Video Clips

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

Clips from Anchorage AssemblyClear

Ona Brause “The police department is a slightly different situation because the reason their overtime is so hot is because of their vacancies. So the amount of overtime that the, that the police department runs is particularly hot because they are missing 70 police officers. And so they're running shifts and people in voluntary overtime as much as needs to happen. And then that means that the labor amounts that are spent on the natural operating labor side are being spent in the overtime category.”

Anchorage Assembly: Budget and Finance Committee-of-the-Whole Meeting · Jul 16, 2026

Erin Baldwin Day “our recommendations are really led by a desire to set very realistic expectations with the community as far as what is possible and not possible as far as service delivery goes in this particular budget environment. And also the revenue or the delta that would be required to sort of sustain historical levels of service delivery.”

Anchorage Assembly: Budget and Finance Committee-of-the-Whole Meeting · Jul 16, 2026

Anna Brawley “In the past, our resolutions have really focused on what we would like to see happen. This one does take a little bit different tactic. It does certainly have some of that, and we would welcome other comments on that, but really asking for information, and this is not simply chasing or trying to make the administration do a bunch of extra work, right, but these are really trying to outline and characterize what we all need to have before us to make some of these big decisions, or at least understand kind of what is coming.”

Anchorage Assembly: Budget and Finance Committee-of-the-Whole Meeting · Jul 16, 2026

Erin Baldwin Day “We've also asked for a pretty robust review of our position with respect to deferred maintenance. And so we're asking for that in terms of roads, our fleet, stormwater, which we heard an update on at one of the more recent IEUC meetings, which was pretty sobering. Also major maintenance and other needs on our facilities and public buildings.”

Anchorage Assembly: Budget and Finance Committee-of-the-Whole Meeting · Jul 16, 2026

Erin Baldwin Day “this is also an attempt to understand perhaps with a bit more granularity, you know, how our labor and non-labor budgets relate to each other.”

Anchorage Assembly: Budget and Finance Committee-of-the-Whole Meeting · Jul 16, 2026

Cameron Perez-Rodilla

“investigative commissions are fundamentally different than what we're talking about here. That they require investigators, attorneys, independent budgets, staffing, legal authority, and very different governance structure.”

Anchorage Assembly: Worksession re AO 2026-62 and AO 2026-62(S), amending Anchorage Municipal Code Chapter 4.50... · Jul 14, 2026

Cameron Perez-Rodilla

“There are a number of amendments that establish seats, and I'm welcoming that conversation at the meeting. I would also just say, in our conversations, we debated having seats and the pros and cons of that, and that we made the decision to put as strong intent language as we could into this so that those that are recommended and appointed to this commission, that that intent language of the what, what, who we want to have on this commission is clearly there.”

Anchorage Assembly: Worksession re AO 2026-62 and AO 2026-62(S), amending Anchorage Municipal Code Chapter 4.50... · Jul 14, 2026

Cameron Perez-Rodilla

“after additional conversations, we consistently heard both at the meeting we were all at and through lots of conversations that that version weakened the community leadership for this. The commission no longer appeared to be sufficiently independent, and the commission's roles and responsibilities in addition, still needed to be clarified”

Anchorage Assembly: Worksession re AO 2026-62 and AO 2026-62(S), amending Anchorage Municipal Code Chapter 4.50... · Jul 14, 2026

Sydney Scout “I believe that the Commission, in order to be effective, needs to have enhanced access beyond members of the public, um, and needs to be able to actually make recommendations grounded in real facts real data, real conversations with people involved in potential incidents and systemic level patterns.”

Anchorage Assembly: Worksession re AO 2026-62 and AO 2026-62(S), amending Anchorage Municipal Code Chapter 4.50... · Jul 14, 2026

Cameron Perez-Rodilla

“It's really important that this commission functions effectively. It's important that it has staffing and it's important that they receive training. So it's a fair question. We just don't have the answer in terms of what that number is or whether that is a number or not. So that's something we'll need to follow up on and get back to you with.”

Anchorage Assembly: Worksession re AO 2026-62 and AO 2026-62(S), amending Anchorage Municipal Code Chapter 4.50... · Jul 14, 2026

Sydney Scout “Amendment 5 adds investigative authority and subpoena power to the commission while maintaining, um, the limitations of the commission, including, um, they are not able to influence personnel decisions. Disciplinary decisions that's covered, um, in the union contract. So the point of this is to provide enhanced access and advisory capability for members of the commission beyond members of the public.”

Anchorage Assembly: Worksession re AO 2026-62 and AO 2026-62(S), amending Anchorage Municipal Code Chapter 4.50... · Jul 14, 2026

Yarrow Silvers “I have questions regarding the cost of the assistance and the training, also the number of hours that are expected from the departments, and then the impact of those hours and that cost on the broader public safety picture and activities.”

Anchorage Assembly: Worksession re AO 2026-62 and AO 2026-62(S), amending Anchorage Municipal Code Chapter 4.50... · Jul 14, 2026

Yarrow Silvers “the purpose of this amendment is to make one of those, um, previous public safety employee seats actually available to a current public safety employee at the rank of Sergeant or Lieutenant or below. And so the purpose of this amendment is to really bring in like the voice from a public safety officer who is working on the street.”

Anchorage Assembly: Worksession re AO 2026-62 and AO 2026-62(S), amending Anchorage Municipal Code Chapter 4.50... · Jul 14, 2026

Sydney Scout “I still have concerns in the S1 version about the efficiency of rotating around who is staffing the commission. And I also have concerns you know, the staff that are proposed in the rotation, they represent 3 departments, but there is nobody in that representation who is representing the public. So again, thinking about the power dynamics, the importance of neutrality and staffing these kinds of commissions and conversations”

Anchorage Assembly: Worksession re AO 2026-62 and AO 2026-62(S), amending Anchorage Municipal Code Chapter 4.50... · Jul 14, 2026

Cameron Perez-Rodilla

“It does not create an investigative body, a personnel review body, subpoena authority, or another internal affairs process. If the assembly wants to create investigative commission, that's an important conversation for us to have. It's just not the conversation that we're having.”

Anchorage Assembly: Worksession re AO 2026-62 and AO 2026-62(S), amending Anchorage Municipal Code Chapter 4.50... · Jul 14, 2026

Yarrow Silvers “can we realistically say that there's no economic impacts, or is that just kind of a hopeful, well, we don't have many resources, and so we hope we can squeeze this in to all the departments, and we hope we can squeeze this into all the trainings that we already have available because we know we don't have a lot of resources. And so is that— is no economic effect, is that realistic, or is that a hopeful kind of let's not look at this too closely”

Anchorage Assembly: Worksession re AO 2026-62 and AO 2026-62(S), amending Anchorage Municipal Code Chapter 4.50... · Jul 14, 2026

Erin Baldwin Day “has the sponsor contemplated how or whom would pay— would, yeah, what entity would pay for such an investigation?”

Anchorage Assembly: Worksession re AO 2026-62 and AO 2026-62(S), amending Anchorage Municipal Code Chapter 4.50... · Jul 14, 2026

Erin Baldwin Day “How, how many roughly people hours do we expect to be involved in the staffing and administration role?”

Anchorage Assembly: Worksession re AO 2026-62 and AO 2026-62(S), amending Anchorage Municipal Code Chapter 4.50... · Jul 14, 2026

Erin Baldwin Day “what I still am not clear on is really what is the problem we are trying to solve. And in all of the documentation I've worked through, I don't really see consensus on that question. What, what is the problem we're trying to solve?”

Anchorage Assembly: Worksession re AO 2026-62 and AO 2026-62(S), amending Anchorage Municipal Code Chapter 4.50... · Jul 14, 2026

Cameron Perez-Rodilla

“It deserves its own ordinance, its own legal framework, its own funding, and its own public discussion. That's not what this ordinance is intended to do. This ordinance is intended to take a different approach. It focuses on community partnership, systems improvement, policy review, community engagement, transparency, building trust, and continuous improvement of our public safety to departments.”

Anchorage Assembly: Worksession re AO 2026-62 and AO 2026-62(S), amending Anchorage Municipal Code Chapter 4.50... · Jul 14, 2026

Jeff Raun “this is a companion ordinance intended to incentivize, um, development in the B-3 district in a way that is more flexible to help achieve Anchorage's housing goals.”

Anchorage Assembly: Planning and Zoning Commission - July 13, 2026 - 2026-07-13 18:30:00 · Jul 14, 2026

Radhika Krishna “I would like to go ahead and propose an amendment to omit the parking lot or structure conditional use requirement.”

Anchorage Assembly: Planning and Zoning Commission - July 13, 2026 - 2026-07-13 18:30:00 · Jul 14, 2026

Radhika Krishna “maybe it's just been the self-storage facilities and storage yards I've encountered in Anchorage, but I don't see them as being primarily street frontage and, um, uses that are oriented towards the street and offer pedestrians direct access, or, um, I, I see them as being potentially more appropriate for more industrial types of land.”

Anchorage Assembly: Planning and Zoning Commission - July 13, 2026 - 2026-07-13 18:30:00 · Jul 14, 2026

Edith McKee “I'm a little concerned that delaying somebody's development process by 6 months in Alaska, where we have limited construction season, could be a little bit inconvenient, but there is a path forward, so I do also intend to support the motion.”

Anchorage Assembly: Planning and Zoning Commission - July 13, 2026 - 2026-07-13 18:30:00 · Jul 14, 2026

Andres Spinelli “I think they prevent development. They prevent people from purchasing the land to get to the point where they would apply for the conditional use. They stop projects in their tracks before they're started, even though there is a way forward. Often landowners don't want to wait 6 months while a proposed developer figures out if conditional use can be approved.”

Anchorage Assembly: Planning and Zoning Commission - July 13, 2026 - 2026-07-13 18:30:00 · Jul 14, 2026

Jeff Raun “I go back to what problems the proposal is trying to solve. Clearly, the will of the Commission with respect to discouraging car-centered uses was already spoken to. This element of encouraging more housing and more flexibility, I stand firm on and believe that a conversion from permitted use to conditional use, again, does not take the use off the table. If the development makes sense, there's a pathway for it to move forward.”

Anchorage Assembly: Planning and Zoning Commission - July 13, 2026 - 2026-07-13 18:30:00 · Jul 14, 2026

Radhika Krishna “This has been my biggest concern with this is just the scale of the uncertainty and that we might be— that this might result in for retail businesses who I think firmly fit in with the intent of B-3.”

Anchorage Assembly: Planning and Zoning Commission - July 13, 2026 - 2026-07-13 18:30:00 · Jul 14, 2026

Edith McKee “if it were a conditional use permit, and let's say a developer had multiple parcels and they were building buildings, and one of their parcels they're using for parking, how much time would going through a conditional use permitting process add to them being able to develop multiple parcels?”

Anchorage Assembly: Planning and Zoning Commission - July 13, 2026 - 2026-07-13 18:30:00 · Jul 14, 2026

Jeff Raun “I acknowledge the intent of this as an improvement to hold space for housing in the B-3 district, noting that an overwhelming body of evidence has shown B-3 district as um, apparently ideal for residential development in our community. And the competing uses and potential for uses at play here, I think, are balanced by not disallowing something that has existed but changing the way in which it could be allowed in the future.”

Anchorage Assembly: Planning and Zoning Commission - July 13, 2026 - 2026-07-13 18:30:00 · Jul 14, 2026

Andres Spinelli “I do not intend to support the motion as written. I'm happy with all the work in the purpose statement. I like it. I don't like conditional use situations.”

Anchorage Assembly: Planning and Zoning Commission - July 13, 2026 - 2026-07-13 18:30:00 · Jul 14, 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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

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

Bob French “I would like to object to the final recommendation point on page 4 for the floating right-of-way easement for the Knick Arm Crossing. As a member of the AMATS Citizens Advisory Committee, I cannot speak for them, but I do recall conversations that have taken place regarding whether or not the Knickarm Bridge and any of the easements or access points to that should be included in our current plans that are out in the municipality and also in the state. I recall Aaron Yonglin, who is the head of AMATS, actually saying that we could not really include any of the— any projects or things like that that would be related to the Knick Arm Bridge because the Knick Arm Bridge does not exist in any statewide plans. It doesn't— it's not in the STIP, the Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan. It's not in the AMATS municipal planning documents, and it's not— it currently has no funding or any other available— there's nothing to say that this project is ever going to actually happen.”

Anchorage Assembly: Platting Board - July 1, 2026 - 2026-07-01 18:30:00 · Jul 2, 2026

Mike Krasinski

“I have no objection to any update of any notes regarding the easement. I talked— actually talked to Bob Kiner of DOT right away, and he mentioned it, that it was just there as a placeholder like Shawn mentioned, in case the road is developed in the future.”

Anchorage Assembly: Platting Board - July 1, 2026 - 2026-07-01 18:30:00 · Jul 2, 2026

Kevin Cross “my understanding based on what I just heard is that we have two opposing plats. We have an MOA plat and we have a DOT plat, and we're talking about an aerial easement— excuse me, a floating right-of-way easement that's only on the DOT plat but not on the MOA plat, in which case Is there one that supersedes the other?”

Anchorage Assembly: Platting Board - July 1, 2026 - 2026-07-01 18:30:00 · Jul 2, 2026

Skyler Quinn “whether this plat note stays on or is— or gets removed is kind of moot point because it's already on the state plat. So, um, I agree with the logic of the, uh, of the presenter, and I think that I agree with Mr. Cross where a lot of plat notes are just not needed and muddy the waters more com— more often than not, but I don't really see removing this, um, making much of a difference.”

Anchorage Assembly: Platting Board - July 1, 2026 - 2026-07-01 18:30:00 · Jul 2, 2026

Mike Krasinski

“No, it has no immediate consequence to our development. It's more of—. It has to do with DOT. I mean, I—. It doesn't matter to me in development of however the Community Council wants to develop the land.”

Anchorage Assembly: Platting Board - July 1, 2026 - 2026-07-01 18:30:00 · Jul 2, 2026

Bob French “a lot of the toll revenue plans that were produced by Wilbur Smith Associates are frankly fraudulent. As an engineer, I could tell you that it's what we call reverse engineering. There were at least 3 different financial plans that they produced that had— where the numbers for traffic were clearly derived from the need for the toll revenues that they thought they were going to have. Frankly, you know, the project was shut down by Governor Walker, and it was shut down because really the state does not have $2 extra billion.”

Anchorage Assembly: Platting Board - July 1, 2026 - 2026-07-01 18:30:00 · Jul 2, 2026

Bob French “that is the actual realistic cost of the bridge that we produced back in 2010, and I could say that through the tariffs and cost of steel and everything else, that those prices are only going to be going up. So frankly, I think the best thing to do would be to either add additional comments onto saying that the Kinnickarm Bridge project would need to be fully funded fully developed in the municipal and state plans, or that it should be reduced completely, removed completely.”

Anchorage Assembly: Platting Board - July 1, 2026 - 2026-07-01 18:30:00 · Jul 2, 2026

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