An unprecedented pairing, maybe a new future?

Frontiersman editorial board

The Alaska Redistricting Board's plan sets a new precedent for Valley representation. The new district, House District 13, would extract the city of Palmer from its longtime pairing with Sutton, Chickaloon, Lazy Mountain, the Butte and Knik Road areas and place it instead with a portion of Trunk Road and the Hatcher Pass area.

While Palmer has commingled with these areas in terms of representation for a number of years, the new district is primarily made up of the borough's core area and the Trunk Road and Hatcher Pass areas. The needs of this more compact, more business-oriented district are much different than the needs of the former district. Previous representatives sought to meet the needs of two strikingly different groups -- the very rural and the very urban, those struggling with issues such as relying on generated power because the electrical grid did not extend to them versus those concerned with traffic congestion and municipality revenue sharing to bring needed funds to their area.

Although the new district still shares some of these issues, it is a much more compact district. And that could mean big things for the area. Instead of being overwhelmed by the failing infrastructure of the Glenn Highway, the Old Glenn Highway, Knik Road and the many other arteries that make up the former district, a new representative will have few major roads to deal with, some of which are already scheduled for renovations and upgrades. Maybe this new representative can move beyond keeping up with repairs and bring in some needed connecting roads, something that could bring Valley transportation up to date.

The freedom of having only one major borough-wide economic development project to tackle in this area is enviable, and puts the borough in the position of possibly having more overall legislative hours devoted to that one project alone than has been possible in the past. This could be the most opportune time for the project to move forward.

This is also a propitious time for the city of Palmer. By allowing a representative to focus more closely on the needs of the city, outstanding things could be on the way. The city has several hopes for enhancing its charm and offering needed services to the rest of the borough and is at a crucial stage in looking at those needs. State offices are looking at combining to conserve space and money, the borough school district is evaluating where a school administration building should be located, and several other issues key to Palmer's future are coming to a head. Added representation and political strength at such a time can only be a boon to the city's growth.

Any way you cut it, more political strength will be beneficial to the area's present and future needs. And with a little luck, people will be excited enough about this prospect to toss their names into the ring for the chance to lead the Valley in a new direction.