Legislature(1993 - 1994)
02/03/1994 09:05 AM Senate CRA
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
The Senate Community & Regional Affairs Committee was called to order by Chairman Randy Phillips at 9:05 a.m. He brought SB 203 (MUNICIPAL POLICE SERVICES) before the committee as the first order of business, but stated that after taking testimony on the bill, it was his intent to hold the bill to see what action the House of Representatives takes on the floor on a similar piece of legislation, HB 18. C.E. SWACKHAMMER, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Public Safety, stated that of the three different draft committee substitutes on SB 203 before the committee, the Department of Public Safety supports the version that takes the approach recommended by the Task Force on Governmental Roles (Work draft 8-LS0626\D), which the department believes is the best public policy. It would allow assemblies in a unified municipality, notwithstanding provisions in the home rule charter, to establish, operate, alter, or abolish a service area to furnish police protection and law enforcement services. Speaking to Senator Rieger's proposed committee substitute (Work draft 8-LS0626/M), which would continue trooper police protection to the Hillside and Girdwood areas, Deputy Commissioner Swackhammer said presently, the Anchorage Post spends slightly more than 60 percent of their time in response directly to the Hillside/Girdwood area at a current cost of $1,940,663.64. It has been the position of the Commissioner of Public Safety to withdraw troopers from urban areas which are authorized to provide police protection on their own, and to concentrate the department's resources in rural and unorganized areas of the State. Number 150 SENATOR RIEGER pointed out that the department has some suggested amendments to his version of the bill: a time period longer than three years to allow for personnel planning; a gear-up process for recruiting additional troopers; and a ceiling of one trooper for each 1,000 people in the municipality. DEPUTY COMMISSIONER SWACKHAMMER added that the department would like to see Section 3 deleted because it would not provide the commissioner any flexibility in determining the appropriate number of troopers for an area. The department also suggests some wording changes to better define what the costs are. Number 196 SENATOR LEMAN asked what the effect would be on Section 2 if Section 3 is deleted. SENATOR RIEGER answered that Section 3 was intended as a fall-back position in case an agreement couldn't be reached, and deleting it would not have an effect on Section 2. He stated that he is confident that there is a reasonable full-cost proposal that can be put forward. DEPUTY COMMISSIONER SWACKHAMMER added that Section 2 also allows the department some flexibility because the residents get charged for what services are provided. Number 250 SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS opened the public hearing on SB 203 to witnesses waiting to testify at the Anchorage Legislative Information Office. Number 260 RICHARD WEINIG, an Anchorage attorney, a member of the Rabbit Creek Community Council and a Hillside resident, said under the Rieger bill and taking the figures drawn from the department's position paper on it, 60 percent of that cost for the actual trooper services and 30 percent of dispatch would be paid by the service area. He said that is a revenue generator for the state that he thinks would be particularly attractive to the Legislature. Mr. Weinig said Commissioner's Burton concern that there would be a loss of local control over police protection is a very small concern with the citizens of Anchorage because a majority of the ordinances are "flatland ordinances" that have no concern whatsoever for the Hillside. Mr. Weinig voiced his concern with Senator Kelly's proposed committee substitute. He said for the Legislature to legislatively dictate that a portion of the Bill of Rights of a charter is null and void is very poor public policy, and such an abrogation of the Bill of Rights, after the fact, is dishonorable. Concluding, Mr. Weinig said it is much better public policy to let those who seek services pay for their services and those who do not want services to be let alone by government. Number 369 DUANE UDLAND, Deputy Chief, Anchorage Police Department, said in previous hearings on this issue, it has been suggested that the department was not professional or was not up to the task of providing police service to the Hillside. He said he has the highest regard for the Alaska State Troopers, and there are more similarities than there are dissimilarities between the troopers and the police department. The Anchorage Police Department has a lot in common with the troopers in the areas of training and advanced schooling. Deputy Chief Udland stated the quality of the officers at the Anchorage Police Department is very high, and the issue that the Anchorage Police Department is not professional "does not hold water." Also, policing in a rural area is no different than policing in a city area - it is the same value system and it is the same laws. Concluding his comments, Deputy Chief Udland said Commissioner Burton and Deputy Commissioner Swackhammer are making decisions based on public policy and what is best for their organization. Although Anchorage is a good place to be working and living in, he doesn't think the committee should place any weight on the fact that maybe some of the troopers don't agree with the decisions of the trooper administration. Number 465 BARBARA WEINIG, President, Rabbit Creek Community Council, spoke to a recent survey she sent out to 5,000 property owners. The survey showed that the respondents are willing to pay more taxes, but they want trooper coverage. Senator Rieger's bill allows the residents of the upper Hillside to get used to paying for police protection, and it contains a sunset provision at which time the residents could make a change if they decided they wanted something different. Number 490 SENATOR RIEGER commented that there is a citizenry that is willing to organize themselves and pay for a service and, in contrast, there is a management problem where there are attempts by management or by the governing body itself and not the populace to say "No, we don't want to let you choose the service you want and pay for the service you want. We want you to do something else which we think is best for you." He said this is a very classic confrontation between a good government solution to an issue in the area he represents and a bad government solution. He added this has nothing to do with willingness to pay for a service; it has to do with paying for the service that they want. Number 506 SENATOR ADAMS requested that a copy of the survey sent out by Ms. Weinig be provided to the committee. Number 515 MARIBETH BROWN, a Hillside resident and Chair of the Southeast Anchorage Police Protection Task Force, said that elected officials should be extremely cautious about taking a position that they know what is best for the people. The people in Southeast Anchorage, the Hillside, Turnigan Arm and Girdwood have expressed very strongly what their preferences are, and that needs to be taken into account on this issue. Number 538 SENATOR ZHAROFF said he would like to have seen more of a response to these types of surveys so that some decisions could be made based on the surveys. He said if this is a major problem, he would have expected at least a 50 percent response from this area, particularly if we are going to continue with state funded protection. SENATOR RIEGER responded that there is a high level of concern and that with this type of survey a 20 percent response was really good. Number 570 JOSH FINK, staff to Senator Kelly, quoted figures from the April 1993 election which showed that the 46.2 percent of the lower Hillside wanted to join a police service area, 53.8 percent did not. He said as you go up the hill, 33.7 percent wanted to join a police service area, 66 percent did not. In the Turnigan Arm area, 27 percent want to join a police service area, 72 percent did not. Number 575 SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS closed the public hearing on SB 203 and stated it would be back before the committee the following week.
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