By Marc Donadieu
Glacier City Gazette
August’s Girdwood Board of Supervisors meeting lasted 4½ hours, and much of it was devoted to discussing policing options.
There were presentations from Alyeska Resort and Alaska State Troopers as well as an extended questioning of Whittier’s Public Safety Director Chief David Schofield. The Community Center was full of residents contributing to the dialogue and expressing concerns about the direction of Girdwood policing.
Policing contract negotiations with Whittier are 70 percent complete, and a first draft is under review. Both sides say that there is still much work to do, but agreement is within reach. There is a sense of urgency to complete the contract and have a policing solution in place before AST leaves its Girdwood post Sept. 30.
The August Girdwood Board of Supervisors meeting featured an extensive discussion about policing options and concerns. From the left: Eric Fullerton, Alyeska’s Director of Marketing; Bill Falsey, Municipal Attorney; Lewis Leonard, KEUL General Manager; Brian Burnett, Mountain General Manager; and Mandy Hawes, Vice President of Finance.
There are a number of hurdles that must be jumped if a contract is agreed upon. The potential agreement must receive approval from GBOS, pass legal review by the Municipality, and be approved by the Anchorage Assembly. The contract would also have to be introduced to Whittier City Council as new business and then approved as old business at the following meeting.
Before the discussion on policing began, Supervisor and Public Safety Chair Sam Daniel made a statement via teleconvenor from Oregon.
“This has been a community driven process that has really allowed for lots of input from the community,” Daniel said. “We had a meeting in November where we heard from the Anchorage Police Department, the Alaska State Troopers, and Whittier. At that point, the community very strongly supported the Whittier option.”
At a May meeting, we asked the community present if they supported AST at that dollar amount. It was very clear at that time from what I understood listening to the community that there was a good deal of concern about using local property tax dollars being spent for what local property owners and tax payers receive as a state-wide function, basically patrolling the Seward Highway.”
A week before the GBOS meeting, Alyeska issued a detailed letter asserting that the AST proposal had not been given proper consideration by GBOS and was a better option than Whittier’s, which was portrayed as a flawed choice with hidden costs and unknown risks.
During the meeting, Alyeska representatives Eric Fullerton, Director of Marketing; Mandy Hawes, Vice President of Finance and Brian Burnett, Mountain General Manager presented the opinion that the AST’s policing proposal for Girdwood should be considered alongside Whittier’s proposal.
“This is a complicated issue,” Fullerton said, “and in some ways we feel like the issue, as it was presented in May, was dismissed too readily with the state troopers because immediately after the vote occurred where we voted to raise a tax, not necessarily dictating which police option that we would choose. Soon after that meeting it became clear there was another viable option that would fit in that budget. We don’t feel like the option was properly vetted or given due process.”
Fullerton requested that GBOS consider the AST option in conjunction with the Whittier option to compare and contrast what each has to offer before making a decision. He emphasized that Alyeska wants to work with the community to create the best possible option. Then he explained what AST has to offer for $620,000 a year with a three-year contract.
“If a contract were entered into with AST,” Fullerton said, “they would assign six troopers to the Girdwood post, just as the current assignment stands now. Three of troopers would be from the bureau of highway patrol troopers, which has a federal funding source. The other three would be more general troopers.”
There would be no additional charges for serious crime investigation or a crime lab, and there would be access to a helicopter if needed, Fullerton said. Troopers would commit to a greater presence in the community and have troopers in South Anchorage on call after hours. Troopers would also engage in community policing, work with the school and establish a neighborhood watch program.
Perhaps the biggest concern over entering into a contract with AST has to do with using tax dollars from the Girdwood Service Area to pay for policing outside of it. It is a question that still has no clear resolution, even though Municipal Attorney Bill Falsey believes that a contact with AST would not violate the provision.
“That point was relied upon fairly heavily in the May meeting and historically throughout a lot of the meetings that there would be an inability for us to enter into a contract with the troopers to cover services outside of our service area,” Hawes said. “We asked that question fairly directly to the Municipal Attorney Bill Falsey, who is here, and we can enter into a fixed fee contract with the troopers. That does not violate any statute.”
Public Safety Contract Committee member Mike Edgington challenged the assertion by Hawes and Falsey by saying the statute would need to be subjected to judicial review for a definitive interpretation.
“My understanding is you can ask many lawyers that question and they’ll give you an answer depending on who is paying them,” Edgington said. “This is a question that should really be decided by a judge. It is a question of opinion. It is not a question of fact. I think when you say it is allowed that is not true. It might be allowed. That is something that has to be decided elsewhere.”
After GBOS and the public concluded a lengthy round of questions and comments, none of the five supervisors made a motion to consider the AST proposal alongside the Whittier one. Alyeska representatives quietly expressed disbelief over the lack of a motion.