On the night of June 6, Wesley Johnson was attacked by a group of seven people when he stepped outside of the Alaskan Hotel and Bar, where he works, to smoke a cigarette. On Monday night, Johnson and a group of his own testified before the Assembly, imploring it to take action to stop violent crime downtown.
“They saw me as a white person, and they were just out looking for a fight,” Johnson recalled of his attackers during the public comment portion of the Assembly meeting.
[Police arrest two men tied to downtown group assault]
Johnson and five other people — his coworkers, friends and downtown residents — asked the Assembly to take downtown violence seriously and to do all that it can to end it.
“What surprises me is the look of surprise on your faces; this is a daily occurrence,” Eric Morrison, testifying on behalf of Johnson, told the Assembly. Morrison and several others described downtown as a hub for violent activity as of late.
During his two-minute testimony, Paul Jenne, resident manager of the Alaskan, talked about three notable assaults that have occurred near his place of work in the past three years. In 2014, a pint-glass-wielding patron assaulted a bartender. Last year, Juneau musician C Scott Fry was found beaten, bloodied and without a pulse in front of a Front Street liquor store. His most recent example of violence was his coworker Johnson, who was sitting in the audience as Jenne spoke.
“Am I angry? Yes,” Jenne said. “Something has to be done. Somebody is going to get killed. Enough is enough. You guys have to do something, and the police department has to do something.”
Juneau Police Department Chief Bryce Johnson addressed the Assembly later in the meeting, after Wesley Johnson and his supporters had left City Hall.
There are no active gangs in Juneau, but Chief Johnson recognized that a group, possibly including some of the people who attacked Johnson, has been targeting Juneau’s more vulnerable citizens.
“It is a group of people but they are not acting as a traditional Bloods or Crips style gang,” Johnson said. He didn’t identify any of the suspected assailants, citing an ongoing investigation, but he did say that “we have a good idea of who we’re talking about.”
In a brief interview with the Empire after the meeting, Chief Johnson said that JPD has been “very responsive” in handling any incidences of violence downtown, despite claims from some testifiers, who called the police department “nonresponsive.”
Speaking to the Assembly, Chief Johnson said 2016 is off to a better start than 2015. He said violent crime is down 3 percent if one compares the first quarter of 2016 to the first quarter of 2015. But he also acknowledged that those who testified were right when they pointed out the prevalence of violence downtown, particularly near the bars.
[New crime reports shows drop in drug seizures, spike in crime.]
“We have assaults downtown regularly,” he told the Empire. “Almost every night there are assaults for some reason or another.”
Most of them, Chief Johnson said, involve alcohol and take place soon after bar break, when all of the bars close for the night.
Several Assembly members expressed concern regarding the public testimony, including Jesse Kiehl who asked the Chief Johnson to come to the Assembly with any ideas he might have for possible collaborative efforts to reduce violence downtown.
Juneau Pride
Shortly before the non-agenda discussion of downtown crime took over the Assembly meeting, Mayor Ken Koelsch read a proclamation naming this month as Juneau Pride month.
“It is with particular sensitivity that I read this proclamation tonight,” Koelsch said, referring to the weekend massacre in gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that left 49 people dead and more than 50 wounded. “We offer our support and compassion for the friends and loved ones of those touched by the terrible tragedy in Orlando.”
[Alongside sadness and grief, Juneau shows pride.]
Included in the evening’s consent agenda was an ordinance that, if passed, will add a new title on equal rights to city code. It would make discrimination “based on race, color, age, religion, sex, familial status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin unlawful,” according to the manager’s report.
The Assembly will hold a special work session on June 21 to take public testimony on the ordinance.
Biosolids
The Assembly also approved a $10 million appropriation Monday, which will help fund the city’s biosolids dryer, a $16 million piece of equipment that will dry Juneau’s solid waste making it easier to dispose of.
[What happens after you flush? Assembly chooses biosolids solution.]
Out of the $10 million appropriated, $6 million will go to the dryer — the remainder will be funded through a Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation loan. The remaining $4 million will fund treatment plant improvements.
