Juneau: September 14, 2026 Regular Assembly Meeting

We will bring the regular order for September 14th. Um, Ms. Youskandis, will you lead us in the flag salute, please? Thank you, Mayor.

Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Ms. Wall, would you read the land acknowledgement, please? Thank you, Madam Mayor. We would like to acknowledge that the city and borough of Juneau is on Tlingit land Indigenous peoples of this land. For more than 10,000 years, Alaska Native people have been and continue to be integral to the well-being of our community. We're grateful to be in this place, a part of this community, to honor the culture, traditions, and resilience of the Tlingit people.

Good night. Thank you. Madam Clerk, will you call roll, please? Thank you, Madam Mayor. Deputy Mayor Smith.

Here, Miss Hughes-Scandies.

Here, Miss Wall. Present, Mr. Kelly. Here, Miss Adkisson. Here, Mr. Steininger. Here, Mr. Brooks.

Here, Madam Mayor. Here. And we have Miss Halls absent. You have quorum. Uh, thank you, Madam Clerk.

That will go to our special order of business, and the first special order we have is the USS Ted Stevens Recognition Day proclamation. So, and I will thank Mr.— you could tell our port director in the back, but if you've seen him, he's in a big brace, so we won't make him come up to the front. So, whereas the City and Borough of Juneau is profoundly honored to welcome the United States Navy's newest Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Ted Stevens DDG-128 to Alaska's capital city during its historic port call from October 7th to 10th, 2026. And whereas this superb vessel bears the namesake of the late U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, who dedicated 4 decades of public service to the state of Alaska and stood as, stood as one of the longest serving senators in American history, leaving an irreplaceable legacy of advocacy for Alaska's infrastructure, safety, and citizens.

And whereas Senator Ted Stevens was a highly decorated World War II veteran whose lifelong commitment to strengthening America's national defense, supporting military families, and recognizing Alaska's strategic importance for global security is beautifully embodied in the mission of this state-of-the-art warship. And whereas the deployment and introduction of the USS Ted Stevens to active service reinforces the deep historical and enduring bond between the United States Armed Forces and the communities of the Last Frontier. And whereas this visit offers the residents of Juneau a unique and meaningful opportunity to express our community's deep gratitude to the commanding officer, crew, and families of the USS Ted Stevens for their vigilance, sacrifice, and dedication to protecting our nation's freedoms. Now therefore, I, Mayor of the City and Borough of Juneau, do hereby proclaim October 7th to 10th, 2026, as the USS Ted Stevens Recognition Days in the City and Borough of Juneau, and I encourage all citizens to extend a warm supportive and patriotic Alaska welcome to the officers, sailors, and families visiting our capital community.

So thank you for that, and we look forward to seeing the ship. Um, what the next item is, business, is the National Drive Electric Month Proclamation. Mr. Kelly, will you read that one? Thank you, Madam Mayor. Whereas National Drive Electric Month, formerly known as National Drive Electric Week, is a nationwide campaign held September 11th through October 12th, 2026, to help people learn about the benefits and practical use of all-electric and plug-in hybrid cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other forms of electric transportation.

And whereas the City and Borough of Juneau has long been an Alaska leader in electric transportation, supported by a growing network of public and private charging stations, continued investment in electric buses and transit charging infrastructure, and the work of CBJ staff and the Juneau Commission on Sustainability. And whereas, Juneau's transportation policies are reflected in the Juneau Climate Action and Implementation Plan, CBJ Resolution 2722, Supporting Electrified Transportation and Infrastructure, and the Juneau Renewable Energy Strategy. And whereas, electric transportation allows Juneau residents, businesses, and public agencies to use locally produced renewable hydropower in place of imported fossil fuels, helping lower transportation costs, improve local air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and keep more energy dollars circulating within the community. And whereas Juneau was the first Alaska city to participate in the National Drive Electric campaign, and 2026 marks the 13th annual Juneau EV Roundup, continuing a community tradition in which EV owners, businesses, public agencies, and residents share practical experience and encourage informed transportation choices. And whereas the Juneau EV Roundup gives residents an opportunity to compare vehicles, charging options, operating experience, and emerging electric transportation technologies through conversations with EV owners and participating businesses and organizations.

And whereas the 13th annual Juneau EV Roundup will be was held Saturday, September 12th, 2026, from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM at the Juneau District Heating Lot, 300 Egan Drive, featuring electric cars and trucks, electric bicycles, electric outboards, charging information, owner experiences, food, and family-friendly activities, with support from IBEW Local 1547, Juneau Hydropower Inc., The local Electric Vehicle Association, participating local dealers and businesses, and community partners. Now, therefore, I, on behalf of Mayor Weldon, Mayor of the City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska, do hereby proclaim September 11th through October 12th, 2026, as National Drive Electric Month in the City and Borough of Juneau, and call upon residents of the Alaska Alaska's capital city to learn about electric transportation, participate in the 13th annual Juneau EV Roundup on September 12th, and support practical locally powered transportation choices that strengthen Juneau's economy, energy security, and environment.

Thank you, Paul. You got the long one, apparently.

Uh, so with that, we'll go to approval of minutes. Mr. Kelly, I move that we approve the August 17th minutes as presented and ask for unanimous consent. Any objection?

Seeing none, those minutes are approved. Okay, with that, and, uh, sign up for public participation on non-agenda items is now closed, and we will go forward with a manager request for agenda changes? No changes. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you.

So that will bring us to the, uh, public participation on non-agenda items.

Um, so we have Deb Craig followed by Ron Klein.

2 Minutes, please.

Please state your name and area, town you live in for the record, and you have 2 minutes.

But you can start again. Start again. Thanks. Deb Craig, West Juneau. I'm the chair of the Juneau Commission on Aging, and I'm following up on my testimony of July 27th regarding capital access.

Juno Taxi, or GTS, the new provider as of November 2025, continues to struggle to provide paratransit services as required by contract. Issues include inadequate phone capacity for reservations, failure to pick up and deliver as arranged, safe driving protocols, meeting door-to-door requirements, and most importantly, understanding the unique needs of people with cognitive and physical disabilities. The JCOA— I am now being contacted to to a lack of responsiveness from the vendor, Capital Transit, and the manager's office, who have also been contacted multiple times. This is remarkable in that this vulnerable population already has constraints and challenges that frequently result in simply giving up rather than assertively pursuing help or mitigation. But the Juneau Commission on Aging has neither the capacity nor the authority to do anything more than advocate for our vulnerable seniors to the CBJ Assembly.

It's your job to ensure that the CVJ is managing contracts responsibly and in accordance with federal and state ADA requirements. If the CVJ is found to be in violation of federal transit requirements, there could be a corrective action, loss of funding, or this situation, if it continues to accelerate, could result in legal action from the ACLU. I implore the Assembly to require immediate corrective action with the contracted service provider or sever the contract and engage a contractor who has the demonstrated experience, skill, training, and will to do the service appropriately. Winter's coming and the CBJ needs to resolve these issues before it sets in. The safety and well-being of Juneau seniors and people experiencing disabilities is clearly at risk.

The lack of appropriate service could result in people not getting medical care, medications, or food. At worst, the lack of appropriate service could result in harm to Juneau's most vulnerable population. Thanks. Thanks. Any questions for Ms. Craig?

Ms. Huskandies. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Thank you for being here, Ms. Craig, uh, and thank you for being here again following your outreach before. Could you describe at this point in time the manner of the outreach that JCOA is receiving the complaints? So we, um, received a message from the clerk's office that somebody had contacted them, I think probably in response to my testimony June, July, late July, and I gave them my phone number and my phone number was shared, which is fine.

I mean, I think if people are frustrated because they're not getting return phone calls or they're not seeing resolution of some of these issues, that they just are going to continue to reach out to people who can possibly help them out.

Thank you. Yeah, please. Thank you very much for that. So it's from that first sharing of your phone number now? No.

People who are using the service have passed— are sharing your phone number with one another, or— Yeah, and I think that's inconsequential at this point. I think what's really important— I shared a personal experience with, um, GTS last December, which started my involvement in this process. I then have neighbors who have shared experiences with me. Now I'm getting the phone calls, etc. I've also talked to people who work at various organizations.

I did some outreach to the Pioneer's Home, to SEARCH. You know, I think you are all aware that SEARCH, because of the unreliability of the service of Capital Access, started their own shuttle service. The, the problem is that this shuttle service provides services for people to get to their medical appointments at SEARCH, but it doesn't carry anyone in a wheelchair. So if you're wheelchair-bound, you have to go through Capital Access. And, you know, the manager's office and I were sent videos of drivers talking on the phone while transporting, transporting wheelchair-bound clients.

Some other violations include a driver wearing earbuds while driving, which is illegal in Alaska, driving too fast, which creates a lot of movement for people who are wheelchair riders, drivers taking off before clients are buckled in safely, drivers not doing the door-to-door service, which is really critically important because part of the contract— I mean, you've all probably seen the contract with GTS, means that they have to get out of the van, go to the door, help that person back to the van, and do that on the follow-up. The driver's backing up on main roads in, in the van with passengers inside, and they're not— they're denying rides to persons acting as personal care attendants, which is also in the contract. So there's a lot of contract issues there that need to be resolved, and I think they're coming to me because they haven't seen resolution yet. If there have been outreach actions, I— Mr. Barr was kind enough to send me an email today and let me that they're following up on all the complaints, and that's great, but we need to see resolution. Okay, thanks very much.

Thank you. Any further questions for Ms. Craig? Mr. Kelly. Thank you. You mentioned another number of, of, uh, of issues.

Um, is all of that related to what, what people have been calling you? Heard anything else that you wanted to mention? Um, those are a number of the things that people have called me about. Um, and, and I have shared with you my personal experience with GTS last December. I've shared with you my neighbor shared her neighbor's experience with GTS being left at Foodland.

She was dropped off for her grocery visit and when she waited for her pickup, they— she called them and they told her, well, her pickup was arranged for the next day and I'm hearing that's really common. I've also heard, and I don't know how accurate this is, so I need to put that on the table, that the service is using AI, which is trying to generate appointments which may not have the correct follow-up dates, etc. So at the end of the day, again, the Juno Commission on Aging, we are an advisory commission. We are here to advise you on issues of concern to seniors, and this is a real concern because winter is coming, and that's a really critical time for people who need these services to get food, medicine, and get to medical appointments.

Thank you for your testimony today.

Next we have Ron Fine. And then followed by Chuck Cohen.

Hey, please state your name and area, town you live in for the record, and you have 2 minutes. Okay, my name is Ron Klein. I'm a photographer and I live in Mountainside Estates in Juneau. And I believe we have you to thank you for our background. I came here tonight to say goodbye to an old friend.

43 Years— no, 44 years ago, I took this photograph that you see on the wall.

I know it's fate. It cannot be saved. I did it with a camera that I still use that's 105 years old now. And a lens that was made in 1891. So digital, I'm sorry.

I could tell you a lot of stories about this image because I used to come and visit it all the time, and I was hoping that, you know, we know this image is going to be gone, but perhaps maybe a smaller one could be made for the new chambers, a real small one, maybe 20 feet long. Okay, it's, uh, it's had some wonderful memories. Annabelle Lunn, the Juneau newspaper reporter, when she first came to town, she didn't know where the assembly was meeting, but she saw pictures of you folks in front of the glacier, so that night she went out to the glacier.

So anyhow, the photograph is very historic. It's going to outlast me. It's going to outlast the glacier. And it's a nice piece of history. It's a nice piece of art.

I hope we can figure out a way to save it. And again, not this one that's on the wall because it's had its time. Got wall outlets drilled through it and leaking things, but it's okay. Think about how long it's been on the wall. Thank you.

Thank you. Any questions for Mr. Clyde? Thank you for your testimony tonight, and thank you for the great picture that's lasted many, many years.

Next we have, uh, Chuck Cohen and then Jody Garza.

Please state your name and area, town you live in for the record, and you have 2 minutes.

Good evening, my name is Chuck Cohen and I live in West Juneau. Um, for whom— those who I have not had the pleasure of prior acquaintance, I've arrived in Alaska in 1971. And have worked and resided here continuously since 1976. I am a lawyer and business person. During the past 49 years of law practice, I have served periods as contract city attorney for Wrangell and Petersburg, as well as extensive work in commercial and maritime law.

I am concerned about the published opinions expressed by Bob Bartholomew and Max Mertz regarding the Enterprise Fund transfers inconsistent with the city charter. Our city charter strictly limits how enterprise revenues for docks and harbors, the hospital, and the airport may be spent. It provides, in pertinent part, revenues from an enterprise, whether established before or after July of 1970, shall be first used for debt retirement, construction, acquisition, operation, and maintenance and repair and capital improvements of the enterprise. I had a conversation. I sent my remarks to the City Attorney for specific reason to get her input and views, and she has explained to me that she went back and took a look at the Charter Commission notes, and there was a suggestion in those notes that surplus may be transferred to the general fund.

I was unaware of that when I wrote these notes. And I'd like to take that into consideration.

Our municipal enterprises are supposed to operate like independent businesses. City ordinances, whether substantive or appropriations inconsistent with the charter, are not lawful regardless of the perceived exigent circumstances as they present themselves. If enterprise revenues exceed enterprise expenses, the surplus money may not be reappropriated to the assembly for city needs. And that's the principal question here, is—. Unfortunately, you're out of time.

I understand. You have your documents. I gave them documents there. I think you need to take into consideration, and my recommendation was to put the matter to the city attorney. The question of what is surplus is a very difficult question to answer.

Yeah, let me see if there's any questions. Any questions for Mr. Gilbert?

Seeing none, thank you for your testimony.

Uh, next we have Jody Garza and then Mary Pat Wyatt.

Please state your name and area, town you live in for the record, and you have 2 minutes. My name is Jody Garza. I live in the Valley, and I'm here on behalf of the Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce. In its May 18, 2026 budget letter, the Juneau Chamber of Commerce urged the Assembly to maintain the integrity of the CBJ enterprise funds. We are writing again to clarify what the principle requires and why it must be applied consistently across all CBJ enterprises.

Section 9.16 of the CB charter states revenue from an enterprise shall be first used for debt retirement, construction, acquisition, operation, maintenance, repair, and capital improvement of the enterprise. The phrase 'shall be used first' is mandatory and meaningful. The charter does not present enterprise funds and other municipal priorities as equal options, nor does it create an exception when there's a nexus to a CBJ need outside of the enterprise. Enterprise revenue must be used for the full range of needs listed in the charter. Only after an enterprise has addressed its reasonable current and anticipated needs should its revenue be considered for another purpose.

The December 1st, 2025 Assembly Finance Committee discussion about dockage fees illustrates our concern. Staff acknowledged the enterprise revenue would ordinarily remain with enterprise. Docks and Harbors has a long list of maintenance projects. However, despite the acknowledgment, the committee nevertheless directed the manager to use dockage fee revenue beyond current dock operations to offset general government expenses. Meeting current operating costs does not satisfy Section 9.16.

An enterprise may still have deferred maintenance, aging infrastructure, obligations, significant future capital needs. Enterprise boards and CBJ CIP already provide a process for identifying and prioritizing, prioritizing those needs. Revenue should not be declared excess before processes have occurred or be redirected in a manner that bypasses enterprise oversight or disregards voter-approved funding priorities. Legitimate transactions between CBJ funds are fundamentally different.

You want to conclude? I would like to conclude. Yes, the Chamber recognizes the difficult financial decisions facing the Assembly. Those pressures, however, do not lessen the importance of the charter. They make adherence to it even more important.

Protecting enterprise funds for enterprise purposes preserves public trust, respects established oversight and voter-approved priorities, and most importantly, safeguards long-term financial health. Critical and essential. Infrastructure for our community. Thank you. Any questions for Ms. Garza?

Ms. Hughes-Canings. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Thank you, Ms. Garza, for being here and for your testimony.

I just— as a follow-up, did the chamber seek a legal opinion on that? No. Okay, thank you. I guess not beyond the legal people that we have on the board. Thanks.

All right, thank you. Uh, next we have Mary Pat Wyatt and then Carol Bookless.

Please state your name and area, town you live in for the record, and you have 2 minutes. Hi, I'm Mary Pat Wyatt. I live in Douglas.

Um, as many of you know, I've been working at the City Museum part-time this summer since the two positions were cut, and then another professional position, uh, person left to take a more reliable job, which left the City Museum with three-quarter-time administrative assistant to run the museum for the summer. Um, so I've, I offered to work about 12 to 15 hours a week to be backup. We also, of course, have about 12 hours a week of a summer helper to help with that, that was funded by No Region. I just wanted to let you know quickly what the summer's been like. We have kept the doors open, um, about a little less than half time.

Wednesday through Saturday, 11 to 4:30. We received about half the number of visitors that we received last year. What we haven't done though is we've paused accepting donations. We have made no headway in the backlog of over 3,000 objects. We are not planning, we're not able to plan for next summer's exhibits.

Because we don't know who's going to be there, if anybody. We cancelled offering the summer walking tours. We cut back our winter schedule of exhibits from 6 to 3 for a couple of reasons. A couple of people thought, well, I don't know if I want to get ready for an exhibit because what's happening down there, and other people just had personal reasons.

We are not coordinating with our friends organization like we should be. We have not been updating our posters, so a lot of people don't even know what our hours are. Can you conclude, please? Your time was up. Yes, it is.

Does any— that's, that's about it. I just want— I've sent you all along a longer, just 3 pages that I hope you'll take a chance to read that goes into more detail. Does anybody have questions? That's my line. Does anybody have questions?

Seeing none, thank you for your testimony tonight.

And for those people on the Zoom, um, I can't see you, so you have to holler if there's questions. Uh, next we have Carol Bookless and then Larry Talley. Uh, Ms. Bookless, you signed up for several items, but you have to put them under 2 minutes. You can talk again at the nonprofit. Yeah, but Everything else has to go on the 2 minutes.

Okay, state your name and area of town you live in for the record. Yeah, Carol Bookless, and I live in Douglas. And as she said, I didn't understand that things were not being on the agenda, so I'll just quickly go over. Um, there's going to be a bike ordinance in the parks. I think there is an issue with kids doing wheelies down the middle of the street.

I don't think that an ordinance Basically banning 70% of electric bikes in the parks is going to deal with that, and I encourage you to maybe exempt seniors because I have not seen any seniors doing wheelies down the middle of the street. Um, another one is repealing the Sustainability Fund that actually requires that any money spent be repaid, especially since we're on Electric Vehicle Month. It seems kind of Um, not a good idea. And then the last thing was Telephone Hill. Right now there's a request for qualifications.

My concerns are that there is no real plan for the development, so I don't know what kind of qualifications you're looking for. Um, the people who are qualified maybe to do a large high-rise in Seattle would not necessarily be the people that we want to build something here. So yes, people, you can get qualifications up the whatever, but they aren't necessarily going to be valid for, for Telephone Hill. And some things that are not in the request for qualifications, nothing about long-term sustainability, nothing about net zero. If you don't know what that is, that means energy emitted is countered by energy taken out of the environment.

It's required in some states. There's no real choice of type of construction. They talked about concrete, but also platform wood has been suggested. Steel has been suggested. Most of those are not ones that local contractors would have, you know, used.

So basically, the RFQ is very local contractor negative. So yeah, that's the short form. There you go. And we do have another section at the end of the meeting if you want to stick around for that. Any questions for Ms. Bookless?

See none. Thank you for your testimony. Uh, Mr. Talley, please state your name and area, town you live in for the record, and you have 2 minutes. Thank you. My name is Larry Talley and I live in the Flats.

Uh, again, I want to thank you for your service and I appreciate the sacrifices you all make for the community. I'm sure it's significant. Um, I'm testifying tonight to bring a few things to your attention. I understand that Leland Consulting Group is currently drafting an RFP RFQ and RFQ evaluation criteria for Telephone Hill redevelopment. I remind you that the market analysis, which your frequently asked questions claims to support moving forward with Concept C, was developed by Leland Consulting Group.

As you will remember, it includes statements such as, to attract a developer, the CBJ may need to provide a subsidy even for market rate apartments, and Subsidy required beyond 12-year tax abatement. You exercise oversight over the redevelopment process. Please ensure that required public subsidies are fully quantified before you demolish the 13 dwelling units on Telephone Hill that are now standing empty. And until you know that the required public subsidy is achievable, please be responsible stewards of the public assets and protect those buildings from further damage. Thanks for listening.

Thank you. Any questions for Mr. Tally? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony.

Next we have Mary— I think it's Nelson— and then Fred Hiltner after that.

Mary Elefison, come on up. Sorry.

My name is Mary Ellison and I live in North Douglas. I'm here on behalf of the North Douglas Neighborhood Association Safety and Transportation Committee. We are deeply concerned about safety on our residential highway for both motorized and non-motorized users, for locals and visitors. The concern has grown as our May through October users drastically increased through various commercial tours combined with school buses and increased industrial traffic, to name a few. We have monumental changes on the way with Goldbelt's mega tourism project, housing developments, Eagle Crest future, the boat launch, etc.

For locals, North Douglas is, among other things, the CBJ's prime year-round recreation harvesting destination. In summer, we host bikers, joggers, berry pickers, hunters, wheelchairs, rollerblades, dog walkers, and community athletic events, and our bike shoulder is not legal with. Although the 2013 Comp Plan calls for, quote, a neighborhood plan for North Douglas to address current and anticipated neighborhood issues such as traffic, transit, and pedestrian safety, there is no plan or action to take care of this situation in the short or long term. We have met and connected with all of you over the last 10 months regarding a safety resolution we developed. We're meeting with Gold Belt.

We've talked to state agencies like DOT and ADF&G. We've participated in the CompAm process. The Visitor Industry Task Force submitted reasonable safety measures to DBMP, and we even attended your retreat last December. We've been told that the hesitancy to adopt our 5 safety resolutions is because our requests are already in place. Well, they are not.

I won't list them all, but I'll send them around for your reading later tonight. We are actively caring for the North Douglas Highway and its special surroundings for those who live here and visit, and so we are now curious about how we move forward regarding safety in our neighborhood with CBJ leaders.

Thank you for your time. Thank you for your testimony. Any questions for Miss Ellison? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony tonight. Uh, next we have Fred Hiltner and then Gene McBrien.

Good evening. My name is Fred Hiltner. Um, Madam Mayor and esteemed assembly members, uh, thank you for your service. Can you hear me? And the opportunity to speak.

Um, I'm a 40-year resident of North Douglas and have worked in the tourism industry as a wilderness guide, mountaineering instructor, boat cabin captain, helicopter skiing guide, etc. And even a few years as a kindergarten and first grade teacher here in Juneau. Last week— I'm a member of the, like Mary, of the North Douglas Neighborhood Association and our Transportation and Safety Committee. Last week, after one of our meetings, I sat down and pondered how much time we were dedicating to addressing the dangerous new levels of traffic full of kayak trailers pulled by SUVs, vans en route to the casino, trailers of bikes and vans and double-long rock trucks heading towards the Gold Belt tourist development at the end of our rural highway. In the midst of my puzzling, I had an epiphany as I thought, why are we having to fight so hard to keep our neighborhood safe?

Then I realized, wait, who is ultimately responsible for the safety and well-being of our citizens? Well, it's our mayor and members of our assembly. It's you. This is your job number one. You can place reasonable limits on tourism.

There are examples around the world and expertise available in our city of Juneau. You can place legal limits on ship and visitor numbers before our neighborhoods are no longer recognizable, and you must. I believe in you and request that you, one, learn about cities that have successfully controlled tourism to be a balance between keeping the integrity of their communities, along with the financial benefits of tourism. To immediately develop and impose information gathering systems, including tourism permits, that include ways to keep track of current and future vendors, numbers of guests, numbers of ships and vehicular traffic, and set reasonable limits. Almost done.

Um, 3, immediately develop and sell a safe, well-thought-out plan and infrastructure for future tourism that reflects your plan for promoting and safeguarding the safety and well-being of Juneau residents. Conduct—. I'm going to stop you there. You can certainly give that to us so we can read it later. Thank you.

Uh, any questions for Mr. Hiltner? Thank you for your testimony. Uh, next we have Gene McBride and then Joshua Adams.

All right, please state your name and area of town you live in for the record, and you have 2 minutes. Good evening, Madam Mayor and assembly. My name is Jean McBrien and I live in downtown Juneau. I am both a city museum volunteer and a member of the Friends of the Museum. I'm here tonight to urge the Assembly to direct a portion of any additional revenue realized— that you realize after the upcoming election toward— excuse me— fully restoring funding to the Junot Douglas City Museum, specifically to re-establish two vital positions: a permanent director and a curator of public programs.

Our city museum is not simply a repository for old artifacts It is a living memory of Juneau and Douglas. It preserves our stories, our mining roots, our pioneering families, and the rich history that makes this community unique. Operating without leadership and educational staff directly undermines the museum's core mission in that without a director, the museum lacks the strategic vision, grant writing capabilities, and administrative oversight needed to secure external funding and maintain long-term sustainability. Without a curator and public programs, our local school tours, public features, lectures, rotation of local artist exhibits, and community engagement initiatives are drastically curtailed or lost entirely. When and if Additional revenue becomes available.

We have a clear opportunity to reinvest in civic spaces that serve everyone. The City Museum generates real value. It enriches our local school curricula, attracts heritage tourism, and provides a welcoming space for residents to connect with our shared history. Please prioritize funding for a director and a curator of public programs so our museum will— can continue to serve this community to full capacity.

Thank you for your time and your leadership. Thank you. Any questions? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony.

Next we have Joshua Adams.

Please state your name and area of town you live in for the record, and you have 2 minutes. Hello, my name is Joshua Adams. I'm with Friends of Telephone Hill. I'm a local resident landlord with more than 30 years of experience in hospitality and property management. We've done a few shows.

You probably know me from the Alaskan Hotel. Yeah, my family's roots run pretty deep when it comes to the hospitality industry, and that's what I wanted to talk about today. As a member of the Friends of Telephone Hill, I'm looking at Telephone Hill about twice a month. I see something gets vandalized. It's really lamentable.

And I know that the plan is probably to destroy each and every one of those homes, but during the meantime, well, there isn't yet really a plan or a response to an RFQ. Why don't we make some money off of those houses? Eh, I'd like to offer my services as a property manager who's worked in the hospitality industry and an incremental developer to fix those houses up enough to rent on a month-to-month basis. The Juneau— Juneau doesn't— the CBJ doesn't have to lose any control over the properties if they rent them month to month, and 7 out of 13 of those units could be rented within a month or 2, just a minor cleanup. The other properties require some restoration, some more than others, but they could make some money.

And I would recommend that beyond the cost of the restoration, that we donate some of that money to the Juneau Douglas City Museum. And also to the victims of the Glacial Lake outburst flooding. There could be some money. There's some fat on the hog there. Just in the meantime, before we figure out where to go next.

Anyway, just because that— just keep me in mind. And friends of Telephone Hill, we want to do something good for the community. Now, that's all for now, and I'd like to ask if you have any questions. That's your job, right, Madam Mayor? Questions for Mr. Adams?

Seeing none, thank you for your testimony tonight. All right, that brings us to the end of public participation on non-agenda items. So we have moved to the consent agenda. Is there any public request for consent agenda changes other than ordinances for introduction? Seeing none, is there any assembly request for consent agenda changes?

Seeing none, um, Mr. Smith.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I move the consent agenda as presented and ask for unanimous consent. Is there any objection?

Seeing none, that's so moved. So, um, I think this next one will be a bit— so we're going to take a quick 5.

We will bring us back into session.

Item number 1, public hearing. Madam Clerk. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Ordinance 2026-32 lowercase b, an ordinance amending the Uniform Sales Tax Code exemptions under CBJ Code 69.05.040. Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Mr. Deputy Manager. Ordinance 2026-32B revises the sales tax exemptions applicable to qualifying nonprofit organizations. The ordinance narrows the existing exemption for sales, services, and rentals involving nonprofit organizations while establishing limited exemptions for qualifying social services and intermittent fundraising activities. The changes are intended to more clearly define the nonprofit activities eligible for exemption and limit the exemption to activities that serve the public purposes identified in the ordinance. The ordinance also amends the municipal exemption provisions to specifically include the Juneau Douglas City Museum sales, services, and rentals among the listed municipal activities exempt from sales tax.

The ordinance would become effective January 1st, 2027. This ordinance was initially reviewed by the Finance Committee at its May 13th meeting. The original ordinance discussed has been included in the packet. The Assembly Finance Committee made multiple changes at its June 3rd meeting before it was— before being introduced on June 8th, receiving public hearing on July 27th, where it was referred back to the Assembly Finance Committee. The Assembly Finance Committee subsequently reviewed the ordinance, amended it, and forwarded it to the Assembly at its September 2nd meeting.

SRC has also reviewed this ordinance. I recommend you take public testimony and adopt this ordinance. Thank you, Mr. Deputy Manager. Um, with that, we will go to public hearing. There's a few of you that want to talk about this first.

Go to Zoom, please bring over Mike Walsh.

Good evening. Can folks hear me all right? Uh, we can hear you just fine. Please state your name and area, town you live in for the record, and you have 2 minutes. Uh, thank you, Madam Mayor and assembly members.

Uh, I am actually Zooming in from my home in Fairbanks today. I'm Dr. Mike Walsh. I'm Vice President of Public Policy for the Four Acre Group. I have submitted more detailed testimony in writing today. In addition to capacity building for nonprofits across the state, as Alaska State Nonprofit Association, 4ACR advances nonpartisan public policy issues impacting Alaska's nonprofits at all levels of government.

This public policy role brings me to provide testimony for the assembly tonight on nonprofit sales tax. Exemption. 4ACRE has worked at the intersection of taxation and nonprofits in Alaska for years, which gives us a depth of experience on how the work— how it works or doesn't work in our communities. Tonight I speak on behalf of Alaska nonprofits generally, as well as those in Juneau who are the backbone of the local economy. Our latest economic report in 2023 shows Juneau's 387 nonprofits nonprofits constitute roughly 9% of CBJ's employment base and 7% of total wages, and they are joined by thousands of nonprofits that visit the Capitol every year to represent their missions and do business in the city.

We are deeply troubled by the proposal to tax mission-related revenue from nonprofit sales. We have heard from dozens of Juneau nonprofits and done our own research the negative impacts significantly outweigh the benefits. Most of the discussion, uh, so far has been on how to implement the ordinance, missing the larger issue of why nonprofits should be excluded from this conversation entirely. Nonprofits in Juneau exist to fill needs and provide services the government and the for-profit sector either cannot or will not provide. For every dollar taken in taxes, there is less mission delivered and more administrative burden for nonprofits and CBJ.

Additionally, any tax on—. Mr. Walsh, your time is done. If you could conclude, please. Yeah, any tax on nonprofit sales will stifle philanthropy and other financial investments. We certainly appreciate the effort of the city to explore new revenue.

Everybody's doing that, including nonprofits in Juneau and the state. We're proud to stand with the many nonprofits here tonight who have engaged in the policy discourse, and we also stand ready to assist the assembly and city officials with any support that ensures a fair tax policy. Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak tonight. Thank you. Any questions for Mr. Walsh?

Seeing none— oh, Mr. Smith, thank you. Go ahead. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Mr. Walsh, thank you for being here in writing. I did read your letter.

I guess just a question. From my awareness, there are numerous— or anyway, I'm aware of some municipalities within Alaska that do not exempt sales by nonprofits, I believe in some cases, in any way. I guess I'm just curious, is that just something that Fouracre doesn't believe is correct move? Does it— is it more just how it's implemented and if there's like transition? Or—.

And I guess if you don't believe— if a worker doesn't believe that, you know, that nonprofits don't have an exemption from sales tax, I guess, yeah, could you speak to like the data and things that you see about why? Mr. Walsh. Yes, uh, thank you, Deputy Mayor Smith. Uh, so over the course of our 25 years in existence, uh, we have kept a pretty close tab on what local municipalities are doing around taxation for nonprofits, and that's property tax and that's sales tax, which of course often includes the exemption conversation. Of the nonprofit of the municipalities that are— our research indicates that of those municipalities that do have an exemption, generally they are pretty broad, meaning they do not contain a lot of modifiers or, you know, things that particularly limit nonprofit exemptions.

There are some examples of communities that do that, Kenai being one, But I think our interest is not that nonprofits are not taxed ever, but they are taxed fairly and that they are taxed with respect to what's called unrelated business income. So nonprofits can generate revenue that is not related to mission, and that is indicated on the 990 tax forms, and that is certainly open to taxation. What we're concerned about is taxing the mission-related revenue, and that's revenue that goes directly back into the organization. It doesn't go into the hands of owners because we don't have any of those, but decreasing the amount of that revenue that goes back into the organization decreases the ability to meet mission. I hope I've answered your question.

No, that was, that was very helpful. Thank you, Mr. Walsh. Appreciate it. All right, any further questions? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony tonight.

Thank you. Uh, next, please bring over Taya Rebels, maybe.

Taja, thank you. I went the wrong way.

Goodness, she is Please state your name and area, town you live in for the record, and you have 2 minutes. And state your name correctly. Sorry for butchering it. No worries. My name is Taja Rebels, or Nefka Kuge.

I live in the Valley and work in downtown. So, Yakayhana America Assembly Members, Nefka Kuge, Heritage Foundation.

Executive Director. Ordinance 2026-13B. Good evening, Mayor and Assembly members. I am Neshka Rebels, Executive Director of Gold Belt Heritage Foundation. I urge you to oppose Ordinance 2026-32B.

Our programs connect to youth with Tlingit language, culture, elders, and education. This work strengthens belonging, wellness, and our community's futures. For GHF, any new taxable sales or services could bring additional accounting costs and redirect staff from away from programs. Passing the tax along could also make these activities less affordable. The proposal's narrow social services exemption risks overlooking cultural education and language revitalization as essential investments in community well-being.

Such activities are proven, evidence-based inventions for suicide prevention and positive youth development. As a former tribal health epidemiologist, I am deeply familiar with these tragedies that result in our current stats for our state. We've recognized Juneau's budget challenges, but nonprofits are partners in meeting community needs, not simply another revenue source. Please vote no, review other tax exemptions, and work with nonprofits on fair alternatives that protect our future families and children and cultural heritage.

Thank you for listening for my words. Any questions for Ms. Rebels? Seeing none, uh, gunalchéesh for your testimony. Next we have Scott Ferguson followed by Bridget Lujan.

Good evening. Please state your name and area, town you live in for the records, and you have 2 minutes.

My name is Scott Ferguson and I live in Auke Bay. I'm a volunteer board member of the Great Alaska Council of Scouting America, commonly known as the Boy Scouts and I'm here speaking on behalf of our board. I'm here tonight in opposition to the changes of the sales tax ordinance. The Great Alaska Council operates a camp located here in Juneau. If the proposed ordinance passes tonight, despite our federal nonprofit status and CBJ sales tax exemption, we would be forced to charge our members sales tax for attending programs on our property, which we need to operate to fulfill our mission outlined in our congressional charter.

We do not see how forcing nonprofit youth-serving organizations to charge 5% more for their programs, along with the additional administrative burdens heaped on organizations that rely heavily on volunteers, supports youth activities. From the CBJ Voter Information Guide, the 1% permanent sales tax and the temporary sales tax combined to fund basic municipal services such as youth activities. Supports youth activities— the very thing the voter guide implies will happen if voters approve extending the temporary sales tax this fall. What, you know, is really saying is we should fund CBJ youth activities on the back of non-CBJ youth activities. Using our children to solve budget shortfalls is disappointing.

Uh, thank you. Any questions for Mr. Ferguson? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony tonight. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Uh, next we have Bridget Lujan followed by George Uttermole.

Please state your name and area of town you live in for the record, and you have 2 minutes. Thank you, Madam Mayor and members of the assembly. My name is Bridget Lujan. I live off Back Loop Road I'm the executive director for Juneau Dance Theater, commonly known as JDT, and for transparency, I'm also a licensed CPA and business owner here in Juneau. You have a more lengthy letter from me, and hopefully you'll enjoy that when you are having trouble getting to sleep.

Um, JDT has been part of Juneau's community since 1975, organized under Alaska's nonprofit laws. Nonprofit corporation act for charitable and educational purposes and recognized by the IRS under Internal Revenue Code 501. Our mission is arts and arts education. It's why we exist. CBJ's own sales tax code administrative guidelines look to the Internal Revenue Code in the current ordinance 69.05.04.

So there's already a relationship there, an acknowledgement and recognition of the federal guidelines. Meaning previous policy has— sorry, previous policy decision that organizations recognized by the IRS under 501 are a meaningful and appropriate category for sales tax exemption. What I have a hard time understanding is the policy rationale for then carving out certain types of 501s as ineligible for the sales tax exemption. Though we are, though we have an important charitable mission, it sends a message that it's not important enough. Crafting tax law is tricky.

Our Internal Revenue Code is 3,000 pages, the regs are another 70,000. I get it. I understand interpretations have to be made and lines drawn, and I also understand, I truly do, the desire to protect basic human services food and shelter to those who need it most. But I question whether the city should be in a position of determining where to draw that line and what services and missions are important. In conclusion, please consider a mission-related exemption based on the federal UBTI, unrelated business taxable income framework, or some other reasonable threshold revenue, or in less frequent filings something to give small nonprofits some relief.

Thank you for your time. Thank you. Um, any questions for Miss Lujan? Thank you for your testimony tonight. Next we have George Uttermole and then Carol Buchless.

Good evening, my name is George Uttermole. I reside in Norway Point. Um, I applaud the assembly for trying to simplify the nonprofit tax exemption. I'm in favor of definitely simplified, easy-to-understand ordinances and rules. As an organization, um, first of all, I'm strongly believe that the language of this ordinance does not achieve a result of simplicity.

First of all, starting on page 2, lines 12 through 19, nonprofits. Sales by, uh, sales to a nonprofit, um, are exempt provided that—. In the last section says provided the exemption applies only to sellers if the income from that sale is exempt from federal income taxation. That means a purchase of an item or good or service by a nonprofit is only tax-exempt if it's made from another tax-exempt organization.

That proviso, it really complicates it. The second point is that on page 3, top of page 3, lines 2 through 7, sales and services made by a seller is exempt if he, if that seller, nonprofit seller engages in intermittent fundraising activities. I think you're meaning to say if when a nonprofit is engaging in nonprofit, in intermittent sales, it's exempt, but this is a wholesale exemption. Provision. If an organization has one garage sale, they engage in intermittent sale and therefore exempt them from this entire provision.

And I'd like to say, um, certainly, certainly just like to say I support a clear tax law. All right, thank you. Any questions? Ms. Hughes-Candies.

Thanks, Madam Mayor. Thank you for your testimony and thanks for being here. Oh, I have a question for you. You have to stay. Please don't go.

I mean, um, uh, I have a question and then maybe a clarification for you. So if, if you felt like this ordinance was clear, easy to interpret, are you in support of of taxing sales made by nonprofits?

I would say no. I would— once these drafting issues are overcome, there's still remaining issue of a kind of some carve-out for de minimis organizations. Okay. If I may, I'll give an example. The organization I'm with, Grateful Dogs of Juneau, our annual income reported to CBJ last year was $150, uh, 5% of that, $7.50.

I don't think the cost of making sure we filed our paperwork is going to pay for— is going to cover that, covered by the $707.50. Thanks. Okay, that's, uh, I appreciate that clarification. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony.

Uh, next we have Carol Buchlis and then Bob Urata.

Okay, I'm still Carol Bookless and I still live in Douglas. Um, I think that taxing sales of nonprofits is a bit of an oxymoron. They don't make a profit now, but let's make them tax collectors for us at their expense. If paying extra would go towards the nonprofit, I wouldn't mind, but I don't think that's what's happening. I like that some nonprofits are being exempted, like those that are providing food and shelter to people without.

And I thought bake sales were exempted too, but it sounds like unless they're a 503 or something federal exemption, they're not. So those kids on the corner who are selling lemonade better get ready for that one. But I have some questions. What about purchases of memberships such as to the Jack or Trail Mix or K2, are those subject to tax? I would like to see all the money I send go their way, go to them.

That is also why I buy stuff I probably don't need from nonprofits to help them out. I buy things from yearly auctions, but I think those are exempted. But I do need—. But do I need ivory cufflinks? Probably not, not right now, but maybe at some time.

If I had a free cup from KTO for my $100 membership, Yep, it's a pretty expensive cup, but it should not cost $1.05. I really don't want to send more money to CBJ to use it unwisely, which is why the propositions were started and passed and we're in this boat. Adding a bookkeeping or tax collection function to a nonprofit is not okay. Have you had an analysis if that bookkeeping—. Record keeping for tax collection is going to bring in more than it costs to collect?

Costs include software, bookkeepers, etc. It's not free. It is—. I'm 100% sure that adding the cost of tax collecting to a nonprofit's bottom line will take money away from the nonprofit if they're not big enough to have that bookkeeping function required. Now, building the city reserve on the backs of nonprofits is not okay.

Maybe the city can partner with some larger real retail—.

You can conclude—. Okay, who do Roundup already? Maybe Roundup for Parks and Rec, or Roundup streets, then people and retailers have a choice. I can guarantee that if some of the nonprofit sales cost more due to taxes, fewer people will buy from the nonprofit. Thank you.

Um, any questions for Ms. McLeese? Thank you for your testimony tonight. Next we have Bob Uriada and then Leslie Ishii. Hopefully I said your name right, Leslie. Sorry.

Dr. Uriada, please state your name and area, town you live in for the record, and you have 2 minutes. I'm Bob Urata. I live in Twin Lakes. I was born and raised in Wrangell, Alaska, lived in Juneau for 42 years, worked at Valley Medical Care for 34, and served on the Bartlett Hospital Board of Directors for 17 years. I'm here to speak against taking money from Bartlett Regional Hospital because money is tight, as cuts in Medicare, Medicaid reimbursements, rising number of folks who are unable to pay for their hospital care and emergency room visits, and bringing on new programs such as hospice and home care.

These cuts, in addition to your proposed cuts, will threaten the financial health of our hospital, leading to possible cuts in services, doctors, and nurses, and possibly affect the good quality of care we currently enjoy. The hospice program, which is dear to my heart, and, uh, uh, may need also to be cut. And that program, uh, was brought here to this assembly, and the hospital was directed to take care of it. I urge you to find another solution or compromise solution which will keep the hospital and its current programs going. Thank you for your time, and all the best in finding a better solution.

To, uh, the city's budget problems. Thank you. Any questions for Dr. Rada? Mr. Kelly. Thank you.

Um, you were saying that this, uh, somewhere in this ordinance that we're adding, um, adding a new, uh, taxation for, for the hospital. Um, I, I guess I, I— what I do see I look, I look at it in a sense as another taxation.

Yes. Okay, okay. It's another fee that goes to the city, which to me means tax because the city is putting it on. All right, I might follow up with you later. Thank you.

Oh, okay, sorry. No worries. Sounds good. Um, any other further questions? Seeing none, uh, thank you for your testimony.

We have Leslie Ishii and then Kevin Burns.

Please state your name and area of town you live in for the record. You have 2 minutes. Uh, Madam Mayor and esteemed assembly members, I am Leslie Ishii, honored to serve as the artistic director of Perseverance Theater, both on Douglas Island. We do not support Ordinance 2026-32. Our mission and values align with our mandate as a nonprofit organization to serve for public good.

It is not neutral— or let me go back— is my understanding that this ordinance was originally brought up and was deemed openly discriminatory some 10 years ago. And it is not neutral that, say, SHI, the JAC, the Juneau Symphony, and PT and other nonprofit organizations are being led by women, women of color, people of color. If we pass this ordinance, are we complicit with systemic racism and discriminatory patterns that circle back, cycle back, and are deeply embedded embedded consciously and unconsciously in the dominant culture of our society and structures. It's important to note that our nonprofits resist these cycles to contribute to the health and well-being of our communities. Our federal study presented at AFN 2 years ago showed the revitalization of art, culture, language, traditions, and ways of life increases health and well-being and lifespan.

Perseverance Theatre is actively contributing to this movement. Thus, Kootl'legaa, the Tlingit-Russian battles opera. This production is an example of increased empowerment leading to greater health and well-being, and it is clear that we, our nonprofits, must sustain to contribute to and keep our social safety net of the city and borough of Juneau strong. Also, it's unknown perhaps as a theater that we contribute hot meals to support our food insecure theater campers and families. We have and will continue stalking awareness and prevention training to mitigate MMIWP.

Our production of Cold Case addressed these issues, and Alaska, as you know, has the highest percentage of MMIWP. Also, nationally, our state has the highest percentage of BIPOC students in our school districts, the most underserved and underrepresented. So student matinees and our programming are at no cost to support our educational systems. In conclusion, this ordinance would perpetuate discrimination of past. Our organizations for public good do not make a profit off of our fellow citizens that are most underserved, that have need, and who benefit greatly from our services, some of who are the most vulnerable in our communities.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify. Aflang, Gwinnisjiih, how-ah, ndoyatsen. Thank you. Any questions? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony.

So next we have Kevin Burns and then Niamh Dardis.

You can correct me when you're up here. Please state your name and area of town you live in for the record, and you have 2 minutes. Thank you. Kevin Burns Douglas. I work alongside Leslie Ishii.

I'm the grants and development specialist at Perseverance Theater. Um, I have devoted my career to helping arts and cultural organizations remain sustainable I'm against this ordinance as it strains an already fragile part of our ecosystem and economy. I want to challenge the idea that this is just having us collect tax and isn't directly taxing us. We all know how organizations work. We are already immensely strained operationally.

We work with volunteer bookkeepers, volunteer board members, and treasurers. Implementing new collection and accounting processes harms us. It takes work. It takes money to do that. So the tax may be a pass-through, but the cost of collecting it is not.

Additionally, we work to keep ticket prices as low as possible. That's an accessibility choice. So when 5% is added at the register, most of us will lower our prices to hold the line for our constituents. Again, not a pass-through. That's a direct burden on the nonprofits themselves.

Lastly, I want to address the clause around 14-day windows. Um, while, uh, to achieve that exemption, we'll have to drastically narrow certain, um, of our fundraising efforts like raffle sale tickets. That's a pretty sizable revenue line for us. We can raise anywhere from $20,000 to $60,000 a year, but it takes us months to do that. We can't do that in a 14-day window, and having again to pivot like this to reach an exemption causes undue burden on us.

Thank you for your time. Thank you. Any questions for Mr. Burns? Mr. Kelly? Thank you.

I guess my question would be, so you were talking about you have various fundraising efforts, and I guess what would be the purpose of additional sales? Like, what is— I guess I'll leave it there. I'm sorry, referring to the specific time windows, or— No, I guess like, so you have a certain mission, you have certain fundraising goals, I guess. What does What does the— never mind, I guess I'm not doing good at asking questions, Dale. No, that's okay.

I mean, what I would say is, so for certain fundraising initiatives like raffles or tickets that we have to now squeeze into certain times, we would have to really restructure how we approach any fundraising because again, we can't raise that amount of funds in that short window. It takes much longer. And then anything beyond that, standard things like ticket sales, season ticket sales, stuff like that, again, we'll have to— we will absorb the cost because we will keep our prices the same just to ensure accessibility. Thank you. Thank you.

Anything further for Mr. Burns? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony. And then we have Niamh Dardis and then Rick Driscoll. Please state your name correctly for And where do you live in, for the record? And you have 2 minutes.

Um, good evening, Mayor and Assembly members. My name is Niamh Dardis. I live in Douglas, and I'm the president of the Juneau Skating Club. I'm here tonight to ask you respectfully but very strongly not to pass this ordinance as written. The Juneau Skating Club is a nonprofit run by a passionate 7-member volunteer board.

We work very hard every month to make skating accessible and affordable for Juneau families and to support the highest level competitive synchronized skating teams in Alaska. This ordinance would have real cost for our community, increasing the price of Learn to Skate and bigger skating programs, while also creating significant new administrative work for our volunteers to collect, track, and remit sales tax. And this comes after JSC has already absorbed nearly $18,000 in increased treadwell user fees this year. But our concern goes beyond the dollars. The ordinance is vague and creates unnecessary uncertainty.

It does not clearly define taxable nonprofit goods and services, and it places arbitrary limits on exempt fundraising—4 events a year and only 14 days for a donation campaign. Why? A fundraiser does not suddenly become something different on day 15. These restrictions create confusion and additional administrative burden. There are also unanswered questions about existing CBJ exemptions, including essential foods such as cookies, cakes, and bread, which CBJ currently identifies as exempt, while bake sales are specifically cited as taxable nonprofit activities?

And what about direct donation where no goods and services are exchanged? These unanswered questions create stress, confusion, expense, and the potential for costly mistakes. And please consider the unintended consequences. These costs land on families already struggling with rising prices. They land on volunteers already giving hundreds of hours.

And they force many of us to raise our fees, reduce scholarships, cut programs, and ask even more of our volunteers. This is not just a tax on a transaction, it risks becoming a tax on community participation. Junos and nonprofits, especially those of us in the youth sports community, are not simply businesses. We are people creating opportunities for children, giving families places to belong, and strengthening the community we call home. Could you include, please.

This is the last line. We are coaches who stay late, the volunteers who give up their evenings, and parents who organize fundraisers and many bake sales. Please do not create a policy that unintentionally makes this work harder. Thank you. Uh, thank you.

Any questions? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony. So next, next we have Rick Driscoll and then Josh Fortenberb.

Okay, people might need handwriting lessons, just for saying. Uh, please state your name and area, town you live in for the record. You have 2 minutes. Uh, good evening, I'm Rick Driscoll, Executive Director of Genoa Animal Rescue, and I live out the road. We recognize the fiscal challenges facing CBJ and understand why the assembly is reviewing tax exemptions.

But we have concerns about the approach taken in this ordinance. An earlier version attempted to identify nonprofit activities that were commercial or conducted in competition with for-profit businesses. Concern was raised that, that determining competition could be subjective, but we're not convinced when what replaced it is less subjective. It seems more straightforward to determine whether nonprofit competes with a for-profit business than to determine whether a charitable service service meets a basic life need. JARR is a good example.

We operate boarding, daycare, grooming, and retail activities that have private sector equivalents. We understand the argument for examining the tax treatment of those activities, but we also provide safekeep, temporary pet care for people experiencing domestic violence, mental health crises, homelessness, housing instability, and other emergencies. We provide subsidized veterinary services for people who otherwise may not be able to afford or access them. We adopt homeless animals into permanent homes, and we provide animal control services under the contract with CBJ. We don't believe those services should be subject to sales tax simply because they don't fit neatly fit within the proposed definition of a social service.

We also appreciate the effort to protect periodic fundraising, but a 14-day selling window isn't practical for established fundraisers, fundraisers that need to market events, sell tickets, and conduct auctions weekends, week, weeks in advance. We recommend at least 60 days. Finance staff previously suggested another option: clearly define the goals of the assembly wants this ordinance to accomplish and direct staff to bring an amended back, an amended version. We think that's the better path. We respectfully ask the Assembly not to adopt this ordinance in its current form, and instead continue working towards a more targeted approach.

If it does move forward, we ask you to address adoption fees, contracted governmental services, programs serving vulnerable residents, and increase the fundraising window to at least 60 days. Thank you. Thank you. Any questions? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony.

So next we have Josh Fortin. Berv, and then Matthew Sill. Please state your name and area of town you live in for the record. You have 2 minutes. Hello, uh, my name is Josh Fortenberry.

I live downtown. I'm here as the president of the Alaska Folk Festival. Um, on a philosophical level, I just can't agree with looking at the city's most threadbare and overburdened organizations to try to raise revenue. Um, I think you might have overestimated the capacity of a lot of us that have all volunteer boards or staff and no paid staff to figure out how to deal with this administratively. Um, on a technical level though, I think this proposed ordinance is extremely confusingly drafted, and I'm an attorney by trade.

Um, perhaps what's important for my organization that runs the Week-long Festival, as a lot of people have mentioned, the intermittent fundraising exception does not make much sense to me, um, both because the 14-day window is fairly unmanageable, but also it's not really clear to me what will qualify. So, you know, I'm not sure whether the festival, which is a week long, is a discrete campaign or gala. I'm not sure if the primary purpose of the event is to put on free concerts. Selling merchandise during that free concert means it would not be exempt because the primary purpose of the event is not to sell merchandise to raise funds. It's not clear to me, um, what a physical selling window is.

Does that mean when we make the— when we get the commitment for someone to give us money, or does it mean when we collect the sales? So if we collect all the money within a 14-day window, but we asked for commitments to buy things ahead of time. As long as we do the collection within a 14-day window, does it qualify? I mean, it's all super confusing to me. Um, so I don't think this is at all ready for primetime.

Not that I agree with it on a philosophical level anyway, but I'm just not sure how we would implement this. Um, for my treasurer, who's a volunteer and does not do this as their full-time job, having to figure out when and how to collect and remit sales taxes would be extremely difficult. Difficult. Um, and then there's sort of— I guess I just want to emphasize that local nonprofits have missions intended to improve the quality of life for people in Juneau, and particularly people who can't, you know, rely on for-profit organizations to provide fundamental services, um, and especially arts education and programming, which we offer for free. Um, so I just think passing on taxes to these organizations is sort of a wrong-headed way to try to fix holes in the city's it.

Thank you. Uh, thank you. Any questions? Seeing none, thank you for testimony. Next we have Will— excuse me, Matthew Sill, and then Jody Neal.

Please state your name and area of town you live in for the record. You have 2 minutes. Thank you, Madam Mayor, uh, members of the assembly. Um, good evening. My name is Matthew Sill.

I live downtown and I sit on the board of the Friends of Juneau Community Charter School, a 501 supporting one of Juneau's optional school pro— public school programs. I'm testifying in support of maintaining the sales tax exemption for small nonprofits. First, this ordinance is premature given the 2026 ballot propositions A, B, and C. Juneau's budget gap has narrowed as higher prices have generated more tax revenue, easing the urgency for new revenue. Voting on new taxes before the voters decide on the proposition risks undermining their support. I urge the Assembly to table this vote until after the election.

Secondly, if this ordinance must pass, please raise the fundraising event cap. 4 Events a year is manageable for a nonprofit with paid staff, but a much heavier lift for volunteer-run organizations where an unpaid board member is tasked with sales tax compliance on top of everything else. I'd like to ask you to raise the cap on for all nonprofits, or set a higher threshold for organizations organizations with no paid staff, keeping the exemption focused on volunteer-run groups whose contribution to sales tax revenue is minimal anyway. Thank you for your time. Thank you.

Any questions? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony. Next we have Jody Neal and then Lee Kanger. Please state your name and area of town you live in for the record, and you have 2 minutes. Thank you.

My name is Jody Neal and I live downtown. I'm the president of the Board of Directors of Juneau Animal Rescue, and I am here to talk about the proposed ordinance 2026-32B. I'd like to ask that the assembly either hold off on voting on this ordinance tonight or just don't— don't adopt the ordinance. The structure of nonprofits is very intricate and not one size fits all, and the current categories you have outlined that sales and services must fall into is is very limiting for these organizations, and I feel warrants more consideration. Specifically, key services offered by these organizations such as Juneau Animal Rescue, our low-income spay and neuter program, and the animal control services would most definitely be negatively impacted because the language of what falls within the confines of the exemption is very narrow, narrow and subjective.

Additionally, several folks have spoke on this— nonprofits operating fundraising events would be negatively impacted by by being held to the 14-day window. A good example of this is JARS' recent pet photo contest fundraiser that ran for a month. Sometimes it runs for 6 weeks, in which members of the community submit photos of their pets to compete for a spot in our Juno Pets calendar. This fundraiser, surprisingly, is one of JARS' most successful fundraisers and raises money to help fund the programs that allow JARR to help so many animals in our community. If the fundraiser were held to a 14-day window, it would drastically limit the success of the event, which would be a huge detriment to the organization and the programs this fundraiser supports.

So I would, you know, echo other folks, maybe a longer window. Lastly, the cost to nonprofits to update software and programs to be able to accommodate these required taxes could be very expensive. Expensive, not to mention increase administrative burden on organizations that are either volunteer-run or have one administrative person who's already completely maxed out within— with their current day-to-day workload. Ultimately, I'm afraid the consequences of this proposed ordinance haven't been thoroughly considered, and I'd like to ask the Assembly to refrain from taking action on this agenda item tonight and rather make time to work with local nonprofits nonprofits to find a more workable solution. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you for your testimony. Any questions? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony. So next we have Lee Kanger and then Maggie McMillan.

Please state your name and area of town you live in for the record, and you have 2 minutes.

I'm going to set my timer so I can stay on time. Last time I didn't do a very good job.

All right, Madam Mayor and honorable assembly members, my name is Lee Kadinger. I'm the Chief Operating Officer for Sealaska Heritage. I live in Douglas. Sealaska Heritage Institute could support the collection of sales tax from nonprofits as long as equally applied to all organizations. Past Assemblymember Rob Edwards' letter to the assembly highlights SAI's serious and pointed concerns, and I hope you've had a chance to review it.

When CBJ starts picking who the tax applies to through clever verbiage, the conversation changes back to the original discriminatory intent of this conversation from 8 years ago—taxing Sealaska heritage because who we are and what we do and how we do it. The past intent cannot be simply washed away. Earning revenue through fundraising is one of the many ways SHI goes about its mission of perpetuating and enhancing Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian cultures and providing economic employment opportunities in our community. We believe that there are cleaner and more convincing ways to generate revenue which the city needs without looking at nonprofits first and foremost. Following the logic and rationale that the city has already adopted Why is the debate not about taxing lobbying, a $22 million industry, before nonprofits?

While we appreciate the hard work done by our city leaders, we recommend that the Assembly adopt a public process to review the 40 other tax-exempt categories that could generate revenue for the city before implementing this ordinance. Why are other exemptions still considered worthy of protection while the Assembly is suggesting that SHI and nonprofits are not. In conclusion, we didn't choose to fundraise through pull tabs or raffle tickets or bingo or popcorn or cookies, calendars, hot dogs, or hamburgers, or the many things that traditionally are used to raise funds.

Sorry, we choose to sell artwork made by almost 300 artists who live throughout Alaska, many who live in Juneau. Those proceeds are 100% pushed right back to arts and culture programs. No for-profit business model has this model. I strongly urge you to vote against this ordinance. Thank you.

I tried to stay on time. Any questions? Oh, come back. Um, Ms. Hughes-Candies. Thank you, Madam Mayor, and thank you, Mr. Cunningham, for being here and for your testimony.

If you felt like an ordinance was treating all nonprofits equally, would you be supportive of that ordinance? Sure. And Sealaska Heritage has been clear that we don't want to see reductions of services in our community. Uh, there are programs that are important to our youth. There are programs that are important to many of our citizens.

We don't want to see those taken away, and so we do want to be be a good partner and help contribute if it comes down to that. But as I look, as we look at and see other exempt services such as lobbying, which under the same logic would be paid by large corporations who normally hire lobbyists, why is that not being put before nonprofits? We, we do feel that there are other ways that could be looked at to generate revenue, but if nonprofits nonprofits need to be a source of that revenue. We're already here for our community, doing that hard work for our community, and likely would step up to the plate to help there. But we believe that there's other opportunities.

Okay, thank you.

Seeing nothing further, thank you for your testimony. Thank you. Next we have Maggie McMillan and then Tara Thornton.

Please state your name and area of town you live in for the record. You have 2 minutes. My name is Maggie McMillan, and now I live downtown. Uh, I am here today as the executive director of the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council. I have followed the CBJ budget process very closely for years in my previous role as executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, and now in my current role, I have made it a point to come to many finance meetings.

I know the hard work that you guys are going through, and I appreciate you looking at places where you can increase and reduce, and I know those are not easy.

Um, I want to recognize that our nonprofits operate and directly benefit your community. Um, what affects— and we all rec—. There's over 240 or nonprofits in Juneau, and we are all very different. So what affects me at the JAC is very different from smaller nonprofits, but I'm going to talk about 2 things that I'm very concerned about from the JAC's perspective. Um, the first one is rentals.

The JAC rents performance and community space. If customers have to pay sales tax with me but not at the churches in town that also operate as art spaces, you've just created unfair competition. But my greatest concern is raffles. Um, I know that I tend to do large raffles. 3 Months is what makes our raffles successful.

We're about to launch a 3-month raffle. We will need every bit of that time to make the money. That money we will use to continue our mission, which benefits your citizens. Um, my— that's a 3-month raffle. As I was sitting here, I kept thinking about how many of you buy the yellow tickets from any Juneau athlete.

That's the same raffle all year. That's $10 tickets. Are you going to keep buying $10 tickets if you have to pay sales tax on it? And I know those people aren't here because they're small nonprofits. They don't have staff.

They're not like me who are watching this. So I just want you to take your time on this. I don't think it's fair across the board. Not everyone has an executive director who's going to show up and testify today. Not everyone knew this was coming down the pike.

So please be thoughtful and remember that one size fits all does not work in nonprofits. Thank you. Any questions for Ms. McMillan? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony. Uh, next we have Tara Thornton.

Hello, my name is Tara Thornton. I live in the Flats. I volunteer at Juneau Animal Rescue, and I was awarded as their Foster of the Year for 2025. I'm asking you to amend this ordinance to protect nonprofit animal welfare services, particularly low-income spay/neuter programs. Juneau Animal Rescue isn't simply a nonprofit selling a service.

JAR is an organization that our community relies on. One of the most effective ways we can reduce the burden on that system is to prevent unwanted kitten and puppy litters in the first place. JAR provides income-qualified spay and neuter services specifically for families who otherwise may not be able to afford them. In 2023 alone, JAR performed 563 spay and neuter surgeries, including 103 low-income qualified surgeries. Pet owner surgeries.

I've seen firsthand what happens when people cannot afford these services. Please do not create a cost barrier to make this more difficult. One unspayed female cat can quickly become multiple litters of kittens needing homes, foster care, veterinary care, and shelter resources. Adding sales tax to a service that someone already has a hardship to afford works against what we're trying to accomplish as a community. Preventing an unwanted litter is far less expensive and more humane than caring for those animals after they're born.

I understand the city's goal and making the nonprofit sales tax exemption more consistent, but I don't believe the charitable service should be treated the same way as an ordinary commercial activity simply because the recipient happens to have 4 legs. Please either broaden the definition of nonprofit social services or create a specific exemption for nonprofit animal welfare services, including low-income spay/neuter, vaccinations, microchipping programs. These programs serve people with limited resources, protect animal welfare, and reduce demand on a public service the city already pays for to provide. I'm happy to answer any questions or show you pictures of my current foster kids that are available for adoption.

Any questions for Ms. Thornton? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony.

So, uh, that brings us to the last of our public testimony. So, uh, we will bring it back to the assembly.

Miss Youskandies.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. To get us started, I will move that the assembly adopt Ordinance 2026-32B.

And I believe there are amendments in the wings, perhaps. Mr. Kelly, thank you. I will object.

Um, I guess this isn't quite an amendment. I, uh, I would move to refer this back to the Finance Committee for the purposes of amendments, and once that has been completed, to refer this further to back to the Systemic Racism review committee, along with the public testimony we've heard today, to address any issues that might have been raised. I can speak to my motion. Go ahead. I believe that this opportunity to hear public testimony has brought to light many things that maybe we haven't thought of.

I myself have proposed posed quite a few amendments to this. I see that the Madam Mayor has also passed out an amendment. I see other yellow folders around here, so I think there might even be more amendments. I, I think, um, that this might be prime to take back to the finance, and I think we can do a better job of amending it there. We can consider any, any issues that have been brought up today or any issues that we haven't really considered yet.

I know I agree with Mr. Steineger, what he said in Finance Committee earlier, that this hasn't been rushed, but I still think that we can do with a more thorough review. And I, I believe that our Systemic Racism Review Committee, when they reviewed this ordinance for us earlier, they might not have had the experience that we've just had of Mr. Edwardson's letter that he sent to us, of the public testimony that we've heard tonight, both addressing possible racism issues. So I think a more thorough review by our Finance Committee and our systemic racism review committee is warranted. Any objection? Ms. Wall.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Um, I guess, you know, this is my last meeting, so, so I'm not sure how, um, much my opinion matters here, but, but I guess I I feel like this has been a long road, um, and this is a very complex issue. I feel like the more layers we, we pull apart, the more layers exist. You know, I'm not going to say don't send it back to committee because I, I agree with all the critique that has been, that has been spoken tonight about this current version. But honestly, I'm not sure this body is going to get to a place where they can agree on the shared goals and pass a, pass an amendment here, or sorry, pass an ordinance here that moves forward with removing a nonprofit exemption.

So I just think it'll be a good conversation for this group whether you do really want to go back and try to do some more work, or we want to let this thing die tonight. Because that, that would be my recommendation.

Any more comment on the amendment?

Seeing none, I'll go ahead. Miss Huskies, um, I think Mr. Brooks was before me. Okay, um, Mr. Brooks and then Miss Huskies, and then I'll weigh in.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. And you know, I'm just Speaking for myself here, I definitely don't want to see the taxes being applied to, you know, ticket sales for a show or, you know, these, these smaller activities that are very clearly within the guidelines of nonprofit activity, fundraising, things like that, like all the time that you guys have taken to come out here, give us public testimony is like, it's more, you know, it's unnecessary in multiple ways. I feel what my intention and thought from the get-go with this was to address you know, very clear examples of unfair retail competition through storefronts, although the definition of the storefront doesn't necessarily make it or break it in the sense. The examples that are most clear and apparent in my view are the stores like Salvation Army. St. Vincent's.

These are organizations that do so much good work for the community, but when you have a built facility that's been operating for decades doing the same kind of business activities year-round that private businesses do, and then those same organizations receive grants that have been collected from those private businesses that's where it's not a fair and clear definition of fundraising. You've kind of fallen out of that. And what I was hoping to address was, you know, those blatant outliers in that sense. And, you know, with the testimony that we've gotten and you know, kind of the amendments that have come, been coming up, I think there is a path forward and a way to do this. Um, but when it gets to the point of, yeah, are, you know, are we going to tax someone on $150 worth of annual revenue?

That's wild. That's wild in my mind. But a storefront that's been established for 40 years and does hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue out outside of the social services that their mission statement has clearly defined for them to operate within, well, that's something that needs to be addressed. And I know that we had Ms. Lujan up here and other individuals talking about, you know, tax bracketing on the federal level that falls outside of what the specific guidelines for their nonprofit activities are. Whether it's done through that kind of avenue or if we do something similar in a sense through our local ordinances.

I think that that's the path forward, but just for me on a personal level, that's where I'm coming from and where my thought was for intention on this. And, um, apologize to all the smaller nonprofits if, if, um, you know, an intention was given otherwise, in a sense. Thank you. Uh, thank you. Uh, we have Mr.— sorry, Ms. Hugh Scandies.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I have a question for staff, and then I have some thoughts that pertain to my opinion. Is that kosher for you? On the amendment, on the amendment, on the, um, amendment to the—. We're objecting for purposes of question.

You exactly, Madam Mayor, took the words out of my mouth. Mr. Barr, and maybe, uh, Ms. Flick is on the line, I don't know, are nonprofits currently who make sales supposed to record them?

Yes. And the process as it currently stands is that nonprofits record those sales and then they're exempted from remitting the tax on those sales. Is that correct? That's correct. Okay, thank you.

Okay, um, Madam Mayor, I will preface this by saying, um, or to the— not just to you, to the whole assembly— that I'm in the same position that Ms. Wall is in, in that I don't personally think anything is going to happen tonight. I don't I don't think this ordinance is going to be adopted as is. And the subsequent work that will be done, I will not be a part of. So I will share my opinion that I took some notes on as I flew across the country today, but it will be in your hands to decide what to do. And also because I really appreciate the contributions of everyone who took the time to come in.

Come on this night and share your, uh, your experiences and your opinions with us. I just want to go back to kind of our background for this. The reason the work on this ordinance— this all started because of that 3-person group that worked together to identify which pieces of our standing exemptions as it stood today might be worth addressing to find more revenue, to get additional revenue. That was the whole purpose of that group. And I think the shorthand of how we approached that was to look for things that were higher dollar amounts, so maybe more worth the time, uh, of staff and the assembly not the, the teeny ones, higher dollar amounts and things that we thought we had a reasonable chance of getting 5 votes on.

Because I would agree with folks in the audience, there are certainly some of our tax exemptions as it stands that I think are really obvious low-hanging fruit. Um, some that we talked about in the previous, uh, budget process, like the single item sales tax tax cap, and I feel passionately about that. But if 4 of my friends don't feel as passionately as I do, or lobbying, then we don't get anywhere. And that wasn't based on the changes to reduced revenue anticipated because of the ballot initiatives, inflationary pressures, um, high-dollar projects on the horizon, knowing that we would need match for flood work and things like that. Uh, in that process, we repaid a huge debt slash loan by getting out of the gondola deal, and an overwhelming desire from— for continued services, if not increased services, expressed by residents.

So I just— that's a lot of words, but I just want to say that as a backdrop backdrop for that. There is no doubt in my mind that all of the missions are worthy and increase the quality of life and do a lot of good things for us. But all of the backdrop for this is the need to find additional revenue to keep providing services, because we're either cutting services or finding additional revenue and that what that magic number is is still in the ether, but that is the reason for all this work on this ordinance. Um, I do think there are other good exemptions left out there. I already mentioned the single item one that's worth looking at.

I think it's worth considering whether this is still a goal you have. Um, I think for me, at the end of the day, when I look at the dollar amount that could be generated, then I think it is worthy. But I— the reason I asked one of the testifiers tonight was whether they would support it if it treated everybody equally. I think it's important that it be stripped as cleanly as possible so it is extremely clear, but that it treats all the nonprofits equally, um, would be my advice. It does add add some administrative burden, which is why I ask if they're supposed to be tracking sales right now.

Probably staff will hate me for saying this on a microphone, but there is no question in my mind also that we don't have 100% compliance on lots of things that people are supposed to be doing. And I don't think that the kid on the corner selling lemonade or selling a bake sale needs to watch out because because that is not something that the city is coming to bust them on. So, you know, someone said they would be responsible for $7.50. I'm not saying that everybody shouldn't follow the law, but I also know that I don't think CVJ is going to be knocking on your door anytime soon. So all of that is a very long-winded way of, uh, of saying that I do think there's still some worth in you looking at this, but I think it is important when you get to that committee that you keep it equal and that you make it— have real rational reasons for every carve-out that you do.

And I would recommend that you do not add many carve-outs. Um, and the only thing I will add about the social service carve-out that we added that I would I think there is reason for that. And when you revisit it, I would look at what services a city would need to provide were a nonprofit not doing them. And to me, there's a slight difference between those things. So if you think if this, this service went away, we would have to provide that service, that might be worth leaving in there.

So thanks, Madam Mayor. Your 2 minutes is up.

Uh, Mr. Steininger. Um, thank you. And I too actually, um, you know, if we're going to be allowed to ask some questions of staff that may not be directly related to Mr. Kelly's amendment, I also would like to do so. Um, so there are a couple of concerns that I heard brought up by testifiers this evening that I wanted to address. That, you know, I believe are cared for elsewhere in our code.

So I just wanted to address it. Dues and memberships paid to nonprofits, those are currently exempt over, I think it's 11 in our list of exemptions. Is that correct? That is correct. Thank you.

And if a nonprofit is operating a kids camp, whether it's a day or overnight camp, that's exempt under, I think it's 29. Is that accurate? That is correct as well. Thank you. And then sales, contracted services with governments, that is exempt as well.

I don't know that that's actually one of our ordinances, but that is also an exempt sale. That's correct. Thank you. I just wanted to clarify that because I wanted to make sure that, you know, while you folks are in the room, because if we do kick this can down to the, you know, the Finance Committee, that, that's understood, that, you know, some of the concerns that we've heard tonight, you know, are already cared for elsewhere in ordinance, and we are not looking to change that. We are not looking to tax dues or donations or membership fees or anything like that with nonprofits.

That never has been our intent. Never has been our intent to try and tax kids camps, summer camps, things like that. I just want to make sure that that's understood, and to put that on the record to make sure that in the future, if somebody— if this passes and somebody's trying to apply this in the tax office, they don't, you know, apply it outside of our intent.

To the underlying amendment by Mr. Kelly, I kind of struggle with this because it's— if we kick it to finance, yes, it gives us a little more room to refine and amend. I know I have an amendment that addresses other concerns that, you know, weren't concerns fixed by my sticky note. I know there's other amendments to address things that we've received in emails. A lot of work has been done since, you know, we initially got that October 30, 2025 memo from Director Flick on these issues. As we dove into that process of evaluating all 40 or 40-some-odd exemptions that we have in code, we have been doing met for almost a year now, working through that process, working through them one by one.

Some of them didn't get a hearing here, but you know, that was because, as you know, Ms. Hugh-Scandies pointed out, some of them we just knew, you know, they weren't going to have the votes, or they weren't— the juice wasn't worth the squeeze. Um, so I struggle because I feel like we have the ability to get out of this evening with something that cares for most of the concerns, that gets to the the core intent of ensuring that when there's business activity happening, it's treated— the customer is treated the same, kind of regardless of where they're going, but that we don't harm our community partners. And that's the goal of the amendments I've pushed— put forward before, and, and the ones that I have planned for the evening. I think we can get it done tonight. I think we could.

I think it's better than kicking the can down the road. But if, if the will of the body is to push it, and otherwise it dies this evening, I think it's maybe better to make it, make it more refined. But I personally would rather get the work done this evening. Thank you.

Thank you. And seeing no further hands, I'll weigh in. So as you've seen, if you've paid attention to the previous meetings, I have voted for this.

However, reading countless emails and I, and hearing some of you tonight, just so you know, it's not the pleas that are getting me. You guys did a really good job though. It's the confusion that seems to be creating, and that's what's troublesome to me because I don't like any legislation that's confusing and many different ways to interpret it. So, and trying to carve out smaller entities, that was my amendment tonight, is to go with a $50,000 But it seems to be able to potentially create some inequity, which is not what we want. And after Liz talking with the finance director, I don't think the amount of money that we would have raised with this is the amount of money that we initially thought.

I think it would be much less than the $3 million. So for that and the trouble that it would cause a lot of our nonprofits, just again, just because of the confusion. I have a problem with this now. So, and we send things to committee when we think that there's a path forward with some work. I don't think there's a path forward with some work.

I think any amendment is going to create problems because the more amendments we try to dial in, the more we're going to mess up with somebody else. And I think it's just difficult. So at this time, I'm going to vote against Mr. Kelly's amendment, and I think I'm ready to lay this for rest for now and look at other ways we can potentially raise revenue.

Okay, so we have an amendment on the floor. Mr. Kelly, you've already talked. I'll move to withdraw.

Which people can object to if they want to keep this on.

Does anybody want to keep the amendment on the table to move it to committees?

Seeing none, so you can withdraw. So we'll go back to Ms. Wall.

Madam Mayor, would this be an appropriate time to make a motion to table this indefinitely. Certainly. I believe I get to speak to this, but there's no debate. Um, I— in it— but I think I, I already did. I, I don't see a path forward for this.

I— listening to you all, I think people are still coming from different, um, directions. Um, and so I just— I think it will be, um, a bunch more time for the assembly, um, to continue to, to work on this. So my, my advice is we, we don't vote on this, we just put it on the table, um, and future leaders can decide to take it up again.

Thank you. I'm looking for the attorney. Is tabling appropriate or postponing it indefinitely? We always get— have a hard time with that one. Um, so if you table something, if you do not bring it back at the next meeting, it's done, it's killed, um, and you have to start completely over with a new ordinance, new concept, and new everything.

So that, that is an appropriate motion if that is what you're intending to do.

All right, so we have a new amendment on the floor, um, Are there any objections? Let's start with that. Mr. Steininger, while you consider what you're doing—. Oh wait, yeah, that's not debatable. It's not debatable, is it?

The table? Not debatable. Not debatable. So never mind, we have a motion on the floor. Madam Mayor, can I have a 1-minute at ease, please?

Certainly.

Yeah, yeah, that's all I care. They should just say, like, okay, maybe, maybe.

Okay, we have clarified. I can't ask for objection, but no one can speak to there. Is there any objection to Ms. Wall's motion?

Mr. Steininger? Oh, never mind, I can't speak to it. It's kind of different. So, all right, we have a motion on the floor, um, as amended, and we have objection. Madam Clerk, will you call roll?

Thank you, Madam Mayor. For Miss Wall's amendment to table indefinitely ordinance 2026-32 lowercase b, Miss Wall? Yes. Mr. Steininger? No.

Miss Adkisson? Yes. Mr. Kelly? Yes. Miss Huskandies?

Yes. Mr. Brooks? No. Deputy Mayor Smith? Yes.

Madam Mayor?

Yes. With 6 yeas and 2 nays, motion carries. And thank you. So now we're back to the main motion as amended, or is it just table? Never mind, it's just tabled.

Thank you for the lessons in Robert's Rules. Um, with that, let's take a break so people can talk to people in the audience. 10 Minutes.

Will bring us back into session. Um, uh, thank you to all the members of the community that weighed in on that. Uh, that was a difficult topic. Um, number 2 on our agenda, Madam Clerk.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Ordinance 2026-01, lowercase b, uppercase F, an ordinance appropriating $582,000 to the manager for Hesco Barrier additional phases capital improvement project. Grant funding provided by Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority. Uh, thank you, Madam Clerk. Mr.

Deputy Manager. Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority was awarded a $600,000 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Indian Community Development Imminent Threat Grant. CBJ has entered into an agreement with Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority to act as a subrecipient of of this grant with a subaward in the amount of $582,000. During the August 2024 glacial outburst flood, 173 tribally owned residential structures affecting 470 families were affected by the flooding. This grant would contribute toward the repair of 1,300 linear feet of riverbank along the Mendenhall River that was damaged by the 2024 Glacial Lake Outburst Flood to protect homes from additional loss and damage.

I recommend you take public testimony and adopt this ordinance. Thank you, Mr. Deputy Manager. Um, nobody has signed up to testify this ordinance, so we'll go to the assembly. Ms. Wall. Thank you, Madam Mayor.

I move the assembly approve Ordinance 2026-01BF and ask for unanimous consent. Any objection? Uh, seeing none, that ordinance passes. And for the record, uh, uh, Deputy Mayor Smith is, um Um, offline at this time, so he's traveling.

Item number 3, Madam Clerk.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Ordinance 2025-01 lowercase b uppercase AR, an ordinance appropriating $427,990 to the manager for 2024 Glacier Lake outburst flood response and repairs, funding provided by the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Mr. Deputy Manager, CBJ was awarded $427,990 in FEMA funding for response and repair costs related to the August 2024 Glacial Lake Uppers flood. The FEMA grant awards reimburse the following eligible response and repair costs: Antler Way embankment armoring, $406,000, and emergency protectors protective measures, staff overtime incurred responding to the disaster, just under $22,000.

Additional funding applications related to the August 2024 flood remain under FEMA review and, if approved, may provide further reimbursement of eligible response and recovery costs. I recommend you take public testimony and adopt this ordinance. Uh, thank you, Mr. Deputy Manager. Uh, there's nobody signed up for this ordinance, so we'll go to the assembly. Mr. Brooks.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I move Ordinance 2025-01 lowercase b uppercase A-R and ask for unanimous consent. Any objection? Seeing none, that ordinance passes. Item number 4, Madam Clerk.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Ordinance 2026-01 lowercase b uppercase D, an ordinance transferring $500,000 from CIP D14-1 01 Outburst Flooding Improvements to the Lands Fund to establish a reserve account for restoration of riverbank property appertences following future removal of HESCO barriers, funding provided by restricted budget reserve funds.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Madam— Mr. Deputy Manager, Ordinance 2024-40 AMB Section 8 stipulates that $500,000 in reserve funds will be placed in an account to be used used upon the removal of the HESCO barriers to rebuild any— uh, interpretants— removed by the CBJ on riverbank properties. This appropriation establishes this account and funds the required balance with unspent restricted budget reserve funds from CIPT 14-101 Outburst Flooding Improvements. These funds will be held in reserve until future removal of the HESCO barriers and formal enactment of Restoration Program. I recommend you take public testimony and adopt this ordinance.

Uh, thank you, Mr. Deputy Manager. Um, no one has signed up to testify this ordinance, so we'll bring it back to the assembly. Miss Atkinson.

While she's figuring out her mute, we'll go to Mr. Steineger. I move the assembly adopt Ordinance 2026-01BD and ask unanimous consent. Thank you, Mr. Steineger.

Mr. Brooks, do you have a question? Yeah, objection. For the purpose of a question, what is an appurtenance?

Madam Attorney, Thank you. Um, so those are anything attached to the home or associated with the home. So this is decks and storage buildings that maybe had to come down. Thank you for the clarification. Do you remove your objection?

I do. Thank you. Um, Ms. Euskandi. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Objection, very good question.

Um, Mr. Barr, I was just curious about about the home for this fund. I know the next one is a true debt, so it makes sense that that's going to live elsewhere.

But could you speak to the choice to put this in the land fund versus somewhere else?

Thank you. So my name is Mary Hayes Gandes. The land fund was just seen as a convenient place for this, this money to live until we are ready to establish the grant program that folks would apply for post-TESCO removal. There's, there's really no reason why this couldn't live in a different fund. It could live in a CIP.

It's not really a capital improvement though, which is why we landed on the Lands Fund.

Okay, thank you.

I remove my objection. Okay, well, thank you. Um, Miss Hughes, can— did you have further question? No, Madam Mayor, my objection. Um, so we probably need to wait till she comes back on to— all right, any objection?

Uh, seeing none, that motion passes. Item number 5, Madam Clerk.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Ordinance 2026-01 lowercase b uppercase E, an ordinance transferring $4,033,711 from CIP D14-101, Outburst Flooding Improvements, to the debt service fund to establish a reserve account for future repayment of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation HESCO barrier loan. Funding provided by general funds and restricted budget reserve funds. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Mr. Deputy Manager.

This ordinance would establish a reserve of $4,033,711 in the debt service fund using available funds from CIP D14-101 Outburst Flooding Improvements to partially offset the future debt service obligation associated with Alaska Environmental— Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation loan number 445441, which financed the installation, reinforcement, and rehabilitation of HESCO barriers. The loan in the original principal amount of $25,845,000 provides for a 50% principal forgiveness upon entry into repayment, resulting in a maximum principal debt obligation for the CBJ of $12,922,500, excluding accrued interest. The reserved funds will be available for the future payment of a portion of the loan debt service obligation. Recommend you take public testimony and adopt this ordinance. Thank you.

Um, no one signed up to testify on this ordinance. We'll bring it to the assembly. Mr. Kelly.

I move Ordinance 2026-01 lowercase b uppercase E and ask for unanimous consent. Any objections? I'm going to object for purposes of a question. Mr. Barr, I asked you to this earlier. Lots of money moving around.

Can you tell us where it all landed and is any going to the general fund, even though this is from 2024? Thank you, Madam Mayor. It varies a little bit from ordinance to ordinance. On the ordinance— on this particular ordinance, money is simply moving out of that CIP into the debt service fund. There's no impact on general fund.

On the immediately preceding ordinance, also there's simply money moving from originally appropriated restricted budget reserve funds into the Lands Fund to care for that half a million dollar program that we anticipate rate, um, standing up post-HESCO removal. No impact of the general fund on item number 3 on your agenda. There is a small general fund impact of that one associated with the staff overtime, about $20,000 that should benefit the utility. Most of that work was in response to wastewater treatment plant efforts, so a small, small general fund impact there of about $20,000. And on the first ordinance, um, the Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority loan, that is for new work that is starting now.

It has a short window. We don't anticipate any general fund impact. If we are unable to spend that grant in its entirety, um, we will look to see if it's possible for us to fit some, uh, some other summer 2026 HESCA work into that, which would have effect of reducing our DEC loan repayment, but that is, that is pretty speculative at this point. In any case, no general fund impact there. All right, thank you for that.

Like I said, just lots of money moving around, so I remove my objection. See no further objection, that ordinance passes. So there's no unfinished business, and I need to take a 1-minute recess to ask the attorney something.

And prepare. I'm just gonna make her mom her own motion, but that's probably what she's asking about.

Stuart. Stuart. That's why I was like, I need the names.

All right, that brings us to new business. Madam Clerk. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Hardship and senior citizen disabled veteran late filed real property tax exemption application.

Mr. Deputy Manager. There are 8 property owners that have requested the assembly authorize the assessor to consider a late-filed exemption for their property assessment. The assembly should consider each request separately and determine whether the property owner was unable to comply with the April 30 filing requirement. Alaska law and CBJ code, uh, references. The burden of proof is upon the property owner to show the inability to file a timely exemption request.

Request. If the assembly decides to accept one or more late-filed exemption requests, those applications will be referred to the assessor for review and action. I recommend you act on each of these applications individually. All right, um, so that will go to Ms. Yuskandis.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I would move that the assembly direct the assessor— well, first I will note that we have reviewed these each individually. And with that, I have a motion. I would move that the assembly direct the assessor to accept the following for review: late file senior and disabled veteran exemption for Stuart Slider. And I ask for unanimous consent.

All right, thank you for that. And because that is my mother, I'm passing the gavel to Mr. Kelly because I can't vote on this.

Thank you. Is there any objection to this motion? Seeing none, motion passes.

Thank you, Mr. Kelly. Ms. Hughes-Candies. Thank you, Madam Mayor. I would also direct— I would recommend the assembly direct the assessor to accept the following for review for late-file senior and disabled veteran exemptions. Albert D. Bradenberger, Lisa K. Messerschmitt, Bernard Rogozka.

And for late-file senior and disabled veteran hardship exemptions: Rita George, Verdi Brogdon, Larry Atkinson, and Agnes Udipa. And I ask for unanimous consent. Any objection? Seeing none, that motion passes.

So with that, it brings us to the staff reports.

Uh, Deputy City Manager. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Street cleanup. Thank you, Madam Mayor. This is a quick one.

Um, I just wanted to report that Manager Kester, along with staff from CDD, Lands, Engineering, and Public Works, as in close collaboration with with, uh, Tlingit and Haida, um, the tribe, not the regional housing authority, um, coordinated a pretty significant cleanup effort on Village Street, um, uh, I believe almost, almost all of last week over about 3 days. Um, I sent you some pictures, uh, on Friday. If you may have seen that, that email. Still, still more work to do, um, and, uh, close, close coordinating with close coordination with Tlingit and Haida on that. I apologize, I don't have more detail for you than that right now, but happy to take questions and get that if you have any.

Does anybody have any questions?

Seeing none, thank you for that. So with that, we will go to the mayor's report. Um, just a couple things. Um, September 18th, our ballots will be mailed out. Um, so, and just remind everybody that that there's District 1 and District 2 candidates, but everybody votes on all the candidates.

It's a little bit different than the state election. And I'm assuming that the boxes will be up. I'm looking at the clerk. Oh, they're already up. So way to get ahead of the schedule.

Anyway, so that's what I just wanted to remind everybody. And then we had a testifier, or a couple testifiers today, and You haven't written us a memo, Madam Attorney, but would you briefly talk about enterprise funds and that we're not doing anything illegal? Sure, thank you. And I'm happy to do follow-up research or answer any questions either tonight or, or later. So the question— there was an op-ed put out by two members of the community, one who is on a board asking, kind of challenging the Assembly's actions under Charter Section 9.16.

And Charter Section 9.16 has to do with enterprise funds. It gave me an opportunity to do a little bit of historic research for you. We have a lovely binder, 3 binders full of Charter Commission notes. And so I wanted to give you a little bit of history. So first of all, while you have empowered boards, you have advisory boards, ultimately you are the final deciders of all things.

Those boards work for you. They serve at your pleasure. They are there because you can't do everything all the time. They present you with budgets, and in, in this instance, both Dachshund Harbors and Bartlett Hospital presented you with budgets. You then are allowed to review those budgets budgets, move things around, and decide what the priorities are for our community.

In fact, that's your job. When we go back and look at that section of charter, it was initially drafted that enterprise funds would be solely used for the enterprise activities. That was how it was first drafted. The Charter Commission specifically changed that. They had a conversation that they would switch the language to shall first.

Deal with a list of things. They then talked about should those lists of things be in order. Some of them thought organizational operation was more important. Some people thought that debt retirement was more important. They ultimately said we're not putting them in order, but these are the things that are important to us do first when it comes to these enterprise agencies.

They then were very clear in the notes that after that, funds are available to go to the general fund. You can then take that surplus and move it to the general fund for usage, but you need to deal with those issues first, and you need to decide whether you think there's a surplus or not. I would note two final things I kind of alluded to at the beginning when it comes to Bartlett Hospital. Um, budget. You did not move any funds to the general fund in that budget.

You had two major issues that came up. One was hospice, the other was, uh, Gasano Human Services, and you moved things around and you said this is what our priority is, but no funds were moved to the general fund. In regards to Docks and Harbors, there was a question about dockage fees. They presented you with a budget that used some of those dockage fees for things adjacent to dock operations. They specifically call it out in their budget.

It's in the budget book. They talk about that. So they presented you with a budget that included that. You didn't just go in and take money from an enterprise fund and move it to the general funds. That being said, there was a memo by Director Flick, and I would also caution you enterprise funds are different.

You have to be careful. You have to be thoughtful in what you do. And the founders of our charter kind of lay out the things that you need to look at that are important. They definitely were worried that these revenue-generating enterprise funds would then be grabbed and used for, I don't know, a pool or an ice rink or paying for the law department, right? They, they talked about that.

And so you do have to be careful and thoughtful about what the founders wanted and the, the guidelines of our charter. So I hope that helps. Any questions for the attorney? I see none. That concludes my mayor's report.

Um, so we will go to our committees. We lost Mr. Smith, so we will go to Finance.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Um, we met last week— was it last week? Two weeks ago. We had a full house, uh, so you were all there. You remember what we did.

We took action on, um, two of those, uh, items tonight. Um, and you will not meet again as a Finance Committee, um, until after the election and under new leadership.

And thank you again for your leadership, and thank you to Director Flick for giving us wonderful angel food cake.

Um, Lands, Housing, Economic Development. Thank you, Madam Mayor. We met, uh, at the end of August, and we had a fair bit of business. We addressed the— you saw in your packet tonight for introduction the ordinance related to e-bikes in CBJ parks and trails. That was just one piece that the committee decided to move out to get that into the process at our next meeting.

As you see, we continue to have public testimony about the folks popping wheelies. We are still working on that through another ordinance at our next meeting, so I would recommend that you join us if you're interested. Uh, we talked about Mount Jumbo building disposal. We also, uh, worked through starting the initial steps in CBJ lot disposal by sealed bid, because as Mr. Blythorn points out, he likes being in the business of getting CBJ lands into private hands, which we do all the time. And then finally, also just to flag for people who weren't at that meeting, we had a request, a HOK request to purchase CBJ property at 2nd and Franklin.

And I'm flagging that one because it stayed in committee and didn't move with the, the staff recommendation right away. Partly because we were at the end of the meeting and folks didn't want to feel rushed into that decision. But I would say it's worth all members paying attention to because, as we know, Second and Franklin is called out in our assembly goals. So we should be— my two cents— we should be cautious how we move forward on that one. That was the Lance meeting.

We will meet one more time under the same old tired leadership up, uh, and then, uh, we will have, uh, fresh faces at the next one.

Uh, thank you. Um, Public Works. Uh, thank you, Madam Mayor, and I just want to apologize for when you called to me earlier. For some reason, the audio had, uh, crapped out on me, so, uh, it's all working now. Um, last time Public Works met, we discussed the Seawalk project because we are in the fortunate position to have an unexpected $6 million in CPV funds from the state that the governor mercifully let pass this year, and discussed allocating that to the seawalk project and had lots of good discussion about where that project's at in the future of that project.

Next meeting, I wanted to flag our— Clerk graciously just reminded me that it will be Zoom only because there is election stuff happening and we can't use the space. Case. So next Public Works will be, uh, Zoom only.

Uh, thank you for that. Human Resources, Mr. Kelly. Thank you. I have a few motions for you, Madam Mayor.

I move that the assembly approve the reappointment of Ed Schoenfeld and Joyce Vick, both to the Douglas Advisory Board, for terms running October 1st, 2026 to September 30th, 2029, and ask for unanimous consent. Any objection? Seeing none, they are appointed. I move that the Assembly Human— excuse me, I move that the Assembly approve the appointment of Gretchen Bishop to the Juneau Commission on Sustainability for an unexpired term beginning immediately and ending June 30th, 2028, and ask for unanimous consent. Any objection?

Seeing none, she is appointed. I move that the assembly approve the reappointment or appointment of Haifa Foroughi— Foroughi, excuse me, thank you— Lance Mitchell, and Wendy Todd, all to the Juneau Human Rights Commission for terms beginning immediately June 1st, 2026, and ending May 31st, 2029, and ask for unanimous consent. Any objection? Seeing none, they are appointed.

I move that the assembly recommend to forward to the State of Alaska Emergency Response Commission the appointment of Eileen Hosey, vulnerable population seat 11, to a full term beginning immediately and ending December 31st, 2028, to the Local Emergency Planning Committee and ask for unanimous consent. Any objection? Seeing none, she is appointed. Thank you. Last one.

I move to approve the reappointment of Jennifer Pemberton to the Systemic Racism Review Committee to a term running immediately, July 1st, 2026, to June June 30th, 2029, and ask for unanimous consent. Any objection? Seeing none, they are appointed. Thank you. And we also considered, um, fill possible dates for Planning Commission vacancy interviews.

Um, the, the team discussed the possibility of Tuesday, October 27th, Thursday, October 29th, November 5th. That's all I have.

Okay, when they'll be under new leadership.

So maybe not the day after our reorganization committee. Um, with that, we will go to liaison reports and comments and questions. Please remember, we do have an executive session after this. Ms. Huskanies. Uh, thank you, Madam Mayor.

I have just returned from the East Coast today, so I had several days transiting between locations. Uh, all that to say, I was in the air for both, um, the last Bartlett regional meeting and— is that truly the last one? In any case, I believe that I missed their last full meeting, tuned into something else. And was also in the air for Chambers' last meeting last month, although I imagine they were successfully celebrating successfully killing the 5 ship ordinance and talking about how CBJ spends its enterprise funds.

Was that it, Ms. Yuskendis? Thank you. That can— oh, that's my liaison report. I will just say for comments and questions, I brought up the 5 ship limit.

Um, we had, uh, you know, a long focus on the nonprofit ordinance tonight, and I have to imagine had we voted that ordinance, that would have, uh, been up this meeting as well. I have to imagine we would have had a lot of public comment on that. Um, so this meeting would be even longer. I bring it up because, uh, this is my last chance to do so. And it is less about whether, um, I think we all know well that we're all success— we all have in general the same goals, which is to try to improve the, the conditions of the city.

And we have different ideas about how to do that. And, um, you know, that was a close vote, and I think for folks, I feel uncomfortable either with the timing of it or the way it was worded. And I just want to, I guess, caution the Assembly, or, you know, whether that some iteration of that moves forward in the next group of leadership. I think we are in danger of creating, adding to a public trust problem when it comes to tourism. And I just want to communicate to the other members of the body that following the— following that meeting and, you know, not being able to get it onto the public comment for this, I've heard a lot of disheartened members.

And so I think we should be careful about— at a certain point, it's going to be well earned by the body, and I don't think anyone has that goal. Uh, I know we, we want to, to earn that public trust, so that's why I bring it up. But that concludes my report.

Thank you. Ms. Wall. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Um, the PROC met, um, last week or the week before, um, and a few of the things, um They discussed that I thought you'd want on your radar. One, there is a parcel that I think is going to become city land that is a foreclosed parcel next to the Blackerby Trail, and the, the PRAC recommended that be retained for Parks and Rec.

So something that will come, I imagine, before Lands and Assembly at some point. The group also got some updates on some of exciting projects that are happening, so continue to make strong progress at the Mile 35 Off-Road Park. So there'll be big announcements about that coming soon, and similar with the Eok cabin out at Amalga that we're working on with Trailmix. That looks like it's coming along nicely. They didn't have an official opening date yet, but, but based on that conversation, seems like that will be coming around the corner too, which is, which is great.

Um, the Airport Board also met, but I was not able to be there, so Mr. Brooks attended in my stead, so he might have some updates from that meeting.

Um, that's it for liaison. Um, I don't You know, I was like, what are all the things that I want to tell the assembly before I leave? And I'll just say I've got one tiny thing that I noticed tonight and this week that I wanted to share. But in general, definitely don't be a stranger. And happy, you know, if you ever want to talk policy about things, I'm happy to continue to nerd out on, on policy.

Important municipal topics. Um, but the thing I wanted to make a comment on was, um, this is not to call anyone out because I'm sure we all have done it or may do it, but it will probably become more and more prevalent. We had a policy, an ordinance tonight that, that had been amended and had been written by AI and You know, I noticed kind of more errors and kind of subjectivity in that than I, than I have seen before. Not that I'm always looking closely for errors, but it just caught my attention tonight that, you know, I think AI can be a good tool for us thinking about policy options and even, you know, writing language when needed. But definitely with lots of review and careful wording, I think we all kind of trust our human neighbors and staff to, uh, to write things.

So maybe we don't look as closely as we normally would, but I was a little shocked at kind of the state of, of that ordinance, um, that, you know, we may have considered tonight, which, which did have some, um, some problems with it. So just something to think about.

Thank you, Ms. Wall. Mr. Brooks. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Uh, the school board has been meeting and through their various, uh, committees and subcommittees are ironing out different, uh, procedural and code changes for how they operate. As far as going over curriculum and school operations, everyone's just trying to get acclimated with the new school year, the new superintendent, and new staff, but things are going pretty good in that realm.

The last Emergency Planning Committee meeting, it was just a post-recap after the glacial outburst flooding and what all the partner agencies have been doing in the meantime and things that they are doing moving forward as far as making sure that, you know, they're able to keep providing these services when we're in those times of need, but also creating new programs and services to help mitigate some of the impacts.

The Juneau Commission on Sustainability, uh, over the last couple meetings, kind of welcoming their new members and, uh, going over scheduling for their next workshops, and then you know, just brainstorming on what kind of agendas that they want to start forming and working on to then bring to us. As far as Assemblymember Wall's meeting with the airport board the other day, they, much like a lot of the other committees, they're working on, you know, procedural rule changes and then ironing out their process as far as going over budget allocations for various CIP projects that are happening, ramp improvements, covered areas, things like that. And, um, that's all I got.

Thank you for that. Um, Ms. Huskanes, you had something to add? Uh, thank you, Madam Mayor. I just— I forgot completely.

I had a question. I know that you were helping to schedule a joint meeting with Bartlett, and I didn't know if we'd gotten a date on that. On that? Um, I did not get a date on that, and I can't speak to it further because Ms. Kester is not here, and— okay, oh, that—. Thank you very much.

No, that's okay.

Okay, according to our Madam Clerk, we're just in the process of getting calendars together.

So, all right, Ms. Atkinson.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I have not been able to attend liaison appointments this last couple weeks, but I do have an update from the Visitor Industry Task Force. We are trucking and actually looking at maybe ending in November as planned. We'll see if we hold to that. We revisited whale watching this last meeting, and we are currently in the process of setting up a work session over a weekend so we can really iron out some of those recommendations.

Limited entry permits was one of the things that, uh, one of the meatier topics that had been brought up that we'll probably discuss at that meeting. But I wanted to update the assembly on that.

Thank you for that. Um, Mr. Steininger, uh, thank you. Unfortunately, I missed the last Eagle Crest board meeting because I was attending the Visitor Industry Task Force. Um, and however that— I, I regret missing it because it was the first meeting of their new executive director, their general manager, Julie Piper. So she just started a couple of days ago.

For members of the public listening, there's a Discover Eagle Crest Day event on Saturday. If you want to go up there and get the, you know, hard sell on buying a season's pass, go ahead. Also, we had— we have our little GLOF strike force that met, and just to update, update the rest of the Assembly on those discussions. Effectively, the first meeting was giving, um, Manager Kester a lot of homework to answer a bunch of questions. We're kind of at that stage of generating work and then kind of seeing what comes out.

A lot of questions about if we went this direction, what would it mean? Those kinds of questions, not really getting to the point necessarily yet where we're refining and saving time. But, but generating work at this point. Um, uh, otherwise, um, I think that covers— oh, and, uh, Systemic Racism Review Committee, they just went over the, the information in our agenda, our packet, our ordinances that we discussed this evening. So thank you.

Uh, thank you. Mr. Kelly. Thank you. Um, last month I attended the General Commission on Aging. They, uh, they usually meet online, online, but this time they met in person in the library to discuss some, some survey data that had been collected from AARP.

So that was an interesting experience. I missed the last CSWA meeting, which was last week, but I still reached out to members who were all to the, to the chair of the CSWA. You don't want me to read the entire email because it's several paragraphs long, but I think I guess one highlight that I would share is that they have been having a company, RESPEC, who has been kind of looking into kind of options for all of Southeast Alaska as far as consolidating waste services, and they had finished that report so it could be ready for the SAECC. It's not my liaison assignment, but I, I believe in doing extra, so I've been been attending the last couple Housing and Homelessness Coalition meetings. This last one we were in breakout groups.

The one before that we had kind of decided to break out in groups with certain assignments, some looking at reforming how the group operates, some looking at certain activities that the group does. The group that I was a part of was specifically focused on the, on the cold weather warming shelter. And, and how we continue on with that. So that's still in kind of beginning stages. And then finally, I'll leave off that I did attend the EV rally over the weekend.

I did speak both in my personal capacity as an assembly member with my own priorities, but also brought up one or two things that the assembly has accomplished. That rally was very well attended. That's all.

Thank you for that. And I did forget to mention that, uh, on the 23rd is the start of Tlingit and Haida Tribal Assembly, so they'll be in town. So always look forward to their assembly. So if you get a chance, swing by and say hi. I'm sure they'd appreciate it.

Um, with that, um, we are at Presiding Officer report. Do you have a report, Mr. Presiding Officer?

Yes, so I did meet with the, with the two parties, AL&P and the city, and we decided on a date to hold our full hearing. I believe, Madam Clerk, correct me if I'm wrong, we decided on December 16th, I think at 5:30. Or was it? Okay, uh, we'll leave the time as TBA, but it'll be December 16th is when we decided to hold our full hearing. Thank you for that.

Mr. Brooks, do you have anything to report? He's shaking his head no. I've— uh, thank you, Madam Mayor. I think that the applicants reapplied within the guidelines to circumvent meeting the hearing officer. So I believe that everything is covered without my assistance being needed.

Well, there, there you go. Well, that's the best presiding officer yet, so that's always good. So anyway, with that, um, continuation of public participation on non-agenda items, but I don't know that anybody signed up for that. Thank you. We actually have members of the public still here.

That's awesome. Um, so But we're going to kick you out because we have an executive session. So, Miss Hughes-Caniz, would you bring us into executive session? Thank you, Madam Mayor. I move that the assembly enter into executive session for the purpose of discussing personnel matters which may tend to prejudice the reputation of the character of the people being discussed, namely City Manager Katie Custer and City Attorney Emily Wright, and I ask for unanimous consent.

Is there any objection? Is there any member of the public that doesn't want us to go in executive session? Seeing none, uh, we will go in executive session in 5 minutes, and we will be returning because we will have action.

There we go. Ella, can you hear us? Yes, I can.

Yay! So Ella, um, Alicia's going to bring us out.

Uh, I didn't know that.

Um, Miss Yuskany, would you bring us out of the executive session, please? Thank you, Madam Mayor. We met in executive— we met in executive session where we discussed I request the performance reviews for the City Manager Katie Kuster and the City Attorney Emily Wright. All right, thank you for that, uh, Ms. Adkisson. Thank you, Madam Mayor.

I will make the motion for the City Manager's wage increase first. I move a 3% wage increase with a one-time lump sum of $2,000 effective on July 13th, 2026. This would change the City Manager's salary from $236,371.20 to $243,462.34 retroactive July 13, 2026. This increase in lump sum payment are recommended because they are the same as an unrepresented or MEBA CBJ employee received in July 2026. And I ask for unanimous consent.

Uh, thank you, Ms. Agnes. And any objection? Seeing one, um, do you want to speak to your objection?

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I just, um, believe with the increases that were made over the last couple years, I put it into a range that was far beyond the, um, the AMEBA increases given to other staff. So already kind of puts it at the scale that is years ahead of where it should have been to, you know, prior to where those increases were. So for that reason, um, I'm, I'm objecting. Uh, thank you for that.

Anybody else? Mrs. Wall. Thank you, Madam Mayor. I just, because of Mr. Brooks' comments, wanted to correct the record. I've part— was, um, part of the hiring committee and, um, and then have been part of the board as we have set these salaries every year, and we have been very— we have used a framework that is consistent with how CBJ compensates their employees throughout the, the entire process, including starting salaries and increases along the way.

Thank you for that. Anything further? Um, and the only thing I will add is, um, Manager Kester is due for a step increase, but because of our tight times, we have just given her the amount that Miba got. So, um, we are watching what we're spending there. So, Madam Clerk, we have a motion with objection.

Please call the roll.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Miss Adkisson? Yes. Mr. Brooks? No.

Miss Youskandis? Yes. Miss Wall? Yes. Mr. Kelly?

Yes. Mr. Steingart? Yes. Madam Mayor?

Yes. Motion carries with 6 yeas and 1 nay. Uh, thank you, Madam Clerk. Uh, Miss Adkisson? Thank you, Madam Mayor.

For the City Attorney, I move the same 3% wage increase with a one-time $2,000 lump sum payment effective on July 13th, 2026. This would make the City Attorney's annual salary $214,925.57.

It was previously $208,600— $208,665. That, oh my goodness, dollars and 60 cents. Uh, this increase in lump sum payment are recommended because they are the same as would be received by an unrepresentative or MEBA CBJ employee in July 2026. And I ask unanimous consent. Uh, thank you, Miss Adkinson.

Any objection? Mr. Brooks? The same reasons as before. Uh, thank you for that. Um, Madam Clerk, we have a motion and objection.

Please call the roll.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Miss Adkisson? Yes. Mr. Brooks? No.

Mr. Steininger? Yes. Mr. Kelly? Yes. Miss Wall?

Yes. Miss Huskandies? Yes. Madam Mayor? Yes.

Motion carries, 6 yeas, 1 nay.

Thank you for that. And we have one more good of the order. Mr. Kelly, thank you. Uh, just wasn't able to add to my assembly member comments. I just want to thank the city clerk for joining us on her birthday.

So happy birthday, Brecken. Happy birthday, Brecken, and happy birthday, Shale.

Shale's birthday is tomorrow. Oh, you were one of those twins. Twins, you're the oldest and wisest. With that, is there any more, uh, good— the order for the assembly? See none.

Uh, thank you again. This is your last assembly meeting for Ms. Hughes-Candies and Ms. Wall, although we do have a Committee of the Whole at the end of the month, so you're not quite done with us yet. So anyway, thanks, Ms. Atkinson, for hanging in there. We are adjourned.