Mayor's veto hinders progress toward new schools

February 10, 2006

Spectrum\Sens. Lyda Green, Charlie Huggins

As the elected state senators representing the Mat-Su Borough, we are honored to serve the fine residents of the Valley. We have been aggressive and successful in our efforts to advocate on behalf of the needs of our expanding communities.

Unfortunately, we cannot say the same about our borough mayor, Tim Anderson, who we believe made a monumental error in judgment by vetoing the opportunity to hold an April special election for school bonds.

A little over a year ago, the school board and the assembly approached us and asked for bond authority to build more schools in the Mat-Su. Since the Valley is the fastest growing region of the state, it wasn't hard for us to agree with our local officials that additional schools are warranted.

Agreeing with them was the easy part. But securing the funding was a great challenge. Ultimately, we delivered, and $40 million in bond authority was set aside for new schools in the Mat-Su.

The package we pushed through the Legislature required the state to pay 70 percent of the cost of school construction as long as the voters approved the bonds before the Oct. 31 statutory deadline. If the school bonds are not approved, then the state's future contribution to new schools in the Valley will be zero.

When the state leaves the table, the only source of revenue for new schools will be local taxes.

Time is running out. Holding a special election this spring is our golden opportunity to get the schools our children need while saving borough taxpayers tens of millions of dollars at the same time.

When the voters in the Mat-Su Borough failed to pass the school bond initiative this past October, they were trying to send us a message. But exactly what that message is remains unclear. Could it be that too many bond propositions were on the ballot and the pill was too big to swallow?

This question could have been answered had the mayor allowed the special election this April. If the voters reject the school bonds again, and that is the only initiative on the ballot, then it will be very clear to everyone that the residents of the Mat-Su do not want new schools.

Following the October 2005 municipal general election, Mayor Anderson said, &#8220I think our ballot language was poor.” Why should he put necessary projects at risk when the problem may be as simple as the original ballot language? The special election this spring was his chance to present better language and is a better venue for a simple, yet very important public solicitation.

The Mat-Su delegation will work hard to secure adequate funding this session for roof repairs at Su Valley High School. In regard to other worthy projects in the Mat-Su, we will continue our efforts to secure available funding. We need cohesion, not division, amongst our elected officials to accomplish what's best for the Mat-Su.

We are still very proud, however, of our borough assembly members, our school board, our local mayors, our council members, our chambers of commerce, our teachers, our principals, and all the parents in the Mat-Su for their continued support. We encourage them all to stand up and be heard. This is a time to be united, not divided.

Lyda Green and Charlie Huggins represent the Mat-Su in the state Senate.