Knik toll authority named

MAT-SU -- Three will represent the Valley on the governor-appointed Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority, charged with designing, constructing and operating a toll bridge and its facilities between Anchorage and Point MacKenzie.

Gov. Frank Murkowski, on Aug. 1, announced the appointments in a ceremony at the Port of Anchorage. Former Mat-Su Borough Mayor Darcie Salmon was appointed to the seat open to Mat-Su Borough residents. Also representing the Valley will be Sen. Lyda Green, R-Wasilla, and Rep. Bill Stoltze, R-Butte/Chugiak. Also chosen as members of the public on the Authority were former Anchorage mayor George Wuerch and former central region director for the state department of transportation Dave Haugen.

No quibble was raised with the appointments from area legislators, but some borough assembly members are claiming political favoritism in Salmon's appointment.

The governor's office issued a request for names to fill the one seat designated for a member of the public from the Mat-Su Borough on the seven-member board in July. The assembly discussed the request at its July 15 meeting and, although members discussed potential names of people to forward to the governor, they agreed to finalize nominations at its Aug. 5 meeting. But by that meeting, the governor's announcement had been made.

Assembly member Jim Colver said he believed the assembly needed to be more aggressive, more ready to act when issues such as this came up.

"I feel we were left out of the loop, and that's not the first time this happened," Colver said. He said the assembly should be ready to move quickly when requests for appointments or other issues that demand fast action come up. "It's a very important project for us … the spirit of cooperation is lacking."

Salmon said although he couldn't speak to the charge that the borough had been left out of the loop, he believes the importance of the project outweighs any political gamesmanship.

"I think people overamplify, sometimes, the difference in philosophies," Salmon said. "I answer every phone call I get … lines of communication are wide open."

Salmon said Port MacKenzie has always been of great interest to him and he's kept up on it through his positions as president of the Knik-Fairview Community Council and as president of the Mat-Su Resource Conservation and Development Council. The appointment to the authority, he said, was one he requested and sought support for.

"Of all the boards and commissions that were available, it was the one I had expressed interest in," Salmon said.

The board, he added, is unique because it has a very clear goal set out before it.

"It's one vision -- to connect the Anchorage port with the Point MacKenzie port," Salmon said. "It's one goal."

The authority will officially go into effect Sept. 12, 90 days after Gov. Frank Murkowski signed Senate Bill 213, the bill creating and outlining the operations of the authority, into law. After that time, he said the board will begin reviewing information from previous studies conducted on the feasibility and design of the bridge, and talking with groups on both sides to identify what must be done to see it built.

"From then on, it'll be a creative process," Salmon said. "That excites me the most."