At recent candidate forums, both were asked about top challenges for the borough. Guttenberg said the biggest challenge is going to be education funding at a time when state funds have been vetoed.
Well, after education, the most important thing is to, is to supply the services that the people of the borough have come to expect and enjoy, whether it's pools, transportation, planning and zoning, all those things have to be delivered in a sensible, plain, cost-efficient way,” Guttenberg said.
Ramirez says he also insists on a cost-effective government.
“Uh, we need to protect property rights and neighborhood integrity. We need to keep, uh, support the tax cap. We're a second-class borough with limited powers. We need to, uh, To work within the limits of our budget and the, and those that we give a budget to, uh, within those constraints, and that will help, uh, create more diversity within our borough and, uh, keep people safe,” Ramirez said.
Guttenberg has served on the assembly for three years after serving in the Alaska House for 16 years.
Ramirez is new to local service, becoming involved in the Republican Party and inspired by the local election last May to increase taxes to pay for schools.
Both were asked about the emerging budget for a proposed animal shelter. Ramirez said he didn’t know exactly where, but he thought there might be resources in the private sector that could take on some functions.
“My position is it does not cost 30, over 33 and a half million dollars to redo an animal shelter. We could be more fiscally responsible and it could be done for much lesser cost. So, we can still take care of our animals and use the rest of that money more for more critical needs within our borough,” Ramirez said.
Guttenberg said costs for replacing the animal shelter have been increasing in the years since it was first considered.
“The animal shelter's been in the works for, for more than 15 years. Recognize that we need a new one. It's decrepit, it's falling apart. The plan right now has an estimated cost of 33 million. It's just in the beginning of the design work," Guttenberg said.
"But I need to ask you, have you bought sheetrock lately? Sheetrock is, is five times the cost of what it used to be. We're not building a palace, but we need to make sure that we're getting our dollars’ worth because it is tax dollars. We need to be conservative about how we spend them. But, we need, it's, the one we have is falling apart and inefficient,” he said.
Municipal election day is October 1st. A complete recording and transcript of the League of Women Voters forum for FNSB Assembly candidates is here:
And a complete recording and transcript of the Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce forum for FNSB Assembly candidates is here: https://fm.kuac.org/2024-09-17/gf-chamber-of-commerce-hosts-fnsb-assembly-candidates
