05/14/2019 03:00 PM House STATE AFFAIRS

         SB 100-NAMING WILLARD E. DUNHAM RESIDENCE HALL                                                                     
                                                                                                                              
5:17:56 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS announced that the next order of                                                                        
business would be SENATE BILL NO. 100, "An Act naming the                                                                       
Willard E. Dunham Residence Hall."                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
5:18:22 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
EDRA  MORLEDGE,  Staff,  Senator  Peter Micciche,  on  behalf  of                                                               
Senator  Micciche, prime  sponsor  of SB  100,  relayed that  the                                                               
proposed   legislation  would   rename   the  Alaska   Vocational                                                               
Technical Center dormitory to be  the Willard E. Dunham Residence                                                               
Hall.  She paraphrased from the sponsor statement, which read:                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
     Senate Bill  100 names the Alaska  Vocational Technical                                                                    
     Center (AVTEC)  dormitory located  at 516  Third Avenue                                                                    
     in   Seward,  Alaska   as   the   "Willard  E.   Dunham                                                                    
     Residential Hall".                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
     The  naming  of  the dormitory  honors  Willard  Eugene                                                                    
     Dunham  who  recently passed  away  on  March 1,  2019.                                                                    
     After  Willard's  years  of service  to  the  state  of                                                                    
     Alaska  and specifically  his  advocacy  for the  AVTEC                                                                    
     Facility  in   Seward,  it  is  appropriate   that  the                                                                    
     vocational training  residence hall  be named  for this                                                                    
     icon of  pioneering Alaskans who  has forever  left his                                                                    
     mark on this great state.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
     This  bill  honors the  work  and  memory of  the  much                                                                    
     beloved and  respected community member of  Seward, who                                                                    
     was a  champion of  the community and  was instrumental                                                                    
     in working to  diversify the economy of  the town after                                                                    
     the 1964 earthquake destroyed much of Seward.                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
     Willard  Dunham worked  for  the  Alaska Department  of                                                                    
     Labor when  AVTEC was founded  in 1969.  His passionate                                                                    
     advocacy  of Seward  convinced  the committee  founding                                                                    
     AVTEC to  be established on  the Kenai Peninsula.  As a                                                                    
     direct result,  the decision was made  to establish the                                                                    
     state-supported vocational training  center, the Alaska                                                                    
     Skills  Center,  in  Seward  where  he  served  as  the                                                                    
     founding director from 1969 to 2019.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
     Aside from his  work with AVTEC, Dunham  served time in                                                                    
     the US  Army as  a medic stationed  at the  Eielson Air                                                                    
     Force  Base, worked  with the  Department of  Labor and                                                                    
     Workforce Development,  and served  the City  of Seward                                                                    
     to  help to  create an  impressive record  of community                                                                    
     service   and  employment   projects.  Some   of  these                                                                    
     projects included the  Spring Creek Correctional Center                                                                    
     and the  Seward Library and  Museum. He was  a founding                                                                    
     member  of   the  Alaska  SeaLife  Center's   Board  of                                                                    
     Directors,  was  elected  to serve  six  years  on  the                                                                    
     Seward City  Council, and spent  two years  as Seward's                                                                    
     mayor. Willard also spent time  as the president of the                                                                    
     Seward General  Hospital board,  served as  the Chamber                                                                    
     of  Commerce President  twice, served  on  Fish &  Game                                                                    
     Advisory groups and longshore union  boards, and sat on                                                                    
     nearly   every  city   task   force,  commission,   and                                                                    
     committee over a 60-year period.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
     Renaming the  Third Avenue AVTEC dormitory  the Willard                                                                    
     E. Dunham  Residence Hall will  stand as a  reminder of                                                                    
     the  inspirational dedication  and  the vision  Willard                                                                    
     demonstrated  for  Seward,  and an  acknowledgement  of                                                                    
     Dunham's achievements, honorable  works, and service to                                                                    
     Alaska for over half of a century.                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE STORY  asked about the community's  response to SB
 and renaming the residence hall.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
MS. MORLEDGE referred  to three letters of  support, [included in                                                               
the committee  packet], from:   Jacob  Collins, President  of the                                                               
Rotary Club  of Seward;  Shawn A. Aspelund,  who served  with Mr.                                                               
Dunham on the AVTEC Statewide  Advisory Board; and John V. Crews,                                                               
AVTEC Statewide Advisory Board Chair.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
5:21:17 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  FIELDS moved  to report  SB 100  out of  committee with                                                               
individual  recommendations  and  the  accompanying  zero  fiscal                                                               
note.   There being no  objection, SB  100 was reported  from the                                                               
House State Affairs Standing Committee.