For this assignment, I decided to attend a Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly meeting. I attended the Finance Committee and Committee of the Whole Worksession on Thursday, December 7th. The two meetings had the assembly members introduce their ordinances and take any questions that people had. In the Finance Committee meeting, Mayor Bryce Ward brought to the agenda an ordinance that changed the process for when people disagree over tax-exempt status on someone’s property. After that, two ordinances in the Committee of the Whole Worksession were discussed. The first ordinance introduced the idea of full-time staffing of the animal shelter so that when animals are found in the middle of the night, they can be dropped off there. Currently, there is a drop-off system where you leave the animal in a box and staffers get the animal overnight. However, this system probably isn’t the most humane, so this ordinance would require that “adequate facilities” be provided for the animals. The final ordinance talked about adding literacy as a goal to the library and focusing on people of all ages instead of just children. The other part of that ordinance is removing the Early Childhood Development Committee. Mayor Bryce Ward said they are looking to downsize their committees, and upon questioning why from Scott Crass, he said it’s because the borough has too many committees that oftentimes aren’t the most effective. After all of the ordinances and questions, the mayor gave a briefing informing everyone what was going on in the Borough, such as different public events. This event mattered because it informed the public and the assembly members on what ordinances were coming up and the possible changes we could expect.
Being able to ask questions is important in the government process so people know exactly what they are voting for. I think meetings like these are a good way to prevent misinformation and disinformation in the community since the assembly members ask each other good questions that are very helpful to the public. This event played a role in the American political process because it introduced new ideas that could eventually become borough policy. The assembly members are elected officials that citizens of the FNSB voted for to make decisions on their behalf. So while the FNSB’s decisions are very localized, they still play an important role in local and American politics.
While I do think this event was important, I don’t think my presence was necessarily important because it was only the assembly members that were talking. However, I do think that community involvement is important and that people should attend these meetings so they have a better understanding of what is happening in their community. There was meager attendance at this meeting, myself and another individual were the only people watching the meeting in person. I do think that my presence would be more important if I decided to testify and ask questions of the assembly because that would be more involved in the process.