A Citizen’s Guide

To the editor:

Mayor Whitaker showed exceptional courage when pointing out the shenanigans taking place in our Legislature. He is right of course.

Common sense tells us that something smells when three elected officials with similar conflicts of interest agree to release each other from discussions and voting on matters of special interest to them–and vital to the rest of us. The smell gets worse when it is realized that two of them are co-chairs of the committee. Was there no other member of the committee–one without a conflict of interest–that would have done the deed?

We only need to look back to 1988 to realize the power of committee chairmen. Then Resource Committee Chairman, Sen. Jack Coghill, buried legislation that would have provided natural gas to the Fairbanks area at Anchorage prices–roughly one-third of what we were paying. One can only imagine what 17 years of clean, low cost energy would have done for our community.

For those representing us in Juneau who “disassociated” their selves from Mayor Whitaker’s comments–shame on you. It worries us that such things seem trivial to you.

It’s not easy for most of us to get to Juneau. Soon we will need a passport to drive there. It’s time the lawmakers become more accessible. Perhaps it’s time we rotate the Legislature. How about a four-year rotation plan? First year in Anchorage; second in Fairbanks; third in Juneau; and the fourth open to bid from any Alaska community–similar to the Olympics. The capital can remain in Juneau–we just want you and the lobbyist within our reach.

And to Mayor Whitaker, thanks!

Bob Thomas

Fairbanks