Ask Juneau: Why Is Juneau The Capital Of Alaska?

Our question this week is from Anchorage viewer Rosemary Dunn, who wanted to know, “How did Juneau become the state capital, when it is so inaccessible to Alaskans?”

We expanded that question to ask why Juneau remains the capital.

It’s fairly easy to see why Juneau became the capital in 1906 – Anchorage didn’t exist yet and Fairbanks was a remote settlement, but Juneau had a thriving mining industry and was only a steamer trip away from Seattle. Additionally, it was not much further up the Panhandle than Sitka, the capital chosen for the territory by its one-time Russian masters.

So the Alaska capital has moved before – to Juneau from Sitka. And city leaders want to keep it there.

To find out more, we talked to Bruce Botelho and Mark Neuman.

Botelho loves Juneau. He’s been elected mayor four times. He’s also served as attorney general under two governors, but that’s a different story.

Neuman is legislator from Big Lake first elected in 2004. He came to Alaska after the 1982 vote that killed the big capital move to the wilderness around Willow north of where he lives, but he has followed capital move ideas since then – and has a few of his own.

Since Alaska became a state in 1959, there have been 10 ballot initiatives involving a capital move. The first was in 1960, when voters rejected the first effort to move the capital to the railbelt, 23,972-to-18,865. A measure finally passed in 1974, and Willow received the endorsement. But voters got cold feet before construction began. The 1982 vote through the FRANK initiative (Fiscally Responsible Alaskans Needing Knowledge) rejected Willow, when voters were faced with a $2.8 billion bill for construction and relocation.

A few more measures in the Legislature concerned at least a partial move. For instance, in 2008, a bill by Rep. Carl Gatto, a Republican from Palmer who died in office in 2012, would have required a special session to only take place on the road system. That bill never had a hearing, but some of the special sessions in the last few years were held in Anchorage anyway.

When people talk about moving the capital, Neuman said they usually just mean moving the Alaska Legislature.

“A lot of those folks are talking about getting access to their Legislature, and being able to comment and testify before us,” Neuman said. “We’re separated from the rest of Alaska down here, and isolated, a lot of people feel. And so it’s more of a faction of trying to move the Legislature closer to the people, as opposed to moving the whole capital.”

But to Botelho, even moving the Legislature doesn’t sound like a good idea.

“I would note that we, not unlike the capital cities of all the states on the West Coast, are not located in the population center of the state, and relatively few people avail themselves of the opportunity to drive to their capital to express their views,” Botelho said. “I think that’s been reflected in the special sessions that have recently been held in Anchorage, where turnout for committee hearings or to watch floor action has been minimal, and mostly the same people who show up here in Juneau.”

Neuman said a more centrally located Legislature would save the state money, and probably attract new talent.

“It wouldn’t be just a better opportunity for the public, but I think it would be more opportunity for more people to become legislators and staff – the people who make this building run. It takes a type of special person to be able to leave their family and everything behind for months and never to be able to go home, and then you don’t even know if it’s going to be three to seven months long. So not everybody can do that job, and I think there’d be more opportunities and a broader base.”

Botelho said that Juneau has done a lot to make it easier for people to communicate with the Legislature.

“Juneau has served as the host city in a very responsible way, to make sure that government is responsive to the people of Alaska wherever they reside,” Botelho said. “That’s reflected in our efforts to promote Gavel to Gavel, so that any Alaskan can view what’s happening on the floor sessions. We’ve been providing for live streaming of committee meetings, we’ve obviously supported efforts of the Legislature itself to make use of teleconferences, and over the years we’ve invested millions of dollars in infrastructure to improve state government.”

Neuman combined a Legislature move with another of his pet projects, the bridge across Knik Arm, in citing a future that may happen – or not.

“People could even come into Anchorage. They fly into Anchorage, drive across the bridge, take care of their business, testify for the day, and fly home that night. Right now, if you want to do that, you fly to Anchorage – some people, if you’re in remote Alaska, have to spend the night in Anchorage, catch a flight to Juneau – in and out of Juneau is iffy all the time, and getting hotels, they can run up to $250, $275 a day, 300 bucks for the more expensive ones, probably – and then have to fly back. Although they have... a constituent fare, it’s a lower rate. But beyond that, it’s almost 6, $700 to fly back and forth each time, and not a lot of Alaskans can do it.”

For Botelho, though, Juneau is a special place.

“We’re very proud of the fact that Juneau is a very engaged community," he said. "It has a very strong arts presence, and that civic culture is populated by people who are state employees, who are managers, people who – many of whom are very highly educated – bring a degree of sophistication to this community that makes us one of the most richest places anywhere to live in this country.”

But doesn’t the weather stink?

“It is well established that we see a lot of rain. We’re blessed, as a result of that, with a verdant rain forest, and flora and fauna that is part of the benefit of the weather we at times endure.”