Video Clips

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

Eva Gardner “this procedure to ensure a completely independent tribunal requires us to go to a state or a national organization, maybe international, AAA arbitration organization, and pull an arbitrator or a hearing officer from their ranks to come in. So it'd be an independent individual that we'd have to separately retain.”

Anchorage Assembly: Worksession solely for discussion and clarification of the removal procedure set forth... · Jul 17, 2026

Anna Brawley “none of us have done this in these seats, and any predecessor who has taken this up or anything, any action of this kind, are all gone now.”

Anchorage Assembly: Worksession solely for discussion and clarification of the removal procedure set forth... · Jul 17, 2026

Erin Baldwin Day “at what point in the proceeding— I mean, is it at would it be at the submission of accusation to the clerk that ex parte communication would start to be a factor in this process? Like, at what point should we start— would we start to be aware of ex parte communication? Since I'm sort of envisioning this as a quasi-judicial proceeding or similar to that.”

Anchorage Assembly: Worksession solely for discussion and clarification of the removal procedure set forth... · Jul 17, 2026

Eva Gardner “that process should end once it becomes a formal accusation, because the Assembly should protect itself and preserve— really protect the universe of information it's looking at. Because at the ultimate end of this process, the Assembly will be called upon to review hearing officer's decision, and at that point you should only be looking at what's in the record there. So this is the point where we kind of drop the gate on Assemblymember investigation.”

Anchorage Assembly: Worksession solely for discussion and clarification of the removal procedure set forth... · Jul 17, 2026

Anna Brawley “this is really an exploration and an understanding legally of what we could do, what we can do. If someone is coming to this work session seeking an answer to the question, what should the Assembly do in any given situation, you're not going to be satisfied today because that is not the discussion.”

Anchorage Assembly: Worksession solely for discussion and clarification of the removal procedure set forth... · Jul 17, 2026

Eva Gardner “at this point, this is where I think we've mentioned this in the last Assembly meeting, um, any investigation should really be limited to the prosecuting agency, which would be the Municipal Attorney's Office, uh, or anyone else charged with that investigation. And so at that point, members, you know, to get the accusation document together, of course there must be some suspicion of wrongdoing, right?”

Anchorage Assembly: Worksession solely for discussion and clarification of the removal procedure set forth... · Jul 17, 2026

Anna Brawley “The what you should do is ultimately in the political realm, it's in the personal decision realm, and it is something that everybody has to grapple with.”

Anchorage Assembly: Worksession solely for discussion and clarification of the removal procedure set forth... · Jul 17, 2026

Anna Brawley “this work session is solely for discussion and clarification of the removal procedure set forth in Anchorage Municipal Code Section 2.70.030. And of procedures available for the Assembly to express disapproval of a member's conduct.”

Anchorage Assembly: Worksession solely for discussion and clarification of the removal procedure set forth... · Jul 17, 2026

Erin Baldwin Day “unless there's an income element here, we're not actually targeting the folks that we want to target. We're creating access for folks who already have means to jump into a market.”

Anchorage Assembly: Worksession re AO 2026-89 and AO 2026-93, enacting Anchorage Municipal Code Chapter 12.110... · Jul 17, 2026

Erin Baldwin Day “So why, why wouldn't you attach the incentive to the income of the buyer as opposed to the price of the home?”

Anchorage Assembly: Worksession re AO 2026-89 and AO 2026-93, enacting Anchorage Municipal Code Chapter 12.110... · Jul 17, 2026

Robert Doehl “it increases the number of folks who can go from being a renter to that entry level, and that's kind of a strength of it without creating inflationary pressure on the top end. We think we increase the pool that can try to get into that housing and also increase the demand at— increase the opportunity at that level.”

Anchorage Assembly: Worksession re AO 2026-89 and AO 2026-93, enacting Anchorage Municipal Code Chapter 12.110... · Jul 17, 2026

Ben Bowman “by state statute, the empowering statute that allows the Assembly to to create this tax exemption gives any elected service area board or special tax area the option to, within 60 days of the effective date of the ordinance— we can completely choose when that effective date occurs to give them more time if necessary— they can opt out. They can pass a resolution and say, we're out of this. And it would be opting out only for the portion of the taxes which would go to fund their services.”

Anchorage Assembly: Worksession re AO 2026-89 and AO 2026-93, enacting Anchorage Municipal Code Chapter 12.110... · Jul 17, 2026

Chris French “The applicant proposes to consolidate, consolidate 5 existing vacant lots into 1 lot. This particular subdivision request is associated with Case 27-005. That's also on your agenda, which is a rezoning from the RR-2 District to the Sea Conservation District. The purpose of the subdivision before you for the consolidation is for that— is related to the rezone because that rezone of Conservation District requires a 5-acre lot minimum.”

Kodiak Borough: Planning and Zoning Commission of July 15, 2026 · Jul 15, 2026

Chris French “yes, it is true that it could conceivably consolidate the lots and keep the RR-2 zoning in place.”

Kodiak Borough: Planning and Zoning Commission of July 15, 2026 · Jul 15, 2026

Michael Martin

“pertaining to your question as to why the rezone back to conservation, and the intent behind it is that, as you are aware, these last few years have been a bit difficult in Kodiak. And one of the challenges that we've had with our model that we had built out at Cliff Point Estates was getting traction and interest in the properties with the challenges of Kodiak's economic and pricing model.”

Kodiak Borough: Planning and Zoning Commission of July 15, 2026 · Jul 15, 2026

Chris French “The proposed subdivision consolidates 9 existing vacant lots into 3 lots. Each of those lots will exceed the 5-acre minimum. Of course, the 5-acre minimum is needed to meet the Conservation District's minimum lot size of 5 acres. And again, this subdivision is related to Case 27-005 on your agenda, which will rezone these parcels in the subdivision and in the previous subdivision cases. From RR2 to C Conservation.”

Kodiak Borough: Planning and Zoning Commission of July 15, 2026 · Jul 15, 2026

Chris French “Staff does recommend that the Commission forward a recommendation of approval to the Borough Assembly for this rezoning request. I will point out that in the ordinance that goes before the Assembly, the effective date will be based on the submittal of final plats for the 4 subdivisions.”

Kodiak Borough: Planning and Zoning Commission of July 15, 2026 · Jul 15, 2026

Michael Martin

“one of the things that we had heard from a number of individuals who had expressed interest in Cliff Point is a desire for more flexibility as far as what they can do with the land out there, in addition to not having the the having that Alaskan dream of having more space and not having your neighbors quite so close by. And 2 acres, of course, is a fairly decent amount of land, but when many people come up from the lower 48 and they think of Alaska and the dream of Alaska, they envision those sort of expansive areas.”

Kodiak Borough: Planning and Zoning Commission of July 15, 2026 · Jul 15, 2026

Mark Vizcocho “I believe effective leadership begins with listening, listening to our residents, understanding their concerns, working together to find practical solutions that serve the entire community. If appointed, I will be committed to transparency, collaboration, and thoughtful decision-making.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Special Work Session of July 16, 2026 · Jul 17, 2026

Mark Vizcocho “I believe that, uh, school, youth— we need to focus on our youth and we need to focus on our school, because without education, it's going to be hard to have a society. So we need to focus on school. We need to teach our kids that education is very important.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Special Work Session of July 16, 2026 · Jul 17, 2026

Rich Gonzalez “Mark's appointment to the Kodiak City Council in 2012 taught him important lessons about public service, listening to residents, working collaboratively, and making the difficult decisions.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Special Work Session of July 16, 2026 · Jul 17, 2026

Jared Griffin “The following applications were received by Mark Anthony Viscoccio, Sean Brecky, Caleb Callahan, and Alexander Sweeney.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Special Work Session of July 16, 2026 · Jul 17, 2026

Rich Gonzalez “He currently serves as president of the Filipino American Association of Kodiak, president of the East Elementary School PTA, and vice president of the Kodiak Booster Club.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Special Work Session of July 16, 2026 · Jul 17, 2026

Jared Griffin “what we will do during our regular meeting is we will have time to consider. There's an opportunity for us on the agenda during the regular meeting to consult. The Assembly can consult and take a vote. Recommend you stay around if you can. But the Assembly might also decide to postpone the vote until next week, and we have to decide before this time next week anyway.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Special Work Session of July 16, 2026 · Jul 17, 2026

Janiese Stevens “I am a small business. I employ a lot of people in this community and in the state of Alaska. And things like this— and I can— I, I contribute to scholarship foundations, nonprofits. And, and the more I'm regulated and taxed, the less I can do for our community in those ways.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Regular Meeting of July 16, 2026 Part 1 · Jul 17, 2026

Aimee Williams “So I'm excited about the possibility.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Regular Meeting of July 16, 2026 Part 1 · Jul 17, 2026

Jared Griffin “It's in the week of September 21st. Okay. Yeah. So we'll be putting together some messaging and pitches along with the city with the new manager there too, so— or interim manager. So, yeah, it's been a pretty fun week.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Regular Meeting of July 16, 2026 Part 1 · Jul 17, 2026

Janiese Stevens “the state of Alaska already has the highest marijuana tax in the nation. I pay my fair share. By continuing to overtax, you are rewarding non-regulated markets.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Regular Meeting of July 16, 2026 Part 1 · Jul 17, 2026

Jared Griffin “We are planning a DC trip, a DC lobbying trip. At first, I think at the beginning of the year, I was saying that I didn't want to do that, but now that there's like $150 billion at stake, that we might be able to, plus, you know, plus the billions in the defense communities program. I'm not going on one trip and I'm going to add in a DC lobbying trip because I think they're thinking about us and they need to keep thinking about us.. And so I think that's going to keep opening doors for us. So we're planning that trip with the city now for mid-September, mid to late, something like that.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Regular Meeting of July 16, 2026 Part 1 · Jul 17, 2026

Aimee Williams “defense communities have such a big footprint that aren't paying taxes into the local government, but those folks are still using our local infrastructure. That money is meant to offset the use of local infrastructure. So it should be a great thing for the community.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Regular Meeting of July 16, 2026 Part 1 · Jul 17, 2026

Janiese Stevens “Whoever drafted this ordinance lacks the basic knowledge of marijuana and its components to efficiently implement it. CBD has marijuana in it, though a small percentage. Where is the cutoff percentage and what is and isn't taxed? It is clear this is misinformed attempt to tax an already overtaxed and overregulated industry”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Regular Meeting of July 16, 2026 Part 1 · Jul 17, 2026

Aimee Williams “I attended a meeting with the Undersecretary of Energy. Um, he was here to discuss obstacles and opportunities that Kodiak is going to face, uh, with military expansion on several different projects here. Um, got to hear some really out-of-the-box thinking on how to provide energy, um, and how KEA was already working on meeting the upcoming needs. While I was at that meeting, I got the contact information of the person that's organizing the defense forum in Fairbanks that I'll be attending right before the summer AML conference in August. The organizer is also someone who helps people with their applications for the Defense Community Infrastructure Program.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Regular Meeting of July 16, 2026 Part 1 · Jul 17, 2026

Jared Griffin “Ms. Roberts, would you— if you have that statute, would you want to amend that line to maybe just insert that statute as a parenthetical? I think that is a good idea to specify”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Regular Meeting of July 16, 2026 Part 1 · Jul 17, 2026

Jared Griffin “Yeah, big pot. It's a big pot.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Regular Meeting of July 16, 2026 Part 1 · Jul 17, 2026

Jared Griffin “I also talked with, yeah, Brittany, too, on that trip about defense communities, and there really seems to be some good positive momentum. It's obviously not going to fix all of our infrastructure that came up during the interviews earlier, but it's certainly going to help. And so, I'm glad that we are like at the tip of the wave, you know, making sure that we're on everybody's mind.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Regular Meeting of July 16, 2026 Part 1 · Jul 17, 2026

Jared Griffin “Ordinance number FY 2027-05, levying an area-wide marijuana excise tax, establishing the Community Wellbeing Fund, and providing for voter approval of the tax.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Regular Meeting of July 16, 2026 Part 1 · Jul 17, 2026

Janiese Stevens “there are only 2 of us who have a marijuana business in this community. So when you pull those records and you publish them, you're, you're publishing 2 people's income figures”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Regular Meeting of July 16, 2026 Part 1 · Jul 17, 2026

Aimee Williams “So I already have an appointment set up with her so she can help us gain any knowledge to get us closer to that program.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Regular Meeting of July 16, 2026 Part 1 · Jul 17, 2026

Janiese Stevens “I am the owner of Wildflower on Near Island and Smoky Hollow in Bell's Flats. I'm also a certified public accountant. I'm here today to voice my strong opposition to the drafted ordinance implementing a borough-wide marijuana tax on Kodiak.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Regular Meeting of July 16, 2026 Part 1 · Jul 17, 2026

Rich Gonzalez “Mark's appointment to the Kodiak City Council in 2012 taught him important lessons about public service, listening to residents, working collaboratively, and making the difficult decisions. That experience, combined with the leadership roles he has held, has prepared him well to serve on the Borough Assembly.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Special Work Session of July 16, 2026 · Jul 16, 2026

Jared Griffin “we do have the option of going into executive session. The Assembly, we are allowed to go into executive session to evaluate the candidates. The subject does qualify for an executive session as it is a topic of which tends to prejudice a person's reputation of character.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Special Work Session of July 16, 2026 · Jul 16, 2026

Janiese Stevens “I am continually perplexed by our local government's proclivity to choose marijuana as a sin of choice when brainstorming ways to raise revenue, when there are other vices on the island outselling marijuana tenfold. If your goal is to raise revenue for some community fund why not pick the poison with the highest revenue and the highest cost to our community? And it is not marijuana. Both alcohol and tobacco outsell marijuana and have a much higher price tag, draining our island's public safety and health resources.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Special Work Session of July 16, 2026 · Jul 16, 2026

Janiese Stevens “I am a small business. I employ a lot of people in this community and in the state of Alaska. And things like this— and I contribute to scholarship foundations, nonprofits. And the more I'm regulated and taxed, the less I can do for our community in those ways.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Special Work Session of July 16, 2026 · Jul 16, 2026

Janiese Stevens “the state of Alaska already has the highest marijuana tax in the nation. I pay my fair share. By continuing to overtax, you are rewarding non-regulated markets. We are already competing with manufactured psychoactive substances which can be sold to anyone anywhere, and non-regulated dealers who again sell to anyone anywhere, compromising public safety with the risk of cross-contaminated substances.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Special Work Session of July 16, 2026 · Jul 16, 2026

Janiese Stevens “Whoever drafted this ordinance lacks the basic knowledge of marijuana and its components to efficiently implement it. CBD has marijuana in it,— though a small percentage. Where is the cutoff percentage and what is and isn't taxed? It is clear this is misinformed attempt to tax an already overtaxed and overregulated industry, and I strongly discourage anyone for voting in favor of it.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Special Work Session of July 16, 2026 · Jul 16, 2026

Janiese Stevens “there are only two of us who have a marijuana business in this community, so when you pull those records and you publish them, you're publishing two people's income figures, which I do believe is a little exposing for my local government to do just because I sell marijuana.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Special Work Session of July 16, 2026 · Jul 16, 2026

Jared Griffin “the Borough Clerk's Office advertised the vacancy per Borough Code on June 26th and July 3rd. The application acceptance period was from June 27th to July 11th. The following applications were received by Mark Anthony Viscoccio, Sean Brecky, Caleb Callahan, and Alexander Sweeney.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Special Work Session of July 16, 2026 · Jul 16, 2026

Jared Griffin “Ms. Roberts, would you— if you have that statute, would you want to amend that line to maybe just insert that statute as a parenthetical? I think that is a good idea to specify, especially since that was brought up in citizens' comments.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Special Work Session of July 16, 2026 · Jul 16, 2026

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