Mayors join forces

Mat-Su, Anchorage Kenai chiefs unite

November 15, 2005

DARRELL L. BREESE/Frontiersman reporter

ANCHORAGE - At the conclusion of the Alaska Municipal League's meeting in Anchorage Thursday, Matanuska-Susitna Borough Mayor Tim Anderson signed on with Mayor Mark Begich of Anchorage and Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor John Williams to form the &#8220Tri-Borough Commission.”

The new commission was designed to provide a forum for the three regional governments to plan and coordinate common action, leverage resources and aggressively pursue solutions to common problems on a regional level, with a focus on economic development. The commission will meet at least three times a year - once in each community - and focus on regional planning, policy coordination and advocacy in the areas of economic development, tourism support and development, transportation, disaster preparedness and other key issues.

Anderson believes the joint commission will reap rewards in the area of cooperative planning efforts.

&#8220We (the borough) began working with Anchorage four years ago on transportation issues and the time is right to coordinate on other issues,” Anderson said. &#8220Bringing in Kenai makes good sense and further enhances the concept that we are a regional economy.”

Begich said the union of the three boroughs will provide continuity to projects that affect all parties.

&#8220With a combined population of more than 400,000 residents, our three areas represent over 60 percent of the state's population,” Begich said. &#8220Working together on important issues as a single entity can only mean improved opportunities for our communities to benefit in moving legislation important for our citizens.”

The three communities represent nearly 400,000 people and approximately 60 percent of the state's population.

Williams believes the formation of the commission and the population of the communities represented will give them a more powerful voice in the state Legislature.

&#8220Sixty percent of the Legislature may not agree,” Williams said, &#8220but I think with the three of us working together, we show that we are reading from the same sheet of music. Being able to show that we're looking at the same issue and that we've developed the same answer would be hard for our legislators to ignore.”

Anderson said the commission was not leading toward making the borough more a part of Anchorage, or even more like the neighboring community.

&#8220This is not about becoming one big city,” Anderson said. &#8220We have a certain quality of life here in the Valley and we are going to protect that. What the commission offers to the borough is the ability to work jointly with the two other communities in planning for regional economic and transportation development.”

Anderson said Williams has expressed interest in developing a ferry port that will be a stop for a ferry the Mat-Su Borough is currently having constructed to operate out of Port MacKenzie.

&#8220Imagine a ferry system running between Anchorage, Kenai and the borough,” Anderson said. &#8220Discussion of projects like that will be topics covered by the commission.”

In addition to involving the three mayors, the commission will also include borough managers and members of each community's assembly.

Contact Darrell L. Breese at 352-2267 or at darrell.breese@ frontiersman.com.