My take on the election

(Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)

By Linda Kruger

I think within the next year many CBJ residents will be feeling buyer’s remorse as municipal services get cut and the $944/household that they have saved doesn’t even register in their budget.

I’m extremely disappointed in my community. While I haven’t always agreed with the Assembly, I think they have done an amazing job when faced with tough decisions. While at first, I was apprehensive about Wade Bryson, I came to appreciate his clarity and focus, and consideration of implications of decisions for Juneau residents, especially older residents. I will miss his voice on the Assembly.

Rather than a mandate to cut the budget, I think the election was about people who were misinformed about what city funding pays for (pricey new offices) and who believed that a big tax cut would benefit them personally (it won’t). While I hope that households will put the $944/year savings to good use, I would have preferred to pool my money with others to maintain services like schools, libraries, pools, the fieldhouse, parks and rec programs, and other city services.

As for Telephone Hill, renters there have known for years that the site was planned for development, and they would be asked to move. Nothing new there. Development of the property, for the benefit of all residents and taxpayers in the Borough, probably should have occurred before now. Here we are and we should move forward with developing badly needed housing that will serve more people than are currently housed on the site.

For anyone who hasn’t visited City Hall or other locations where CBJ employees are working across town and out the road, many of these facilities are substandard, some with leaky roofs or windows, plumbing that is inefficient or worse. We absolutely need to do better for our city employees! In addition, the efficiencies of having employees in the same building will streamline work and make public interactions with city departments easier.

The Capital Civic Center has been in the planning for years. The project has great support and supporters have raised local funding as well as funding from a variety of grants. When completed it will serve the entire community and enhance the visitor industry. Instead of fighting this effort I hope more people take an active role in supporting what will be a great addition to our infrastructure.

While I’m sad to see Wade leave the Assembly, I’m hopeful that Nano Brooks will work with the existing Assembly to maintain the momentum and move us forward. Community is about coming together and pooling our resources and energy for the greater good. We can do so much more together.

• Linda Kruger is a retired U.S. Forest Service social science researcher who lives in Juneau.