What Kind of Local Government
DO We Want?
(2021©donnliston.com)
 |
EaglExit Vice Chair, Sean
Murray talks about pros and cons of detaching Assembly District 2 from the
Municipality of Anchorage. His previous interview can be seen here: https://donnliston.blogspot.com/2021/03/our-asd-public-education-challenge.html
|
|
As a student in Mr. Jean McLane’s class at East
Anchorage High School I remember learning about how government operates
under the founding documents in our country and thinking how fortunate I was
that somebody else came up with this system which so many have benefitted from
so greatly. We all have learned of places in the world which are run by corrupt
strong-man governments, forcing most people to live in poverty, while their
rulers live in luxury.
 |
A group of EaglExit supporters stood for a photo by Waneta Liston during a picnic at the Lion’s Club facility in Eagle River on July 10. |
Mr. McLane might ask: Why is our form of government
superior to places like Cuba?
A: Because our founding fathers created constitutions and
bills of rights for the nation and states, over decades laws have been created
to address all the challenges of being a free people, presiding over the
government through elected officials.
Alaska Constitution
Article I,
Section 2. Source of Government
All political
power is inherent in the people. All government originates with the people, is
founded upon their will only, and is instituted solely for the good of the
people as a whole.
 |
Mr. Jean McLane, History Teacher East Anchorage High School, 1969 |
Mr. McLane’s favorite response when we provided a correct
answer was: You guessed ‘er, Chester. I have sometimes used this line
myself to lighten up my teaching.
Now some in the area north of Anchorage, identified as
Assembly District 2 (AD2), are assessing the relationship we have with the city
in the mudflats--where East High has become a huge education factory--and
considering possibilities for a new municipality. If the greater AD2 community should
decide to detach and form our own local government, a proposal for doing that
will be placed before the Local Boundary Commission, which is established under
our state constitution to consider such changes.
Alaska
Constitution
Article X,
Section 12. Boundaries
A local
boundary commission or board shall be established by law in the executive
branch of the state government. The commission or board may consider any
proposed local government boundary change. It may present proposed changes to
the legislature during the first ten days of any regular session. The change
shall become effective forty-five days after presentation or at the end of the
session, whichever is earlier, unless disapproved by a resolution concurred in
by a majority of the members of each house. The commission or board, subject to
law , may establish procedures whereby boundaries may be adjusted by local
action.
Of course, the prospect of our per diem-driven legislature
actually doing something with a Local Boundary Commission recommendation for a
new municipality is a concern skeptics might harbor, given the representation
we currently have in the Alaska House of Representatives, but that could
change. EaglExit is a game of chess, not checkers.
 |
| EaglExit goodies available at the Bear Paw Booth. |
This summer the EaglExit organization has been active in local events taking their vision to the public even as the exact nature of the proposed new government is evolving. I took the opportunity to shed some Alaska sunlight on the effort, interviewing Chairman Michael Tavoliero on July 13.
We are now at the phase of considering the kinds of
government Eagle River can have and working on the petition to the Local
Boundary Commission,
explained Tavoliero. We are also trying to raise money to support
this effort. That’s vital.
Tavoliero continued: We have reached the
conclusion that the viability of creating a new municipal entity, located
between Anchorage and the Mat-Su Borough, is a good thing, both fiscally and
socially. A lot of people think of Eagle River as a suburb--10 miles away from
Anchorage--and if Eagle River were to detach it could HARM Anchorage. We think
differently; having a sister city next to Anchorage would support and improve
Anchorage!
 |
The deliberation process to establish contracting for a town hall style of local government is explained as part of the EaglExit information effort. This was developed by the Eaglexit board to help AD2 citizens understand another method for implementing local government. |
With a new Anchorage mayor, residents of AD2 may be willing
to allow our relationship with Anchorage to ripen before making any firm
decisions about whether to detach, but the concerns remain tangible.
 |
| A duchess from the Alaska State Fair visited the EaglExit booth. |
What kinds of government structures are being considered?
One model of government we are looking at and
discussing—we’re not committed to anything—is the Town Hall local government,
which is unique. Less than one percent of local governments in the United
States use this model—primarily in the New England region, replied Tavoliero. What is
remarkable about it is the potential for no elected officials. No drama, no theater.
Instead, it is the responsibility of you and I as citizens to gather together
on an annual basis to look at what the issues are and develop some protocols to
deal with them.
Sounds good in theory. Tell me more.
We did a preliminary survey back in 2019 with great results: 75% of the community liked the idea of detaching from Anchorage and forming our own local government, continued Tavoliero. I think it is a prudent thing; then couple that with the possibility of public-private partnerships for municipal operations for local services, and perhaps we have no municipal employees! Labor is perhaps the most intense expense for local government in Alaska. When those costs are reduced and service remains potent, the entire community benefits.
Advantages?
No payroll. No taxes, no need for any kind of local
government infrastructure outside of the necessary infrastructure of the
community—no Parks & Recreation Department scandals[1] because those
services are run by a private entity, said Travoliero. Of course a private entity can be
corrupt, but it will be up to the community to decide whether it works or not. For
many people in AD2, the Parks & Recreation Department scandal is the tip of
the iceberg. It is a demonstration of how large local governments are
susceptible to graft and corruption.
I am personally struck by the notion expressed by some that
detachment from the Municipality of Anchorage--which was once the City of
Anchorage before it became a contentious part of the Greater Anchorage Area
Borough--is somehow radical. The Muni is now a reactive government body trying
to deal with mammoth problems in the mudflats while the outlying areas largely fend
for ourselves, anyway.
Can we create a lean and mean local government?
Imagine this: We are considering is the idea of abolishing
property tax, said Travoliero. If we can do that successfully, we will
take out a counter-productive form of taxation.
How do we pay our property taxes? None of us voluntarily says
to the Muni: “Here’s the check,” continued Travoliero. For the majority of us that tax is
hidden in our mortgage payment, and we never know the difference. On the other
side of the coin, the elderly who own their homes outright always have the
concern that if they cannot pay their property taxes they could be foreclosed
on. That economic situation is real to the elderly.
Tavoliero continued: But young people also experience the
impact of property taxes. Without
property taxes those who want to get into the housing market can have a better
debt-to-income ratio and can come into the housing market at a more efficient
level. Can a local government accomplish while still providing all its services
and programs efficiently and effectively?
That is where our community needs to examine the potentials and decide
if such a change will benefit our children.
From my perspective, our system of local government is failing
miserably, perhaps another model may be the answer to our community’s success.
Is this pie-in-the sky?
So how are we going to pay for everything, right? continued Travoliero. That, too,
will be for the community to decide. Perhaps through user fees. How do we pay
for our electricity, our gas, our snow plowing? We pay for what we use. Under
the Town Hall system everybody comes together as a group and decides; this is
what we are going to pay for parks and rec, this is what we are going to pay
for education. We become educated citizens and make informed choices. Isn’t
this better than being told what to do?
This effort seems to be idealistic and dependent upon
residents of AD2 stepping up to the responsibility of self government. I
believe Mr. McLane would say: ‘You guessed ‘er Chester.”
References:
[1]Municipality of Anchorage Parks
& Recreation Dept scanfdal
Anchorage audit finds management set ‘culture of excess’ in Eagle River
Parks and Rec division
Author: Emily Goodykoontz
·
Updated: July 10
·
Published July 9
A recent Anchorage internal audit of city spending at the Eagle River/Chugiak Parks and Recreation Division found what the report describes as a “culture of excess” set by the division’s management, prompting a human resources investigation.
The division’s
manager, who is on administrative leave, said in an interview Friday that she
disagrees with most of the audit’s findings.
Questionable
spending included more than $12,300 for a 2020 Halloween party, “Boo at the
Beach,” that didn’t actually happen due to COVID-19, as well as spending on
supplies for canceled summer camps, the audit said.
At one point,
auditors opened a closet where staff thought no division items were stored, to
discover swim toys and games including a “Chicken Fight Pool Game,” a “Jumbo
Inflatable Derby Duck” and “Shark Tail Blankets.” Staff didn’t know why the
toys were bought or what they were for, according to the audit.
Multiple
purchases of decor and supplies for the Beach Lake Lodge also seemed excessive,
according to the audit, which was published June 10.
“By and large,
after reviewing the Division’s P-Card purchases and physically visiting the
Division’s facilities, it appears that the tone set by the Division’s
management is a culture of excess,” the audit said.
The audit details
numerous issues within the department, including questionable purchases and
incomplete or inaccurate records of transactions.
Most of the
questionable purchases were made by Karen Richards, the division’s manager.
Richards, who
said she has managed the division since 2012, is on administrative leave and
her city-issued charge card has been canceled.
Richards said she
takes issue with most of the audit’s findings and said she was not given the
opportunity during the auditing process to address questions or concerns, or
explain findings.
“I have a huge
problem with that,” she said.
Others in the
division made questionable purchases as well, said Mike Chadwick, Internal
Audit Department director.
“The thing that
struck us the most was the number of purchases that were made — not that they
were all necessarily bad purchases — and the unplanned nature of the
purchases,” Chadwick said.
Inside the Eagle
River Parks and Recreation Division’s garage on Friday, bins, boxes and items
such as Halloween decorations spilled from a storage closet into the hallway,
lining either side. Cans of expired paint were piled in an area with the
overflow of items, blocking an exit. In the division’s reception area,
cardboard boxes and supplies were stacked against a wall.
The audit
examined procurement card, or P-card, purchases made by department personnel
between January 2020 and February 2021. A P-card is a charge card, similar to a
credit card, given to some municipality employees. Employees then can purchase
supplies and services for city operations.
[Faith-based Anchorage women’s
shelter sues city over changes to LGBTQ anti-discrimination law]
The issues came
to light when auditors conducting the annual review of the municipality’s
procurement card purchases noticed someone had spent thousands of dollars on
supplies for events that had been canceled due to the pandemic, said Scott Lee,
principal auditor with the city’s Internal Audit Department.
It prompted city
auditors to take a closer look, he said.
“It’s alarming,
to say the least,” Anchorage Assembly member Jamie Allard said of the audit
during a June Assembly meeting.
Auditors found
purchased goods stored in a disarray between multiple rooms, hallways, closets,
a garage, horse stables and other areas, without being catalogued. Previously
purchased supplies had not been inventoried; inventories are necessary to
determine what supplies are needed and to ensure items are not missing, the
audit said.
Auditors were
told that purchased items appeared unexpectedly without a “clearly communicated
purpose,” the audit said.
Richards said she
had in place a five-year plan to build out parks and recreation programs and
activities in Eagle River. Many of the items she purchased were for that
purpose, she said. She purchased items for summer camps with the intent to use
them in another program if the camps were canceled.
“I feel that I’ve
done a cost savings to the municipality in the years that I’ve been there, so
this is hurtful to me,” she said. She said she has worked for the city for
about 27 years.
Proper storage
has been an issue for the division since the 2018 earthquake, she said. The
pandemic made the situation worse because teams could not work together in
person to better organize, and the division’s plan to build a new warm storage
facility was delayed by a year, she said.
The audit said
the issues in the division point to little accountability for spending. The
system allowed personnel with P-cards, such as Richards, to review and approve
their own purchase transactions, according to the audit, and card transactions
were also approved by subordinates, it said.
Allard, who
represents Chugiak/Eagle River, called for further investigation.
“Sometimes when
audits reveal certain things, it leads into other concerns of fraud, waste and
abuse, and those issues have to be addressed too,” Allard, who is on the city’s
audit committee, said Thursday in an interview.
“Where there’s
smoke, there’s fire,” she said. “So that’s a concern — it’s like the tip of the
iceberg.”
[Winner Creek Trail hand tram
in Girdwood unlikely to be reopened, officials say]
A formal
investigation by human resources was initiated on June 14, Parks and Recreation
Department Director Josh Durand told the city’s audit committee at a June 30
meeting.
“I do think the
outcome of the HR investigation will be influential as it relates to the cure,”
he said.
Still, the
department has taken some actions already, he said.
After the
“offending” P-card was canceled, “all questionable and recently procured items
have been returned,” Durand said.
Other fixes
include cataloguing the division’s supplies and changing the division’s P-card
policy so that the division manager no longer has a P-card and that employees
do the purchasing, he said.
Durand said he
was not aware of the issue before the audit. The Eagle River
division spent $67,000 on operating supplies in 2020, leaving
$16,000 on the table, which seemed about right during the pandemic, he said.
David Spiess,
deputy purchasing officer for the city, said he was “totally shocked” by the revelations
in the audit.
“As long as I am
sitting in this chair as a purchasing officer, that person will never get a
P-card again as far as I am concerned,” Spiess told the committee.
Crystal Kennedy,
another Assembly member representing Chugiak/Eagle River, said the audit is a
red flag that begs further questions.
“If it was that
bad for something as simple as P-cards, what else was probably not handled
properly?” Kennedy said. “That’s my bigger question. What else is out there
that we need to get to the bottom of that has created this culture of excess?”
Daily News photojournalist Loren Holmes contributed to this
report.
