Opinions

3 reasons to vote no on Anchorage Prop. 1 and repeal AO 37

As a 36-year Anchorage firefighter, I read with interest the recent statements by the mayor and Assembly members Hall and Johnston regarding the repeal of AO 37 in the coming election. I've lived in Anchorage 40 years, and I've seen a lot of elections, but I've never witnessed any issue more deserving of rejection than AO 37. I say that as a public safety professional, your employee, and your neighbor.

Here's why:

AO 37 is unnecessary, because there have been multimillion-dollar budget surpluses the last several years. In view of that, either the mayor and his allies are lying about municipal employee pay and benefits, or they are taking in too much in property taxes, or both.

It is unsafe because for politicians to claim that they would never reduce staffing on fire engines below three members is patently false: I personally have been at the bargaining table when they have advocated that very thing, and worse. They will reduce services, close units and stations, and require public safety employees to do more with less until it resembles a deadly game of musical chairs. I have seen them do it. If you like your current snow removal, your gonna love Dan Sullivan's fire and police departments.

It is unfair, because municipal unions willingly gave up scheduled raises when the city faced the 2008 financial crisis, and those concessions were only a few of many I've seen given at the bargaining table over the years. For the record, that crisis was not the fault of your employees, but the result of unregulated greed on Wall Street. We have been, and always will be part of the solution, not part of the problem. Honestly, the irony is dripping when these people refer darkly to union power; if we had that kind of strength, does anyone believe that this thing would ever have seen the light of day? The only management rights problem I see is that the administration can't seem to manage things right, as in the cases of the Port of Anchorage, and the SAP contract.

Many claims have been made about how the effects of this will go unnoticed; maybe citizens won't feel it at first, but in the beginning, you wouldn't know if you were infected with Ebola, either. We currently enjoy a first-class fire department, a first class police department, and a municipal workforce that is packed with dedicated, knowledgeable, and skilled people. This will change if AO 37 is not repealed because the best people will leave in search of a better future somewhere else. In some areas of the municipality, this is already happening.

This thing was conceived in secret, brought forth greased with lies, and papered over with misconceptions. Please join me in preserving the bright future of our town by rejecting AO 37 at the polls.

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Joseph W. Albrecht is a veteran Anchorage firefighter.

The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com.

Joseph Albrecht

Joseph W. Albrecht is a veteran Anchorage firefighter.

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