Through the fog of political accusations about who told who what when, the issue over the Anchorage Assembly's consideration of employee labor contracts last year boils down to this: Should they have been approved?
I believe they should have, a majority of the Assembly agreed with me and now those who opposed the contracts, including the Daily News, some radio talk jocks and a few current and former Assembly members on the losing side, are trying to rewrite history.
It's politically convenient for some to overlook the circumstances I inherited as mayor in July 2003: the largest budget gap in a generation, $33 million.
Instead of making political hay, my administration spent the first six months balancing the budget and the next 5 1/2 years imposing strict financial reforms, with Assembly support.
Then, all but one employee union generously agreed to wage freezes to help balance the budget, which most also agreed to this year when finances got tight.
We stopped paying ongoing expenses with one-time windfalls because it is unsustainable. I notice the new administration is resuming that dangerous practice, using state revenue sharing for local services instead of property tax relief as we did.
We eliminated positions, reorganized government for greater efficiency, collected millions in unpaid fines and refinanced debt to capitalize on lower interest rates.
As a result, Anchorage's bond ratings were upgraded, lowering taxpayer borrowing costs. Voters showed they supported these initiatives when they approved a simplified tax plan in 2005 and two years running approved every bond proposition.
To deliver services efficiently, any city needs trained, competent employees. Attracting and retaining public employees is tough because many municipal salaries are far lower than in the private sector and less than their Pacific Northwest counterparts.
The contracts we negotiated were fair, reasonable and more modest than those approved by self-proclaimed fiscal conservative governors Frank Murkowski and Sarah Palin.
For example, most state workers got pay raises totaling at least 7 percent in 2008-09. Municipal employees received 5.7 percent, but lost 2.7 percent in mandatory unpaid leave this year. State public safety employees received 8 percent raises in 2008-09, Anchorage police employees just 4 percent over the same period.
In fall 2008 when the international recession was hurting other cities and states, Anchorage was in solid financial shape, thanks to the numerous steps we had taken the previous five years. The Wall Street Journal and Business Week singled out Anchorage as a rare oasis of financial stability.
Throughout my tenure as mayor, I met at least weekly with senior department heads to review city finances. I didn't overreact to any single development, instead carefully monitoring every issue impacting the budget, from tourism traffic and interest rates to pending court cases.
The Assembly received regular updates on each of these issues. Just between September and December 2008, we held 10 Assembly work sessions on budget-related issues. It's amusing that Assembly members now crying loudest are the same ones who missed many of these sessions.
The now-infamous Dec. 9, 2008, e-mail to me from then-municipal chief financial officer Sharon Weddleton summarized the full range of fiscal challenges the city might face over the next several years -- a responsible action I initiated as we prepared the transition to the next mayor.
Most of the "risk factors" Sharon identified never came to pass or turned out for the better. For example, the summary indicated the city could be liable for $7 million if it lost a water utility lawsuit. But the city won, saving taxpayers millions.
The summary said state revenue sharing "may be suspended due to low oil prices." But Anchorage got an increase, which we used for property tax relief.
The summary noted the city could be liable for $20 million in a police and fire medical trust lawsuit. But the plaintiffs dropped the lawsuit, again saving taxpayers millions.
When we submitted the final two contracts for approval in December, the Assembly was fully apprised of Anchorage's fiscal condition. They were subject to internal auditor review, several public hearings, many hours of public debate and approved by Assembly majorities.
Sen. Mark Begich was elected to the U.S. Senate in November 2008. He was mayor of Anchorage from 2003 until he resigned to take his Senate seat in early January 2009.
By SEN. MARK BEGICH