L.A. Mayor’s House Egged by Protesters; Alaskans See Smaller Annual Dividend Payout
L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti Danny Moloshok / AP Images
Connecting state and local government leaders
Also in our State and Local Daily Digest: Big campaign finance changes in Washington state; expunging criminal records for minor crimes in N.C.; and overweight trucks threaten Pa. bridges.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
PROTESTS | Demonstrators threw eggs at Mayor Eric Garcetti’s house on Saturday night, as they protested the fatal police shooting of a man in south Los Angeles. City police shot and killed 18-year-old Carnell Snell Jr., who ran from officers after a vehicle chase. On Sunday morning, city street services workers hosed down Garcetti’s house and watered the lawn. One woman commented on how quickly the workers arrived to clean up the mayor’s home. “I don’t think that’s happening so quickly in South L.A., is it?” she said. [Los Angeles Times; KABC]
JUNEAU, ALASKA
BUDGETING | Alaskans this week will begin receiving annual dividend checks from the state’s oil wealth fund. But many residents aren’t pleased at the amount of the payout—$1,022. "It's really putting the hurt on my community," said Joel James, mayor of the Yup'ik Eskimo village of Gambell. Gov. Bill Walker moved to lower the amount of this year’s checks from a previously estimated $2,100 in an effort to help address Alaska’s multi-billion dollar budget shortfall. Diminished oil revenues are a key factor driving the state’s financial problems. Walker’s veto of fund earnings appropriated for dividends is facing a court challenge. The governor says the level of this year’s checks will help insure future payouts. "Alaska lost over 80 percent of its income in just two years, and we are burning through $12 million of savings each day," he wrote. "This is simply not sustainable." [The Associated Press via ABC News; Alaska Journal of Commerce]
OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON
CAMPAIGN FINANCE | Next month, Washington state voters will get to decide on the biggest changes to the state’s campaign finance rules in decades. Publicly funded campaigns, limits on contributions from lobbyists and contractors, a mandatory pause before public officials can become lobbyists—all that is on the table in Initiative 1464. Integrity Washington, the group that got the initiative on the ballot, has raised more than $2 million and spent nearly $1.9 million on the measure. The group has more than 1,000 individual donors, most of whom are from out of state, including Hollywood producer J.J. Abrams. The opposition to Initiative 1464 has not been nearly as well-funded, so far only raising $20,000. [The Seattle Times]
WAKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
CRIMINAL RECORDS | County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman is spearheading a new program aimed at helping people convicted of minor or nonviolent crimes expunge their criminal records. Workshops are the first step in the process and have attracted close to 2,000 residents. “Part of our view of public safety is stabilizing people and engaging them fully into our communities,” Freeman said. “The general framework is allow people to have better opportunities open to them from an employment standpoint and housing standpoint so that they can continue to live in the community, free from criminal activity, so that they can improve their lives and the lives of their families.” [The News & Observer]
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA
INFRASTRUCTURE | The Liberty Bridge in Pittsburgh, which was closed for 24 days of emergency repair work following a construction-related fire in early September that nearly caused the structure spanning the Monongahela River to collapse, was reopened with lower weight limits. But enforcing the new 9-ton limit isn’t easy. Pennsylvania has nearly 6,000 deficient bridges, many with weight restrictions, which can force trucks and firefighting vehicles to take long detours. [WHYY / Keystone Crossroads]
NORMAL, ILLINOIS
STUDY | If Normal officials want to study the possibility of building a pedestrian underpass between the city’s Uptown Station and new Uptown South District, it’ll cost them $1.4 million. The study would wrap Oct. 15, 2018, and ideally help improve redevelopment south of Normal’s railroad tracks with the resulting underpass costing an estimated $10 million. New York City-based consultant WSP Parsons Brickerhoff would complete the study, if approved by City Council. [The Pantagraph]
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