Let's look at ways to spend our money wisely

Frontiersman editorial board

Times are tough. Money's a little tight. We've got to tighten our belts, and everyone will probably have to make sacrifices. It's been the mantra of candidates and politicians for many months now, and it was one of the major themes of the last election cycle.

Governor Frank Murkowski vetoed millions in spending, and state and local governments have toyed with the idea of raising, or initiating, taxes. In this environment of economic gloominess, life goes on, however, and plans and construction for several large-ticket projects go on, as well.

Wasilla's multi-use sports complex is well on its way to completion. Palmer is asking taxpayers to support a bond to build a new ice rink, the borough is steaming ahead with its plans for a ferry and deep-water dock, and Wasilla and Palmer are still hoping to win the sewer and water contract with the proposed new hospital to be built by Valley Hospital Association and Triad Hospitals Inc. They're vying for that contract even though the location of the hospital may be inconvenient, and expensive, for either city.

One might begin to wonder if we're tightening the right belts. School transportation will face serious challenges over the next few years. Our school district in general will face serious budget problems in the near future, and the potential for labor strife between the district and the teachers' union still looms as the first day of school approaches. Law enforcement and the judicial system are all understaffed. Do we have our belt-tightening priorities in the right place? Are we spending our limited resources on the wrong things?

The dock and ferry project raises a number of questions. So far, nobody has offered a reasonable explanation of how or when the project will begin to show a profit, let alone pay for itself. So far, the commodities planned for shipment from the dock will essentially be dirt and wood chips -- you won't find either making great strides on the future market. There are other possibilities, but nothing is firm.

Wasilla's multi-use complex seems at least a reasonable notion. It will serve a great number of people, and it will offer kids a safe place to go and do healthy things. We can probably all agree that we need more things for our kids to do. That would seem to fit the Palmer ice rink, too, but we have to hope the rink will be used for more than just hockey. It would be great to have a place for everybody's kids to go for recreation.

With so many needs and so little money to go around it's a critical time for our public officials to adjust priorities. The current election is an opportunity to do that. We invite each candidate to contact the Frontiersman about writing a Spectrum piece outlining their priorities for the near future. There is limited time before the election, so interested candidates should contact us at 352-2268 or 352-2267 before Aug. 22.