Along with many of my friends and neighbors, I've been in Anchorage for a long time. Even before Anchorage was the "Municipality" we know today. In fact, I served as a member of the 11-member Anchorage Charter Commission that wrote the document unifying the city and borough creating the Municipality of Anchorage as it currently exists. I later served on the Anchorage Municipal Assembly when Anchorage established the tax cap.
Since that time, I've seen our city grow and prosper based on our community's rock-solid commitment to local decision making and the democratic process. On April 5, I will be voting no on Proposition 8 because it would replace our locally based decision making with inflexible, bureaucratic regulations that would waste public money while undermining public safety.
Our strong, community-based democracy was not inevitable. Instead, it is the product of many Anchorage residents' commitment to the democratic process and to the core belief that citizens, not inscrutable rules or politicians, should influence decision making.
As we transitioned from a borough to a municipality, Anchorage residents made sure decisions would be made based on local, community input. That fundamental commitment to responsive local government has served us well. It has led to more rational planning, which is necessary for long-term economic growth and achievement of the goals articulated in the business community's Live Work Play initiative. It has led to maturation of the best urban trail network in America, which is unquestionably an asset in our city's economic development efforts. And that locally driven decision making has empowered generations of citizens to influence municipal decisions through their community councils.
Proposition 8 would be a step backward, a retreat from citizen engagement. It would replace a democratic, locally driven process with a rigid, bureaucratic budget formula that would encourage waste of public money. That makes no sense, and is anathema to who we are as Alaskans and Anchorage residents.
In the voter pamphlet distributed by the League of Women Voters (lwvanchorage.org), Assembly members Ernie Hall and Patrick Flynn do a fine job describing how Proposition 8 would waste public money and endanger homeowners' property tax rebates. Here's why: Under Proposition 8, city departments would face a "use it or lose it" budget scenario.
As anyone who's worked in a bureaucracy knows, that's simply bad management. Rather than encourage wasteful spending, as proposed by Proposition 8, we should encourage municipal agencies to spend less than their allocated budget.
That kind of fiscally responsible budgeting is exactly what the mayor and Anchorage Assembly are doing now. It's why the city just achieved a $14 million surplus, which will be returned to taxpayers in the form of property tax rebates. Why wreck a system that works well right now?
Proposition 8 isn't just bad management. It also would undermine our public safety. Under Mayor Ethan Berkowitz, the Assembly is rebuilding our police force after a former mayor reduced the force by nearly 25 percent. We're on pace right now to restore the police force, which is vital to maintaining low crime rates. Proposition 8 could de-fund those efforts, making it impossible for the mayor to achieve his goal of a fully staffed police force.
After living in Anchorage for more than 40 years and working with many of you to develop our city, I have faith in our citizens and our locally based decision making. Let's not replace democracy with rigid formulas that waste money and undercut public safety. I hope you will join me in voting no on Proposition 8 when we vote in the April 5 municipal election.
Jane Angvik served on the Anchorage Charter Commission in 1975. She was elected to the Anchorage Municipal Assembly in 1979 and served for six years before running for lieutenant governor.. She has led a life of public service in the public and private sector and was inducted into the Alaska Women's Hall of Fame in 2014.
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