Hiding our lawmakers in Juneau hurts Railbelt residents

BUDD GOODYEAR

May 29, 2008 at 9:31AM AKST

The Capital Site Planning Commission met throughout Alaska in the late 1970s. I covered many of those meetings for the Susitna Sentinel, a weekly newspaper then published in Talkeetna.

Specifically, I recall interesting conversations with Bill Corbus of Juneau and Arlis Sturgelewski of Anchorage during those times 30 years ago.

As I recall, the voters voted to move the capital three times in those years.

It may be similar to California, where voters’ initiatives get thrown out by courts bent on legislating rather than upholding democratic principals. In Alaska it seems easier: The Legislature just ignores the voters’ initiatives.

Back then the major issue was a territorial one. Juneau did not want to give up the capital; Fairbanks wanted it, and Anchorage wanted it. It seemed reasonable to me that a site near Willow was chosen for it.

My recollection is that Fairbanks joined Juneau to stop the move because Fairbanks was not chosen as the site. Sure, there were other issues, the monopolistic transportation services were against it, some legislators were against it. I guess some elected representatives didn’t want their activities moved away from the fog and rain of Southeast to the bright sunshine of the Susitna Valley.

To help stop the move they (the ones against the move) fabricated a phony move cost of $900 million. The $900 million would have bought a dream city with streets of gold, much, much grander than a working city for voters and legislators.

Besides, Alaska could have followed the model of at least one other state that got a new capital built for little or nothing just by trading land for it.

Who were winners in the defeat of the move? Big, big winners are the air transportation system, as I was reminded recently by an e-mail from an air carrier offering “Special Session” transportation prices. Some legislators engaging in questionable behavior won, I’m sure. Recent investigations and trials are likely just the tip of an iceberg and seem more politically driven than justice driven.

Who were the losers? The 400,000 to 500,000 thousand people living the Railbelt and adjoining highway system.

Who else? The people who live on the west and north coasts of Alaska and regional villages who have to pay double the cost and double their travel time, if they can even afford to go to Juneau at all. Certainly traveling to a Railbelt capital would cost much less.

Dear readers, access to elected officials by the majority of voters is essential. Denying access is downright unethical and un-American, but I guess not un-Alaskan.

Back in the 1960s, in my former state of residence, I visited legislators on one issue at a legislative session held at night.

It was so crowded I could not get in the door of the building, but the legislature got the message. In the last few years when the Tennessee governor got the legislature to go along with tax increases, voters took time out of their workdays for several days to drive round and round the capital building. Hundreds, perhaps a thousand, demonstrated against the tax. The legislature got the message!

I have thought occasionally that if I had a pen pal in the Russian state of Georgia, I might write and say:
“I live in the largest state in the USA, but the government it is set up so I cannot go to my elected representative and meet face to face with him to discuss my concerns.”

I imagine my pen pal would write back, “It is just like here in Russia.”