ON NEXT WEEK' S TO DO LIST....

AND YOU THOUGHT IT WAS JUST ANOTHER ASSEMBLY MEETING

No doubt everyone is sitting on pins and needles wanting to know all the juicy details of the last assembly meeting. It took a couple of days to pick ourselves off the floor but we're working on it. There was nearly 20 hours of nonstop fun between Monday and Tuesday’s meetings of the boys in the corral last week.

But time marches on and we would be remiss if we didn't give you a heads up on a couple of important items for early next week while we work on last week that shouldn't go unnoticed, undocumented or much less misunderstood.

VOTE TO KEEP THE UNDERHANDED'S HANDS OFF THE LIGHT SWITCH..

At Raven Hall on the fairgrounds in Palmer on Tuesday/April 24th at 6pm the annual MEA (Matanuska Electrical Association) Meeting will be held.  Not only is it a worthwhile gathering to attend that attracts co-op members from all over the valley, the results of the 2012 election will be calculated and announced.  The future direction of our cooperative utility could well be at risk at this election. If you didn't get around to mailing in your ballot (mailed ballots must be received by Monday at 5pm) this is your last chance to vote and have that vote count. So, if you accidentally (perhaps on purpose) tossed your ballot by the wayside, get a clue, come to the meeting and vote! Besides exercising your democratic and civic duty by voting you will get a $10 credit towards your next MEA bill. 

Even local utility races are subject to some last minute mudslinging and viral nonsense emails in a desperate act to win and dare I say take us back to the “dark ages.”  It's almost to be expected.  There is some of that this time with the same good ol' boy group that has one of their posse on the ballot and will try almost anything to rally support.  Don't be fooled into thinking any of this has merit. This group thinks co-op rate payers aren’t paying attention and are an easy target to fool. You aren't and show them that by making sure you vote. 

Do the right thing for the future of power generation in the valley if you haven't already.  Again if you didn't mail your ballot, get to the annual meeting and vote. Never doubt that one vote can make a difference and determine the outcome of this election.  There are those that are most unscrupulous and are doing their best to make sure they own every seat to decide the future of in the valley. 

WASILLA'S WAY OR NO WAY.. 

Some valley developers have a leg up on the rest of the public to enlist things to benefit them.  In fact, it appears that they know just who to call on when things don't go their way.  The phone musta rang this time for Wasilla's mayor who seems to be hollering at just about everyone that will listen about the Park's Hwy design concept from Lucas Road to the Big Lake Cut-Off.  Never mind that the bulk of this road is out of the Wasilla City limits.  Never mind that this road long deemed the most dangerous road in the state has been engaged in an 8 year PUBLIC design process with the involvement of dozens of stakeholders. Never mind that hundreds of thousands of dollars of state money has gone into an already arduous  PUBLIC process. Never mind that stopping the process now will delay the road improvement by at least 2 years. Never mind that the people of Big Lake and the majority of people giving the state feedback who drive that road in all kinds of inclement weather fully supported the design of a divided 4 lane road.  Reportedly a formally Anchorage developer, Pete Zamarillo, the undisputed king of strip malls has a little access problem so whoa nelly!  Nothing like a little obstructionism to get the years of work the state and the public has done thrown in the trash and start over for a more friendly developer design.  

APOC reports speak louder than words and let’s just say that Mr Zamarillo's check book has been pretty busy here in the valley with a few elected officials and you can bet there is more to come this election year. The heat is turned up hot enough that there is a resolution in front of the Wasilla City Council Monday/April 23rd that would officially denounce that design.  If it gets a green light there, you can bet it will be delivered under the arm of the Wasilla deputy administrator to wave like a cape in a bullfight at an upcoming assembly meeting asking for support and a similar resolution. Heck they might even skip that part and just get their assembly member to do the heavy lifting with his own resolution about the injustice of it all. If that happens expect the excessive use of the word “hideous” to describe the current design.

PUBLIC SAY SO …OH NO YOU DON’T

The moral of the story is there are some that want a public process when it’s THEIR public process and they can be assured of the outcome that suits them. After all the wailing about plans not followed and too much public process it turns out there can be plenty if you’re the right developer or business calling for it.  And that’s especially true in an election year.

We are likely to see many many more of these end games as a result of assembly action on the subdivision code last week.  Let the subversively and sub divisionally games begin! You'll have to wait a few days to hear about that, but you can weigh in on the above topics now.  You have the power.  You just have to decide to use it.