Candidate profile: Mila Cosgrove, Juneau Assembly District 1 challenger

Juneau Assembly District 1 candidate Mila Cosgrove. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

Mila Cosgrove: Juneau Assembly District 1 candidate

Age: 65

Occupation: Consultant

Length of residency in Juneau: 36 years

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

Q: Assembly members recently voted 5-4 against making the daily limit of five cruise ships mandatory rather than voluntary. How would you have voted?

A: "I would have voted to postpone. I don't think we're ready to put that into codification yet. I'm not suggesting that we may not get to that point, but right now I think having a mutually agreeable understanding with the industry probably works best for everybody. As an example, I think there are times when maybe there's a mechanical or a weather delays for a ship, and you might have six instead of five. I think a little flexibility is a good thing as long as the industry is willing to abide by that. I'm comfortable with that. I think if that starts to slip, then I think we have the tool of codification if we need it."

Q: You said at a candidate forum you favor a five-ship limit citywide, including two ships Goldbelt might accommodate at a private dock in West Douglas. What would you tell downtown business owners worried about losing 40% of cruise passengers disembarking there?

A: "To be clear, I favor both the five-ship limit and the lower passenger (limit). So I don't necessarily think bigger ships are going to solve the problem…One of the reasons why I think the five-ship limit is important is because I think people are still going people are still going to want to come downtown. Goldbelt has a tram, they're still going to want to bring people to that. I don't think it will be a one-for-one loss in the downtown business area. I do know that Goldbelt is offering opportunities for people to open concessions (at the Douglas dock). I'm not sure, honestly, that that's a practical solution for most business owners, particularly the smaller business owners."

"I think what I'm saying is I don't think you have a 40% loss downtown because I think people are still going to want to come downtown to some degree. Unless Goldbelt has something built up out there that people can do those passengers are going to have to go someplace and a good chunk of them are going to come downtown because that's why people come to Juneau."

Q: On a larger economic scale, Juneau’s population is in a long-term decline that’s expected to continue at least through 2050. What is your mindset if you’re an elected leader of a shrinking city?

A: "That is a really good question and it's a multi-pronged answer."

"In regard to Juneau is a viable community and workforce, this is my background. I'm a workforce person. I think that in order to attract and retain people here so you have a viable workforce you need to make sure that you're doing the best that you possibly can with your funds to have a quality of life that attracts people. People move to communities where they can feel good about raising their families, where they have things that they can do and consider other than their workaday world. And honestly, one of the selling points about Juneau is our vibrant arts and you know culture pieces that we have. It's the recreational opportunities and it's the access to wilderness…So we want to do what we can to support those pieces."

"I think a second piece of that is to do what we can to offset the cost of living, and that's not totally an Assembly-driven thing. There's lots of factors that go into that. The Assembly can move that piece a little, and it should do what it can to move that thing. As an example, investments in housing infrastructure, offset of childcare costs so that it's affordable for families. Those are all things that we can do a little bit to make Juneau a little bit more affordable for people."

"And then you have some of the harder questions. If you have diminishing population, you have diminishing revenue. You arguably have diminishing need and I think we saw that play out with some of the school consolidations. Not only was that a budget issue, but it's also a reflection of the fact that we have a diminishing student population. So all of those things, I think, have to work in concert together, And of course it's a little bit of a crystal ball, right? It's shrinking now. Will it continue to shrink if we're able to open up development for housing? Does that mean we expand? If we get a new mine out the road, does that bring an additional workforce, or the Coast Guard? So all of those things are a balancing act."

Q: What are your thoughts on the proposed Amalga gold mine and the Cascade Point Ferry Terminal?

A: "I think the Assembly probably wisely stays out of it because I think it's going to be a pretty contentious issue, and it's not something that the Assembly has the direct ability to legislate. So they're not going to spend money on it. They're not going to legislate or codify anything associated with it…I will say in general I'm not opposed to mining. I think it's a viable industry for our area. I think it potentially is not only an economic driver, but brings some revenue into the city as well and I think that's beneficial. I think all of that has to be done in light of good stewardship, and making sure that if something happens out there it's environmentally sound and it's well thought through."

Q: What are your thoughts about the Assembly’s recent discussion about having third-party management of recreation facilities to trim budget costs?

A: "I'm not opposed to a situation where you would have a partner that could run some type of one of the recreation facilities, but I think it needs to be done carefully. You need to have a partner who recognizes that recreation is a community asset and still cares for keeping the price affordable so that all sectors of our community can access it…I’m not confident that a private company would have that perspective. I think it's more likely that a nonprofit would."

Q: The city has a budget deficit that some leaders describe as an ongoing structural problem. What actions do you favor to balance the books?

A: "I think the first thing that you do is you take a good hard look at your budget and make sure that your projections are accurate."

Q: Do you think the city did that during the past budget cycle?

A: "I think there's more work to do. I think that it's the balance of consistently budgeting conservatively — which I think you have to do, you don't want to run out of money — and you can see that by the amount of money that's returned year over year that's not expended…They're not penalized for not spending it and then it's returned into the pot. I think the city did a decent job of looking at that many years ago."

"I think you continue to look at your revenue streams. The Assembly is looking at foregone revenues. I think that's an important piece of the puzzle. I personally am hopeful that the tax initiatives on the ballot pass."

Q: The city will likely be asked to pay 10% or 25% of a long-term flood solution for the Mendenhall Valley. Do you believe residents who live in the affected area and/or people citywide should be asked to pay that share?

A: "We probably are going to end up having to do a little bit of both would be my guess. Community disaster is community disaster. Part of it is localized. Those homes are in the floodplain. They've been in the floodplain, and I think there's a piece of that that needs to be recognized. On the other hand, part of what we do as a community is we care for each other, and it's a pretty ongoing and consistent issue at this point. It's become part of the fabric of the community. You've got your safety issues there, but honestly that's a huge part of our housing stock. And if that gets wiped out then we have an even bigger housing crisis than we have now."

Q: Does Juneau have a housing crisis? That word is used a lot, but the city has had a vacancy rate of about 4% for many years.

A: "I don't know if ‘crisis’ is quite the right word, but we certainly have a housing need…Maybe what we have more is an affordability issue. I think that's partly driven by availability."

Q: What can the Juneau Assembly do about that?

A: "I don't think city does control the entire issue. But I think they can continue to do little things that make it perhaps easier for people to develop housing. They've been involved for a while at trying to identify and free up city-owned land that's prime for residential. So that's one thing that can happen…The city can continue to look at, as they work on infrastructure, putting in infrastructure that supports development. I think they're doing work on Title 49 cleanup that should ease the building of residences, which I think is helpful. And where appropriate, they should look at tax incentives. I don't think those are the be-all, end-all, but I think they do move the needle forward a little bit."

Q: After last year’s election, when voters approved tax-cut measures, the Assembly scaled back some large-ticket items such as canceling the Eaglecrest gondola, putting the redevelopment of Telephone Hill on hold and reducing the extent of remodeling in the Michael J. Burns building where City Hall offices are set to be relocated. Do you think that was a response by the Assembly to voters and do you believe those actions were correct?

A: "I think the Assembly has been partially responsive. I think they made some good strides. I think they made some decisions about reducing some of their grants, as an example, I believe they asked the manager to fine-tune her red pen and look at operations, and bring back reductions that made sense. There's a lot to wrestle with in a budget that is that big and I think they made some good forward progress. Maybe not far enough. There were things that passed that I was a little bit surprised by, given the budget outlook…So I think there's definitely more work to do."

"The other piece of it is I think there's still more community education that needs to happen, because as I talk to people there's a lot that people believe to be true that is not what I believe to be true, — like there's still sort of this persistent thought that there's secret pots of money around."

Q: The Assembly this year discontinued its dispersed camping policy for people experiencing homelessness after widespread problems were reported the past two years. How do you feel the city is currently handling homelessness?

A: "I am hearing that there is benefit to keeping the warming shelter and that it's taken some of the pressure off of the dispersed camping, which I think is a good thing…I live downtown, so as I walk downtown it's a little less chaotic than it's been in the past. But there's still pockets of folks who consistently hang out…I was just having this conversation with somebody else, (and) it's a little bit like you push down in one area and it pops up in another. The idea is there's a persistent population and how do you care for that?"

Q: The Assembly this fall will likely revisit future plans for Telephone Hill. What do you favor, if elected? A: "I personally would favor not going for an across-the-board wiping out of what's there. I think there's probably a happy medium. I like the idea of the city maybe focusing their efforts more on a smaller portion that's more easily developed — I'm thinking there's the parking lot area and I believe there's like one other house adjacent to that."

Q: Any final thoughts?

A: I'm running because I really love where I live. Juneau is my home, I've been here for 36 years, I raised my family here. I'm retired, I could go anywhere and there have been times where I've thought ‘where would I go?’ And the answer always is I want to be here. I love our community. I love the natural environment. In forums I will often say I love the fact that people are so engaged and so vocal about what happens around them. Not every community has that. And I think there's a lot of intelligent, talented, thoughtful people in this community across a wide spectrum. I believe I do a good job at listening to people. I think by nature I'm collaborative. I try to bring in and look for the solution that meets the underlying interests. What's driving people? And maybe I'm a little bit naive. Maybe I'm a little bit optimistic. But I think we have more in common than we don't. And I think it's possible to get to solutions that, if not wholly acceptable, at least are acceptable to the extent that people can get behind them and move forward."

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.