My Turn: Biting the hand that feeds
I am disappointed in Boyd Brownfield. A friend and colleague for many years, he has decided to use his past public service as a deputy commissioner with Department of Transportation and Public Facilities for potential political gain. I will not comment on his political motivation but I must respond to his false accusations regarding the Department of Transportation. Mr. Brownfield pretended to be loyal for the 7 1/2 years he was a deputy commissioner. He heartily supported the administration's policies and showed that by contributing the maximum amount allowed by law to the Knowles-Ulmer re-election campaign in 1998. Now, after being forced to retire in July 2002 because of the Legislature's budget cuts, he has suddenly begun to question the policies he helped to develop, implement and support throughout his tenure.
Mr. Brownfield made an erroneous assertion in his My Turn column (Empire, Nov. 3) that DOT opted to cut maintenance positions when it could have "absorbed" the budget cuts. What Mr. Brownfield did not make clear was that his job was eliminated as part of that budget cut. Not only was his job eliminated, but we reduced discretionary travel by 60 percent and eliminated other administrative positions in the commissioner's office. Of the 70 positions that were eliminated, 46 were held by maintenance workers. Maintenance will suffer as a result of this cut, but other DOT department functions will also suffer.
The fact is the Legislature reduced our budget request by $6.5 million. Mr. Brownfield knows that the entire DOT general fund budget is $94 million and 90 percent of it is for maintenance. He suggests that the entire $6.5 million should have been taken from the $12 million portion of the budget that is not for maintenance. A reduction of this size in our non-maintenance general fund budget would have crippled the department and jeopardized our ability to receive federal funds for construction. His comments are not just against the Knowles administration but are an attack on the many men and women in DOT who have been forced to endure legislative budget cuts year after year and still manage to keep the roads safe to travel.
He recognized that the department has faced budget cuts for as long as he can remember. He is right. This year is no exception. The decision on where to spread the Legislature's cuts was made through a deliberative process that involved senior department personnel from headquarters and from each of our three regions. In fact, most of the specific reductions were recommended by the regions. During this period, Mr. Brownfield made no recommendation to cut the budget in any different way. As a key member of my staff, it was his responsibility to advise me of ways to provide basic service with reduced budgets. He failed to do so.
All the citizens of this state are served by the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. We have worked hard to keep politics out of road building and road maintenance decisions. If partisan politics had been our approach, we would have not improved any roads in the Mat-Su Borough. The solid block of Republican legislators from Mat-Su would have been an easy political target. But the Mat-Su is one of the fastest growing areas of the state and has some of the most acute transportation needs. Consequently, we have contributed a considerable amount of resources to improve the roads in that area.
Juneau access is another area for which Mr. Brownfield misrepresented the facts. His assertion that somehow the books were cooked to influence a marine highway alternative is preposterous and an insult to the professional integrity of the staff who have worked hard on the project for several years. He knows as well as anyone that the department's preferred alternative in the draft EIS is the road alternative. The governor accepted our preferred alternative but chose not to move forward on the project at that time. That certainly is his prerogative.
It is unfortunate that Mr. Brownfield has chosen to bite the hand that fed him. His concerns would mean more had he raised them during his employment with the Knowles administration. Maybe he can fool some people, but his letter to the editor has shown that his loyalty and integrity are as transparent as his 11th hour attempt to disassociate himself from the organization and administration that he was so willingly a part of for 7 1/2 years.
Joe Perkins is commissioner of the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities.