Borough must be good steward of bond funds

For the past couple of weeks we’ve used our online “for entertainment purposes only” poll to see how our readers might vote at the polls on Election Day.

Of the 1,684 votes cast online, 759 people said they planned to vote no on the road bond and the school bond. Another 565 people said they planned to vote for both bonds. A small group said they planned to vote for the school bonds and against the road bonds, 71 votes. And 289 people said they planned to vote for the road bond and against the school bond.

Based on that response, we weren’t too optimistic that either bond would pass muster with voters on Tuesday.

But when the votes came in that evening, voters had approved both bonds by sizeable margins. Voters passed the $214 million school bond by a vote of 4,164 to 3,624. The $32 million roads bond package passed by a vote of 4,594 to 3,131.

After the vote totals are finalized, bonds will be sold and requests for proposals will be issued. Then the real work begins.

We may have just approved millions in bonds, but there are strings attached. We want the best value for our shared investment in infrastructure. We want buildings and roads that are well-built, well-maintained and will provide useful service to local residents long after the bonds are repaid.

Times are tough for all of us. A gallon of gas costs three times what it did a few years ago and nearly everything in Alaska is shipped here on trucks or barges that use fuel and add to the cost consumers pay. We’ve all seen our personal incomes shrink while the cost of living climbs.

More and more of us know what it’s like to put off medical care in order to buy food or new shoes for our kids. Too many of us know what it’s like to be hungry and homeless.

We support the idea of investing in Alaska’s infrastructure as necessary and as a means to create good local jobs for families, but we know the economic boost these bonds will bring won’t come soon enough to help our neighbors who already need a hand with this winter’s heating bills, mortgage payments and food.

To the Mat-Su Borough and Mat-Su Borough School District, we challenge you to be especially careful stewards of this money. We’re all watching how this bond money is put to use. Our patience and our finances are spread too thin to have even one thin dime of these millions frittered away.