Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Commissioner of Transportation John McKinnon have once again vetoed the necessary funding to allow full ferry service to all of Southeast Alaska.
This action effectively cuts off the Alaska Panhandle from Cordova to Ketchikan and Kodiak after idling any ferry service and our entire fleet. Reduced ferry service started in November of 2019 for dubious reasons that were vague and never really obvious to the public.
Mechanical deficiencies and potential dangers were cited by Dunleavy and McKinnon. The last ferry to be finally impounded was the MV Matanuska, sent on one engine under a special permit issued by the U.S. Coast Guard to be impounded at the Ketchikan Ship Yard. I called them last week, and they said that they had not lost one day’s work because of the COVID-19 pandemic and remain at work on the Alaska Ferries.
The only way in and out of Southeast Alaska for any travelers by vehicle is the Alcan Highway through Canada, which has opened its boarders again, the gateway to Fairbanks and Anchorage, Alaska ferry service to Prince Rupert will surely follow suit immediately.
The newly appointed chair of the AMHS Reshaping Work Group, former U.S. Department of Transportation Deputy Secretary and retired Commander of the 17th District of Juneau Thomas J. Barrett could not have been a better choice. This work force once completed will be scrutinized by Dunleavy and McKinnon with public input and so on, as winter once again approaches.
However, the Reshaping Work Group shamefully still does not have several seats for the indigenous people of our state, namely the Tlingit people whose heritage goes back centuries, the people lives most affected by this unnecessary, political slap in the face.
Dunleavy overlooked the fact these indigenous people are “spiritually connected as one people.” They will be the ones to complete recall pages, fill out booklets and throw the governor and carpet baggers out of public office.
The statewide recall effort is underway and that would include those of his staff in agreement with his veto-style of government reducing the quality of life for all Alaskans.
State employees, and those who own businesses that seek contracts with this administration, are too intimidated to sign the petition even though they agree. Rest assured as soon as possible, when the medical emergency has passed, and it is once again safe to walk the streets of Juneau, I and many other Alaskans who have been cut off culturally and financially will continue the efforts.
A lesson Dunleavy failed to garner, when he was a teacher and principal in the Alaskan villages, is breaking a tenured teacher’s contract is almost impossible. NEA is one of the strongest unions in our country because of the parent, child, teacher conflicts that arise, an unbroken triangle.The child usually loses. The governor in a recent speech announced that all students will pass this school year and continue on and graduates will just have to forgo the graduation ceremony.
A brilliant speech, showing “his wisdom as a leader and administrator” in public once again, an article in the Anchorage paper said” home schooling by video” is not working, not enough students are checking in or have computer access with the state libraries shut down. Does giving a student a bye from the governor, seem like an incentive to keep up on their school work?
The real cost in dollars and cents and business closures of lost revenue to all Southeast residents will never be known because the very real pandemic is underway and has overshadowed it. Once the medical all-clear — not the political one hailed be politicians whose bottom line (taxes, profits and power) are being reflected on our society — comes other issues will come into greater focus.
The governor’s vetoes include: Education, transportation of critical needs. Medicaid, Ocean Rangers, University of Alaska, public broadcasting, community education, regional education attendance area, school bond debt reimbursement, one-time education funding outside of the formula, one-time AHFC homeless, non-mandatory municipal debt reimbursement and other grants not listed for a total of $210 million.
The fiscally responsible Alaska Legislature funded the essential services then seeing the brick wall they faced, adjourned — or what amounted to adjournment — and went home.
• Jerry Adams is a Republican, partisan voter, 50-year resident of Juneau, Alaska and retired business man. Columns, My Turns and Letters to the Editor represent the view of the author, not the view of the Juneau Empire.
