OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Assembly Housing and Homeless Committee Meeting Summary - May 20, 2026

Assembly & Committee Meetings — Wednesday, May 20, 2026
BodyAnchorage, Alaska
SessionAssembly & Committee Meetings
DateWednesday, May 20, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:33:45
Transcript — Verbatim
0:26

Travis, are we recording?

0:27

We are.

0:28

Okay, great.

0:29

All right.

0:29

I'm gonna call to order this meeting of the Assembly Housing and Homeless Committee.

0:34

It is Wednesday, May 20th at 1101 a.m.

0:40

Um, welcome everyone.

0:41

We'll start by just um getting a sense of who's here.

0:44

Let's start with those in person.

0:46

Erin Baldwin Day.

0:47

Sydney Scout.

0:48

And this is Cameron Perez Rodia.

0:50

And on the phone, Mr.

0:51

Johnson, are you there?

0:54

Here.

0:55

Ms.

0:55

Brawley, are you there?

0:58

Yep, I'm here.

0:58

And Mr.

0:59

Gecker, are you there?

1:02

Sorry.

1:04

Girker.

1:05

Sorry.

1:05

Sorry, Girk.

1:08

All right.

1:09

Um, we have a pretty pretty full agenda today, so um we should just get started.

1:15

For those online, if you want to get into the queue, just remember to send me a text.

1:21

Um, and for the record, we've been joined by Ms.

1:23

Park.

1:25

Okay.

1:25

Um, let's let's get started.

1:27

We're gonna start with the 2026 point in time count.

1:30

Uh, with those involved in that presentation, come forward, please.

1:44

Welcome.

1:48

All right, thank you.

1:50

Uh, let me know if uh you can't hear me or if you need me to uh repeat anything.

1:56

Actually, before I have you begin, I I do want to make note that that the Mayor LaFrance is here, and I just wanted to give you give you a moment if there's something you want to share with the committee.

2:05

Thanks.

2:07

Thank you.

2:08

Thank you so much.

2:10

Um, Chair Perez Verdea, and thank you, Assembly members, for being here today.

2:15

Ms.

2:16

Parks, um, for taking a few moments before you begin to make uh some comments.

2:23

Since I took office, my team has been focused on reducing the number of people experiencing experiencing homelessness in our community.

2:32

We have been very focused specifically on the people who are unsheltered in Anchorage and have been working to see a reduction in that number.

2:41

This year's point in time count shows a 28% reduction in unsheltered homelessness compared to last year.

2:48

That is fewer people sleeping in our public spaces, fewer people susceptible to our cold winter nights, and fewer people unsafe in our community.

2:59

This is good news, but the problem is not solved, and there is still more work to do.

3:04

The ultimate goal is to have accessible housing options for all Anchorage residents.

3:09

As we work toward that goal, I'm proud that we have stood up year-round shelter for the first time.

3:14

This provides people not only a safe place to stay, but also a way to connect to the resources they need.

3:21

This year our shelter beds across the municipality were full at the time of the count.

3:25

This highlights the need for these beds and the critical role they play in keeping a vulnerable population safe, but we still need more shelter beds.

3:56

We are also working to prevent people from entering homelessness.

4:00

We started a housing rehab fund to fix aging housing stock.

4:04

We have rental assistance to the health department, and we have funds to make mobile home repairs to keep people in housing.

4:11

Finally, the transition from homelessness to being housed can be challenging.

4:16

There have been struggles to ensure that people stay housed.

4:20

I'm happy to report that 72% of people housed two years prior were still housed in 2025.

4:27

We're also helping connect people to the resources they need.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Homelessness█████████████████████████████████████████████60%
Public Safety██████████13%
Affordable Housing███████9%
Mental Health Awareness█████6%
Procedural███4%
Data Management██3%
Technology and Innovation██3%
Fiscal Sustainability█1%
Public Engagement█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Assembly Housing and Homeless Committee Meeting - May 20, 2026

The Assembly Housing and Homeless Committee met on May 20, 2026, to receive a detailed briefing on the 2026 Point in Time Count from the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness and the Q1 2026 Homelessness Health Metrics Dashboard from the Mayor's Office and the Fire Department. Mayor LaFrance opened the session highlighting a 28% reduction in the unsheltered population and emphasizing the need to continue multi-pronged efforts.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Jamie Lopez: Stated the current approach to homelessness is "inhumane" and constitutes "military tactics applied to civilians." He testified about the recent death of an unhoused woman, Randy Agne, which he attributed to the stress of continuous displacement, and urged the committee to establish stable, serviced campsites.
  • Unhoused Individual (Ricky/Justice): Expressed frustration with the system, testifying that he graduated from the Acres Recovery substance use treatment program but was discharged to the streets without a promised place to live. He criticized the long voucher waitlist process and stated the system has not given him a genuine chance to secure housing.

Discussion Items

Mayor's Opening Remarks Mayor LaFrance reported a 72% retention rate for people housed from homelessness two years prior and announced a 28% reduction in the unsheltered homeless population compared to 2025. She highlighted the establishment of year-round shelter and the Hope Team's 171 referrals in Q1. She noted the problem remains unsolved and requires continued investment.

2026 Point in Time Count Update Jessica Parks (ACEH) presented the HUD-mandated count results from January 26, 2026.

  • Unsheltered homelessness decreased by 111 people (291 in 2026 vs 402 in 2025).
  • Single adult shelters were at 100% capacity. Overall program utilization across the housing continuum was 95%.
  • Of those unsheltered (N=160 responses), 85 cited lack of available beds for not using shelter; safety and privacy were other top reasons.
  • Girdwood's count jumped from 0 to 30, attributed to improved coordination but highlighting a severe lack of affordable housing.
  • Assembly members questioned the disparity in waitlists for veterans (short, with dedicated SSVF/VASH resources) vs. non-veterans (up to 48 months for housing choice vouchers).

Homelessness Health Metrics Dashboard Q1 2026 Thea Agnew Bemben and Dr. Pierce presented the quarterly dashboard.

  • Public Health: Opioid incidents average 152-207 per month (approximately 5 per day). The health department distributed 442 Narcan kits.
  • Crisis Response: Safety Center admissions surged from 579 in Jan 2025 to 1,323 in Jan 2026. A small cohort of 54 high-utilizer individuals accounted for over 1,000 visits.
  • Treatment: The CORE team's buprenorphine program has treated 6 individuals (3 unhoused), with 5 of them remaining engaged in treatment.
  • Shelter System: The municipality deployed 300 year-round beds, scaling to 450 during winter surge. Shelters reported 85 duplicated turnaways in a single May weekend. 66% of clients at East 56 engaged with case management. 56% of shelter clients have a disabling condition.
  • Housing Retention: The dashboard reported a 73% retention rate for the 2025 cohort (a slight variance from the Mayor's 72% cited earlier, noted in the data) and a 71% rate for the Q1 2026 cohort.
  • Funding and Gaps: Staff estimated an additional $2.45 million is needed to adequately meet shelter demand. The Good Neighbor Fund raised almost $180,000 from 300 donors. The total strategy budget is approximately $30 million ($9.2M from the general fund, $15.1M from the alcohol tax, and $5.6M in state and federal leveraging).

Assembly Deliberation Assembly members discussed metrics definitions, equity of resources across populations, the challenges of hospital discharges, and 311 response times (APD Chief noted planned technology upgrades). Assembly Brawley stressed the need for transparent public communication on the trade-offs of current spending levels given the finite municipal budget.

Key Outcomes

  • The committee accepted the 2026 Point in Time Count and Q1 2026 Health Metrics Dashboard reports.
  • Staff announced that legislation accepting $70,000 in additional state CVBG/CV funds for use at the non-congregate shelter (The Alex) will be before the full Assembly at its May 26, 2026 meeting (AO 347-2026).
  • Remaining agenda items were deferred to the next committee meeting due to time constraints.

Meeting Transcript

Travis, are we recording? We are. Okay, great. All right. I'm gonna call to order this meeting of the Assembly Housing and Homeless Committee. It is Wednesday, May 20th at 1101 a.m. Um, welcome everyone. We'll start by just um getting a sense of who's here. Let's start with those in person. Erin Baldwin Day. Sydney Scout. And this is Cameron Perez Rodia. And on the phone, Mr. Johnson, are you there? Here. Ms. Brawley, are you there? Yep, I'm here. And Mr. Gecker, are you there? Sorry. Girker. Sorry. Sorry, Girk. All right. Um, we have a pretty pretty full agenda today, so um we should just get started. For those online, if you want to get into the queue, just remember to send me a text. Um, and for the record, we've been joined by Ms. Park. Okay. Um, let's let's get started. We're gonna start with the 2026 point in time count. Uh, with those involved in that presentation, come forward, please. Welcome. All right, thank you. Uh, let me know if uh you can't hear me or if you need me to uh repeat anything. Actually, before I have you begin, I I do want to make note that that the Mayor LaFrance is here, and I just wanted to give you give you a moment if there's something you want to share with the committee. Thanks. Thank you. Thank you so much. Um, Chair Perez Verdea, and thank you, Assembly members, for being here today. Ms. Parks, um, for taking a few moments before you begin to make uh some comments. Since I took office, my team has been focused on reducing the number of people experiencing experiencing homelessness in our community. We have been very focused specifically on the people who are unsheltered in Anchorage and have been working to see a reduction in that number. This year's point in time count shows a 28% reduction in unsheltered homelessness compared to last year. That is fewer people sleeping in our public spaces, fewer people susceptible to our cold winter nights, and fewer people unsafe in our community. This is good news, but the problem is not solved, and there is still more work to do. The ultimate goal is to have accessible housing options for all Anchorage residents. As we work toward that goal, I'm proud that we have stood up year-round shelter for the first time.

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