Exchange legislators for maintained roads
Let's chalk up another one for those insightful representatives of ours that we sent to Juneau. You know the ones who wanted to sue the governor and said we can't possibly tax the oil companies appropriately, oh no.
Better still let's slash the budget until nothing works and since we all live in a sub-Arctic environment let's stop maintaining the roads we use to go to work. Brilliant, just brilliant.
The dysfunctional Alaska Legislature has no concern for anyone but themselves. ADN reported the road maintenance budget was cut $34.6 million for this year.
How much money can we save by laying off the Legislature and taking their undeserved wages and spend it on a few loads of road sand so the rest of us can do something they obviously know nothing about — going to work!
Have you had enough Alaskans, I mean have you really had enough?
Hello Gov. Walker, will you please put savings account money back into the road maintenance budget so the rest of us can get to work, please.
— Bob Walker
Eagle River
Keep schools, roads in budget for our own and our neighbors' safety
Maybe our new mayor could find a way to sand the icy roads in his liberal budget. I was concerned by the car that slid off of the road and into my neighbor's house, then I became concerned when a car slid into the back of the neighbor's truck that is parked on street.
Let's keep closing the schools and leaving public safety on the backburner; we have political correctness policies that need funding.
— Jason Burd
Anchorage
City should rethink its 'gift' to Alaska Railroad
Why did the Municipality simply give away the farm to the Alaska Railroad Corp., without first obtaining any informed legal advice? I'm referring to the decision by AWWU to simply allow the railroad to punch a 100-foot wide, cleared, chain-link-fenced "no man's land" through the heart of an Anchorage residential area.
Did anyone in the municipality stop to think this was simply a gift of public land and public access rights to ARRC? Contrary to a statement in the news item, ARRC was not "within its rights." The 1914 federal railroad easement (which is contained in almost all patents of federal land along the railroad's route through Anchorage) was for "railroad, telephone and telegraph" purposes only. All other property rights were retained by the surface landowner, and remain so today.
ARRC wants an "exclusive use easement" for its right-of-way. But to obtain that, it must purchase the remaining rights from the surface landowner, at fair market value. ARRC cannot simply strong-arm the landowner (in this case the municipality) into giving these rights way, under the mistaken assumption that the railroad already owns them.
Deliberately giving up public land rights must require a public process and fair compensation. Neither of these elements appears to have troubled the municipality at all, in this situation. Why not?
— Thomas E. Meacham
Anchorage
Hilcorp's plan for altering Beaufort is questionable
Hilcorp Alaska LLC, an oil company, is trying to obtain a permit to drill in the Beaufort Sea. The Liberty project involves construction of drilling and processing facilities on an artificial island, which is to be built and connected to the shoreline. Hilcorp has submitted a development and production plan that is now being reviewed by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. The project certainly involves significant environmental risk as it is in the Arctic, a remote area which makes it difficult to respond in the case of oil spill. The project also involves questionable means as it involves construction of an artificial island solely for the purpose of drilling. Is it acceptable to modify the natural landscape to this extent just for the purpose of drilling oil? BOEM is accepting public comments on Hilcorp's plan to drill offshore. Learn more about this questionable practice and voice concerns at boem.gov/Hilcorp-Liberty/
— Yasuhiro Ozuru
Anchorage
Rational advice for litterers
I have two requests. First, would people who walk their dogs and then put the leavings in plastic bags please take them home to throw away, instead of leaving them neatly tied by the trail. Who do they think is going to pick them up?
And second, would people who throw their empties in the ditch — if you have to throw them in the ditch in the first place — please just throw cans or plastic and not glass? It is hard to pick up broken glass.
— Alex Young
Anchorage
State should support medical tourism and save millions
Despite a growing trend with private and public insurers, and the growing global market place for health care highlighted by Alaska Dispatch News, the state of Alaska is way behind. In February 2014, after getting verbal assurance that foreign surgeries and travel were covered under the state retiree insurance program, I traveled to Belgium for a needed hip resurfacing. I chose Belgium because the surgery was relatively new to the U.S. and one of the most experienced surgeons was in Belgium. The cost was $21,000 (including all hospital, physical therapy, and follow-up care) vs. at least $50,000 for the surgery alone in Seattle. Although I saved the state a minimum of $30,000, Aetna (the state's third-party administrator) stonewalled and fought my reimbursement every step of the way. I finally got the surgery paid for on appeal, but my travel expenses were never paid. In addition, from the beginning Aetna refused to provide any information or clarification about covered expenses in writing and frequently provided misinformation over the phone. The state was no help either. The state needs to get with it and start saving millions in health care costs with a more enlightened approach to "medical tourism."
— Patrick Valkenburg
Fairbanks
The views expressed here are the writers' own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a letter for consideration, email letters@alaskadispatch.com, or click here to submit via any web browser. Submitting a letter to the editor constitutes granting permission for it to be edited for clarity, accuracy and brevity. Send longer works of opinion to commentary@alaskadispatch.com.