OPINION: Looking ahead to a brighter future for Anchorage

Dec. 21 marks the winter solstice, but it’s already been a long winter in Anchorage. Since Dec. 5, there have been six snow days in Anchorage School District, a major headache for parents, teachers and kids. But for everyone, almost every day has been a struggle: unbury your snowed-in car and front steps with hours of shoveling, navigate treacherous roads, wait in traffic as crews clear yet another crash of a stuck vehicle. Things are no better for people who use the bus, or rely on sidewalks and paths to be clear, or use a wheelchair to navigate the city. Missed appointments. Canceled meetings and events. A thousand headaches, lost hours and -- if we’re unlucky -- a dented door. It wears us all down.

Looking above the ever-taller piles of snow, a bigger picture emerges. Our snow disaster, which is really a plowing disaster, makes clear how much we all rely on our city to work well, every single day. Our schools, roads and buses are what make it possible for us to do business, go to school, access medical care, or just leave the house for a quick errand. When it’s all working as normal, we don’t even notice; we take it for granted. But when they stop working, even for a day, we realize how necessary city services are, and how much the community depends on our infrastructure.

This mess we’re buried in also illustrates how the choices we make today will last a long time. We deal with the choices that others already made, even generations before us. For better or worse, we’ve prioritized convenience and speed in our cars, from wide streets and highways to spread-out neighborhoods. This means it’s harder to get around without a car (or, without plowing, in a car!). So now we’re stuck plowing all these miles of roads too.

And just like all those growing piles of snow outside, it can feel overwhelming to think about what we need to improve in Anchorage. We need safe, quality housing, with more choices that people can afford. We need more ways for young people and families to build a good life here. We need to make it easier to do business, with good jobs and opportunities to prosper. We need to invest more in our community: schools, roads, buses, and beloved places like our libraries, parks and trails. Meanwhile, we can’t even get the roads plowed in a timely manner.

I am running for Anchorage Assembly (West, District 3) because I believe we have a lot of work to do in Anchorage. We need leaders who know how cities work, with the skills and commitment to make these change happen. As a planner, I’m trained to think about cities over the long term: not just right now, or next year, but what makes the most sense for our future. The Assembly’s job is to set policy for the city and direct where we invest our resources in the city’s budget. When we can think past the next day or the next crisis, we can start to grow again.

Planners start with a vision for the community’s future, bring people together to commit to achieving that vision, and focus on the policies and investments we need to make it a reality. This is my approach not only at work, but how I choose to volunteer: as president of Turnagain Community Council, I’ve advocated for road improvements, facilitated discussions about controversial projects, and collaborated with elected officials and municipality staff to help our neighborhood. I also advocate for housing, more safe transportation choices and believing in a brighter future for Anchorage.

I can’t get the roads plowed today. But I will bring my skills, experience and long-term and strategic thinking to the Assembly as the next representative and advocate for West Anchorage. The positive changes we make now will set us on an easier path for our city, and a brighter future for Anchorage.

Anna Brawley is a candidate for Anchorage Assembly in West Anchorage. She lives in Turnagain, and says she looks forward to the day when she’s excited to see fresh snow again.

The views expressed here are the writer’s and are not necessarily endorsed by the Anchorage Daily News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)adn.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Read our full guidelines for letters and commentaries here.