Contributed by Bruce Walden
Dear Neighbors, it is that time. By the time you read this, we will have about two weeks before Election Day and this will be my last appeal to you before you cast your vote, at least in The People’s Paper.
I was in a recent candidate’s forum in which we were asked softball questions and given thirty seconds to respond. I’m considering never going to another such forum and going only to actual debates. But the upshot is that my opponent, the currently serving mayor sees us living on two industries: Tourism and the LNG Pipeline. Let us look at those, shall we?
Tourism nets very little here in the Mat-Su. Yes, we do get tourists and we welcome them. The ones coming up by ship dock in Whittier, Seward or Anchorage and seldom go any further north than that. I see them every day on my job, and I know this to be true. Then you have those who drive up and either spend their time in Denali, or head south to Anchorage, Seward and such, and the skilled ones head to the Kenai and the Russian Rivers with the result that they blow through our borough like a freight train. They may buy $20.00 in gas, maybe a meal and a cup of coffee, and well - that’s about it.
Then there are the handful who fly here, and they do tend to get out and about; but I’ve seen very few of them here in the Mat-Su this year. The Princess Cruise bus or whichever cruise line may be in port stops in downtown Palmer to let the people run out and scurry about, and then they are gone.
Then you have the LNG Pipeline… Well, what can you say? I know it hurts some folks’ feelings, but the argument over Point Mack versus Nikiski is moot. That pipeline will never be built in my lifetime. Sorry. Don’t trust me, run the numbers yourself.
I am reminded of a kid in my first-grade class. His first name was Jimmy and every time Mrs. Cuble told him to do some simple thing, he’d cry and say, “I can’t!”
One day, she got so flustered she exclaimed, “I’m going to start calling you Jimmy I Can’t!” This borough seems to be led by a slew of Jimmy I Can’ts.
Those on that side reveal their true feelings when they tell you plainly, “It just isn’t that simple. You can’t come in here and just make things happen.” Sadly, far too many Matsuans fall for that. Well, actually, yes, it is that simple - not easy, but simple. It is just that they do not have what it takes to make things happen. I believe in performance and results and nothing else matters - nothing else impresses. Either you do the job or get out of the way.
It is true, one cannot just wave a magic wand and things get better, but you better know I’ll work myself to a frazzle if I must to a. lead us in becoming a 1st class borough, b. making that borough work and c. taking total ownership of the borough’s problems. I will not pass the buck or blame my predecessors. The buck lands squarely on my desk.
We have industries waiting to be developed. Oil, gas, coal, iron, copper, gold, timber, fish (commercial to a degree and sport big-time here in the Mat-Su), and as I have said the gray-gold that one mines out of the skulls of our smart neighbors. We will be arranging “get-togethers” at least once per year, starting this coming spring in which, we allow folks to set up and meet with one another. We will bring in smart money folk to invest, smart business-minded folk and resource holders/folks with good ideas. Watch and see what the Mat-Su can do.
We have a president with a “can-do” attitude. We will soon, God-willing, have a governor with such an attitude in Mike Dunleavy. Do you want a mayor running the borough who thinks that coffee shops and book stores will sustain us, or do you want a combat-proven leader who thinks outside the box? Do you want a man who sits behind locked doors (yes, you read right), refuses to take ownership while pushing all responsibility off on the manager, who likewise does very little? Or do you want a mayor who will push to make us a first-class borough and will thus take total ownership of any issues in the borough?
The time has come, neighbors. We’ve grown up. It’s time we act like it. Will you join me? You see, you have a rather clear choice this year. Visit us at www.walden4matsu.com, and don’t forget to vote on October 2nd!