When ‘progress’ isn’t ‘progress’

We wonder, if they’d known then what they know now, would Mat-Su Borough Assembly members still sign on to own the M/V Susitna?

Although a few days remain before the borough assumes financial responsibility for the vessel April 1, a torrent of taxpayer money already is flowing on behalf of the M/V Susitna.

Assembly members voted 6-1 on March 20 to spend about $94,000 to pay to guard, maintain and provide a two-member crew for the M/V Susitna.

And that’s just what it will cost borough taxpayers through May 31. After that, costs are estimated at $50,000 a month, just to store the ship.

In reality though, borough taxpayers began emptying their wallets in support of this ferry project years ago. Since 2007, taxpayers have paid thousands to light, heat, insure, maintain and guard the vacant and mostly unused Port MacKenzie and its ferry terminal.

There are millions, if not billions, of tax dollars tied up in Port MacKenzie. Perhaps someday in the future the significant economic development potential of the port will be realized and these tax dollars will prove to have been invested and not simply squandered.

In an era of federal largesse championed by our own U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young, we said yes to the equivalent of all kinds of game show prizes, on which we could not afford to pay the sales tax or license and registration.

However, these days we know we must be trustworthy stewards of our shared resources. It’s not enough to just label a thing progress and cheer blindly. We must also ask hard questions and listen, even when we don’t like the answers.

If we build a ferry, can we afford to operate it, store it and protect it if the self-interest of our neighbors in Anchorage, for example, prevents them from partnering in the effort?

And if no route is found, what do we do with the ferry terminal, which for now functions as a second office for Port Director Marc VonDongen, his secretary and the guard we pay to protect the ferry terminal year-round? What about the bridge? What if the estimated number of users is as far off as it was when the same contractor did the traffic study for the Whittier Tunnel?

What if Alaskans are left holding the bag for millions in operating costs for the bridge ballyhooed as progress? What if we must also shoulder the costs of upgrading the network of local roads that would tie this bridge to our existing road system?

Not every idea heralded as progress gets the follow-through necessary to make it blossom.

In the Mat-Su Borough today there are several projects that are touted by some as bold steps toward progress and by others as boondoggles on a grand scale.

When it may take many years and millions more in public money before any of us knows which is which, it behooves us all to heighten our vigilance and demand accountability.