Are your legislators in tune with your priorities?

Frontiersman editorial board

It was standing room only at Palmer Junior Middle School on Wednesday night. It wasn't Bruce Springsteen or a Who reunion tour that packed them in. They'd come to see John Tanigawa and others talk about what coal bed methane exploration will mean for the Valley -- and more specifically, about why Evergreen Resources is the right company to develop the natural gas industry here.

At the core of the issue are deep concerns about land rights, water quality and overall quality of life. Not far from the core are concerns about propriety. Legislation that limited the public process in this matter was written and passed almost completely under the radar. The legislator behind that legislation also happens to be collecting paychecks from Evergreen, though he says he sees no conflict of interest in that relationship. In a recent conversation with Frontiersman, Senator Ogan also said everybody in Juneau has conflicts, and those conflicts are actually healthy for the democratic process. Conflicts of interest, he said, are what the founding fathers had in mind when they envisioned a citizen legislature. You have to at least give Ogan points for having the courage to say that.

It's difficult to say where all of this will lead. As things stand, state law allows Evergreen, or any other developer, to purchase leases on sub-surface minerals beneath private property. There's actually little recourse for private land owners. While state laws can change, for now that is the reality.

The real question is, are our legislators acting in our best interests -- and in line with our priorities? It's important to recognize that the message that has resonated loudest in the Valley over the past decade is the anti-tax/pro-development message. We sent people who campaigned hard on those issues to Juneau. At some point, the chickens come home to roost. Perhaps voters were asking for responsible development when they cast their ballots, and perhaps our legislators heard a call for development at any cost. It seems that's the path we're on. Last year a simple Snapshot question in Frontiersman was, "What would make Palmer a better place to live?" One reader said he'd like to see a Costco, but in Wasilla. It's the classic development dilemma. We want the benefit of development, as long as the mess is in someone else's back yard.

The time to keep the mess out of your back yard is on election day, not when the bulldozers start rolling up your driveway. Before you ever go to the polls, you should know your priorities. You should know what you're willing to sacrifice to gain what each candidate is promising. If it's quality of life and protection of your personal rights you're interested in, you'd better be sure the person you vote for is interested in those things, too.