The Anchorage Assembly approved the city’s roughly $640 million operating budget Tuesday night, with several amendments.
Two amendments that dominated the conversation involved contracting with an outside group to look into studying a form of civilian oversight of the Anchorage Police Department.
The first amendment would’ve contracted with NACOLE, the National Association of Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement, for $75,000. Assembly member Daniel Volland was one of the members who brought the proposal forward.
“Frankly, I think we are in a place in time, here in Anchorage, when it comes to policing, where our best practices are lagging behind other jurisdictions,” Volland said.
Member Zac Johnson said he worried about how adding more oversight to the police department could impact morale and staffing, at a time when the city is struggling to fill positions.
“You have to also weigh the impact this has to the people doing the job, and recognize that there will be probably fewer of them showing up to do it in the future if we continue down this path,” he said.
Members voted down the amendment 9 to 3, with Volland, Anna Brawley and Felix Rivera in favor. A similar amendment brought forward that would’ve put the same amount of money toward considering several options for community oversight of APD, instead of just NACOLE, was voted down 7 to 5. Meg Zalatel and Kameron Perez-Verdia joined the three members who voted in favor of the prior amendment in supporting the second.
The push for APD oversight comes during a year where Anchorage police have shot eight people, killing five, including a 16-year-old girl. Assembly youth member Kynnedi Grady said something needs to be done.
“Any system in which a public servant shoots a teenager is so vastly at fault that we cannot let it be,” Grady said. “This is not a commitment to any later board or project. Just a single chance to do what’s right.”
Mayor Suzanne LaFrance opposed both amendments, saying that her administration has already enacted two third-party reviews of APD, including looking into its use of force policies.
The Assembly on Tuesday also approved an amendment to put $400,000 of marijuana tax funds toward waiving membership fees at four Boys and Girls Clubs in Anchorage and Eagle River. They also moved $130,000 from an unfilled position at the Equal Rights Commission to go toward the Office of Equity and to help fund a kitchen at the Alaska Black Caucus Equity Center.
The overall operating budget was approved unanimously. The budget takes effect in January and is about $25 million more than this year’s. City officials have said they expect property taxes to go up slightly.
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.
