Democracy gets a vote of approval in Mat-Su Borough

Frontiersman editorial board

If you were thinking your voice couldn't be heard, and that your vote didn't matter, recent developments in the Valley suggest otherwise. The funny thing about the democratic process is that you never really know if it's working until it's at its most chaotic.

At first glance, it seemed the recent round of elections in the Valley would pass without much fanfare or controversy. Many of the candidates ran for uncontested seats, and it seemed there were few hotly contested issues in the other races. But a whiff of coal-bed methane in the air quickly added flames to a tepid mayoral race, and two candidates stood toe-to-toe on the issue.

The result is an election that finds incumbent mayor Tim Anderson and challenger Charlie Fannon separated by less than 70 votes with more than 2,000 absentee and questioned ballots to be counted. With any luck, we'll know the outcome by Monday. What we know in the meantime is that every vote in that election was a critical one. We'll never be able to definitively say the CBM issue was the reason one candidate won over the other. We will be able to say the system worked, and that this close race was an assurance that there's no such thing as a wasted trip to the polls.

People often say, if you don't vote, you can't complain. That's not really true. One of the privileges of democracy is the right to complain whenever you want, about whatever you want. What is true, however, is that you can't change things by griping to your friends and neighbors. You change things by electing people who support your values and priorities, and when two candidates square off on an important issue, and they're separated by less than 70 votes, your decision to either go to the polls or to stay home and gripe is a big one.

There is a time when your voice is enough, though, and that's the other interesting development in the Valley this month. When the CBM issue began to heat up, some people got concerned about personal property rights and about regulations pertaining to water quality and other environmental issues. They could have stayed at home and complained amongst themselves. They could have waited for development to come and worried about its possible ramifications. They chose, instead, to gather together and join their voices in a chorus of concern. They challenged a large development company and two of their own elected officials and they made a difference.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources has heard those collected voices and has agreed not to award any more leases for CBM development until the situation can be studied and guidelines can be put in place. Concerned citizens gathered together and reminded us where the true power resides in a democratic system. It resides in the sound of voices speaking in unison. And it is alive and well in our community.