Assembly Off to Juneau Next Week

Brianna Gibbs/KMXT

Next week five borough assembly members will head to Juneau and lobby on behalf of Kodiak. The group will be joined by Borough Mayor Jerrol Friend, who talked about the upcoming trip during last night’s regular meeting.
“See if we can’t show the legislators and the staff of the legislators and everybody all the projects and the things we got going on in Kodiak so when it comes to decision time they’ll have a better idea of what we need and what our needs are. That will be well attended by the assembly and I’m glad to see that. I guess a couple of people are leaving a little bit earlier to get a little bit more time down there. Beating the haul. So that will be fun.”
Assemblyman Aaron Griffin will be a part of the group heading to the state’s capital, and said it will be a busy trip meeting with a number of very influential legislators.

“We have a full day packed on Tuesday pretty much hitting every legislator that sits on the finance on both sides is what it’s looking about now. From what I’ve been told, that’s pretty unprecedented. So I don’t know what mojo Kodiak has that we deserve meetings compared to everybody else, but hoorah for our lobbyist getting them.”
Griffin said it’s a very important year in the legislature and having Kodiak’s voice heard, especially as the state looks to rein back funding, is crucial.
“I think the cost of comparison from what we get out of meeting with legislators it’s well worth the bang for the buck for going down there and actually pumping hands and meeting these people face to face. So with that said, we look forward to talking about it at our next regular meeting and hopefully we have some positive reports.”
The trip includes a seafood reception, which is sponsored by a number of organizations and canneries in Kodiak. Assemblyman Dave Kaplan said the annual reception is well known and well attended in the by legislators. He said the event is also important because of the additional networking opportunities it provides.