voluntary daily limit of cruise ships a mandate. How would you have voted?

A: "I think the five-ship limit is good. And the reason I believe it should be mandatory is this: the ships that came in before are half the size of the ones that are in here now, like that monster that takes up half the city. So I believe a five-ship limit is all that the city can handle."

Q: Do you believe that should include Goldbelt’s proposed two-ship dock in West Douglas and, if so, what would you tell downtown businesses worried about losing 40% of the cruise passengers there?

A: "The Goldbelt plan is they can have stores out there where the other two docks are."

Q: A lot of downtown businesses will likely tell you they can’t afford or don’t want that option.

A: "I’m still at the five total. It's a quality-of-life issue for the people that actually live here in Juneau. I hear it when I'm talking to people everywhere. There's too many people. You can't go anywhere. You can't do anything."

Q: Do you believe there are additional restrictions that should be placed on tourism activity?

A: "I don't think there should be any more limits on tourism. But I do think they need to renegotiate how the money can be used for the head tax because it should be able to be used for our infrastructure, like our sewer, water, and all that stuff that need attention at this point, because they all use every ship that comes in, and we should be able to use part of that money to take care of those resources."

Q: Your official campaign statement talks about the need to address Juneau’s future solid waste needs since the landfill has a limited lifespan. How would you do so?

A: "A plasma incinerator can burn anything cleanly. They're expensive, but you can also use the stack for generating power that comes out of that. That heat can be generating power to partially offset that (cost)."

Q: How do you pay for the initial cost of it?

A: "Everybody that I've talked to has brought up the land issue. So I think if we did a bond to do the incinerator to stop people from dumping out Thane Road, out the Valley and everywhere else — because everywhere you go there's couches and stuff because people can't afford to go (to the landfill) on Saturday, and you're waiting in line and then they go ‘OK, we're closed,’ you’ve got a truckload of stuff and you're stuck with it — people are just dumping it because they're tired of that. So there needs to be an option. An incinerator will burn anything."

Q: How do you feel about Juneau’s homeless situation since the Assembly halted the dispersed camping policy that was in place the past two years?

A: "I think it's a little better this year, but my view on the whole homeless population-we don't have a homeless population. We have a drug addiction problem. Most of that is drug addiction and we need to figure out how to help people get past their addictions. There's a lot of programs. A lot of (nonprofits) that would pick up stuff like that. And we need to search for something that will work for our community."

Q: If you are elected what are the first things you envision wanting to put forward as action items for consideration?

A: "At the top of the list is transparency in the government. That's what I'm going to work for because I've heard that by just about everybody — transparency. They never know what they're doing. They do it in special session or in Committee of the Whole, and you can't speak at Committee of the Whole. And people are really agitated by that because they seem to make their decisions before they ask the public about what they want and they're not paying attention to how the people are voting. So the people are real angry about that also — that we vote this way and every time we do you try to do an end run around whatever we voted for. So I think they need to start listening to the people and be transparent as a government"

Q: As someone new to city government, if you get elected you’ll be one of those people who spent a great deal of time in committee meetings, council meetings and other public hearings. What do you want to spend a large portion of the next three years doing that?

A: "Because the betterment of our community. I really think the city Assembly can do a lot better than they are doing for the people of Juneau, and I'm ready to step up and take that position."

Q: What kind of learning curve do you think you’d be facing?

A: "There's always a learning curve, but if you have the right people to talk to about it — you have to have a resource base. And when something happens you know people that are in that field and you go say, "This is something that did this. How should I handle this?’"

Q: You’re in the most crowded race on the ballot, a total of four candidates seeking the same seat. What distinguishes you from the other three?

A: "Because my reason for running is I want to be a voice for the community. If the community votes this way, then I'm going to be that voice for them. If they vote no taxes, then I'll fight for no taxes. If they vote to turn Eaglecrest over to Goldbelt, I'll fight for that. I'm just here for a voice for the people because I believe they're not being heard."

Q: Are you saying that despite what you personally think, if a majority of the public takes a position on an issue that is how you will vote on the Assembly?

A: "I will have to support that, yes."

Q: How would you respond to the argument that sometimes public leaders have to make tough decisions that aren’t necessarily the most popular because they are necessary?

A: "Sometimes they do, but we're back to the resources. Sometimes if the budget warrants it, and they didn't go through or they did go through, then you need to have the resources to talk to — especially in finance that know exactly what's going on, that have been in finance most of their lives — and you can talk to those people and say ‘Hey, this is what's happening. How do we fix this shortfall or whatever?’"

Q: Any final thoughts?

A: "I'm looking forward to being on the Assembly and working for the people. I have a lot of people come to me in my job and (say) ‘Man, we need this, we need that.’ I hear from the public every day, half the day long, from all kinds of different people. Plus going out and knocking on doors and stuff, and the voice is pretty loud, and it's pretty much the same in the top four issues that we had talked about."