Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a very Happy New Year! I know it has been a difficult couple of years and I hope you are able to gather together with friends or family to celebrate this holiday season. Click here for a Christmas message!
Blessings,
Josh, Marta, Keilah, & Sydney
Ho! Ho! Ho! Santa came early...
...With $6.5 billion for Alaska! Congressman Young and our entire congressional delegation worked tirelessly to secure this money for our state. While I do not agree with some parts of the Federal Infrastructure Bill, I am excited that Alaska gets to invest billions of dollars over the next five years into much needed infrastructure projects around the state.
As we head into this coming session,I want to hear from the district about what roads and infrastructure projects are a priority for our neighborhoods.
On Wednesday, I joined my friend and colleague Rep. Kaufman for a productive community meeting on this topic. The meeting included Sen. Holland and Rep. Shaw, representatives of Congressman Young, the Governor’s office, the Department of Transportation, the Mayor’s office, Assembly members, Municipal Planners, constituent group members, Road Service Area members, and others. We discussed available funding sources, the various management processes and how we can work together to get progress on our most needed local projects. We will continue meeting with community members in the coming weeks.
The process of funding projects often involves all layers of government and multiple entities within each layer, making the process complicated, slow, and confusing. But we see an opportunity to get a few of the most important projects done for our neighborhood that we don’t want to pass up.
My office and I have been meeting with Community Councils and hearing from individuals. A few of the top priorities for the Abbott Loop, Huffman/O’Malley, and Hillside communities are:
A solution to the danger at the Elmore intersections with Coventry and 84th for pedestrians accessing Abbott Loop Community Park.
A solution which will keep elementary-schoolers safe when they try to cross O'Malley at Rockridge Drive after the new O’Malley upgrade project is completed.
A trail extension that connects two trails on Huffman.
A revised timeline on construction of the Academy and Vanguard Drive interchange to Abbott Loop Road so that it is completed concurrently with the new Seward Highway underpass connecting Scooter to Academy.
Improvements to South Rockridge Drive to fix drainage and road issues and improve traffic flow from O’Malley elementary.
These projects, especially those involving pedestrian safety, are critical to the neighborhood and I will continue to work with community councils and concerned individuals to bring as much money back to the district as possible.
Do you have a suggestion or want to support one of these projects?Email me.
**Our deadline to submit capital project requests is February 1st. Please submit any comments or requests you have by January 18th.**
Ring Christmas Bells!
Marta, Keilah and a blast ringing the holiday bells and raising money for the Salvation Army earlier this week. The Salvation Army does incredible work in Anchorage and the rest of the state.
With revenue from their thrift stores and the contributions of kind-hearted individuals like those who donated while I manned the bucket, they are able to maintain addiction rehabilitation clinics around town, gather and distribute food to those in need, provide shelter to the homeless, and so much more. Thank you to the hundreds of passersby who contributed. We had a pretty full bucket at the end of our shift!
I was humbled to have the opportunity to make a contribution to the Alaska Salvation Army addiction rehabilitation program and glad to visit the facility this past week with Mayor Bronson. We heard several opportunities and challenges associated with all the great work they do. I look forward to helping however I can. Hats off to the Salvation Army staff and volunteers for all the amazing work they're doing. Really impressive!
