Legislature(1993 - 1994)
02/04/1993 09:00 AM Senate CRA
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SENATE COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
February 4, 1993
9:00 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Randy Phillips, Chairman
Senator Robin Taylor, Vice Chairman
Senator Rick Halford
Senator Al Adams
Senator Fred Zharoff
MEMBERS ABSENT
None
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
-- PRESENTATION BY ALASKA LOCAL BOUNDARY COMMISSION
SENATE BILL NO. 15
"An Act relating to the village public safety officers
program."
SENATE BILL NO. 26
"An Act relating to the location of the convening of the
legislature in regular session; and providing for an effective
date."
PREVIOUS SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION
SB 15 - See Community & Regional Affairs minutes dated
1/26/93, 2/2/93.
SB 26 - See Community & Regional Affairs minutes dated
1/28/93.
WITNESS REGISTER
Darroll Hargraves, Chairman
AK Local Boundary Commission
333 W. 4th Ave., #220
Anchorage, AK
Fran Hallgren, Member
AK Local Boundary Commission
403 Lincoln St.
Sitka, AK 99835
Lamar Cotten, Member
AK Local Boundary Commission
Box 103733
Anchorage, AK 99510
Shelley Dugan, Member
AK Local Boundary Commission
4526 Wood River DR
Fairbanks, AK 99709
Dan Bockhorst
Department of Community & Regional Affairs
333 W. 4th Ave. #220
Anchorage, AK
Wayne Ross
Box 101522
Anchorage, AK 99510
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SB 26
Mike Chryst
P.O. Box 872488
Wasilla, AK 99687
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SB 26
Susan Gorsky
Eagle River, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SB 26
Roger Jenkins
City of Nikolai, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SB 26
Beaver Bentley
41955 Spencer Drive
Homer, AK 99603
POSITION STATEMENT: Has concerns with SB 26
Byron Bondurant
HC1, Box 1258
Soldotna, AK 99669
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SB 26
Myrna Maynard
2237 Forest Park Drive
Anchorage, AK 99517
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SB 26
Dick Bogard
HC01, Box 228
Sterling AK 99672
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SB 26
Veronica Slajer
P.O. Box 101293
Anchorage, AK 99510
POSITION STATEMENT: Opposed to SB 26
Larry Irving
1205 Smythe St.
Fairbanks, AK 99701
POSITION STATEMENT: Opposed to SB 26
Earl Westphal
P.O. Box 288
Sterling AK 99672
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SB 26
Dorothy Gilmore
Chugiak, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SB 26
Bruce Marion, Chairman
Chugiak-Eagle River Chamber of Commerce
Chugiak, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SB 26
Audrey Lee
3514 Vassar DR
Anchorage, AK 99508
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SB 26
Tonya Townsend
3514 Vassar DR
Anchorage, AK 99508
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SB 26
Carl Benson
1551 Farmer's Loop
Fairbanks, AK 99709
POSITION STATEMENT: Opposed to SB 26
Mark Hodgins
Box 372
Kenai, AK 99611
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SB 26
Esther Wunnicke
1406 Sunrise Drive
Anchorage, AK 99508
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on SB 26
Dale Bondurant
HC1, Box 1197
Soldotna, AK 99669
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SB 26
Rhonda Marcy
HC 33, Box 3169
Wasilla, AK 99654
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SB 26
Katie Hurley
P.O. Box 870167
Wasilla, AK 99687
POSITION STATEMENT: Opposed to SB 26
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 93-4, SIDE A
Number 001
The Senate Community & Regional Affairs Committee was called
to order by Chairman Randy Phillips at 9:00 a.m.
Chairman Randy Phillips introduced SB 15 VILLAGE PUBLIC SAFETY
OFFICERS PROGRAM) as the first order of business.
Senator Adams moved and asked unanimous consent that CSSB 15
(CRA) be adopted. Hearing no objection, the motion carried.
Number 008
Senator Adams moved adoption of the following amendment to
CSSB 15 (CRA): Page 1, lines 7 and 12: Delete "Native"
Hearing no objection, the amendment was adopted.
Number 017
Senator Adams moved that CSSB 15 (CRA), as amended, be passed
out of committee with individual recommendations. Hearing no
objection, it was so ordered.
Number 030
The next order of business was a presentation by the Alaska
Local Boundary Commission. Due to inclement weather
conditions in Juneau, Commission members addressed the
committee by teleconference from Sitka.
DARROLL HARGRAVES, Chairman, Alaska Local Boundary Commission
(LBC), noted that Commission members Shelley Dugan, Frances
Hallgren, and Lamar Cotten, as well as Dan Bockhorst of the
Department of Community & Regional Affairs, were also present
in Sitka.
Mr. Hargraves directed attention to the Local Boundary
Commission report dated 1/20/93. He said the LBC received and
considered a variety of types of proposals this past year
including incorporations, annexations, detachments,
dissolutions and consolidations. He pointed out that staff
from the Department of Community and Regional Affairs provides
a great deal of technical information and staff suppport in
working with municipal governments in many different ways
across the state.
This past year the LBC made several decisions including an
annexation petition from the City of Cordova, two annexation
petitions from the City of Haines, an annexation petition from
the City of Hoonah and an annexation petition from the City
of Palmer. These petitions were submitted on January 20, 1993
to the legislature for final approval.
In addition to the annexation petitions, the LBC also acted
on local action annexations which included acreage in Palmer,
Seldovia, Thorn Bay and Wasilla. The City of Whittier filed
a petition that would have annexed the community of Portage,
however, that was later withdrawn.
Municipal incorporations considered and approved by the LBC
were the City and Borough of Yakutat (the City of Yakutat was
dissolved) and City of Pilot Point.
Mr. Hargraves said the LBC started the Model Borough
Boundaries Project approximately three years ago. During the
past year the project has been completed and the LBC has
adopted model boundaries for the entire unorganized borough.
The Commission believes it has established model borough
boundaries that best serve not the only the local area where
that borough has been set, but also for the best interest of
the state at large. He noted that the completion of the work
and the setting of these boundaries does not at all determine
that there will be a borough, but the work they finished up
this year is simply intended to promote greater planning in
the development of future borough incorporations and
annexation petitions. He added that there is nothing in the
project on the part of the Commission that intended to
establish mandatory boroughs anywhere in the state.
DAN BOCKHORST, Department of Community & Regional Affairs
staff to the LBC, outlined the following suggested changes to
Title 29:
(1) allow direct incorporation of home rule cities and
unified municipalities;
(2) allow for some type of oversight on the part of the
State of Alaska with respect to the reclassification of 2nd
class cities located in the unorganized borough;
(3) amend the statutes to allow direct incorporation of
unified municipality; and
(4) amend the statutes to clarify dissolution standards
for city governments.
Mr. Bockhorst directed attention to page 29 of the
Commission's report which relates to Local Boundary Commission
compensation. He said recognizing the role and function and
increasing demands made on the Commission, the Commission
questions whether it is practical to continue to rely on
volunteer service. He noted the Commission held 32 meetings
in 1992 with approximately one-third of them conducted by
teleconference and the other two-thirds were in person in the
various communities. It was further noted that limited travel
funds in many cases allowed only three of the five members of
the Commission to attend hearings.
Mr. Bockhorst said another concern of the Commission is the
lack of municipal tax limitations. The Commission has been
criticized in one event for allowing the incorporation of a
city government that subsequently levied fairly significant
sales tax revenues. Current law no longer has any limitation
on the amount of money that a city government can raise
through sales taxes. The Commission has no recommendation
with respect to this issue, but wanted to bring the issue
directly to the attention of the committee.
Concluding his comments, Mr. Bockhorst briefly summarized the
following litigation cases resulting from LBC decisions: three
cases are currently pending with respect to the City and
Borough of Yakutat; one case involving the formation of the
Lake and Peninsula Borough that has been before the courts for
a number of years; a decision on the Denali Borough has been
appealed to the Supreme Court; and a decision to incorporate
the Pilot Point area as a second class city has been appealed
to the Supreme Court.
Number 375
DARROLL HARGRAVES outlined recommendations for the
legislature's consideration and review petitions that have
been submitted to the Commission which include the annexation
of 7.25 square miles to the City of Hoonah; 2 petitions from
the City of Haines, one for 4.75 square miles and the other
petition is for an additional 7 square miles of adjacent
tidelands; the annexation of 68.23 square miles to the City
of Cordova; and annexation of 7.5 acres to the City of Palmer.
Number 398
CHAIRMAN RANDY PHILLIPS requested that the LBC's suggested
legislation be submitted in writing to the committee for
review.
Number 407
SENATOR ZHAROFF noted that he had received correspondence from
the Hoonah Corporation asking for some adjustment in the
boundaries with the city, and if they could not reach that,
then they would be in opposition to the annexation. He also
noted there was some question on the availability to select
some of the lands in the Yakataga Management Plan.
Number 460
CHAIRMAN PHILLIPS said the boundary commission annexation
proposals would be back before the committee at the Tuesday
meeting and that testimony would be taken over the
teleconference network.
Number 462
CHAIRMAN PHILLIPS introduced SB 26 (LEGISLATIVE SESSIONS TO
BE HELD IN ANCHORAGE) as the next order of business, and
stated testimony would be taken statewide on the
teleconference network.
Number 475
WAYNE ROSS, an attorney testifying from Anchorage, noted that
former Representative Alyce Hanley had been at the Anchorage
LIO to testify in support of SB 26, but had to leave because
of a prior commitment.
Mr. Ross stated he had voted against moving the capital when
the issue came up several years ago, but he also believes that
people should have the opportunity to see the legislature in
action. Further, it would allow more candidates to consider
running for the legislature.
Mr. Ross spoke to the expense of moving to Juneau and the
disruption of families if they accompany the legislator to
Juneau; the greater accessibility of the Anchorage area to the
rest of the state; and the opportunity his children and other
children would have to visit the legislature.
Concluding, Mr. Ross urged passage of SB 26.
Number 500
MIKE CHRYST of Wasilla testifying from the Mat-Su LIO, stated
he agreed with the previous speaker's comments. He said the
legislature would be more accessible in Anchorage to a greater
number of people. It would be doing the citizens and the
legislature a great service to hold the sessions in Anchorage.
Number 519
SUSAN GORSKY of Eagle River stated her support for SB 26,
saying she believes the legislature is too isolated. If it
were moved to Anchorage, the entire railbelt will have very
necessary road access. She also believes the increased access
will demystify the legislative process for everyone.
Number 528
ROGER JENKINS, City Administrator for the City of Nikolai,
voiced his support for SB 26. He said Anchorage or South
Central is where the people, transportation and community
center of the state iare. He said the legislation would help
foster better candidates for the legislature, not only better
prepared to do business with the legislature, but better
prepared to actually run a campaign. Concluding, Mr. Jenkins
said the fiscal note of less than $3 million is a lot less
than $2.9 billion for moving the capital and is reasonable.
Number 560
BEAVER BENTLEY of Homer said while is in favor of moving the
legislature from Juneau to make better access for the people,
he has some concerns with the legislation. He questioned if
the wording in the bill meant that the legislature was going
to find a new location in Anchorage every year, which he said
would be disruptive. He suggested the legislature would need
a permanent location in Anchorage. He further suggested there
would need to be a permanent hook-up with Juneau so that
legislators could research their bills with archives.
CHAIRMAN RANDY PHILLIPS clarified that the Legislative Council
would be the mechanism to set up the logistics for moving the
legislature from Juneau to Anchorage. Anchorage has agreed
to do everything they can to float a revenue bond for a place
for the legislature to meet, which he thought would be a long-
term lease agreement with the Municipality of Anchorage.
TAPE 93-4, SIDE B
Number 010
BYRON BONDURANT of Soldotna stated he supports SB 26 because
he thinks it is very necessary that the legislature not be so
isolated and insulated from the people that they represent.
He suggested to speed up the process, the legislature should
pass a bill which would eliminate the possibility of any
expansion or renovation of any facilities in Juneau.
Number 030
MYRNA MAYNARD of Anchorage testified in support of SB 26. She
said there is great deal of movement each year as the
legislators move back and forth between Anchorage and Juneau.
She said moving the legislature would bring it closer to the
greater student body, and she believes it is important for
children to be able to go and see the legislature in action.
Number 050
DICK BOGARD of Sterling spoke in favor of moving the
legislature to a central location some place in the state near
the people. Access to the people and access to the
legislative body and the legislative body to the people is
desirable. He spoke to the expense of legislators getting to
Juneau and for anyone other than the paid lobbyists to get
down there to them.
Number 100
VERONICA SLAJER of Anchorage testified against SB 26. She
said although she recognizes the positive side of bringing the
legislature closer to the majority of the people, she believes
that in the coming years there are going to be other issues
that will be of a much more higher priority than moving the
legislature. She questioned if the fiscal note for
approximately $3 million includes any penalties that may occur
from breaking leases and moving people around in Juneau and
the cost for commissioners and agency people to travel to
Anchorage to participate in the legislative process. She
added there should be more exact figures before considering
moving the legislature.
CHAIRMAN RANDY PHILLIPS interjected that the fiscal notes on
the bill would be presented to the committee on the following
Tuesday for its consideration.
Number 125
LARRY IRVING testified from Fairbanks in opposition to the
concept of moving the legislature to Anchorage. He said he
believes there are other issues of much greater importance to
take care of at this time. He said the concept that the
capital must be in the largest city in the state has not been
pursued by many of Alaska's neighbor states where the capitals
are somewhere away from the largest city. He pointed out
there are people in Fairbanks, there are people in Juneau, and
there are people in Barrow, so he wondered which people did
they want to bring it closer to.
Number 150
EARL WESTPHAL of Sterling stated his strong support for SB 26,
just like he supported the capital move a few years ago. It
makes sense to have state business taking place where there
is the greatest number of citizens that are affected by the
legislation. He suggested that if there was a problem with
finding adequate space to house the legislature in Anchorage,
there was an empty shopping mall in Kenai that would welcome
the legislature.
Number 182
DOROTHY GILMORE, a resident of Chugiak, stated her support for
a capital move to the Willow area, saying she believes that
with all the important issues before us, we can't afford not
to move the government to the people. Legislators need to be
closer to the majority of the people to get their ideas on the
issues.
CHAIRMAN RANDY PHILLIPS reiterated that the bill only
addresses moving the legislature and not the capital.
Number 191
BRUCE MARION, President of the Chugiak-Eagle River Chamber
of Commerce, voiced his support for SB 26 given that half of
the population of the state lives in close proximity to
Anchorage. Additionally, Anchorage has more school students
than Juneau has in total population. SB 26 offers the
opportunity to many constituents to hold their legislator
accountable, and it would also the allow the people to offer
their testimony in person regarding issues that are close to
them instead of paid lobbyists dictating which direction the
legislators should take.
Number 200
AUDREY LEE stated her strong support for SB 26. Although the
final fiscal note has not been completed, she believes that
in the long run moving the legislature will save money because
of the large number of legislators that are from the area.
She suggested that eliminating the per diem for those
legislators who are residents of the city in which the
legislature convenes could be another way to save money.
Number 220
CARL BENSON of Fairbanks said the basic idea of a capital move
has been voted on a number of times and failed three out of
four times. He said it was a poor idea to move the capital
and it is a worse idea to split the capital. He suggested as
a better alternative to work on forms of effective
telecommunications, especially for the rural areas. He stated
his strong opposition to SB 26.
Number 245
TONYA TOWNSEND of Anchorage voiced her support for SB 26 and
said her main concern is accessibility to the legislature.
She said she believes the legislature would act more
efficiently if it were under the scrutiny of the majority of
the population.
Number 275
MARK HODGINS of Kenai stated his full support for moving the
sessions to an area more accessible to the majority of the
population. He said that's representative government. He
said the expense of getting to Juneau in time and money keeps
a tremendous amount of people from appearing before the
legislature. He also spoke to his frustrations in trying to
get to Juneau when the weather conditions are bad. He further
addressed the expense to municipal governments in getting
their people to Juneau. Concluding his comments, Mr. Hodgins
said he has had a lot of people talk to him about moving the
sessions from Juneau and he would be glad to form a grass
roots organization on the Kenai to get some petitions going.
Number 310
ESTHER WUNNICKE of Anchorage implored the committee to be
careful in the passage of SB 26, saying it is a matter of so
much importance that it should go before the people of the
state for a vote. Speaking from her own experience as
Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources for four
years, she said she learned the importance of the
commissioners and the members of the executive branch being
in the same place as the legislative branch. She cautioned
that moving the legislature will mean moving many members of
the executive branch and many people out of the Governor's
Office, etc.
Number 350
DALE BONDURANT of Soldotna stated his support for SB 26. He
said Alaska has the hardest access to their legislature of any
state in the United States, and he estimated that presently
five percent of the people have the ability to get there.
Number 365
RHONDA MARCY of Wasilla voiced her strong support for SB 26,
saying she thinks that Alaska has the only legislature in the
United States that a citizen does not have direct access to.
She believes it would be much more effective if constituents
could meet with their legislators in person rather than having
to talk over the teleconference network.
Number 400
KATIE HURLEY of Wasilla, a former legislator as well a former
employee of the legislature in many capacities, said the
legislation will not make the legislature more effective to
the public. She said there are many ways right now to make
the legislature more accessible. It would also be a costly
maneuver to have the legislative branch so far removed from
administrative offices and the administration would be
traveling constantly. She suggested that the way to improve
the legislature is to have meaningful campaign reform so that
more individuals can afford to run for public office.
Concluding her comments, Ms. Hurley said she believes the bill
is just another attempt at moving the capital and there are
more important issues that should be addressed.
Number 430
There being no further witnesses wishing to testify, CHAIRMAN
PHILLIPS closed the hearing on SB 26, stating it would be back
before the committee on Tuesday. He adjourned the meeting at
10:32 a.m.
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