Video Clips

Quoted moments from Alaska public meetings, hearings, and press conferences.

Jharrett Bryantt “they are also sensing those same tensions that we're sensing here at the boardroom. We have to balance two tensions that are interconnected between needs of today versus the needs for FY28, and when given a binary choice case, community members are opting to think about next year's deficit versus restoring needs for now.”

Anchorage School Board: 9/1/26 ASD School Board Meeting · Sep 1, 2026

Tammy Hoag

“Mr. Whitfield with his 330+ students would be teaching 3.3 times a larger capacity of kids than those teachers.”

Anchorage School Board: 9/1/26 ASD School Board Meeting · Sep 1, 2026

Jharrett Bryantt “There is a case to be made that the more we invest towards stabilizing our staff, the less disruption that our educators will face, but also, um, the, the more anxious our parents will get if they feel that they're facing class size increases on top of the class size increases that have already happened.”

Anchorage School Board: 9/1/26 ASD School Board Meeting · Sep 1, 2026

Jharrett Bryantt “this proposal would reduce the deficit from around $40-ish million for FY28 down to roughly $26 million.”

Anchorage School Board: 9/1/26 ASD School Board Meeting · Sep 1, 2026

Jharrett Bryantt “We could make a choice to invest more deeply in FY27. We have very few educators in the talent pool, so there will be challenges, but that's going to increase the deficit on the other side.”

Anchorage School Board: 9/1/26 ASD School Board Meeting · Sep 1, 2026

Herper Kushner

“She is not NCI trained, that is nonviolent crisis intervention trained. That is not a building administrator problem. That is a district problem.”

Anchorage School Board: 9/1/26 ASD School Board Meeting · Sep 1, 2026

Jharrett Bryantt “Anchorage is the 32. So today, um, the, the breaking news is that the administration released an initial proposal for how to spend those funds, which the board will review, deliberate, um, for consideration at our second meeting in October.”

Anchorage School Board: 9/1/26 ASD School Board Meeting · Sep 1, 2026

Pat Higgins “the morale in the school district with the classroom sizes, with the special ed kids in they're just feeling inundated... I urge you to do it because it's, it's depressing for them. I am very concerned about the turnover we're going to be looking at and the impact it will have.”

Anchorage School Board: 9/1/26 ASD School Board Meeting · Sep 1, 2026

Jharrett Bryantt “we do have a pretty sizable structural deficit along the way. So that is why this proposal also sets aside a smaller but meaningful portion of the waterfall funding for stabilizing our FY28 needs. And I want to be very clear about this because I could see this as something being misunderstood by the public, that the administration's proposing to save the money without some sort of purpose.”

Anchorage School Board: 9/1/26 ASD School Board Meeting · Sep 1, 2026

Paul McDonogh “I'd like to express how much it meant to me to see the start of public comment. Two teachers coming on a Tuesday night— you got to wake up early tomorrow, and the board needs to know what you're going through. Um, so for the teacher at Tyson and the teacher at Golden View your testimonies meant a lot to me.”

Anchorage School Board: 9/1/26 ASD School Board Meeting · Sep 1, 2026

Jharrett Bryantt “There would be very few options for the board to adopt a balanced budget that wouldn't require reducing educator positions, and I don't feel that our community is in a good headspace to accept that reality. So I want to do whatever I can to try to protect as many educators as possible. So we only had the final budget number, um, confirmed by the State Department of Revenue yesterday, so we're very early in this conversation”

Anchorage School Board: 9/1/26 ASD School Board Meeting · Sep 1, 2026

Dan Whitfield

“I'm frequently told it is what it is, or given assurances like, if anyone can teach 330 students a day, you can. But in a day and an age where we as educators are often asked Is this considered best practice? I ask you all tonight, is a student load of 330 students daily considered best practice?”

Anchorage School Board: 9/1/26 ASD School Board Meeting · Sep 1, 2026

Paul McDonogh “I would love to have visits to schools. I would love to make myself available for the full day which both teachers requested, if that can be done by the principal... I very much look forward to bringing what I saw in those students' voices who are often so silent back to this body so that we can understand what their children need and more importantly bring those stories to the city government, which is currently deliberating how much to fund next year's education, and to the lawmakers in Juneau who are going to gavel in in January and start deciding how much education is worth then.”

Anchorage School Board: 9/1/26 ASD School Board Meeting · Sep 1, 2026

Tammy Hoag

“he is going to have over 330 students across 6 classes with only 1 planning period.”

Anchorage School Board: 9/1/26 ASD School Board Meeting · Sep 1, 2026

Dan Whitfield

“the part-time band director position was cut, and that FTE transitioned to other areas of the school. The result this year: my student daily load is 330 eager yet very loud middle school students. I'll say that again— 330 students every single day, an average of over 50 students per class”

Anchorage School Board: 9/1/26 ASD School Board Meeting · Sep 1, 2026

Jharrett Bryantt “Those conversations are going to happen here in the boardroom over the next couple months, and by December I would hope we'd have a pretty good understanding of what the options are, and then we'll need to make some decisions going into February.”

Anchorage School Board: 9/1/26 ASD School Board Meeting · Sep 1, 2026

“If this is approved, it tells every property owner in the borough that a public shooting range can be placed next to someone's home simply because government-owned land is available.”

Mat-Su Borough: Assembly Meeting August 18, 2026 · Aug 18, 2026

Linda Oxley

“In summary, please vote this ordinance down about 0 Lake Road turning into a shooting range in the future.”

Mat-Su Borough: Assembly Meeting August 18, 2026 · Aug 18, 2026

“So this would be passing the lowering from 9.5 to 7. Madam Mayor, it has failed with Assemblymember— with Assemblymember Bernier and Bowles in support.”

Mat-Su Borough: Assembly Meeting August 18, 2026 · Aug 18, 2026

Charlene/Cheyenne (Staff)

“if you're looking at this memo that I wrote, we subtract out the revenue— subtract expenditures from the revenues generated. It generated a loss of $21 million... in fiscal year '27, if we capped at 7 mils there would be a $22,032,955 expected reduction that would have to happen through expenditures to balance the budget.”

Mat-Su Borough: Assembly Meeting August 18, 2026 · Aug 18, 2026

Madam Mayor DePreeze

“Madam Mayor, it passed with Assemblymember Bowles and Nowers opposed.”

Mat-Su Borough: Assembly Meeting August 18, 2026 · Aug 18, 2026

“Madam Mayor, it has passed with Assemblymember McKee and Nowers opposed.”

Mat-Su Borough: Assembly Meeting August 18, 2026 · Aug 18, 2026

“we are on Ordinance 26095, an ord— an ordinance amending MSB 3.04.077A to lower the area-wide real property tax from 9.5 mills to 7 mills.”

Mat-Su Borough: Assembly Meeting August 18, 2026 · Aug 18, 2026

Stephanie Nowers “this is just— I think the way to do it is to actually make the cuts, not just set an artificial cap.”

Mat-Su Borough: Assembly Meeting August 18, 2026 · Aug 18, 2026

Dee McKee “So whereas I have always supported the folks that testified, I still do, but I think you're going to be safer, um, with something that's going to corral some of these yahoos”

Mat-Su Borough: Assembly Meeting August 18, 2026 · Aug 18, 2026

Linda Oxley

“We've given you a binder of facts about why the Zero Lake site is such a poor location, starting with it's located right next to properties owned, actively used, and being developed into full-time homes.”

Mat-Su Borough: Assembly Meeting August 18, 2026 · Aug 18, 2026

Linda Oxley

“We are here again to keep alive our strong concerns about the borough reclassifying the Zero Lake parcel to allow for a future shooting range.”

Mat-Su Borough: Assembly Meeting August 18, 2026 · Aug 18, 2026

“As you all know, my cabin sits less than a quarter mile, or about 1,000 feet, feet downrange from the proposed site.”

Mat-Su Borough: Assembly Meeting August 18, 2026 · Aug 18, 2026

Kevin Lyon

“Skyview will remain open for Soldotna, but not for Soldotna High School students to use for swimming class.”

Kenai: 08/19/2026 City Council Regular Meeting · Aug 19, 2026

Kevin Lyon

“I am the Planning Operations Director for the Kenepensboro School District. I am a Sterling resident, and I'm here to speak to you in support of Resolution 2026-57.”

Kenai: 08/19/2026 City Council Regular Meeting · Aug 19, 2026

Kevin Lyon

“The district remains committed to maintaining community access to the facility during the fiscal year 2027, including lap swim, open swim opportunities, swim instruction Saturday rentals for community groups and individuals.”

Kenai: 08/19/2026 City Council Regular Meeting · Aug 19, 2026

Kevin Lyon

“Right now, it's— it's— I'm going to say it's too early to tell. I know we're looking to make sure everything's sustainable, and so we're working with those— the groups that are around to try to get this so it's something we don't have to deal with every single year with the school board.”

Kenai: 08/19/2026 City Council Regular Meeting · Aug 19, 2026

Beth Weldon “if we get money for this, it would be one-time money, and we have a structural deficit in our budget, and we have $7-8 million that we have to come up with.”

Juneau: August 17, 2026 Regular Assembly Meeting · Aug 17, 2026

Greg Smith “I guess I'm kind of like don't kick the dog if it's not misbehaving.”

Juneau: August 31, 2026 Assembly Committee of the Whole Worksession · Aug 31, 2026

Alicia Hughes-Skandijs “if that is a reason to make you put everything in your back pocket, as a member of the public, as someone who doesn't sit on a dais, I would absolutely not have trust of that industry, and I would absolutely want my local elected leaders to do something about it.”

Juneau: August 31, 2026 Assembly Committee of the Whole Worksession · Aug 31, 2026

Maureen Hall “we still need both parties to show up for our negotiations over the use of the marine passenger funds. And I'm not saying we're bowing in to the industry. I'm saying I think we have a lot to gain by continuing with collaboration.”

Juneau: August 31, 2026 Assembly Committee of the Whole Worksession · Aug 31, 2026

“for the many years that I've been on the Assembly, I have seen overwhelming support for the 5-ship limit. It's consistently a thing that scores very highly in all of our surveys.”

Juneau: August 31, 2026 Assembly Committee of the Whole Worksession · Aug 31, 2026

Neil Steininger “And so I think it's prudent to wait.”

Juneau: August 31, 2026 Assembly Committee of the Whole Worksession · Aug 31, 2026

Alicia Hughes-Skandijs “there is nothing in the VITIF's charge that has anything to do with a 5-ship limit and whether it should be legislated. It has nothing to do with their work.”

Juneau: August 31, 2026 Assembly Committee of the Whole Worksession · Aug 31, 2026

“now we have the opportunity to make this very popular public good ironclad, and we're hesitating. And that seems to me like we were just wanting to kick the can down the road, like we're not wanting to make this official.”

Juneau: August 31, 2026 Assembly Committee of the Whole Worksession · Aug 31, 2026

“this is about community trust. You all might trust the industry, the, the larger public does not.”

Juneau: August 31, 2026 Assembly Committee of the Whole Worksession · Aug 31, 2026

Christine Woll “I think we are losing it. We have data that shows that, and this is one middle of the road thing that we can do to help keep that on board.”

Juneau: August 31, 2026 Assembly Committee of the Whole Worksession · Aug 31, 2026

Christine Woll “there are lots of people in this community paying attention to the case law. We will see an initiative from our citizens.”

Juneau: August 31, 2026 Assembly Committee of the Whole Worksession · Aug 31, 2026

“The city does get sued every day. That cannot be how we make our decisions.”

Juneau: August 31, 2026 Assembly Committee of the Whole Worksession · Aug 31, 2026

“if after the case law that we have in Maine, we can't take what what I wanted to keep as kind of like the light version of like, let's just say 5 ships and put that in ordinance. We can't do that, then I question whether the city will ever be ready.”

Juneau: August 31, 2026 Assembly Committee of the Whole Worksession · Aug 31, 2026

Paul Kelly “I am going to move to amend the mayor's motion to send this to public hearing and then back to committee.”

Juneau: August 31, 2026 Assembly Committee of the Whole Worksession · Aug 31, 2026

Alicia Hughes-Skandijs “when it comes to exerting local control as a local government, this is absolutely a policy decision that the Assembly needs to make. It is not going to come from an advisory body that is set up.”

Juneau: August 31, 2026 Assembly Committee of the Whole Worksession · Aug 31, 2026

Neil Steininger “I don't want to waste a lot of money on attorney work if we haven't done the homework ourselves before we jump into a decision.”

Juneau: August 31, 2026 Assembly Committee of the Whole Worksession · Aug 31, 2026

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