Worksession re AR 2025 159, adopting the Anchorage Economic Development Framework...- May 30, 2025

All right, good morning everybody. Welcome. We're convening now for a work session on AR 2025-159, a resolution adopting an Anchorage Economic Development Framework or Principles. We're on the calendar today from 10:40 to 11:40, Dunbar principle being in effect, that is a ceiling, not a target. I'll start with introductions.

George Martinez. Yara Silvers. Seth Johnson. Jared Berger. Keith McCormick.

Anna Roddy. Christopher Constance. Peter Cusack. On the phone, Paul Monday.

Yeah, thank you. Anyone else on the phone? All right, we're good to go. Um, so there was a request by someone who I don't believe is here to have a briefing on this, and, um, so this is an opportunity for the sponsor to shine a little bit for a few minutes. Very few, if I can.

Thank you, uh, colleagues, for being here today and for your interest in taking a closer look at the proposed Anchorage Economic Development Framework Core Principles. I want to start by emphasizing that I appreciate this space for clarity, curiosity, and shared understanding. This framework is about alignment. It doesn't bind us to new spending or programs. It helps us— instead, it helps us together shape how we evaluate future investments, set priorities, and ask better questions.

It's about moving from fragmented responses to coordinated strategies. The principles— economic truth, stackable ROI, return on investment, preemptive resilience, and equitable opportunity— are drawn from real local needs, and they reflect emerging best practices nationally. Our goal today is simple, from my vantage point: to ensure that every member feels informed and confident about what this framework is, what it isn't, so that we can move forward toward thoughtful, value-based economic development here in English. With that, I welcome the conversation, and I will draw your attention to a few of the additional documents that I provided today. In the, uh, attached to the resolution itself is a memorandum that contains an article from the Alaska Public Media with respect to local economic forum identifying The Uncertainty of Federal Spending and Its Impact on Anchorage and the Alaska Economy.

And then I've also attached a PowerPoint presentation from the last Community and Economic Development Committee's meeting where I presented this resolution, and so there's a presentation for your support as well. Additionally, I provided a copy to all of the members of an op-ed that that was published this week in the ADM, Anchorage Needs: A Framework for Economic Discipline, Resilience, and Shared Success. So folks have made that available to you as well. And then also, people should start receiving some— there may have been some communications and letters from different folks in the community regarding this. And one of those letters, I asked for it to be printed today, was from JDW Council.

Jenna Wilson, who sent a letter in support of this resolution as well. With that, I'll open it up for any questions or comments. Thank you. Anyone? Questions for Matías?

I have one. So a framework that's organized here, I think that there is lots of— I like how it's organized. I don't see anything that's novel, which is interesting. It's good. The question is How do you see it implemented, like, as a tool for the various departments or the assembly?

Yeah, well, from my vantage point, about recognizing that we all come from different backgrounds and there's so much activity happening across all sorts of ideas in the scape of what we call community and economic development. My op-ed draws attention to some of what I describe as a spaghetti toss historical philosophy, which is essentially let's throw stuff at the wall, see what sticks. Some of those things were really well thought out. Some things in the past hadn't been really well thought out. But as decision makers and policymakers, I think we need— and my hope is this resolution provides a tool for us and a framework of shared language and shared understanding that gives us the ability to make better decisions about ideas as they come forward, so we can have a framework to better understand their impact, their value to the community.

So in that way, it's an additional tool, and my hope is that the administration will utilize the shared language as well. Example would be, um, When we hear about projects, I would love to know the checkboxes of how the rate of return on those projects are part of our stackability. Those are the kind of questions that I'm interested in economic development, right? So when we're having these conversations, sometimes it's good ideas versus are they economic development— Lee Sound ideas— helping make better decisions in that way. When projects come across from our, our vantage point, having more insightful information about how they hit some of these boxes.

Our road project that was just mentioned a few minutes ago in a special assembly meeting was identified that there were life-saving implications on those types of things. Those are the sorts of things I'd like to know with respect to preemptive resilience. They help us get stronger, and that's a box that I think is helpful for us to make better decisions.

So I think the framework is a unifying language. It helps us make better tools, a tool for better decision-making. But the way folks will use it obviously is going to be subjective. So my hope is that just helps us make better, more strategic decisions. Thank you.

Ms. Baldé. Yes, thank you, Chair. Um, am I still foggy before I start talking, or am I still coming in at hours?

—Audio. It goes on and off. It's hit or miss. Okay, can you try that again? You're a little bit clipped out still.

That's what she was asking. How about now? Yeah, that's great. Hello, happy? Perfect.

Excellent. Okay, super. Um, so first, I'm glad to see Member Martinez for bringing this forward. Um, I think I'm, I'm interested in, um, you know, exploring along the same lines as Chair Constant, that, you know, this, this framework I think it makes a lot of sense. I think it gives that a really high-level sort of directional heading.

I think I'm interested as well in implementation of this framework and whether or not there might be a forthcoming sort of rubric for implementation. You were talking about checkboxes, number of commitments, and what came to mind for me was actually a sort of a grid with some questions or an evaluation tool, essentially, as a policy is being brought forward or a project is being— there is—. I gave it a go. For—. OK.

So the last part just broke up again, but I think George has a sense for it. For concrete application of this tool and making it a little bit more practical so that it can actually be implemented for those, you know, I suppose those departments and those project managers who would want to opt in. George. Right on. I think I got the gist of what you described.

I'm a visual learner as well, so checkboxes. I think you said grid. Right on. My vantage point is this is a resolution that encourages us to move in this direction at a high level, it starts off with the values from our vantage point. The practicality of what I think I heard the member describe is what I hope from that starting point of, yeah, we accepted and we identified these values as important, that then that work begins to help us shape the other conversation so that this resolution encourages the administration to begin to use this framework and then show us how they use it to be implemented.

So I do agree that there's follow-up to it. I, I think from my vantage point, this is— it is high level on purpose so that it can just be a starting point for a guide. But my intentionality is that we operationalize this essentially over time, uh, as best as it can help us make sense. And to Christopher's, uh, Chair Constance's point, yeah, it's not news. It's not radical, it's not a— there's not a lot of new novel ideas.

It's the framework of how they're applied that makes it, from my vantage point, a useful tool. Thank you. I'm actually next in the queue, but I will go to Mr. Rivera so that our chair can come back. Thanks. Yeah, thanks.

So I guess a couple of questions. So first is, have you had a chance to talk with the administration at about this framework? Because my sort of reading of this is that a lot of this depends on the administration implementing or having sort of a base understanding and willingness to adopt this kind of framework. So that's my first question.

The answer is yes, and it was received as— from my vantage point, my conversations with folks in the administration were There's nothing in here that we see a problem with. And I don't know if you asked two questions, I didn't catch the second part. I didn't ask the second one. Right. Thanks.

Yeah, my second question is, just based off of your understanding of this, is there anything in here that should be read or construed as a mandate for the assembly or the administration?

No, the resolution was specifically using the language of encouraging.

Um, there's a recognition of the values that the framework presents, but beyond that recognition, the application is essentially the encouragement that we use this framework, that the administration uses this framework and identifies various areas of the administration's departments to begin to think about how to use that framework. Yes, thank you. Yeah, thank you. Um, so I appreciate that the resolution mentions, um, and suggests kind of updating our plans to reflect this as well. Um, I guess the, the thing that I was thinking about is ABC has this Choose Anchorage plan.

I was just kind of skimming it. Um, And I know it's challenging because we create a lot of these plans and then they don't always speak to each other. So I just wonder, is there a way, um, because I don't know that they're going to update this, you know, anytime soon, but is there a way to connect this with that since they're kind of the economic development hub? Thanks. Absolutely.

And it was a great point, and I appreciate that you brought up the Choose Anchorage. Let's use that as a case study, for example. Choose Anchorage is a strategy, but what is the economic development strategy of Choose Anchorage? It's hard to determine that. There are great ideas, there are— but what is the rubric to know?

So I ran the Choose Anchorage framework through the 4-point pillars of this core framework, and choose Anchorage hits the mark on certain of the categories, but it misses the mark on other categories. That framework helps me understand where to tighten up the Choose Anchorage so that it better aligns to the strategic outcomes. So that's how I would utilize the framework to think about, are these ideas, are these— to your point, many, many plans out in the community, are they meeting a mark that is strategic enough that's useful, or is it— is really good ideas that then we have to pick to see which are politically strong enough to win versus how we build an economic development strategy. So that's how I would apply it, and I actually will bring that forward to a CDC meeting because I thought it was important because that is a living document that folks are working on now, and I'd like it to be understood through this framework a little better so that we as policymakers can make better decisions about projects or investment strategies that that plan may call for. Thank you.

All right, any other questions?

Last words before we— thank you for the time, folks. If you have any additional offline, uh, questions that come to you after this feel free to reach out. I'll try my best to get the answer to you, and I appreciate your support when this comes before the body at the meeting of the 10th. Thank you. And just for those who didn't show up this morning, we had a briefing line, so you have an opportunity to ask questions now.

And, uh, if I could ask one additional note just for the record so that folks who are paying attention to the note that you offered— yes, I encourage that if people really want to have a work session, that Chair manipulates time so that that can be on the books, that there is a fidelity to making sure that at the very least the germane questions of the reason that a person may want additional time for a work session is presented. So even if folks can't be in person, we get to make sure that what we talked about matched what someone may have wanted when they asked for a work session, and that didn't show up, and it didn't show up. So, okay, I'm gonna take us on to a slightly different topic while we stay on the record. Um, it's time for presentation, fellas.

All members other than Aaron. Aaron, I'm sorry you're not here, but we have something for you when you get back. All right, thank you.

Anna, do you want to describe what he's going to have? Yeah, so yeah, for the public record, new members are being provided basically the same jacket that members who are not new got in what, 2023, I believe. Joining the home team. Yeah, right. Sorry, what, Aaron?

I said I was getting the flag drop. What? Only temporarily. Yeah, the flag will be available to you at a later time. Okay, with that then, we will stand in adjournment, I think, until, uh, 10 after.

This was an hour, so until 11:40, 11:50, I think. Yeah, sorry, but yeah, so we'll be back on the record at 11:50. We're now adjourned.