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Record of Proceedings

Sitka City and Borough Assembly Meeting - May 14, 2024: Housing, Budgets, and Fraud

City and Borough Assembly — Tuesday, May 14, 2024
BodySitka, Alaska
SessionCity and Borough Assembly
DateTuesday, May 14, 2024
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:27:54

Original source
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0:00

Alright, well, welcome everybody.

0:01

Um, it is six o'clock, so I will call to order the regularly scheduled meeting of Tuesday, May 14th, 2024.

0:08

Please join me for a flag salute.

0:11

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands.

0:19

One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

0:27

The Assembly of the City and Borough of Sitka would like to respectfully acknowledge the traditional first people of Sheetka.

0:34

With gratitude, we proceed on Klinketani.

0:37

Sarah Wolko, please.

0:39

Mayor Eisenbais present.

0:41

Mr.

0:41

Mosier.

0:42

Oh, he is not here.

0:44

Mr.

0:44

Pike?

0:45

Here.

0:45

Mr.

0:46

Yestad?

0:46

Here.

0:47

Ms.

0:47

Carlson.

0:48

Here.

0:49

And Mr.

0:50

Celine is a good question.

0:51

I believe Mr.

0:51

Selene will be joining us here in a second.

0:53

Thank you.

0:53

And Mr.

0:54

Christensen is absent.

0:55

Thank you.

0:57

Any correspondence or agenda changes this evening?

1:03

There are no ceremonial matters.

1:05

So that would bring us to special reports.

1:08

Tonight we do have a scheduled special report on the Sitka Housing Summit.

1:13

I understand Amy Ainsley and Robin Sherman are here to talk about the proceedings.

1:20

Looks like Amy might be online.

1:21

Oh no, she's right there.

1:23

Well, hello.

1:24

You're controlling it remotely.

1:26

Wow.

1:27

Technology.

1:30

When it works, it works well.

1:35

Welcome to you both, and thank you for giving us an update on the Sitka Housing Summit.

1:41

Yes, thank you so much, Mr.

1:42

Mayor, as you introduced us.

1:44

Amy Ainsley, Planning and Community Development Director for the City and Borough of Sitka.

1:48

And I'm joined by Robin Sherman, who is the communications director for the SICA Tribe of Alaska.

1:54

And so the presentation that we have prepared for you tonight is a product of the both the Sitka Housing Summit that we held here in Sitka in late March, which we had Assembly Member Carlson was present, and we had about 70 participants representing federal, state, and local funding agencies, as well as nonprofit entities, developers and other builders to kind of come together and talk about Sitka's housing problem as well as a community housing meeting in the early April.

2:28

Want to say April 10th to kind of hear a little bit more from the community about what their ideas and priorities are around housing and some of the outcomes of the housing summit.

2:37

And so this is a presentation that we developed as a as a part of those two.

2:41

And I'm going to go ahead and let Robin kind of take it away from here.

2:45

Great.

2:46

Well, thanks for having us here to talk about housing affordability in Sitka.

2:50

Our goal tonight is to provide a definition of affordable housing, explain why we don't have more of it, and talk briefly about what city government and the community as a whole can do to change that.

3:05

So what do we mean by affordable housing?

3:08

Policymakers define it as housing that doesn't cost more than 30% of your household income.

3:15

And in Sitka, more than half of renters have housing that's not affordable by that definition, and that's pretty much the highest rate in the state.

3:24

More than 58% of native households in Sitka are paying more than they can afford for rent.

3:30

And about one in five homeowners in Sitka are paying more than they can afford for housing.

3:36

So the situation is a little bit worse for renters.

3:43

Sitka's median household income is $95,261 a year.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Affordable Housing██████████████████████22%
Historic Preservation█████████████13%
Procedural████████████12%
Budget Equity Analysis███████7%
Taxation Policy██████6%
Tourism██████6%
Planning and Development█████5%
Education And Training█████5%
Capital Improvement Planning████4%
Summary of Proceedings

Sitka City and Borough Assembly Meeting - May 14, 2024

The Sitka City and Borough Assembly met on May 14, 2024, at 6:00 PM in Assembly Chambers. The meeting included a special report on the Sitka Housing Summit, approval of multiple ordinances, and public comments addressing childcare, budget concerns, and an alleged $60,000 fraud incident. The meeting adjourned at 7:34 PM.

Consent Calendar

  • RES 24-11: Authorized a 50/50 matching grant application to the Office of Justice Programs – Bulletproof Vest Partnership. Approved unanimously on consent.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Loren Wild (Childcare Now coalition) reported on a career pathways summit and new early childhood education classes in high schools, and noted the opening of a therapeutic preschool by Sitka Counseling.
  • Richard Wein commented on several items: supported the childcare initiative, suggested quarterly department head reports be given verbally, discussed the Katleann Street project (unfunded, cost $8.7M), and noted the Producer Price Index increase.
  • Austin Cranford thanked presenters for the housing summit, raised concerns about high interest rates (prime rate 8.5%, loan rates ~11.5-12%), and alleged that the city was defrauded of $60,000 via an email scheme, questioning transparency and requesting a response.
  • Richard Wein also spoke on board appointments (supporting Trish White and Shauna Thornton), the tax exemption for Youth Advocates of Sitka (questioning valuation and process), and the FY2025 budget (noting 181 FTEs, rising costs, and reliance on tourism).
  • Rachel Roy (Visit Sitka) noted that the visitor enhancement fund in the budget was missing the contract amount for Visit Sitka.
  • Keith Nyitray and Bruce Gazaway (Sitka Maritime Heritage Society) spoke in support of the historic preservation covenant for Japonski Island Boathouse, highlighting grant funding and community benefits.
  • Richard Wein also spoke on the enterprise fund budget (rate increases) and the Clean Energy to Communities project (criticizing buzzwords and suggesting funds be used for workforce incentives).

Special Report: Sitka Housing Summit

  • Amy Ainslie (Planning Director) and Robin Sherman (STA Communications) presented findings from the March housing summit and April community meeting.
  • Key statistics: Over half of Sitka renters pay more than 30% of income on housing; 58% of Native households are cost-burdened; median household income $95,261; average home price $500,000; affordable monthly housing cost for median income is ~$2,400.
  • Discussed challenges: limited developable land, high construction costs, lack of backbone infrastructure, market forces, and low density.
  • Identified priorities: higher density housing, stronger incentives for year-round housing, preserving mobile home parks, tiny home neighborhoods, and a wet climate research center.
  • Next steps: Tribal Council work session in June, first meeting of the Sitka Housing Network.

Discussion Items

  • Board Appointments (B 24-070): Reappointed Trish White to the Local Emergency Planning Committee and Shauna Thornton to the Port and Harbors Commission. Approved 5-0.
  • Unfinished Business – ORD 24-09A: Authorized a property tax exemption for Youth Advocates of Sitka, Inc. for property at 3411 Halibut Point Road. Approved on third and final reading 5-0.
  • New Business – ORD 24-10: Supplemental appropriation for FY2024 to replace a Harbor 300HP outboard motor. Approved on first reading 5-0.
  • New Business – ORD 24-11: Adopted budgets and capital improvement plan for General Fund, Internal Service Funds, and Special Revenue Funds for FY2025. Approved on first reading 5-0. Discussion noted a 14.6% budget increase, $18 million deficit, and reliance on tourism revenue.
  • New Business – ORD 24-12: Adopted enterprise fund budgets for FY2025, including rate increases: water 4%, wastewater 8.25%, solid waste 4%, moorage 4%, and electric customer charges. Approved on first reading 5-0.
  • New Business – ORD 24-13: Supplemental appropriation for FY2024 for the Clean Energy to Communities (C2C) project ($500,000 from NREL). Approved on first reading 4-1 (Saline opposed).
  • New Business – 24-071: Approved a 20-year historic preservation covenant with the State of Alaska Historic Preservation Office for the Japonski Island Boathouse. Approved 5-0.

Key Outcomes

  • All consent and appointment items passed unanimously.
  • ORD 24-09A (tax exemption) passed 5-0.
  • ORD 24-10, 24-11, 24-12 passed on first reading 5-0.
  • ORD 24-13 passed 4-1 (Saline dissenting).
  • The 20-year historic preservation covenant was approved 5-0.
  • The assembly will hold a special meeting on May 16, 2024, to discuss tourism task force recommendations.
  • No action was taken on the fraud allegation; the public was advised to await a city response.

Meeting Transcript

Alright, well, welcome everybody. Um, it is six o'clock, so I will call to order the regularly scheduled meeting of Tuesday, May 14th, 2024. Please join me for a flag salute. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. The Assembly of the City and Borough of Sitka would like to respectfully acknowledge the traditional first people of Sheetka. With gratitude, we proceed on Klinketani. Sarah Wolko, please. Mayor Eisenbais present. Mr. Mosier. Oh, he is not here. Mr. Pike? Here. Mr. Yestad? Here. Ms. Carlson. Here. And Mr. Celine is a good question. I believe Mr. Selene will be joining us here in a second. Thank you. And Mr. Christensen is absent. Thank you. Any correspondence or agenda changes this evening? There are no ceremonial matters. So that would bring us to special reports. Tonight we do have a scheduled special report on the Sitka Housing Summit. I understand Amy Ainsley and Robin Sherman are here to talk about the proceedings. Looks like Amy might be online. Oh no, she's right there. Well, hello. You're controlling it remotely. Wow. Technology. When it works, it works well. Welcome to you both, and thank you for giving us an update on the Sitka Housing Summit. Yes, thank you so much, Mr. Mayor, as you introduced us. Amy Ainsley, Planning and Community Development Director for the City and Borough of Sitka. And I'm joined by Robin Sherman, who is the communications director for the SICA Tribe of Alaska. And so the presentation that we have prepared for you tonight is a product of the both the Sitka Housing Summit that we held here in Sitka in late March, which we had Assembly Member Carlson was present, and we had about 70 participants representing federal, state, and local funding agencies, as well as nonprofit entities, developers and other builders to kind of come together and talk about Sitka's housing problem as well as a community housing meeting in the early April. Want to say April 10th to kind of hear a little bit more from the community about what their ideas and priorities are around housing and some of the outcomes of the housing summit. And so this is a presentation that we developed as a as a part of those two. And I'm going to go ahead and let Robin kind of take it away from here.

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