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During the past several years, we here in Juneau seem to have been on a carousel of large infrastructure projects. First the hospital board comes in with a large project to make Bartlett Hospital a regional health center. Then it's the Juneau School District's turn to build a new high school. Then it's a large downtown parking garage, still under construction. Then it's the Juneau Airport board's turn with a large expansion in facilities.

Now the Juneau Docks and Harbors Board presents us with a cruise ship docking expansion. Where is the oversight? It reminds me of military spending during the '70s and '80s. When there isn't a war to fight in which the military brass can obtain greater rank, the only avenue for advancement was to bring in large military spending projects, regardless of need. Officers didn't obtain rank by trimming spending or turning down projects as not needed. They only got bragging rights and advancement by spending enormous amounts of taxpayer money.

Likewise, our boards and their managers seem to judge their success by bringing in large infrastructure projects. How did we get to the point where unelected boards seem to determine our spending/taxing priorities?

We have four major boards in Juneau; the school board, the hospital board, the airport board and docks and harbors. Each board hires its own manager/director. These people offer major spending proposals and yet are only accountable to unelected boards. The only oversight I can tell is the one shot the Juneau Assembly gets in voting projects up or down. And who wants to do that? I understand the Assembly meets in committee and as a whole to discuss and debate issues. However, our city administration neither hires nor fires managers in charge of large elements of Juneau. And the pressures to build, I suspect, are enormous.

I understand that school boards have traditionally been separate from local city administration, and that the state reimburses school construction costs at 70 percent. However, having these other boards in charge of what appears to be separate fiefdoms may not be in the best interest of all of us, particularly where property and sales tax rates are involved. I'm not arguing that these projects are unneeded, only that our elected officials may be hamstrung in setting spending priorities.

I recall some discussion years ago about the differences between types of local governments, with a distinction made between a weak mayoral system and a strong mayoral system. I believe that Juneau got the weak mayor/city manager arrangement. If we had a strong mayoral system, would we still have had this carousel of spending? Perhaps, but at least there would be a more direct relationship between our elected officials and project proposals. And now with the proposal for a building on the site of the former sub-port state warehouse, it seems the city is caving in on the idea that the view along the waterfront should not be further obstructed. This seems to be another example of the enormous pressure to build.

Lots of money is being spent on big projects. I always thought that one of the first jobs of city administration was to fill the potholes. How is the city doing on pothole management in your neighborhood?

• Steve Wolf is a Juneau resident.