Citizens offer mix of ideas at new governor's town meetings
If recent town meetings in Juneau are an indication, it won't be easy for incoming Gov. Frank Murkowski to please everyone. He'd have to shrink the budget gap yet spend more money.
Friday night at Dzantik'i Heeni Middle School, at the second of two meetings in Juneau to gather recommendations for the Murkowski administration, some of the 100-plus attendees wanted to streamline government, and others saw new and old problems that needed more funding.
Similar meetings have been held around the state, and it's not too late to send comments by e-mail to Tibbles@alaska.net.
Susan Bell, a senior manager of the research firm the McDowell Group who headed the sub-meeting on revenue, said attendees wanted state agencies to look for ways to become more efficient and more accountable.
Tom Boutin, a forester, said the state saved money by merging departments of commerce and regional affairs several years ago.
"As a model, everybody has to recognize that just because every dollar of state money has its constituency, that doesn't mean we have to spend that dollar forever," he said.
A strong majority of the revenue sub-meeting's attendees wanted to see the state budget cut and revenues from resources increased.
Scott Petsel, a vice president of the Alaska Miners Association who headed up a sub-meeting on natural resources and the environment, said the biggest concern he heard was about the budget deficit.
"Every aspect of resource development could stand to use more money for infrastructure, marketing. That's what I think we're feeling," he said.
Fishermen said Alaska salmon isn't marketed properly. Miners said the state doesn't do enough to attract mining exploration companies. And state regulators need more funds to complete scientific studies needed to manage resources or grant permits, Petsel said.
While some commenters asked for ways to streamline permitting and regulations, Joyce Levine asked for a department of tourism.
"It seems like (tourism) is growing at leaps and bounds and affecting people in all kinds of ways, and the state has to look at creating a regulatory agency for tourism," she said.
Chris McDowell, who monitors salmon markets, said the top marketing issue for the fishing industry in Alaska is getting fresh fish to the Lower 48 without paying expensive air freight. He said the solution is to build a road from Southeast to the North American road system.
Attendees at the sub-meeting on education talked about the state forgiving the college loans of teachers and teacher aides in exchange for their working as educators in Alaska; the need for more continuing education for teachers; and improved pre-school programs and child care.
The group anticipated that school districts and the state would face more expenses in meeting the requirements of the new federal education law, commonly called the No Child Left Behind Act.
Among other provisions, the law mandates more student testing, qualifications for teachers and teacher aides, and lets parents of children in failing low-income schools put their children elsewhere.
" 'No Child Left Behind' means that we need more, not less, funding," Becker said.