Frustration Fabrication
Contributed by Dick Clippard
The Mat-Su Borough had a joint meeting of their Assembly and Planning Commission Tuesday, March 14th. The agenda was packed with updates on infrastructure from the borough and state. At times discussion was heated; hard questions were asked. Good, our public officials need to be held accountable, but not by other public officials, by you. You are the real power!
State DOT gave an overview of their planned progress on projects. Particularly the plans for the Parks highway alternative corridor. Refined a few times already, DOT is still looking for feedback from both the public and stakeholders before they decide on whose property to build the road. Though there was some questioning, for the most part this brief was presented uninterrupted. Issues with state roads were laughed off by the body, hopes were shared, though resolutions largely remained unexplored.
The TIP21 update was the highlight of the night, as these projects, approved by bond measure in November 2021, are finally getting some real numbers and many projects will begin construction this summer. How does the new estimate compare to what voters approved? Over $30 million of it is unfunded. Assemblyman Tew addressed this relentlessly. Why? What changed? How could they get this so wrong?
Different projects had different answers. Some had changed scope, more detailed studies revealed costly challenges to others, but some were just wrong. "Did the assemblymember pick that 3.6 million for that project? '' Asked Tew, in regards to the Hidden Hills project skyrocketing to $9.2 million from 3.6 in estimated cost. "We estimated 2 things right, and what you did was you shrunk the project and absorbed the money. That's what happened, right?" Tew commented on the Lakes Boulevard project after finding the 2.6 million dollars in funding would only complete a portion of the road. "My whole life if I said to somebody 'I'm gonna do it for 100 dollars' I wouldn't get the job and then charge them $400... and I'm not saying that it can vary, but from 2 million to 6 million... that should never happen."
That should never happen. So why did it? Tew expressed thanks and assurance future estimates would not be plagued by such problems based on the bureaucrat's responses to his grilling. Then, the TIP23 presentation went by with much less scrutiny than the TIP21 update. Therein lies the problem, why is more scrutiny applied to projects already underway - projects that the voter has already decided to fund- than projects in the very initial stages that have time to amend before being presented to the voter. Who gains from this show? Is hindsight scrutiny with minimal foresight truly an assurance that the road package that may be on the ballot this year will be any more accurate?
The assembly should be applying this scrutiny before it gets in voters hands, not years after. When given the opportunity in August, 2021, Tew again took the chance to showboat. Putting up just enough opposition to get noticed, and reducing the package just enough to appear discerning. Meanwhile, the public is duped into believing we were voting on 61 million dollars of spending, not the over 100 million bait and switch we ended up with. Tew even motioned to reduce the Lakes Boulevard Project he later scrutinized Borough staff for. "I just want to take a moment to thank Mr Tew for working so hard in his district ... I appreciate the fiscal conservative mentality you bring to this." said Yundt, in response to Tew working with the borough to change their estimate.
So why all the finger pointing now, when it's too late? Where does the responsibility truly lie? Who was duped? Tew can point his fingers at the staff and we can point at him, but what would this solve? Politicians are not honest actors, so the best we can expect from our assembly is feigning responsibility if they perceive it is what the public wants to hear. Those of us who voted against this bond measure may be inclined to turn against our neighbors, after all they were duped, not us. This would do nothing but increase political divides, turning against each other while the Assembly moves without our consent on other issues.
I believe the answer is personal responsibility. I didn't speak out loud enough before the November 2021 election. That's why I'm speaking out now, because you are the power. Together if we all take responsibility for our part in this community, instead of delegating responsibility to the politicians, we can enact real change. Their power is an illusion, without our consent they are nothing, but if we stay silent those who crave power and seek to rule over you will take the opportunity. Road budgets are the least of our worries in the world we live in.
Free yourself!