This has to be the fastest notification and execution of a project the Municipality of Anchorage has done in 50 years. And why? Do the math. The $22.5 million purchase price will be just the beginning of the cost overruns and millions spent for annual medical and staffing costs for the three buildings under consideration. The Golden Lion has 83 rooms and will house at least 26 people. Does that mean 57 staff members? Cooks, dishwashers, janitorial, maintenance, food and supplies, guards, educators for skill development programs, and the list goes on and on. Every property and business owner in the municipality should be just as concerned as the residents in Geneva Woods. The city could buy the Travelodge and the Black Angus Inn on 5th Avenue for way less than half of the cost of the Golden Lion and America’s Best Value Inn.
The mayor wants to leave office with a legacy, using our property taxes to fund it. When the federal and state stimulus money runs out later this year and several businesses don’t reopen, we are looking at a foreclosure and eviction rate that will make the 1980s look like child’s play. I’ve been a resident and businessman for more than 50 years, and there is no possible way this can be prevented. COVID-19 is still wreaking havoc with our economy, school openings are debatable, we still have massive layoffs, and the mayor wants to add another multimillion-dollar debt on the taxpayers. The Assembly better slow this process down and look at the financial harm this will create for the residents of Anchorage.
Dennis Smith
Anchorage
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