The Anchorage Daily News asked candidates for Anchorage mayor to answer a series of issue questions. Read all of them here.
BILL EVANS | Occupation: Lawyer | Age: 60 | votebillevans.com
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1. Why are you running for mayor?
It is important that Anchorage focus on developing its private sector economy. In this century, cities compete globally for investment and development opportunities. The Muni government must focus on making Anchorage competitive. To do so we must commit to solving our homelessness problem, reducing crime and ensuring that our schools produce excellent academic outcomes. Anchorage has the potential to make the coming decades the best in the city’s history and I am committed to making sure we live up to that potential.
2. What in your background or experience sets you apart from the other candidates and makes you suited to be an effective mayor of Anchorage?
I have worked as a police officer and as a management labor lawyer. As a former police officer I have a realistic understanding of what is required to address our crime problem, and as a labor lawyer I have the expertise to effectively manage our extensive labor relations. I served 13 years on the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce Board. I was appointed by both Republicans and Democrats to various positions including the Municipal Employee Relations Board, the Municipal Transportation Commission and the State Mental Health Board. From 2014-2017 I represented South Anchorage and Turnagain Arm on the Anchorage Assembly. I have a track record of getting things accomplished in a respectful and reasonable manner.
3. What’s the biggest challenge facing city government and how would you address it?
Our biggest challenge is our divided nature. To compete effectively for investment, jobs and development opportunities we need to be pulling together toward similar goals. We must commit ourselves to actually solving the problems we face such as homelessness and crime. The bottom line is we need less politics and more solutions. We have to decide as a community whether we are willing to invest in ourselves. We will not grow without investment and our problems will not simply solve themselves without our effort.
4. Describe how your administration would approach the coronavirus pandemic.
Leadership requires government to balance a number of competing factors and establish necessary priorities. It is a first-order responsibility of government to ensure the safety of its citizenry. The administration must take all reasonable steps to protect the public health. In doing so, however, the administration must narrowly tailor its protections so that they protect public health while also ensuring the maximum opportunity for businesses to operate. The administration must avoid easy one-size-fits-all solutions.
5. What’s your assessment of how Anchorage’s city government has responded to the pandemic over the past year? What, if anything, would you have done differently? Be specific.
The administration faced a situation for which they had no playbook. While I disagree with their approach, I believe they did what they believed to be in the best interest of the city. First, I would have invested heavily in a robust contact tracing regimen. Timely and effective contact tracing coupled with quarantining is a very effective way of reducing the rate of spread without significantly damaging the economy. Second, I would not have involved CARES Act funds in the purchase of the buildings this past summer. The administration attempted to fix a long-term problem (lack of shelter space) by taking advantage of the short-term influx of CARES funding. At a time when businesses were hurting and being forced to close, the CARES funding should have been concentrated on keeping Anchorage businesses alive and Anchorage citizens out of poverty. Failing to do so cost the Assembly and Administration the trust of the community.
6. What role should city government play in repairing economic damage to individuals, businesses and community organizations from the pandemic?
The economic problems facing Anchorage pre-dated the pandemic and it is important to keep that in mind when discussing how best to move forward. The single most important thing the city government can do is to take all possible steps to position Anchorage to compete effectively with other cities for investment opportunities. We need the city government to be an effective partner in responsible development and creative solutions to attract businesses and jobs. Anchorage does not have the financial wherewithal to provide significant direct support to individuals and entities hurt by the pandemic. It should serve as an effective pass-thru for both state and federal relief funds.
7. Downtown Anchorage has been hit especially hard by impacts from the pandemic, with tourism, gatherings and events greatly reduced and many businesses and organizations struggling as a result. Another difficult summer with greatly reduced tourism appears likely. What’s your vision for downtown, and what specifically are your short-term and long-term plans for repairing damage from the past year?
The decline of downtown started well before the pandemic. The damage from the past year is just a continuation of the cumulative damage from several years of a lack of focus on business development. Our approach to downtown redevelopment must be twofold: first, we must take advantage of any development opportunity in the downtown area whether it is residential or commercial and regardless of its size; second, we need to make an effort to attract a large-scale project that will combine residential and commercial and thus create economic gravity which will attract other investments. Downtown is a “canary in a coal mine” for Anchorage’s economic health.
8. Would you make changes to the Anchorage Police Department and policing policies? Why? Please describe in detail.
I would support many of the changes already underway, including the introduction of body cams and the addition of mental health teams to respond to acute psychiatric events in conjunction with or in lieu of a police response. Police departments represent the cutting edge where government power touches the community, and as such, it is an area that needs to be in a constant state of review and improvement. Good, effective and just law enforcement is critical for any city, especially a city as diverse and as far-flung as Anchorage.
9. Is the Anchorage Police Department adequately staffed?
Currently we have approximately 445 sworn officers in Anchorage of which 200 serve in patrol. That number places us within the window of being sufficiently, although leanly, staffed. The more important task at present would be the organization and assignments of the officers we do have to address our current problems with street crime. It is also important that we do not relent in our efforts to maintain adequate staffing. We must ensure we keep up with natural attrition.
10. Do you support the bond issue on this spring’s municipal ballot that would fund public-safety technology upgrades, including body-worn and in-vehicle cameras for police officers? Explain.
Yes. I think body cams are an important modern technology that help provide trust in the community and accountability for police actions. Anchorage has a very professional police force and the introduction of body cams will, I believe, be a good thing for both the department and the community. However, if the bond fails, Anchorage needs a Plan B for paying for the costs of body cams.
11. Describe, with specifics, how you would expand and diversify Anchorage’s economy.
One of the mistakes that governments often make is trying to identify specific industries or opportunities to bring into their city. Municipal government should not be in the position of deciding which businesses to attract but instead should be focused on ensuring that an atmosphere that is conducive to investment and development exists in Anchorage. To do this, Anchorage needs to reduce the bureaucratic friction caused by its own internal building and permitting processes. It also needs to change its requirement of saddling new developments with the full cost of all needed infrastructure upgrades and improvements. We have to become a partner in development. We also need to work with the state Legislature to reform certain laws that will make it easier for Anchorage to offer options such as tax increment financing to help reduce the upfront costs of development.
12. What’s your vision for Anchorage’s economy in the future?
I believe that the 21st century is tailor-made for Anchorage to succeed. The digital age has reduced the burden of distance and allows Anchorage to compete for certain jobs and industries in ways it never could before. Capital and people are much more mobile than ever before and “lifestyle” plays a much greater role in which cities attract investment and people. Anchorage, with its remarkable natural amenities, is extremely well-positioned to succeed in this environment. In order to do so, however, we need to effectively solve our homeless problem, significantly reduce the level of crime and ensure our schools are producing excellent results. If we do that, the coming decades will be Anchorage’s best.
13. Is taxation in Anchorage too high/about right/too low? Explain.
Overall taxation is low, which is a good thing. It is, however, too heavily focused on property taxes, which is a bad thing. The overemphasis on property taxes hinders the creation of affordable housing and too often forces families to have to sell lifelong homes in order to downsize during their retirement years. A more diversified tax base would be more equitable and would allow for greater flexibility and greater potential for investment in needed infrastructure.
14. Do you have ideas for alternative sources of city revenue? Explain.
I have long believed that Anchorage should have a sales tax. When I was on the Assembly, I introduced a sales tax that would have been a dollar-for-dollar offset to property taxes. It would, therefore, diversify our tax base without increasing the overall tax burden. Given our declining economic situation, it may be advisable to use more of a hybrid approach that offsets a certain percentage of the property tax while also allowing the municipality to levy a percentage of the sales tax proceeds for needed infrastructure projects. Such an approach would allow the municipality to avoid interest charges on such projects which would save the city millions of dollars over the long run.
15. Are there city programs or services you would cut? Explain.
There are no city programs or services I have identified to cut at this time. That being said, I think that all city programs and services should be evaluated to determine if they are actually producing a benefit for the community. It is the responsibility of the government not to continue to invest in programs or services that are not providing a sufficient return in value to the citizens of the city. Such review needs to be an ongoing and continuous process.
16. Are there city programs or services you would expand? Explain.
Potentially. Programs or services which would assist in attracting new investment and development opportunities to Anchorage may need to be expanded or reimagined. Such expansions, however, should be carefully done to ensure a return on investment. As a government, we need to be imaginative and creative in our approach to economic development. We cannot be afraid to try new approaches nor can we be afraid to admit when such approaches are not working.
17. What’s your view of current Anchorage land-use plans? Would you push for changes?
Many of them are outdated. Our comprehensive plan is based on data and experience from 20 years ago. Our land-use plans need to be updated to reflect the now several years of declining population in Anchorage and the current state of the city’s economy. We have to be careful that we are not too closely wed to plans that does not reflect the current situation.
18. Homelessness remains a persistent, significant problem in Anchorage. What specifically would you do differently from previous administrations?
Anchorage must decide if it wants to solve this issue or not. If we do, we must first commit to providing enough shelter space for our homeless population. Not only does that make sense, it is also required by law. We must also address the visible homeless problem in order to allow Anchorage to compete. If we create the shelter capacity, we can then get people off street corners by removing their incentive for being there -- and that means stopping people from giving them money from their cars. It is already illegal, we just have to ensure it is enforced. You then have to stop the game of chasing camps around the city and cleaning up after them. You need to have a facility in which you can store the homeless campers’ property for a legally sufficient period. If you have that, you can remove the camps immediately and stop tagging them and chasing them all over town.
19. Name a program dealing with homelessness in Anchorage that you believe is working.
Covenant House has a number of programs that are working with respect to youth homelessness. Currently, with the advent of CARES Act and FEMA funding, our temporary shelter process is more effective than normal. But that appears to be a temporary situation due to the pandemic. Our CAP and MIT teams outreach to unsheltered homeless appears to be helpful, but should only be considered a Band-Aid, as in the long run, the municipality should not accept a large unsheltered homeless population.
20. Please discuss your commitment to transparency and openness in Anchorage municipal government. Do you have suggestions for improving either?
Transparency is insufficient if not coupled with proactive communication. Most issues the government deals with are done in full legal compliance with the Open Meetings Act. But this does not really help the public understand what is going on within government and what issues are being addressed. We need to do a lot better in reaching out through various mediums to alert the community to what issues will be addressed and what actions the city is taking. We cannot expect busy citizens to be constantly checking the muni website to track what is happening.
21. What’s your assessment of Anchorage’s transportation infrastructure? Do you have a plan to improve it? How?
Although it is primarily a state project, we need to make progress and get the highway-to-highway project completed. That would be a boon to transportation and would make certain Anchorage streets safer. In addition, we need to work in better cooperation with the state with respect to the maintenance of state roads throughout the city. We can find efficiencies and improvements for maintaining our roads if we improve our relationship with the state.
22. Are there specific transportation projects you would initiate in the municipality if elected? Explain.
I would push hard for the completion of the highway-to-highway project. If you consider the “port” as a transportation project, it will be absolutely essential that we complete that project during the next few years. If Anchorage’s economy grows, as I believe it will, we also have to be mindful of ensuring our transportation corridors and infrastructure keep pace with the growth. Too many cities get bound up by rapidly growing industries and insufficient transportation corridors.
23. The past year has been marked by increasing civic discord in Anchorage. What would you do to reduce frustration, distrust and anger that increasingly has characterized civic conversation?
Anchorage has many problems. We need to focus on our shared problems and not on political hot-button issues that only divide us. The solutions we need are not Republican solutions or Democrat solutions, they are simply the right and effective solutions. Running a municipal government should be about getting things done and improving the quality of life for the people in the city ... all of the people. We should have a mayor who is focused on solutions and not on politics. That example might help in bringing the temperature down and quelling the anger.
24. What other important issue would you like to discuss?
While living and prospering in a city that relies heavily on the oil and gas industry, we cannot lose sight of the opportunities that may arise in alternative energy technology and development. The world is very clearly moving in a direction that places greater importance on, and demand for, these technologies, and Anchorage should not view seeking alternative industry investment as contrary to current oil and gas development. As a city, we need to be searching the horizon for coming trends and opportunities.