If Governor, what would you change/do to improve Alaska? (Anchorage: sales, crime)

[wildchild_to]

I would open more to oil drilling, ( I know federal permits are being held up ) research hydro generated dams and get more natural gas to the folks in Alaska. This all would bring a LOT of jobs to Alaska. This would be just the tip of the iceberg.

[Frostnip]

I know what I'd do if I were governor of Michigan!

[wildchild_to]

Originally Posted by Frostnip

I know what I'd do if I were governor of Michigan!

What would that be? k
They finally have a surplus and economy doing good.

[bigjojo]

Originally Posted by wildchild_to

I would open more to oil drilling, ( I know federal permits are being held up ) research hydro generated dams and get more natural gas to the folks in Alaska. This all would bring a LOT of jobs to Alaska. This would be just the tip of the iceberg.

So basically you'd turn it into every other state in the US? That's the opposite of what I'd do. Dams are great for power but bad for fish. You know how everyone goes to Alaska for salmon? Well they used to come to Oregon. At one point the Columbia river had more salmon than any other river in the world. I think safe oil exploration is an option. Other than that, the only thing I'd work on is the crime rate. Its sad that people see Anchorage as the Compton of Alaska.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by wildchild_to

I would open more to oil drilling, ( I know federal permits are being held up ) research hydro generated dams and get more natural gas to the folks in Alaska. This all would bring a LOT of jobs to Alaska. This would be just the tip of the iceberg.

It's quite difficult for any governor of Alaska to do anything without the help of the legislators in Juneau. I see our legislators, both the Republicans and the Democrats, as the first obstacle relating to State prosperity. But lets say that I am The Governor and the legislators are on my side relating to our economy. In this case, this is what I would do:

a. Pass laws to remove all lobbyists from the legislature, or anywhere near, and punish any legislator who is found to be participating in any deal with lobbyists, corporations, or anybody else.

b. Any laws drafted and passed in Juneau, should apply not only to the people of Alaska, but equally to the three branches on State government as well. And this goes for the laws they create relating to drugs and alcohol.

c. Just like the private sector, all State workers, including members of the three branches of government, to take drug tests.


The idea is to clean the house first, and then to take care of our economy:

1. Make it cheaper for companies to bring their business to Alaska (mining, oil, tourism, fishing, and so forth). At the same time, to remove some of the restrictions imposed on local businesses. For example, some of the restrictions on halibut-catch imposed on some local businesses.

2. Before we run out of cash, to get-on with the construction of a natural gas pipeline to the interior of Alaska (Fairbanks and vicinity), regardless if the pipeline is built by US companies or not.

3. While making it easier of oil production in Alaska, to also get the private sector involved on the construction of smaller and more efficient refineries locally, and stop moving oil products back and forth between Anchorage and Fairbanks since this sort of thing adds to the cost of fuel in Fairbanks and vicinity.

4. Allow for either the construction of small and modern nuclear plants, or to somehow lower the cost of the fuel used for power generation.

5. To invest on cleaner-bulning coal technologies (our coal is supposed to be one of the cleanest-burning already). Also, to invest in coal mining and selling anywhere around the world.

6. To make it possible for the construction of rail lines leading to some villages and other areas of Alaska (they have talked about this for decades already), and have our rail system better connected to the Canadian system.

7. To have fuel-cost incentives to any local or international airline company that decides to fly to villages throughout Alaska. It's just too expensive to fly within Alaska. A RR system would help, but this would take decades more to develop.

[Marty Van Diest]

I would have to be a dictator rather than a governor to do this...but this is what I would do.

1. Institute an income tax at a rate sufficient to run the state at it's current expenditure level.

2. Distribute ALL current oil income via royalties and taxes directly to the citizens.

3. Form all unorganized portions of Alaska, (the parts not currently in a borough), into one big borough.

4. Allow boroughs to tax and regulate, (ignore all federal regs), all resource development in their areas.

Of course that would have to be finessed a bit to make it work...but it would completely change Alaska...mostly for the better I think.

[roadfamily6now]

I like the idea of a sales tax, especially when we have people utilizing certain cities without paying for the maintenance of those cities.

I'd also like to see incentives to bring Recycling / Processor plants to Alaska so we don't need to ship all the recyclable out of state.

Intensives to lure more people (home and business owners) to invest in solar/wind power for their own homes. (and obviously loosen the current ordinances about wind towers in Anchorage)

Invest in renewable energy resources such as the Tidal Power Generators and the Wind Farm on Fire Island.

Encourage the development of more Charter Schools across the state.

[Metlakatla]

OK...some communities in Alaska do have a municipal sales tax and I think that system works pretty well. The tourists that come here all have to pay it if they visit a place that has it. We have one here; it's 5.5. I don't think Anchorage has one and they probably should to get some of that tourist loot.

As Marty said earlier, the gov. really can't do much, so I'd have to be a dictator as well in order to institute the changes I would want. First of all I'd get rid of the offshore jewelry stores in the port cities and after that I would get rid of the halibut cops or at least redefine their job descriptions to disallow them them to waste time and money calling people on the telephone and acting like idjits. Then I would institute an idjit tax; for instance, if you called 911 because you saw a bear by a creek, you would be charged an idjit tax. I would revive the "traveler's aid" program that Alaska had at one time that provided a one way ticket out of state for those who end up broke and stranded here, because that saved the state trouble and money in the long run. I would make Alaska Summer Ale cheaper here than it is in the -48.

[RayinAK]

What would you think Alaska's government, or a city and borough governments would do with more cash in their hands? Not only that, but if you were property owners you would certainly know that property taxes in Fairbanks, anchorage, and vicinity are very high. You want more taxes on top of that? Some of you sound like you are from from the former USSR

[RayinAK]

Still want more taxes? This will give you an idea of how one borough alone collects taxes from property owners:
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Fairbanks properties worth about 8 6 billion