The Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday rejected putting millions of dollars toward a large homeless shelter.
The proposal from Mayor Dave Bronson’s administration called for more than $11 million in funding to complete the partially-constructed shelter in East Anchorage. The project would have provided emergency shelter for up to 200 people and navigation services.
At Tuesday night’s Assembly meeting, North Anchorage Assembly member Daniel Volland raised concerns about funding — both the source of some of the money and putting cash toward a structure that may not be sound.
“We are being asked to spend so much money, so much taxpayer money, on this project,” Volland said. “A structure that we don’t even know will meet building code, be approved by our acting building official, and diverting a lot of money from things that are very necessary.”
The project would have pulled funding from a variety of sources including alcohol taxes and American Rescue Plan funds, plus money set aside for other projects like removing trees killed by spruce beetles, a wildfire risk.
Other Assembly members also expressed concerns over how much it would cost to operate the shelter — a total that was not provided by the mayor’s administration — and the project’s timeline. The shelter would not have been built by this winter.
South Anchorage Assembly member Randy Sulte voted in support of the project Tuesday night. He said while it’s not perfect, he’s frustrated by the lack of a large shelter to address the city’s more than 750 homeless people, some scattered across several large encampments. The city shut down the shelter at the Sullivan Arena earlier this year.
“We do not have the funds to make this decision today, but do we have the courage to lead and make that decision?” Sulte said. “No. We do not like the funding sources, but I like seeing the homeless at these sites and the stories from our community even less.”
Ultimately, the Assembly voted 9 to 3 in opposition to the project.
The East Anchorage shelter has been one of Bronson’s priorities since taking office. His administration directed millions of dollars of work on the project last year without Assembly approval, which led to the Assembly suspending the project and a $2.5 million legal settlement.
At a news conference Wednesday, Bronson said he was disappointed by the Assembly’s vote.
“We now have — and we will have — no shelter for far too many people this winter,” Bronson said. “That was the last opportunity.”
After Tuesday’s vote, Assembly members introduced a plan to put more money toward the Bronson administration’s emergency cold weather sheltering plan, which involves using hotels, churches and nonprofits for extra rooms and temporary beds. Some of the funding would come from money set aside for the shelter.
Bronson said he supports the conversion of other buildings to housing for homeless people, but it won’t be enough without a shelter.
“A focus on housing first, an extreme… or exclusive approach to that… that’s going to fail,” Bronson said. “Because at the end of the day, someone has to enter into housing from somewhere and it’s not just the street.”
The Assembly will take up funding for the cold weather plan — that does not include the construction of a new shelter — on Sept. 12.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with comments from Mayor Dave Bronson.
Wesley Early covers Anchorage life and city politics for Alaska Public Media. Reach him at wearly@alaskapublic.org and follow him on X at @wesley_early. Read more about Wesley here.
