The Anchorage Daily News asked candidates for Anchorage mayor to answer a series of issue questions. Read all of them here.
JEFFREY BROWN | Occupation: Alaska Public Safety Information Network Project Assistant/OCS | Age: 54 | website
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1. Why are you running for mayor?
I believe politics and this mayoral race is dominated by hyperpartisanship. I represent the majority of citizens, not just a clone of past conservative or liberal mayors that continue to steer our city to one extreme or the other for the purposes of their small donor base. My family has a long history of service through elected office and political activities. It is one of the ways that we have chosen to give back to the community, by offering our time and service in the interests of the vast majority of citizens. I will not pander to interests for money or power. I am a man of the people. That is a promise.
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?
State House run in 2000/anti-corruption candidate. I ran against the man who sponsored a bill that stripped half the contributions to the Permanent Fund, now crippling Alaska in unprecedented times. I spoke out as they stripped revenue-sharing from the cities. I met with the Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, pleading with him to investigate the Alyeska Pipeline oil transportation overcharges. Years of Bear Valley Community Council meetings and advocating to save Section 36 parkland. I am the people’s candidate.
3. What’s the biggest challenge facing city government and how would you address it?
COVID-19 and its effects on the budget and economy. All possible efforts to capture federal and state funds must be taken. Marketing Anchorage and Alaska as a “safe” tourist destination must be taken now. The cargo and logistics operations and potential duty-free product assembly at the airport should be pursued through public-private partnerships with great haste to create jobs. New sources of revenue must be implemented.
4. Describe how your administration would approach the coronavirus pandemic.
Continue with mask mandates as indicated by the CDC. You don’t have the right to spread disease in public, plain and simple. Continue acting as a conduit for federal and state assistance of all kinds to the people and businesses of Anchorage in any way possible. Close streets downtown to create an outdoor walking mall this summer to help revitalize downtown, and and work to market Anchorage as a “safe” tourist destination in these times when space is a big issue in terms of health safety.
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 response of the municipality has been very effective. We have low infection numbers and low death counts. The proof is in the numbers, and I think the steps taken have been effective. Soon, the pandemic will be in the rear view mirror and I think the precautions taken and the mandates made were justified and reasonable and have prevented many people’s untimely deaths.
6. What role should city government play in repairing economic damage to individuals, businesses and community organizations from the pandemic?
The municipality should do everything it can to foster business development and make it easier and more efficient to develop responsibly. I think a review of the zoning and planning process from a bureaucratic and procedural standpoint is long overdue. We need to look at ways to keep people spending money in Anchorage rather than allowing online retailers to suck money out of Alaska and cripple our economy. Anchorage provides infrastructure for the delivery of goods to the entire state and property taxpayers and businesses have to bear that burden. It’s unfair and something needs to be done to require those getting massive benefits from our infrastructure to help pay for it in an equitable way.
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?
For the upcoming summer, I think much of downtown should become a walking mall. Streets should be closed strategically for maximum access, and provide vendor space to the businesses outside, and dining spaces as well, allowing COVID-safe shopping and dining, and events and entertainment. The city should allow tents and protection and mobile outdoor facilities as needed. Every effort should be made to market Anchorage as a hub for Alaska as a safe vacation destination. Public-private partnerships for downtown revitalization are equally important and incentivizing new and remodeled building for higher-density residences will bring people, activities and events
8. Would you make changes to the Anchorage Police Department and policing policies? Why? Please describe in detail.
We need more community policing, mental health professionals for outreach and trauma-informed policing as well as body cameras. We can’t criminalize every behavior we don’t like and push those populations into the shadows. It’s just bad policy and isn’t very responsible or effective.
9. Is the Anchorage Police Department adequately staffed?
The APD is is doing a very difficult job and should be funded accordingly. That said, I think it’s important to do a comprehensive analysis of the expectations the municipality has for the department and fund it accordingly. If analysis shows that the department is significantly understaffed, then that’s something we will have to look at.
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. Transparency and responsibility are of upmost importance for officer safety and for demonstrating a commitment to fairness and professionalism for our peace officers.
11. Describe, with specifics, how you would expand and diversify Anchorage’s economy.
I would work to develop Anchorage’s global cargo position at the Anchorage airport, and showcase its duty-free status for items to assemble products for sale domestically. Public-private partnerships and work groups will be needed to identify products that can be made in Anchorage, and Alaska, with the highest profit margins, and lowest costs to market should be researched so that local and state government and the private sector can develop strategies and financing to develop new industries and plan for energy solutions to power those industries.
12. What’s your vision for Anchorage’s economy in the future?
If we all work together we will find solutions to our challenges, and Anchorage will be a thriving community. We must face the future head-on and look for novel solutions. Anchorage will continue to thrive, but with new generations, and new ways of looking at things, and we have to embrace change and accept that things aren’t going to be the same way they were 30 years ago.
13. Is taxation in Anchorage too high/about right/too low? Explain.
Property taxes are too high for residential property owners who bear the brunt of municipal government. Other than taxes on tourism, gas and vices, Anchorage doesn’t have any significant taxes. It’s not a realistic approach to good government to have such a sparse tax base and burden property taxpayers so dramatically. Anchorage needs to start looking at alternative revenue sources. So, given that taxes, other than property taxes are comparatively very low, we need to look at taxes in completely new areas like online sales, goods transported through our city infrastructure and utilization of our airport’s duty-free status to gain revenue.
14. Do you have ideas for alternative sources of city revenue? Explain.
Property taxes are too high for residential property owners who bear the brunt of municipal government. Other than taxes on tourism, gas and vices, Anchorage doesn’t have any significant taxes. It’s not a realistic approach to good government to have such a sparse tax base and burden property taxpayers so dramatically. Anchorage needs to start looking at alternative revenue sources. So, given that taxes, other than property taxes, are comparatively very low, we need to look at taxes in completely new areas like online sales, goods transported through our city infrastructure, and utilization of our airports duty-free status to gain revenue.
15. Are there city programs or services you would cut? Explain.
I believe most city programs are in existence for good reason and have been put in place to address a valid need. That said, I feel it is the duty of the mayor to find efficiencies in government. I will review budgets and department and program operations to look for efficiencies. I manage my own 4-plex and budget and find efficiencies and survive within a budget. I will bring this same sensibility to city government. I consider myself a fiscal conservative in this way and would look to identify programs and functions of government that are no longer effective or fulfilling of the mission and needs of the municipality. However, as a candidate, I am not going to target a program for elimination without having the insider information necessary for good decision-making. That would be reckless.
16. Are there city programs or services you would expand? Explain.
This question is very much like the previous question about cuts. I think fiscal conservatism demands a thoughtful and comprehensive analysis of program and department needs, cuts or expansion based on the needs of the municipality. Without access to real-time information regarding need, effectiveness and budget, statements that I would expand a program or service is putting the cart before the horse. I will say that programs dealing with COVID-19 aid to citizens, businesses and renters will take priority as the pandemic unwinds.
17. What’s your view of current Anchorage land-use plans? Would you push for changes?
I find Anchorage land-use plans too restrictive generally. The fact that it costs a homeowner a $4,000 variance fee, and a $500 building permit and 3 months of worry and paperwork to get a garage built because minimum space requirements aren’t met by the change is ludicrous. The zoning commissioners’ approvals should be for major projects and not reviewing every minor change of properties that need a variance. The simple fact that it takes 3 months should inform us all of that. Besides, the big developers get their 4-plexes of townhouses on the park strip and new apartment complexes in downtown like it’s candy being handed out. We need something more fair and equitable and may need to rewrite the way we get and give variances and permits, and who approves of them.
18. Homelessness remains a persistent, significant problem in Anchorage. What specifically would you do differently from previous administrations?
I will enhance public-private partnerships like the homeless hub services complex proposed near Brother Francis. We need outreach workers identifying homeless people’s needs and their ability to access them, and mental health and addiction services in the same places we provide food and potentially. I also feel that the COVID-19 congregate shelter at the Sullivan informs us that this model can be used after the pandemic. Homeless persons have to want help and seek out shelter, and many don’t want to or won’t live in a supported living environment. Congregate housing is a good option. We need community policing and outreach workers to keep homeless camps from forming as havens for criminality, drugs, violence and alcohol abuse, and potentially, disease. We can’t criminalize the homeless. Police and outreach workers can guide the homeless to services that they can choose to access, and the community patrols can deal with nuisance behaviors.
19. Name a program dealing with homelessness in Anchorage that you believe is working.
Catholic Social Services’ shelter-based services are working hard to help the homeless, and the Community Services Patrol as well. The police are also very involved with the homeless populations. I think efforts and services need to be implemented in a coordinated way. We can’t just say it’s enough to force the homeless out of camps without providing a place for them to go, or we end up with people sleeping in the streets, or forming new camps.
20. Please discuss your commitment to transparency and openness in Anchorage municipal government. Do you have suggestions for improving either?
I’m all about transparency in government. I, too, have been frustrated by city officials avoiding uncomfortable questions, making decisions without supporting regulatory or legal framework. Actions of the municipality related to contracts and agreements with private companies and organizations should generally be available to the public unless there is a justifiable reason not to do so, and those reasons should be publicly vetted. Without transparency, large amounts of public funds are spent on items the public might not approve of, and actions taken by the municipality become undiscoverable. I will push for a very open government and demand transparency. I think a review of ethics for municipal office holders and employees would be a great start, with real and enforceable penalties.
21. What’s your assessment of Anchorage’s transportation infrastructure? Do you have a plan to improve it? How?
Anchorage’s road system needs major changes. We need a downtown thoroughfare for Glenn/New Seward/Minnesota connectivity. It is unbelievable there is no way to bypass downtown for commercial trucks and countless vehicles passing through Anchorage. There are no thoroughfares traversing the Hillside or roads through the mid-Hillside to Northeast Anchorage without many stops on roads that aren’t suitable for big trucks or heavy traffic that needs to get through Anchorage. The port project needs to be completed somehow, and the downtown road infrastructure must be overhauled. Traffic flow patterns need to be improved generally, with investments in modern technology. Having to constantly stop at stop lights that aren’t coordinated is a drain on our time and our gas tanks.
22. Are there specific transportation projects you would initiate in the municipality if elected? Explain.
Anchorage’s road system needs major changes. We need a downtown thoroughfare for Glenn/New Seward/Minnesota connectivity. It is unbelievable there is no way to bypass downtown for commercial trucks and countless vehicles passing through Anchorage. There are no thoroughfares traversing the Hillside or roads through the mid-Hillside to Northeast Anchorage without many stops on roads that aren’t suitable for big trucks or heavy traffic that needs to get through Anchorage. The port project needs to be completed somehow, and the downtown road infrastructure must be overhauled. Traffic flow patterns need to be improved generally, with investments in modern technology. Having to constantly stop at stop lights that aren’t coordinated is a drain on our time and our gas tanks. Airport rail extension for shipments?
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?
I would attempt to find common ground. I believe that 70% or more of the population has very similar views, and partisan fundraising and politics silence the voice of the people. The top four or five candidates in this race have $150,000 to $270,000 each and those donations come from groups of people as small as 500 people. Our municipality only has 280,000 people, So the top fundraiser has collected about a dollar for every man, woman and child in our city, to convince you to vote for the agenda that has been paid for by that relatively small group of funders. It’s a pay-for-play game for the people who can contribute, and it polarizes our government officials and politicians who seek power and influence. I believe voters want someone who isn’t pandering to their money makers.
24. What other important issue would you like to discuss?
I cannot overstate that citizens of Anchorage want someone who isn’t polarized by divisive, hyperpartisan politics. With so many hyperpartisan mayors in the recent past, who really wants more Sullivan, Berkowitz, Begich style politicians in the mayor’s office? I am running to serve the people of Anchorage from the perspective of a normal person, with a good head on his shoulders, who will do the business of the people with a constituency of all the people, regardless of party, race, creed, color or sex. Anchorage needs a mayor invested in true, whole community governance. It’s time for a mayor that looks at things objectively, and not just from the perspective of the people they agree with and receive direct benefit from. I’m that candidate.