Video Clips
Quoted moments from Alaska public meetings, hearings, and press conferences.
Nova Javier
“for the second round of voting, we do have a result, um, and they are as follows: Mr. Vizcocho, 4 votes, and then Mr. Brekke, 1 vote. So we have a majority vote for Mr. Vizcocho. Congratulations to Mr. Vizcocho.”Kodiak Borough: Assembly Regular Meeting of July 16, 2026 Part 2 · Jul 17, 2026
Nova Javier
“I will honestly, faithfully and impartially discharge my duties as a member of the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly, of the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly, to the best of my ability. Congratulations.”Kodiak Borough: Assembly Regular Meeting of July 16, 2026 Part 2 · 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
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
“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
“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
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
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
Mark Viscoccio
“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
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
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
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
Mark Viscoccio
“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
Janice 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
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
Janice 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
Amy 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
Amy 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
Amy 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
Janice 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
Janice 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
Amy Williams
“So I'm excited about the possibility.”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
“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
“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
Janice 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
“Yeah, big pot. It's a big pot.”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
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
Janice 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
Jared Griffin
“Ordinance number FY 2027-05, levying an area-wide marijuana excise tax, establishing the Community Well-Being Fund, and providing for voter approval of the tax.”Kodiak Borough: Assembly Special Work Session of July 16, 2026 · Jul 16, 2026
Rich Gonzalez
“I'm here to offer my wholehearted support for the appointment of Mark Vizcocho to the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly. I've had the privilege of working alongside Mark in several capacities, and when Mark commits to something, he gives it everything he has.”Kodiak Borough: Assembly Special Work Session of July 16, 2026 · Jul 16, 2026
Janice 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
Janice 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
Janice 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
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
“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
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
Janice 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
DeLena Johnson
“we've taken the S-Corp pass-through entity tax and added it on, saying we have to have that if we're gonna have gas line bill. They really aren't. They don't— one does not need to be there to have the other. And now we're going to end up killing our gas line with this because we can't separate out these two, these two subjects.”Alaska Legislature: House Floor Session, 7/16/26, 1030am
Sarah Vance
“HB 381 is not a gas line bill. Let me say that again. HB 381 is not a gas line bill. It's a tax restructuring bill.”Alaska Legislature: House Floor Session, 7/16/26, 1030am
Calvin Schrage
“foreign ownership reporting is improved. A significant change in ownership structure is defined as any change of 5% or more of the pipeline or 10% or more of other project components.”Alaska Legislature: House Floor Session, 7/16/26, 1030am
Ashley Carrick
“I was in the original 34 votes for the House version of this bill. I was in the 8 concurrence votes for this bill when it came back from the other body, and I will be a yes vote today because I want to build the line.”Alaska Legislature: House Floor Session, 7/16/26, 1030am
Bryce Edgmon
“the governor has already issued an executive proclamation to call the legislature back in session effective July 27th, 2026 at 10:00 AM. And this, I presume to be no matter what happens with the vote on this bill, that the executive proclamation has been issued.”Alaska Legislature: House Floor Session, 7/16/26, 1030am
Ashley Carrick
“A singular provision in a 45-page bill on a project as consequential as this should not be the reason today that we say no.”Alaska Legislature: House Floor Session, 7/16/26, 1030am
Calvin Schrage
“Previous language required at least a 1% adjustment and no more than 3%, guarantee— guaranteeing that costs to Alaskan ratepayers would climb at least 1%. That floor has been removed should we enter a period with low or no inflation.”Alaska Legislature: House Floor Session, 7/16/26, 1030am
Jennifer Gray
“the tax imposed under this section does not apply to— go to line 7— income of an Alaska liquefied natural gas project. So we heard earlier about a parasite being added to this bill that would kill this gas line project. Well, it wouldn't, because this gas line project is immune from the, quote, parasite, because it doesn't apply.”Alaska Legislature: House Floor Session, 7/16/26, 1030am