Joe Geldhof: It’s time for a leadership change in Juneau

By JOE GELDHOF

President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the current presidential election was of great significance.

Biden’s decision to withdraw from the current presidential race is similar to Juneau.

Juneau also needs a new leader at the top.

Juneau has been politically wavering for far too long, spending lavishly and ignoring the obvious issues that need attention.

Juneau needs new political leadership. The sooner the better.

This October, Juneau voters will decide who will be our mayor and elect two members to the Assembly. Juneau needs leaders who are committed to fiscal responsibility. Whether Juneau gets leaders who are committed to wise spending of public funds is the big question in this election cycle.

Juneau has borrowed and spent government money in an unsustainable manner for far too long.

Sometimes the local assembly avoids spending on essential needs, but still carries out activities that fall outside the core functions of local government.

The current Assembly has failed in several ways to make serious improvements to housing. Juneau’s streets and public areas, both downtown and in the Mendenhall Valley, are increasingly populated with people with conditions who routinely engage in aggressive and socially unacceptable behavior. Is Juneau better off than Anchorage in this regard? Probably, but does that standard apply?

The situation with the increasing numbers of homeless people in Juneau who pose a danger to themselves and the public is clear. It is telling that this concern has not been satisfactorily addressed by the Assembly.

The Juneau Assembly has also failed to address the obvious problems associated with large-scale cruise tourism. The result is an ill-conceived initiative that would harm Juneau’s economic well-being and likely result in constitutional challenges.

As someone who has created and implemented local and statewide initiatives in the past, you can’t be mistaken about what drives citizens to do the hard work that the initiative process requires. At the root of almost every initiative is the failure of elected officials to address legitimate concerns of the electorate.

Juneau’s population is stable and the number of students in schools is declining.

Juneau’s property assessments have been unnecessarily inflated based on questionable methodologies that have dramatically increased taxes in a manner that deviates from actual property values.

All of this raises questions not only about the local assembly, but also about the leadership of Juneau’s current mayor.

Beth Weldon has shown in six years as mayor of Juneau that she can do the job. She has failed.

During Weldon’s tenure as mayor, she tried to push through a new city hall, but voters rejected it twice.

Mayor Weldon is part of a process where some staff members are selected based on connections rather than competencies.

Weldon and the Assembly have made no meaningful progress in addressing seemingly mundane but important issues, such as where Juneau will dump our trash in a landfill that will soon be full.

Instead of adhering to the basics that Juneau residents need, Mayor Weldon and the Assembly have adopted a new voting system that is expensive, takes longer to produce results, and increases the potential for voter abuse. This move to abandon the tried and true voting system that has worked in Juneau for decades was implemented with little public notice or opportunity for public comment during the pandemic.

Discretionary spending in our community is increasing, even as some core services are being cut or held below minimum standards. And now Mayor Weldon is leading the charge to borrow money (via bond issuance) to replace some of the infrastructure at the wastewater treatment plant that would have been paid for with user fees.

Borrowing money for maintenance instead of using the user fee is a strange transaction form in this case. It is a clear sign of financial irresponsibility and reason enough to question the financial acumen of the mayor.

Juneau needs a mayor who is committed to tackling real problems and is willing to do essential work instead of fiddling around with discretionary spending on activities that don’t always meet citizens’ basic needs.

Currently, and for several years now, the CBJ has been sitting on millions of dollars in tax revenue that could be used to reduce property taxes or spend on essential services. The Mayor and her colleagues in the current Assembly have created a significant slush fund that exceeds the usual reserves needed for efficient government operations.

The mayor and her colleagues in the House appear comfortable with the fact that they can use these funds for future expenditures on projects and programs that are not necessary to meet the real needs of Juneau residents.

Juneau needs and deserves new leadership, leadership that is committed to meeting the essential needs of this community in a financially competent and responsible manner.

The nonsense and nonsense that characterizes some of the spending at City Hall will only end if voters wake up and show real leadership.

If we are going to make Juneau an affordable, safe, and enjoyable place to live, we need a new mayor who will thoughtfully deliver what we need and can afford.

Vote for change – real change – in October.

Joe Geldhof has lived in Juneau since 1979.