Video Clips
Quoted moments from Alaska public meetings, hearings, and press conferences.
Clips from Kodiak Island BoroughClear
0:26
Grahn
“I believe there is also wetlands as well. So I think identifying how much of the parcel is wetlands versus because I think it is 16 acres, but I think there's several acres that were wetlands.”Kodiak Borough: Borough Lands Committee Regular Meeting of June 1, 2026 · Jun 1, 2026
0:53
Bo Whiteside
“I would imagine no less than 30 lots, including accounting for roadways, you know, utility needs or offsets. And then if maintaining some green space, you could even do that if you're creative with the development.”Kodiak Borough: Borough Lands Committee Regular Meeting of June 1, 2026 · Jun 1, 2026
0:16
Grahn
“It's my recollection that there was going to be some utility challenges with this site through the public works. So I would ask that staff verify that, give us that information.”Kodiak Borough: Borough Lands Committee Regular Meeting of June 1, 2026 · Jun 1, 2026
0:26
Grahn
“this parcel was purchased for a hospital site Many, many, many, many years ago. And this site has been utilized for recreation needs going back to the 2000s. So just from a point clarity, it's been used for about the last 25 years plus for recreational needs.”Kodiak Borough: Borough Lands Committee Regular Meeting of June 1, 2026 · Jun 1, 2026
0:36
Bo Whiteside
“we're going to have to consider is do we prioritize housing needs or current use? And so we're not going to find a single parcel. I would be shocked if we did that didn't have some sort of community benefit or use associated with it.”Kodiak Borough: Borough Lands Committee Regular Meeting of June 1, 2026 · Jun 1, 2026
0:19
Grohn
“It's my recollection that there was going to be some utility challenges with this site through the public works. So I would ask that staff verify that, give us that information. I also understand that this site is a lot of. It is bedrock, so developmental costs will be increased.”Kodiak Borough: Kodiak Island Borough Livestream · May 28, 2026
0:31
Bo Whiteside
“we're going to have to consider is do we prioritize housing needs or current use? And so we're not going to find a single parcel. I would be shocked if we did that didn't have some sort of community benefit or use associated with it. It's just not going to exist.”Kodiak Borough: Kodiak Island Borough Livestream · May 28, 2026
0:30
Jon Townsend
“It sounds like we're interested, but we just didn't. We obviously want a lot more information, specifically the history, wetlands, bedrock, how it might affect some current relationships or agreements that we have there.”Kodiak Borough: Kodiak Island Borough Livestream · May 28, 2026
0:22
Grohn
“Just as a reminder too, the borough is under a joint use agreement with the city and if they are to deem, I think this is a step that has been missed in the past. If they deem this property surplusable, I think they owe it, per the agreement to notify the city who is the manager of said parcel, who operates the programs.”Kodiak Borough: Kodiak Island Borough Livestream · May 28, 2026
0:22
Grohn
“It is also my understanding that this parcel was purchased for a hospital site Many, many, many, many years ago. And this site has been utilized for recreation needs going back to the 2000s. So just from a point of clarity, it's been used for about the last 25 years plus us for recreational needs.”Kodiak Borough: Kodiak Island Borough Livestream · May 28, 2026
0:29
Bo Whiteside
“I understand it is being used for baseball practice, But I remember Dr. LeDoux stating that this was a temporary offer made some 15 years ago and was never rescinded. So. So acknowledging that folks do use that. I'm prioritizing the needs of the community over a practice field when there's numerous ball fields teams can practice on.”Kodiak Borough: Kodiak Island Borough Livestream · May 28, 2026
0:47
Bo Whiteside
“I view this committee as kind of refreshing our perspective on available parcels. Do they fit the current need for housing development now, or could they? I should say, because we don't have all the information, but if we get the information back and these parcels, any of these parcels we're discussing are relatively straightforward to develop, we can Access and connect to utilities. Does that meet the goal of the committee of identifying parcels that are suitable for increasing, increasing land for workforce housing?”Kodiak Borough: Kodiak Island Borough Livestream · May 28, 2026
1:04
Bo Whiteside
“I would imagine no less than 30 lots, including accounting for roadways, you know, utility needs or offsets. And then if maintaining some green space, you could even do that if you're creative with the development.”Kodiak Borough: Kodiak Island Borough Livestream · May 28, 2026
0:36
Amy Williams
“by adding those now, that's in the MAPTR limit, and it helps us fully fund MAPTR and takes it out of the need to do a budget amendment.”Assembly Special Meeting of May 28, 2026 · May 29, 2026
0:29
Amy Williams
“your total that was Approved last week was $13,779,556”Assembly Special Meeting of May 28, 2026 · May 29, 2026
0:13
Scott Smiley
“We need that cash to lower the mill rate a little bit and to make sure we're doing MAPTR the right way.”Assembly Special Meeting of May 28, 2026 · May 29, 2026
0:50
Amy Williams
“For a mill rate, our current mill rate in the borough is 8.91. As the budget stands right now, without using any facilities fund interest, we are about at a 9.36.”Assembly Special Meeting of May 28, 2026 · May 29, 2026
0:29
Amy Williams
“When we put money into facility or into R&R, it causes us to collect, it doesn't affect the mill rate in a positive way. It makes it go up.”Assembly Special Meeting of May 28, 2026 · May 29, 2026
0:24
Amy Williams
“The numbers that are in front of you once again do include adding the, um, staff, um, cost of living raise that would take place on July 1st.”Assembly Special Meeting of May 28, 2026 · May 29, 2026
0:35
Bo Whiteside
“if we were to keep the mill rate static, that doesn't mean people's Property taxes do not go up. Assessments go up. That means you are paying more.”Assembly Special Meeting of May 28, 2026 · May 29, 2026
0:44
Amy Williams
“there are every variety of, um, alternate scenario that you can imagine by putting in any number that you can think of into facilities maintenance that will change the mill rate.”Assembly Special Meeting of May 28, 2026 · May 29, 2026
0:27
Scott Smiley
“I think the more important issue here is the amount that we're directed towards MAPTR for next year. We really hamstring ourselves at $16.665, whereas at $17.290, we're doing a lot better for next year.”Assembly Special Meeting of May 28, 2026 · May 29, 2026
0:42
Amy Williams
“That does not put money into R&R, but in order to do the projects that we have scheduled, we have enough money in that fund to cover that.”Assembly Special Meeting of May 28, 2026 · May 29, 2026
0:33
Jared Griffin
“COVID money helped bridge those gaps for a few years, and as have federal grants for numerous years. COVID money is gone. Um, we voted in an executive branch in, in D.C. that eliminated those education— federal education grants that provided for a lot of the services our kids rely on.”Kodiak Island Borough Assembly Regular Meeting of May 21, 2026 · May 21, 2026
0:21
Bo Whiteside
“move to amend Resolution Number FY 2027-01 for the amount to be made available to the Kodiak Island Borough School District from local sources for the fiscal year ending June 30th, 2027, is set at $13,779,556 for both in-kind services and direct appropriation.”Kodiak Island Borough Assembly Regular Meeting of May 21, 2026 · May 21, 2026
0:48
Zac Johnson
“I had a conversation with my kids and I told them, you know, the sad reality is the education you're getting this year is probably the best you'll get while you're while you're in school. It's only going to get worse. For me, the kind of final straw, or whatever you want to call it, was going down to Juneau last, last winter and here being told that until the state's congressional budget reserve is fully depleted, there's no appetite to really do anything to fix things.”Kodiak Island Borough Assembly Regular Meeting of May 21, 2026 · May 21, 2026
0:24
Scott Smiley
“There seems to be a conception that we have some kind of authority over the budget of the school district. We don't. They have the authority over the school district's budget. That's their business to do. They have cut more than $2.7 million this year and $2.5 to $2.7 million for the year before that and the year before that.”Kodiak Island Borough Assembly Regular Meeting of May 21, 2026 · May 21, 2026
0:36
Speaker A
“the pressure that we're feeling, right, it's state-created, it's federal policy-created with this cost of living, cost of expenses. Uh, uh, rev, uh, explosion that we've experienced this year. So, um, and I personally, I think that this is the kind of year where we look at interest income and how that we can make that, how we can make that work for taxpayers”Assembly Work Session of May 14, 2026 · May 14, 2026
0:35
Amy Williams
“Using those historical trends, our forecast would be a little over $1.2 million. If we take $37,500 off that, that gives us a better revenue estimate at $4— sorry, $700,067. $767,000.”Assembly Work Session of May 14, 2026 · May 14, 2026
0:30
Amy Williams
“right now, as the budget stands, um, I would have us at around a 9.4 mil rate to fund everything that's in there currently. So, and we're currently at 8.91, just as a reference point.”Assembly Work Session of May 14, 2026 · May 14, 2026
0:37
Mike Litzow
“If state funding had kept pace with inflation at our current enrollment, we would get $7.4 million more from the state in this fiscal year. And critically, the local contribution scales with state aid. If the state aid had kept up with inflation, um, the cap for the local contribution would be $1.7 million higher.”Assembly Work Session of May 14, 2026 · May 14, 2026
0:55
Speaker A
“Fully funding the school request, um Some of you are interested in reducing pressure on the mill rate. We need to protect borough operations and staff and, of course, avoid maintenance deferrals.”Assembly Work Session of May 14, 2026 · May 14, 2026
0:21
Amy Williams
“Last night I sent the assembly an email just to go over some of the budget assumptions that were made when we were developing the original Level 1 budget. We had the assumption that the school district would ask for the maximum amount of local contribution, and they did. The budget was built around that.”Assembly Work Session of May 14, 2026 · May 14, 2026
0:30
Speaker A
“case number 26-017, request a rezone of a portion of Yuzinki Track C, Block 1, remainder of USS 4871 from R-1 single-family residential to District 2 PL public use lands district.”Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting of Wednesday, May 20, 2026 · May 20, 2026
0:24
Speaker A
“Case S26-016, requests a subdivision of USS 4871 Block 1 Track C, creating USS 4871 Block 1 Lot 2 Track C, and an extension of G Street, a 60-foot right-of-way.”Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting of Wednesday, May 20, 2026 · May 20, 2026
0:09
Speaker B
“Motion passes 4-0.”Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting of Wednesday, May 20, 2026 · May 20, 2026