Video Clips
Quoted moments from Alaska public meetings, hearings, and press conferences.
Scott Smiley
“in the past, we have used $25,000 for the health and safety ones, and for the educational ones, $5,000. That's not supported by the amount of money we have. And it's tough to find more money.”Kodiak Borough: Assembly Work Session of July 9, 2026 · Jul 9, 2026
Jared Griffin
“I would suggest someone to amend maybe line 42, because we don't want to consider pregnancy as an illness or injury. It seems like a pretty contained set right there, but maybe just a little bit of wordsmithing to get what you're trying to get at, Mr. Whiteside.”Kodiak Borough: Assembly Work Session of July 9, 2026 · Jul 9, 2026
Amy Williams
“I already mentioned we have $170,000 budgeted between the two line items, plus $100,000 budgeted for college and libraries, uh, which puts us at $270,000. But we have, uh, $68,169 in the opioid fund balance. There are four applications that are going just for that money.”Kodiak Borough: Assembly Work Session of July 9, 2026 · Jul 9, 2026
Amy Williams
“Casey, she also has an opioid ask in for a larger amount, so it might be more appropriate to fund them through there if you don't want to do this one. And then also, we'll talk about it when we get to contracts and packet review, but a large part of what we pay for animal control actually goes to the Humane Society, like to the tune of like almost $75,000. And so if we're looking for low-hanging fruit, giving them another 4 might be, you know, $79,000 instead of $75,000. That might be an easy one to take off the list as well.”Kodiak Borough: Assembly Work Session of July 9, 2026 · Jul 9, 2026
Amy Williams
“I think that would be a good look at the use of those tourism funds and clearly supports tourism and that is what the fund is for. So that would be a great use.”Kodiak Borough: Assembly Work Session of July 9, 2026 · Jul 9, 2026
Scott Smiley
“If we limit the amount of money on one of these sheets, the big guys get $15,000 and the small guys get $3,500, that adds up to $181,000, which is $11,000 $100,000 more than we have, but $11,000 should be close to doable. The other one is more advanced than the two amounts are, $20,000 and $4,000. That adds up to $224,000, which is $54,000 more than we've budgeted.”Kodiak Borough: Assembly Work Session of July 9, 2026 · Jul 9, 2026
Jason Norris
“I think it does revolve all around the proposed footprint of the building itself, but it does beg the question of what is minimally needed to— is this the minimum variance required, right?”Anchorage Assembly: Zoning Board of Examiers and Appeals - July 9, 2026 - 2026-07-09 18:30:00 · Jul 10, 2026
Jason Norris
“if you have to reduce it so small to fit it within it that it's not going to be developed, then that doesn't feel like the minimum. That feels like below the minimum.”Anchorage Assembly: Zoning Board of Examiers and Appeals - July 9, 2026 - 2026-07-09 18:30:00 · Jul 10, 2026
Jason Norris
“if we're saying that, well, they could just redesign it to have a smaller floor plate, then I think that that's going to force a lot of redesign, and they may not be able to actually make it commercially viable. And the applicant is saying they're going to have 3 units of commercial with 3 units of residential on top. I don't think that we can just flippantly say that this would be perfectly fine if you just take that 8-foot chunk out.”Anchorage Assembly: Zoning Board of Examiers and Appeals - July 9, 2026 - 2026-07-09 18:30:00 · Jul 10, 2026
Jason Norris
“I did send an email, a follow-up email to staff asking them to take a look at the dimensional standards, because if we're going to look at what is reasonable for a minor modification, I felt it was reasonable for us to look at the dimensional standards themselves and see if they were still applicable and still serving us well.”Anchorage Assembly: Zoning Board of Examiers and Appeals - July 9, 2026 - 2026-07-09 18:30:00 · Jul 10, 2026
Ellen McKay
“There are 7 votes in the affirmative, no votes in the negative, and the variance is granted.”Anchorage Assembly: Zoning Board of Examiers and Appeals - July 9, 2026 - 2026-07-09 18:30:00 · Jul 10, 2026
Juneau: July 9, 2026 CBJ Media Availability · Jul 9, 2026
Ryan O'Shaughnessy
“the CBJ is currently operating under an emergency declaration, and the intent and the purpose of that is to utilize resources that wouldn't be available to us as a local government ordinarily.”Juneau: July 9, 2026 CBJ Media Availability · Jul 9, 2026
Juneau: July 9, 2026 CBJ Media Availability · Jul 9, 2026
Juneau: July 9, 2026 CBJ Media Availability · Jul 9, 2026
Aaron Jacobs
“this year, in conjunction with the USGS, we were able to improve our monitoring so we have more redundant information. And one of that more redundant information is a camera that looks over the overflow channel. So from the monitoring page, if you go to latest images, and now you will see this overflow channel to the right. And so this is a new camera for us so we can see when water is starting to go over this overflow channel.”Juneau: July 9, 2026 CBJ Media Availability · Jul 9, 2026
Juneau: July 9, 2026 CBJ Media Availability · Jul 9, 2026
Juneau: July 9, 2026 CBJ Media Availability · Jul 9, 2026
Ryan O'Shaughnessy
“Once the state resources you know, primarily the drone monitoring and public assistance support and those kinds of things come into play, the CBJ will be requesting that the Governor also declare a state disaster. So that is, we're working really closely with the SEOC to move that process along, and at this point, all indications that we've received are that the state will very seriously consider a pre-event disaster declaration again.”Juneau: July 9, 2026 CBJ Media Availability · Jul 9, 2026
John Bohan
“The breach locations that were chosen are the potential high-impact areas. And so tree strikes and direct, you know, even though we fortified these areas, the direct impacts at the 90-degree corners just effectively to, you know, to prepare for the worst-case scenario. As Ryan said, these are sandbags, they are temporary measures.”Juneau: July 9, 2026 CBJ Media Availability · Jul 9, 2026
Juneau: July 9, 2026 CBJ Media Availability · Jul 9, 2026
Juneau: July 9, 2026 CBJ Media Availability · Jul 9, 2026
Juneau: July 9, 2026 CBJ Media Availability · Jul 9, 2026
Ryan O'Shaughnessy
“we have a tremendous amount of confidence in the HESCO system. We saw it perform relatively well last year and we're very confident for this year, but the entire system is fragile. And that's really why we want everyone in the evacuation area to heed that advisory and to evacuate. These are resilient structures. We do have a little bit of testing with them, but they are essentially sandbags, right?”Juneau: July 9, 2026 CBJ Media Availability · Jul 9, 2026
John Bohan
“as we saw last year, fortunately above the waterline, but a tree completely blew up the barriers behind the Field House very quickly, very easily. So we do need to be prepared for those events. So be careful. And that's also why we're requesting evacuation because they are temporary and we don't know what, you know, we don't know what force might crack one open.”Juneau: July 9, 2026 CBJ Media Availability · Jul 9, 2026
Ryan O'Shaughnessy
“the entire system is somewhat fragile to tree strikes and things like that. So we really want to encourage folks to evacuate. For that worst-case scenario.”Juneau: July 9, 2026 CBJ Media Availability · Jul 9, 2026
Juneau: July 9, 2026 CBJ Media Availability · Jul 9, 2026
Juneau: July 9, 2026 CBJ Media Availability · Jul 9, 2026
Juneau: July 9, 2026 CBJ Media Availability · Jul 9, 2026
Juneau: July 9, 2026 CBJ Media Availability · Jul 9, 2026
Aaron Jacobs
“we are kind of with the volume estimate, we're going to be very close to the same volume as last year, just due to the conditions of the lower end of the overflow channel to less icebergs in the basin, and then the lateral expansion of the basin. So we're going to see a very similar volume estimate that we're anticipating, maybe a little bit of an increase, but very similar to last year. And so we are also anticipating a flood if it releases at a full basin capacity, something very similar to last year, to maybe a little bit lower, but still a major flooding event.”Juneau: July 9, 2026 CBJ Media Availability · Jul 9, 2026
Pat Bowling
“The assembly will next take up this issue at their July 20th meeting when they will hold a public hearing and work session. The citizens' petition to put on the fall ballot a measure for the borough to adopt area-wide library hours is going around.”Ketchikan: Library Advisory Board Quarterly Meeting of July 8, 2026 · Jul 9, 2026
Kathy Bolling
“What is tightly woven into this challenge, this argument between city and borough and people not wanting to pay a non-area-wide fee, is they want control of collection development, which is so offensively absurd to me.”Ketchikan: Library Advisory Board Quarterly Meeting of July 8, 2026 · Jul 9, 2026
Kathy Bolling
“whether it stays as a city department or moves to the borough, you have a borough assembly who is not interested in spending very much money on the library. So it's going to be a battle no matter what.”Ketchikan: Library Advisory Board Quarterly Meeting of July 8, 2026 · Jul 9, 2026
Kathy Bolling
“my understanding in response to my colleague's question is that that non-area-wide tax will be collected. The borough is still obligated. To fund the library. It just depends at what, at what level.”Ketchikan: Library Advisory Board Quarterly Meeting of July 8, 2026 · Jul 9, 2026
Pat Bowling
“due to concerns over the recent increases in the borough's contribution, the borough assembly voted to terminate the current library services agreement effective December 31st, 2026. This gives the assembly time to consider their options, which are option 1, to renegotiate the library services agreement, uh, with a view to limit the amount that the borough is contracted to pay the non-area-wide library services. Option 2, put a measure on the October ballot for the borough to adopt area-wide library powers. If passed, the borough would provide and pay for library services for all residents of the borough.”Ketchikan: Library Advisory Board Quarterly Meeting of July 8, 2026 · Jul 9, 2026
Kathy Bolling
“the borough, whether or not it— the library's gonna be a borough department, may decide to only allow the budget to increase 3%, 4%, 5% a year. And if you're If your costs are 8-10% in 5 years, are you also thinking about the impact if your budget gets reduced 15-20% in 5 years?”Ketchikan: Library Advisory Board Quarterly Meeting of July 8, 2026 · Jul 9, 2026
Pat Bowling
“The whole borough discussion is the big unknown. Will the library become a department of the federal? If not, will the terminated borough-city library services agreement be renegotiated by the December 31st deadline? According to the old agreement, which remains in place until the end of December, the borough pays a percentage of the library's budget that is the same as the percentage of the borough population who lives outside the cities of Ketchikan and Sassafras.”Ketchikan: Library Advisory Board Quarterly Meeting of July 8, 2026 · Jul 9, 2026
Kathy Bolling
“just last year, Assemblymember Arntzen made a move to, to pull all funding for the library, right? Reduce that library levy to zero and give notice to cancel the contract.”Ketchikan: Library Advisory Board Quarterly Meeting of July 8, 2026 · Jul 9, 2026
Kathy Bolling
“If it just caps at, uh, $0.7 mil, that's already not enough.”Ketchikan: Library Advisory Board Quarterly Meeting of July 8, 2026 · Jul 9, 2026
Kameron Perez-Verdia
“I can't support this amendment as it stands. I want us to move forward, and I believe that you and your organization and this community can find agreement without us interfering in this way.”Anchorage Assembly: Assembly Regular - July 7, 2026 - 2026-07-07 17:00:00 · Jul 7, 2026
Carl Soderstrom
“Somebody walks up to our front door and says, I need help, I'm not turning them away. So I appreciate the opportunity. I would, I would ask that you guys vote no on this amendment and we move forward as the, the plan was originally proposed.”Anchorage Assembly: Assembly Regular - July 7, 2026 - 2026-07-07 17:00:00 · Jul 7, 2026
Daniel Volland
“our understanding, as they've represented to us, is that they have changed the model, what they're looking to do in this location, in response to the feedback they have received from the community. And so I want to thank True North, who I know we have some folks here tonight. I want to thank you for your enhanced efforts to interface with our constituents, with the neighborhood, and ultimately, I believe, arrive at a, a solution that I think can be a good fit in the neighborhood, even within proximity to the Neighborhood Rec Center. And what that is, is essentially a model where this location will be not used for acute crisis care. Instead, it can be used for administration, for telehealth, and for scheduled behavioral health outpatient care.”Anchorage Assembly: Assembly Regular - July 7, 2026 - 2026-07-07 17:00:00 · Jul 7, 2026
Daniel Volland
“We have a 2018 adopted policy guidance calling for a dispersed, scattered site model that says we're not going to put things in East Anchorage and Fairview anymore. And that was co-sponsored by then Assemblymember LaFrance.”Anchorage Assembly: Assembly Regular - July 7, 2026 - 2026-07-07 17:00:00 · Jul 7, 2026
Kameron Perez-Verdia
“I really appreciate— I mean, I have not seen an organization go above and beyond like this, go to every community council and respond to every person. I've spoken with you guys several times and move and shift and do what you can to make this work. We want you in this community. We need you in this community.”Anchorage Assembly: Assembly Regular - July 7, 2026 - 2026-07-07 17:00:00 · Jul 7, 2026
Daniel Volland
“I will just say I am flabbergasted and offended, and the trust that Member Scout mentions, I do not share anymore. We had multiple conversations where you intimated to us as the representatives of this neighborhood that you would not provide crisis care at this location You described the model that you described here tonight, but now you're saying, oh no, we will provide crisis care.”Anchorage Assembly: Assembly Regular - July 7, 2026 - 2026-07-07 17:00:00 · Jul 7, 2026
Stanton Gregor
“My take is, if we have to do 15 amendments, we should have not brought it forward until it was done. It's not a good ordinance, not a good piece of legislation. So I wanted to be very clear on the record. I think this process is and has been deeply flawed in how we got there.”Petersburg Borough: 7.6.2026 Assembly Meeting · Jul 7, 2026