OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Anchorage Public Health and Safety Committee Meeting - August 6, 2026

Assembly & Committee Meetings — Thursday, August 6, 2026
BodyAnchorage, Alaska
SessionAssembly & Committee Meetings
DateThursday, August 6, 2026
StatusNEW · FILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:39:54
Transcript — Verbatim
0:21

All right, I'd like to call this meeting of the um public health and safety committee to order it is 301.

0:34

And we will start with introductions in the room.

0:40

Sure, Gerger.

0:41

Anna Raleigh.

0:44

Cameron Perez for Dia.

0:47

Yarrow Silvers.

0:48

Sydney Scout.

0:51

And do we have anybody on the phone?

0:57

Okay.

1:02

First on our agenda is department updates.

1:05

And the only uh department update that I see before me now is the Anchorage Health Department.

1:13

Would you like to come up with the Speaker 1?

1:32

Good afternoon, everyone.

1:33

Kimberly Rash, Anchorage Health Department.

1:35

Today we're going to give a little update on measles.

1:38

So as everyone has probably seen, there has been some news on measles and wastewater.

1:43

So today we have the health department's epidemiologist here to enlighten us a little bit about it.

1:49

And she has a handout that I believe all of you have as well.

1:52

Perfect that she will go over as well.

1:54

So I will let her introduce herself and then give the update.

1:57

And if there's any questions, let us know.

2:01

Thanks everyone.

2:02

Kristen Van Durand, the epidemiologist.

2:04

So first a little context about what measles is.

2:08

It's a highly contagious viral illness.

2:10

It spreads through respiratory droplets and airborne particles.

2:13

Important thing to know about measles, it can hang in the air up to two hours after a person has left.

2:18

So someone could be in a room, have measles, leave the room, leave the car, someone who's unprotected, meaning unvaccinated, could come into that room up to two hours later and contract measles.

2:36

So why are we concerned about measles?

2:39

It isn't just a ration fever, it can be serious.

2:42

So complications include ear infections, pneumonia, encephalitis or brain swelling, and even death.

2:48

So some statistics on this would be one in 20 children who contract measles will get pneumonia, and that's the most common cause of death from measles in young children.

3:00

And tragically, one out of every three persons who contract one out of it, one to three out of every 1,000 people with measles will die.

3:10

So this is a very serious illness and again, very, very contagious.

3:15

It's preventable.

3:34

So the measles vaccine was introduced in the United States in the 1960s.

3:39

Before that time, there were an estimated three to four million cases of measles every year.

3:44

So to put that in context, that's like having the population of Anchorage times 10 getting measles every year.

3:51

After vaccines were introduced, this story changed dramatically to the point that measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000.

4:00

It became something that we didn't see very often.

4:03

You had providers who had never seen a measles case or had seen very few measles cases in their career.

4:10

However, the situation and anyone who's read the news knows that the situation changed in the United States, particularly starting in 2025.

4:27

And the total for the year ended up being over 2,000 cases.

5:00

Notably, the majority of these cases came from measles outbreaks, 94%.

5:04

And again, the majority of those were among persons who were unvaccinated or didn't their vaccination status was unknown.

5:12

That was 93%.

5:14

So what's the situation here in Anchorage?

5:18

In 2026, Anchorage has not had a measles case reported.

5:23

We had one case reported in 2025.

5:26

That was in May of 2025 with an Anchorage resident.

5:30

And the health department along with the state did respond to a measles case in October.

5:35

That was among a traveler.

5:36

So that's not counted here.

5:38

That's assigned to the case that the place that the traveler came from.

5:43

We did, however, have a measles detection in the wastewater in July.

5:59

And again, no measles cases reported in 2026, and that includes up until today following those measles detections.

6:06

This measles detection suggests that virus was present within Anchorage during this time period.

6:12

What a measles detection in wastewater does not tell us, does not confirm that there was a community case or indicate that there was community transmission.

6:20

We don't know if that meant that there was one person, more than one person.

6:24

It doesn't tell us that that was someone who is a resident here or someone who was passing through.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Mental Health Awareness████████████████████████████████32%
Public Safety██████████████████████22%
Public Health█████████████████17%
Emergency Management██████████████14%
Homelessness███████7%
Disaster Relief███3%
Community Engagement██2%
Affordable Housing██2%
Procedural█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Anchorage Public Health and Safety Committee Meeting - August 6, 2026

The Anchorage Public Health and Safety Committee met on August 6, 2026, to receive departmental updates on measles preparedness, vaccination rates, police outreach efforts, and a new behavioral health facility. The meeting also included public testimony and discussion of community health and safety challenges.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • A public commenter criticized the city's approach to homelessness and crisis response, stating that some actions, such as using People Mover buses as mobile warming centers during winter, were effective, but overall expressed dissatisfaction with how the city treats vulnerable populations. The commenter also questioned the coordination between police outreach and the same organizations that enforce removals.

Discussion Items

  • Measles Update: Kimberly Rash from the Anchorage Health Department presented on the current measles situation. Measles is highly contagious, can remain airborne for two hours, and complications include pneumonia (1 in 20 children) and death (1 to 3 per 1,000 cases). The department reported that Alaska has the second lowest childhood vaccination rate in the nation, with kindergarten vaccination at 82.7% for 2024-2025, down from 92.2% in 2018-2019. Two-dose MMR vaccine efficacy is 97%. Wastewater monitoring detected measles virus in July 2026, but no confirmed cases have been reported in Anchorage in 2026. The department is partnering with the Anchorage School District for vaccination outreach events, with several upcoming clinics. Committee members asked about vaccine efficacy, reasons for declining rates (including policy differences and access issues), and the sensitivity of wastewater tests.
  • Police HOPE Team Update: The Chief of Police reported on the HOPE team's outreach efforts, which include 309 clients contacted proactively through partnerships with peer support workers. The team does not wait for calls for service but works on referrals from multiple agencies. The Chief noted the effectiveness of peer support in building trust and connecting individuals to services.
  • New Behavioral Health Facility: A representative provided an update on the new facility being built for the Koina Clubhouse and Integrated Case Management (ICM) program. The facility is under construction adjacent to the current location and is expected to be completed between May and July 2028. The current Koina Clubhouse serves an active census of 120 to 135 individuals, with 35 to 50 per day. The new facility will include space for both programs. The project has been an eight-year collaboration involving the Mental Health Trust, Medicaid waivers, and state legislation.

Key Outcomes

  • The committee acknowledged the measles update and vaccination outreach efforts, with no formal action taken but continued support for prevention campaigns.
  • The committee extended the meeting by 10 minutes to accommodate further discussion.
  • No votes were taken; the presentations were informational, and committee members expressed appreciation for the updates.

Meeting Transcript

All right, I'd like to call this meeting of the um public health and safety committee to order it is 301. And we will start with introductions in the room. Sure, Gerger. Anna Raleigh. Cameron Perez for Dia. Yarrow Silvers. Sydney Scout. And do we have anybody on the phone? Okay. First on our agenda is department updates. And the only uh department update that I see before me now is the Anchorage Health Department. Would you like to come up with the Speaker 1? Good afternoon, everyone. Kimberly Rash, Anchorage Health Department. Today we're going to give a little update on measles. So as everyone has probably seen, there has been some news on measles and wastewater. So today we have the health department's epidemiologist here to enlighten us a little bit about it. And she has a handout that I believe all of you have as well. Perfect that she will go over as well. So I will let her introduce herself and then give the update. And if there's any questions, let us know. Thanks everyone. Kristen Van Durand, the epidemiologist. So first a little context about what measles is. It's a highly contagious viral illness. It spreads through respiratory droplets and airborne particles. Important thing to know about measles, it can hang in the air up to two hours after a person has left. So someone could be in a room, have measles, leave the room, leave the car, someone who's unprotected, meaning unvaccinated, could come into that room up to two hours later and contract measles. So why are we concerned about measles? It isn't just a ration fever, it can be serious. So complications include ear infections, pneumonia, encephalitis or brain swelling, and even death. So some statistics on this would be one in 20 children who contract measles will get pneumonia, and that's the most common cause of death from measles in young children. And tragically, one out of every three persons who contract one out of it, one to three out of every 1,000 people with measles will die. So this is a very serious illness and again, very, very contagious. It's preventable. So the measles vaccine was introduced in the United States in the 1960s. Before that time, there were an estimated three to four million cases of measles every year. So to put that in context, that's like having the population of Anchorage times 10 getting measles every year. After vaccines were introduced, this story changed dramatically to the point that measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000. It became something that we didn't see very often. You had providers who had never seen a measles case or had seen very few measles cases in their career. However, the situation and anyone who's read the news knows that the situation changed in the United States, particularly starting in 2025. And the total for the year ended up being over 2,000 cases. Notably, the majority of these cases came from measles outbreaks, 94%. And again, the majority of those were among persons who were unvaccinated or didn't their vaccination status was unknown. That was 93%. So what's the situation here in Anchorage? In 2026, Anchorage has not had a measles case reported. We had one case reported in 2025. That was in May of 2025 with an Anchorage resident.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI
TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com