Anchorage Assembly Meeting Summary - November 4, 2025
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Anchorage Assembly Meeting Summary - November 4, 2025
The Anchorage Municipal Assembly convened on November 4, 2025, to address routine business, budget public hearings, and several key ordinances. Mayor Ethan Berkowitz delivered a report highlighting the city's response to the Western Alaska evacuation crisis, upcoming tax reform proposals, and the 50th anniversary of the municipality. The Assembly approved the lease-to-own for City Hall, streamlined cottage food regulations, and voted on security services, while continuing public hearings on the 2026 budget and community council boundaries to November 18 and December 2.
Consent Calendar
- Approved items from the Consent Calendar (minus pulled items) by unanimous consent.
- AO 2025-106 & 107: Operating and Capital Improvement Budgets were pulled for continued public hearing.
- AR 2025-328: Passed unanimously to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the League of Women Voters of Anchorage.
- Veterans Day Resolution: Passed unanimously to recognize November 11, 2025, as Veterans Day.
- AM 804-2025: Approved (9-2 vote) to amend Securitas Security Services USA Inc. contract for transit security services, including back pay for three months of unpaid positions for four guards.
- AM 824-2025: Approved unanimously to increase Van Pool subsidies from $350 to $450 per month.
- AO 2025-11: Approved unanimously to rezone approximately 14.83 acres in the Kimberly and Geneva Woods subdivisions to Parks and Recreation, subject to existing conservation easements.
- AO 2025-114: Approved unanimously to amend the Food Code to eliminate cottage food licensing burdens and align with state standards; a motion to substitute the version allowing raw milk sales (Item S) failed by a vote of 5-7.
- AO 2025-120: Approved (11-1 vote) to authorize the City to exercise its purchase option for City Hall and engage in a sale-leaseback transaction with JP Morgan Securities to finance the $28.5 million acquisition, resulting in an estimated annual net savings of $300,000.
- AO 2025-121: Approved unanimously to relinquish a 60-foot water and sanitary sewer easement at Sonoma Glenn at West Park.
- AO 2025-122: Approved unanimously to issue general obligation refunding bonds.
- Alcohol Licenses: Three conditional protests regarding beverage dispensary and package store renewals were approved by unanimous vote.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Wildfire Mitigation: Speakers John June (Hillside Area Landowners Association) and John Weddleton expressed full support for the Wildfire Division staffing positions, emphasizing the high risk of wildfires in the Urban-Wildland Interface and the critical need for dedicated staff to secure federal grants and maintain momentum.
- Housing Services: Speaker Jamie Lopez criticized the current reliance on police for homeless outreach, expressing concern that current policies destabilize vulnerable populations. Lopez argued for increased funding for non-police support services to stabilize individuals rather than simply displacing them.
- Cottage Food: Speaker Kirk Rose (Anchorage Community Land Trust) expressed full support for streamlining cottage food regulations to align with state statutes, noting the burden current local codes place on small businesses. Speaker Monica Jansen, a baker, expressed gratitude for the ordinance, stating it is essential for her ability to grow a gluten-free business that cannot operate in commercial kitchens.
- Raw Milk: During testimony on the Food Code, speaker Monica Jansen supported the repeal of restrictive regulations. However, during deliberation, members expressed varying levels of concern regarding the public health implications of the "S" version of the ordinance which explicitly references state-allowed raw milk sales, with some questioning the clarity of municipal responsibility versus state enforcement.
- City Hall Purchase: Speaker Ethan Falsey, Chief Administrative Officer, presented the financial rationale for purchasing City Hall, explaining the sale-leaseback mechanism and cost savings. Members expressed general support but noted concerns about the timing amidst fiscal uncertainty and the complexity of the financial structure for public understanding.
- Community Gardeners: A speaker advocated for the establishment of an Anchorage Farm Bureau chapter and a Grange chapter to support local agriculture and community gardens.
- Public Safety Incident: Speaker Savannah Schmidt requested the Assembly consider new measures to protect residents from unlawful restraint and harassment. She described an incident where she was trapped in a parking lot for over two hours, citing a gap in statutes and inadequate police response time.
Discussion Items
- Transit Security (AM 804-2025): Members questioned the cost efficacy ($371,000 for four unarmed guards for three months) and the rationale for not utilizing more police officers. Director Rudolph clarified the guards are for bus patrol and depot security, noting they resolved over 100 incidents last month. The Assembly noted the challenge of funding a robust police force due to the tax cap and vacancies, distinguishing between sworn officers and contract security.
- Food Code (AO 2025-114): The debate centered on the "S" version of the ordinance, which explicitly codifies state regulations regarding raw milk sales. Attorney advice clarified that the municipality is not required to regulate raw milk as it is a state function, and the "S" version merely makes this explicit in local code. The motion to substitute the "S" version failed to pass.
- Community Council Boundaries (AO 2025-119): A public hearing was held regarding the 10-year review of community council boundaries. Member Steve Callahan expressed support for postponing the vote to allow for further discussion regarding a potential merger with the Tudor Area Community Council and the equity of district sizes.
- City Hall Acquisition (AO 2025-120): The Chief Administrative Officer explained the lease-leaseback mechanism as a method to finance the purchase without immediate capital outlay. Members discussed the long-term cost savings compared to continuing the rent-to-own option over a 30-year term.
Key Outcomes
- Budget Hearings Continued: Public hearings on the 2026 General Operating Budget (AO 2025-106), Capital Improvement Budget (AO 2025-107), Municipal Utilities budgets, and Community Development Authority budgets were moved to November 18, 2025, pending member amendments and further testimony.
- Community Council Boundary: The public hearing on community council boundaries (AO 2025-119) was continued to December 2, 2025, to allow for additional work session discussion and community input.
- Security Contract: The amendment to the Securitas contract was approved despite concerns about the cost, acknowledging the interim solution gap between police availability and public safety needs.
- Food Code Update: The food code was amended to remove local cottage food licensing barriers, aligning with state law, though the specific codification of raw milk regulations was not included in the final passing version.
- City Hall Ownership: The Assembly authorized the purchase of City Hall and the associated lease-leaseback financing, projecting annual operational savings.
- Youth Participation: A group of high school students from Lumen Christi High School attended, providing civic education for their government class.
Meeting Transcript
Skip this pain. It's not the lack of your judgment that makes you a kid. It's the lack of your substance that keeps you locked in. Oh, and keeps them talking about it. You like holding him with empty faces that you'll never see again? Search out a way to find a version of you you like. Why don't you get it tired of me? Why don't you start me? Why aren't you tired of me? Why don't you tire me? Why you tired of me? Why don't you tire me? Is it a side? Is it just me? Wait it for a side to our eye. I'll leave highlight my name. She Lightning strikes and diamond lines. A bloody stone, a dawn on mine. A morning wasted on trivial. An evening wasted on primitive things around here. Everybody knows everybody. The past lives documented till the closest topic. Yeah, always a good guys coming to save us. Promise a good life, thank God that you came. Always got Uncle Sam ready to save us. We won't, we won't think God. The red sun now we working for the past. But to fold them house on your wrist to praise God's but like 15 work salary on your wrist. A place of chasing what you want when you want if you want till it's up and dust. Billions burning in the clubs. Oh five, please, no chase and peace. I must chase green, but honestly, I feel the brink. We want we want them. We won't make one thing, I've been always a good guys coming to save us. And the lives you've changed the effects you've made. Is this the life you made for me? Always a good guy's coming and save us. Always got Uncle Sam ready to save us. Always a good guys coming to save us. Promise the good life, thank God that you came. Always got Uncle Sam ready to save us. Thank God you came, thank God you came, thank God you came. Palm trees ready, made good zone fright. Cause you was on your own time coming, don't stop running, burning the leaves in the backyard, summers, flowers and a breeze, keep warming me. Tired of the priest keep warning me. Seconds from the least, it's hard to treat. Too scared to sink. Too scared to be my own, you see. No bridge stood, no man could reach. I pray three times a night.
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