By SUZANNE DOWNING
Oct. 19, 2026 – The Anchorage Assembly faces a full agenda Tuesday, Oct. 20, with competing proposals to regulate police surveillance, a new requirement to verify where candidates live, and spending requests that include a $700,000 waste-to-energy design contract and a $4.23 million port project change order.
The meeting also opens the first public hearings on Mayor Suzanne LaFrance’s proposed 2027 municipal budgets and a proposed reorganization of the executive branch.
The Assembly meets at 5 pm in the Assembly Chambers at the Loussac Library, 3600 Denali St. Public hearings begin no earlier than 6 pm.
Police surveillance proposals return
One of the meeting’s most consequential items is a postponed ordinance addressing automated license plate readers, real-time crime center operations, and other surveillance technology.
The original proposal, AO 2026-108, is sponsored by Assembly members Keith McCormick and Sydney Scout and Vice Chair Daniel Volland. It would establish restrictions on surveillance systems, limit retention of surveillance data, prohibit participation in external surveillance data networks, and require Assembly approval for acquiring surveillance technology.
The agenda includes competing substitute versions. One is sponsored by LaFrance and Assembly members Jared Goecker and Yarrow Silvers.
The proposals address restrictions on surveillance technology, policies governing its use, and increased Assembly oversight and public reporting.
The debate places police investigative tools alongside questions about privacy, data sharing, and the Assembly’s authority over surveillance practices. Public testimony has already been held, and action was postponed from Sept. 15.
Candidate residency verification proposed
Assemblyman George Martinez is introducing AO 2026-139, which would require residency disclosure and verification for candidates running for mayor, Assembly, and School Board.
The proposal would amend the municipal election code. Its title establishes the intended requirement, although there is yet to be an explanation of what documentation candidates would have to provide or how verification would occur.
Tuesday’s scheduled step is introduction, with a public hearing set for Nov. 4.
A separate election measure, AO 2026-131(S), is also scheduled for introduction. Sponsored by Assembly members Donald Handeland and Scout, the omnibus proposal would update election administration, with its stated purposes including improving efficiency and increasing voter accessibility. Its public hearing is also scheduled for Nov. 4.
Waste-to-energy design contract
Among the spending items added to the agenda is a proposed contract with HDR, Inc., for professional design services for a waste-to-energy facility.
The Solid Waste Services contract would be capped at $700,000.
The request is on the consent agenda, meaning it could be approved with a group of other items unless an Assembly member separates it for discussion.
The agenda description does not specify the technology the facility would use or the eventual construction cost. The proposed action concerns design services.
Another $4.23 million for port project
Also on the consent agenda is a proposed $4,229,226.17 change order to Granite Construction’s contract for the SDS001 and SDS002 rehabilitation project at the Don Young Port of Alaska.
The request is identified as Change Order No. 2. The agenda listing does not explain the reason for the additional amount or provide the original contract total.
Other spending requests include approximately $1.23 million for two fire tender engines and an as-needed South Goldenview road maintenance contract with Northern Gravel & Trucking, LLC, capped at $4 million if all options are exercised.
2027 budget hearings begin
Residents will have an opportunity to testify on the proposed 2027 general government operating budget, capital budget, municipal utility and enterprise budgets, and Anchorage Community Development Authority budgets.
The Assembly will also take testimony on the six-year fiscal program and capital improvement programs.
Alongside the budget measures is AO 2026-127, a proposal to reorganize the executive branch, revise agency duties and responsibilities, and update municipal code to reflect the proposed management structure.
These are listed as first public hearings, rather than final budget adoption.
Housing incentives and development proposals
The Assembly is also scheduled to return to a postponed ordinance creating tax incentives for mixed-use, multi-unit housing.
Another public hearing concerns agreements involving Anchorage’s municipal water supply and the Eklutna Hydroelectric Project’s fish and wildlife program.
Two development measures appear on the agenda but are expected to receive more time. The clerk notes that sponsors intend to continue hearings until Dec. 1 on proposals addressing self-storage, storage yards, parking facilities with 50 or more spaces, and shop-house and other small-scale residential uses in commercial districts.
The full agenda and links to meeting documents are available here. Residents may submit written comments through the municipality’s testimony page. Those wishing to testify by phone must sign up by 5 pm the day before the meeting.
