Eventful, successful 2007 for Palin

It’s been an eventful year in the Mat-Su Valley and no more so than for one of our own, Gov. Sarah Palin.

In her first year in office, Palin has been successful in steering the state’s ship in the right direction and showed she’s not afraid to make a hard decision because, although unpopular with some, it’s the right thing to do. She’s been fair and true to the same Sarah Palin we knew as Wasilla’s mayor.

Grading the governor on her first year in office, we give Palin an A-. There’s still much work to be done, especially with 2008 being a presidential election year and Alaska’s political landscape reeling from a string of high-profile trials and convictions of former state lawmakers. Keeping the Legislature focused on doing its job in Juneau may be difficult.

Palin had many successes in her first year, most notably the recent signing of her ACES oil tax initiative. ACES, an acronym for Alaska’s Clear and Equitable Share, realigns how the state taxes oil companies to take and process our most valuable natural resource. Calling a special session of the Legislature to scrap the Petroleum Profits Tax it had passed only a year before wasn’t popular with many state lawmakers. It also wasn’t popular with oil companies, even as oil prices continue to climb to record highs and the companies are realizing record profits.

But it was the right thing to do. Palin’s assessment the PPT was at the heart of much of the corruption that came to light in the investigation and prosecution of former state Reps. Vic Kohring, Pete Kott, Tom Anderson and Bruce Weyhrauch. The first three have all been tried and convicted. During Kohring’s trial, the seven-term Valley representative could be heard on surveillance tapes with former VECO oil executives asking for money and discussing oil legislation.

It takes a strong leader to make a difficult decision, but calling the special session and passing ACES not only generated billions more for the state, it saved Alaska’s credibility from being beholden to law that would have always been linked to corrupt politicians.

If the state’s few remaining dairy farmers survive the recent closing of state-owned Matanuska Maid Dairy, they have Palin to thank. When the state Creamery Board suddenly announced it was closing the dairy, without adequate warning for dairy farmers, Palin stepped in and made a radical decision. She replaced the entire state Board of Agriculture and Conservation, which is also the Creamery Board, charging its members with finding a way, if possible, to save Mat Maid.

It wasn’t possible. Mat Maid was a failing business and closing it was the correct decision. What Palin and the new board did, however, was give the Southcentral Dairy Venture time to try to get its house in order to fill the void left by Mat Maid. It also gave the farmers, Southcentral, the Board of Agriculture and Conservation and Northern Lights Dairy in Delta Junction time to get together and discuss Northern Lights taking as much local milk as possible until Southcentral could, and to reach a decision on leasing Mat Maid equipment and the logo.

The future for dairy farmers is still tenuous and much depends on Southcentral Dairy Venture quickly finishing its work and the state granting the board’s $200,000 request to bridge the expected three-month gap between Mat Maid’s closure and Southcentral’s opening. The point is those dairy farmers and the state’s dairy industry have a future that doesn’t involve going under or slaughtering their herds.

The future for the Valley and Alaska with Palin as governor seems bright, and we’re confident she can build on the successes that have marked her first year in office.