Holiday Giving, Fundraising Film, and We Won One

December 3, 2013 Voice Your Opinions! Letters to the editor make a difference. You can send a 175-word letter to the Anchorage Daily News by e-mail (letters@adn.com); or by fax or mail (call them at 257-4300). Send letters to the Anchorage Press via e-mail editor@anchoragepress.com or by mail to 540 E. Fifth Ave, Anchorage, 99501. Feel free to call us if you need factual information to help you write a letter. Contact the Governor. The Governor can be reached at 269-7450; sean.parnell@alaska.gov; or www.alaska.gov. Contact us. My office can be reached at: 716 W. 4th Ave, Anchorage, AK 99501; by phone: 269-0106; visit my website at http://gara.akdemocrats.org; or email: Rep.Les.Gara@akleg.gov

Dear Neighbors,

I hope you all had an enjoyable Thanksgiving weekend, and aren't still suffering from your overdose of tryptophan and butter.  I lost 3 pounds before Thanksgiving, and it just came back and found me.

Help A Foster Youth Non-Profit By Watching A Movie and Eating At the Bear Tooth Today or Tomorrow!

I'd like to talk about a vibrant neighborhood planning award we recently won, Fairview beautification work, "Giving Tuesday" instead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and a film that fits the Giving Tuesday theme – it's at the Bear Tooth Theater today and tomorrow at 5:30pm.

Giving Tuesday: Giving Back Instead of Buying

Giving Tuesday (bad name - you can keep giving after today too!) launched the first national day of giving last year, and is keeping the new tradition going this year.  The idea is to encourage charitable giving to non-profit organizations on a specific day during the holiday season.  There are many worthy organizations doing great work in our city, state, country and around the world.  I, of course, have some favorites that I hope you'll consider supporting. 

Facing Foster Care in Alaska (FFCA) is a great non-profit that advocates for and provides peer support to Alaska's 2,000 foster youth.  You know what Covenant House does for homeless youth.  Another group doing critical outreach with homeless and at-risk youth is Alaska Youth Advocates.  The United Way is an "umbrella" agency that connects residents with the many services available in their area.  They've even prepared a 2013 Holiday Guide to Giving and Volunteering.  The Alaska Center for the Environment provides scholarships so that we can get less affluent youth into Alaska's great outdoors in the summer through their Trailside Discovery Camp.  I hope you'll consider supporting one of these groups, or any other of the many deserving non-profits during the 2013 Giving Tuesday (and every other day of the year)!

Or you can mentor a foster youth through a program we started, or donate a good laptop, for funds for one – that's all tax deductible.   You can call my office at 269-0106 for more details.  If you have even more to give and you want to learn about becoming a foster parent, call the Office of Children's Services at 1-800-478-7307. 

Fundraising Film at Bear Tooth Tonight and Tomorrow

If all the holiday shopping and giving has you in the mood to kick back and relax with a movie (while still doing good), pop in to the Bear Tooth theater on December 3 and 4 (Tuesday and Wednesday this week) to check out Short Term 12.  This excellent film deals with the lives of youth in a group home, and their supervisor Grace.  You can watch the movie trailer here.

When you come out to see Short Term 12 you'll also be supporting Facing Foster Care in Alaska.  Bear Tooth has generously offered to donate all proceeds from the showings to FFCA!  Members from FFCA will also be on hand to answer any questions you might have.  So I hope to see you there for a great movie (and maybe something other than leftovers to eat).

We Won One!

I'm happy to say we won a good one recently!  The Alaska Chapter of the American Planning Association honored our office, the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC), and House Bill 50 with its Best Practices Award for our work on legislation to promote vibrant neighborhoods and desirable businesses in larger low and middle income residential developments. The chapter also gave special thanks to Representative Costello and Cook Inlet Housing Authority for their important work as well, as the legislation would not have passed without all of their help, and I consider my award Mia's too, as we passed this bill as a team. See the press release about our award here.

The bill makes communities more vibrant and helps ease our housing shortage. Last year I found that AHFC was barred from allowing restaurants, coffee shops, groceries, and other businesses within AHFC-financed or owned housing. That's 1950's community planning. Smart planning says having day care, restaurants, coffee shops, and shopping amenities as part of our neighborhoods – if allowed by local zoning rules – makes our community more vibrant. I won't share the sausage making, but after writing the bill and working with Mia to have her as an equal co-sponsor, I moved my name from point to "second" sponsor to make the bill move faster (that wasn't our idea, but it worked).  Ack.  Politics.  What really matters is that HB 50 passed during the last session and AHFC reports enthusiastic interest by developers who want to move ahead with needed housing.

The legislation also helps AHFC and developers use income from market rate business rent to offset housing costs, thereby allowing additional housing, and making these projects more economic as we try to solve our housing shortage for low and middle income Alaskans and Alaskan seniors.   

Good Changes Coming to Fairview

The good folks at the Fairview Business Association, working with the Fairview Community Council, have been doing a great job promoting a redevelopment plan for Gambell Street. Last year we were able to get funds appropriated to the Association to do the engineering and traffic studies to lay the groundwork for this important project. The Economic Revitalization Plan drafted by the Fairview Business Association has been incorporated into the Draft Community Plan by the Fairview Community Council.  The Draft Plan can be seen at fairviewcommunity.org. Comments on the draft plan will be accepted until December 12th.

Here is an article regarding the full program of economic revitalization proposed by the Fairview Business Association which appeared in the most recent issue of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce magazine.  That article also mentions the benefits of House Bill 50 in the redevelopment of Fairview. 

I look forward to working with the Business Association and Community Council as we make Fairview a better place for both residents and businesses.

Best Regards,