“It's a little bittersweet, honestly.”
FNSB mayor Bryce Ward said there are some parts of the job he’s happy to leave, such as the Thursday night Assembly meetings that often go very late. But he says he’s privileged to be a part of some really good work.
“You know, we've done a really good job of paying off debt, of lowering the overall mill rate, and still being able to meet the needs of our capital, which are quite significant. The borough, by and large, puts about, 10 to 12 million a year into capital; that's probably half of what we need to be putting into our infrastructure right now, but we're making a significant dent,” he said.
The Capital Improvement Plan is the reason the borough hasn’t had a bond election since 2018. Ward took the idea over from mayor Karl Kassel, and fleshed out the program for scheduling maintenance and construction projects, so they are funded a little bit at a time. The borough Assembly passed a requirement that at least $10 million of the mayor’s budget will go into repair or new construction every year.
“Look at what we've done, I think contributing $12 million a year, looking at the $100 million plus of projects that we've done in the last six years," he said. "So, we're literally, as a community, picking ourselves up by our bootstraps and saying, we want to keep our pools, we want to keep our libraries, we want to keep our parks, we're paying for it ourselves.”
We're as a community, picking ourselves up by our bootstraps and saying, we want to keep our pools, we want to keep our libraries, we want to keep our parks, and we're paying for it ourselves.
COVID and cancer
Ward and his staff saw the borough through the COVID-19 pandemic. It began with dire warnings, and staff trying to work from home.
“We were just on the verge of rolling out Microsoft Teams as a, as a option, prior to COVID. And so, it was by a miracle that we had that infrastructure in place,” Ward said.
The administration had to figure out how to keep borough services open and available, without putting employees at risk, and without the health powers of First Class municipalities.
“COVID was certainly a challenge. It was a tough time here at the borough. We didn't know … there's certainly been fallout from that. I mean, we've seen a lot of impacts on the economy, a lot of impacts on staffing, people in general, education — our students have suffered because of that. It's been a tough go.”
Ward says the effects of the pandemic are still rippling, with changes in education access, and spikes in costs for employee health plans and construction. What looked achievable before the pandemic, like a new recreation center or animal shelter, is daunting now.
“I mean, you look at our Capital Improvement Program and the effectiveness has been reduced because of the cost of projects,"
he said.
“I mean, the animal shelter is one that just... I continue to struggle with. The costs have gone up and up and up. We desperately need to do something (to replace the old building.) I think the community has asked a lot of really good questions. The next administration, the next assembly is going to have to grapple with that.”
In the middle of the pandemic, Ward was diagnosed with a type of Cancer called B-Cell Lymphoma, after finding a lump on his chest.
“That was very challenging. It was a blessing too, because a lot of stuff was remote. So, I would sit in the, Infusion room, working on my laptop, uh, you know, as the time goes on and time goes by," he said.
"I've been stopped many, many times over the years by folks in the community who've said, Hey, I've been thinking about you and your family. And, um, you know, that's made a huge difference.”
For six years, Ward has tried to draw the governor’s and legislature’s attention to statewide education funding. Ward says the system now punishes municipalities that have a tax base by requiring them to pay a portion of their schools, but doesn’t require it of unincorporated areas.
“Basically, if you're in an incorporated community, then the state penalizes that community by deducting your required local contribution from its portion of funding for education. So, if, for instance, the state said that it was going to give $100 per student for every student in Alaska; because you're in a borough, local communities would have to chip in $20 and the state would reduce their amount to $80.”
He says the required local contribution is a dis-incentive to unincorporated areas, who are getting full funding from the state, to become a borough or city. Ward has lobbied legislators and the governor in Juneau during the legislative session, and has regular conversations with them year-round about the state fully funding education.
The nation has become more politically polarized in the last 20-30 years. But Ward has kept to the middle of the road. He’s a registered Republican, but it doesn’t apply to his practice as mayor. Nor to his relationships to Assembly members, some of whom have called for party politics in municipal elections.
“Absolutely. I, I, there's a reason that local elections are non-partisan. When I think about partisanship, uh, honestly, it leaves a nasty taste in my mouth. Um, I, I haven't really seen anything from a local level and honestly, from a national level that makes me go, I want to be a part of that.”
When Ward was asked if he’d consider higher office, he said right now he’s thinking about going back to build homes as a general contractor. And he says his family wants him back.
“I've got a one year old, a six-year-old, and a nine-year-old at home, uh, who have not known me as anything other than the mayor. My hope is that they get to know me a little bit more as dad than the mayor.”
This entire interview with a transcript will be posted on fm.kuac.org.
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