Joe Geldhof

What makes you a good candidate for the Juneau Assembly?

I think my best quality is actually listening to people. I’ve done that as a lawyer, I’ve done that in a number of situations, and listening and actually hearing what people express as an issue or a problem is one of my strengths. And then finding solutions that actually work in the real world.

The city is asking voters to fund a new city hall through a $27 million bond. What are your thoughts?

First of all, I’m going to vote against this proposal. It came up last time, without any opposition, and failed. The City and Borough staff and the Assembly have not made a compelling case. It’s been turned down once, there’s still no certainty on the final cost* and they won’t be denied. This is a proposal advanced by a rump group within the senior staff, and there isn’t adequate justification. And the citizens, rightfully, should turn this down.

*Editor’s note: The total estimated cost to develop and build a new city hall at 450 Whittier Street is $43.3 million, according to the city. And according to the city, “the bond proposition stipulates that the project must be completed within the $43.3 million total budget.”

Do you think the city should limit cruise ship tourism? Why or why not? If so, how?

I have spent years working around and against, frankly, the cruise ship industry and have a decent handle. I’ve been doing that since 1999. There are limits that this community and any community faces with inundation of large industrial tourism, whether it comes by cruise ships or any other method. 

Frankly, the City and Borough talks a lot about mitigating the damages, but it doesn’t do as much as they should. One of the things we need to do is spend the passenger ship fees more effectively, both to enhance the safe and efficient movement of these large numbers of people and to mitigate. There’s too much talk down at city hall about the problem and not enough direct application. They also waste a lot of passenger fees on administrative overhead* that, frankly, is not calculated to help either the citizens here or the passengers who arrive here.

*Editor’s note: Tourism Manager Alexandra Pierce’s marine passenger fee proposal includes $21,598,000 for direct costs and $132,700 for overhead.

What do you intend to do about Juneau’s housing crisis?

What I intend to do is work with at least four other members of the Assembly and actually come up with an action plan to address a couple things. First and foremost, affordable, entry level housing. We have an imbalance in Juneau where we’ve got too much of the wrong kind of housing and not enough starter homes. 

We also need to vigorously pursue people who are not maintaining commercial properties and residential properties. There’s wonderful homes in Juneau, but there’s a lot that are dumps, and we are not doing much to enforce. 

We also need to infill existing lots on the sewer lines, the water lines, the bus lines. And we can encourage that. 

So it’s a two-part process – both encourage sensible development and basically get on people who are basically allowing blight to continue and get that back into good service.

City-hired experts produced hazard maps for avalanches and landslides — how should the city balance responsible development with the needs of community members already living here?

I come down on the side of the residents who live here. The City and Borough of Juneau arguably, and I think actually does, spend way too much money on outside consultants who prepare glowing reports that go nowhere. And they do that in a number of ways, Parks and Rec does it, it’s done all over the place. I think they’ve done a disservice to people who have lived here for a long time, and in some ways it doesn’t comport with reality. Juneau has always been in a difficult building zone, and hiring somebody from outside to come in and recapitulate the obvious doesn’t really help anybody. It just stresses property values, and there’s better ways of doing that than hiring outside consultants who come in and put a clout on a lot of people’s property.

What do you think is the most important issue facing Juneau right now?

The overarching issue that’s facing the City and Borough of Juneau in terms of local government is coming up with decision-making that’s crisp, that makes sense, that actually accelerates the goal of getting things done, and that is done in an open and transparent way. It’s actually remarkable, even shocking, that this particular Assembly, which surprisingly claims they’re making decisions, they’re doing it in an opaque way. They’re meeting in closed meetings, executive sessions, where they don’t have to be. And that has got to stop. The business of the public should take place in the open. There should be an explanation, and there’s too much go along, get along and straining mightily to get consensus on issues. That’s doing a disservice to the people who actually live here, pay the taxes here, and want government but they want it done efficiently and right.