Morning has Broken
A crystal clear sky pinned a low lying, thick fog over the waters of the Gastineau Channel as morning brought the first blue gray light to Alaska’s capital city. Snow capped peaks stood silent sentinel over the spectacle as darkened windows gradually blinked to life and cast away the the remnants of night.
The Stroller sipped his morning coffee and watched the dazzling postcard unfold before him. There are some days Southeast Alaska makes you extra glad to be alive. This morning was one of them.
The Stroller clipped the leash on Gina the Wonder Dog, grabbed her red, white and blue Wham-O-Frisbee and struck out for a brisk walk in the spectacular late fall morning. Destination: Cope Park, nestled at the mouth of Gold Creek, in Silver Bow Basin, at the foot of Mt. Juneau. A favorite downtown destination for parents, pet owners and summertime picnickers.
The route along 4th street took us past the marble steps, porch and columns of the brown brick Capitol building. Within two months the now mostly deserted structure will fill with the participants in the First Session of the 26th Alaska Legislature, convening at 10am, January 20, 2009.
Only twice since statehood have we faced such a watershed moment. Forty years ago, barely a decade old, flush with new oil lease sale revenues of almost $1 billion dollars, Alaska faced a crisis of prosperity and the ensuing debate on how a sparsely populated, impoverished, under and un-developed land, could become a viable, self-sufficient political entity.
In the early 80’s the price of oil tanked and we were faced with a dramatic decline in revenues, resulting in slashed budgets and canceled capitol projects. Today, with plunging oil prices and a world economy in free fall, we face another uncertain economic future.
How will we handle it this time? Who will lead us through the quagmire of international commodity and finance markets while balancing the traditions of rural and territorial Alaska with present day resource development opportunities and environmental concerns?
We have a citizen legislature made up of folks from all walks of life, professionals, blue collar, retired, family legacy and trust fund.
The executive branch of our government has been led by a Valdez grocer, a Naknek fisherman/bush pilot, a couple hoteliers, Keith Miller, an attorney, a restaurateur, a banker, and a Wasilla housewife.
How will the new group put it together and hold it together? How will they get past the short sighted immediate personal and political ambitions and sacrifice for the common good while still achieving strong, visionary accomplishments?
We no longer have ‘Uncle Ted’ and all he brought to the table.
The conflict between environmentalists and developers has stagnated the expansion of our revenue base.
Like most third world countries, and make no doubt about it we are America’s third world developing country, we are the subject of international interests and conflicts reaching far beyond our borders.
We have a population smaller than 20 cities in the continental United States. No revenue base there for an undeveloped land mass that would make us the 8th largest country in the world.
The conflicts in the State Senate are indescribable and possibly beyond its current make up to overcome in a productive, visionary manner.
Once again the State House, the peoples house, must take the leadership roll.
The Republican and Democratic caucuses in the House are much more partisan than the House as a whole. Combine the less strident of each caucus and you actually have a reasonable group of centrists willing and capable of crafting and passing even handed, less dogmatic legislation.
The trick is getting the legislation to the floor for a vote by the entire House and not allow conflicts between the more partisan members of each caucus to kill bills in committee, asserting their will over the possible majority on the floor.
Mike Chenault has been chosen to lead the Republicans as Speaker of the House, Beth Kerttula is the Democratic Leader. It will be up to them to lead and persuade their respective caucuses to common ground.
How will they do it?
Kerttula is a seasoned legislator with a life time exposure to the Alaskan legislature. She is an unabashed liberal, always an effective and articulate voice for the downtrodden and disenfranchised. Her father, Jalmar Kerttula, had a legislative career spanning three decades. He served as chairman of every major committee in both the House and the Senate. He was the first person elected as leader in both Houses and once stood as a candidate for Governor. He had a hand in crafting virtually every major piece of legislation passed during our first 30 years of statehood. Beth has learned her legislative skills from a master and it has served her district and the state well. She does not often agree with but likes, respects and, most importantly, trusts Mike Chenault.
On January 20th, Mike Chenault will become Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives. Mike is an unabashed conservative unrestricted by dogma. His political philosophy was molded by his life experiences growing up on the Kenai Peninsula and working in his family’s oil field services company since he was a teenager. His underlying legislative goals have been finding a funding balance between rural and urban schools and the creation of sustainable jobs. His open door policy and willingness to give everyone their day in court has earned him the respect, admiration and trust of every legislator with at least a pea for a brain. He does not often agree with but likes, respects and, most importantly, trusts Beth Kerttula.
The trick for each of them will be their success in dragging themselves and the majority of each of their caucuses to common ground.
Back in the 70’s, German industrialist Fritz Karl Flick, whose family owned Mercedes Benz from the mines to the showrooms, was pursuing the Weatherby Trophy, awarded to the person who, in a twelve month period of time, killed one of each species of big game on the planet.
Flick scheduled a spring bear hunt in Alaska and contracted with legendary Alaskan Bush pilot and guide, Denny Thompson. Thompson owned the Newhalen Lodge in southwestern Alaska.
Denny Thompson was also a full fledged hero in WW II. He was a bomber pilot who flew 30 missions over occupied Germany, was awarded two purple hearts and flew the first bomber over Omaha Beach on D-Day.
He bombed the hell out of Flick’s family’s factories.
Flick shot his bear his first day out and insisted Thompson make room for him on the last flight back to Anchorage from their camp. Flick was eager to fly his private 727 back to Germany that night so he could go Boar hunting.
Thompson’s Super Cub was already overloaded but he managed to stuff the industrialist in the back seat. It was late in the afternoon and the spring sun had caused the surface of the ice covering the lake adjacent to camp to turn to a glue like slush.
Thompson cranked the engine of his Cub up to full RPM’s and raced across the lake attempting to take off but the skis stuck to the surface of the rotten ice and he couldn’t get airborne.
He bounced the plane a few times attempting to break free. About the third bounce the overloaded plane suddenly broke through the ice, killing the engine.
The plane didn’t sink immediately because the wings were hung up on unbroken ice. Ice water flooded into the cockpit as Thompson scrambled out of the plane to the safety of the wing. Flick, accustomed to being waited on hand and foot, remained seated in the back of the sinking plane.
Thompson looked in at the dormant German and said, “Karl, your life’s not worth a dime more than mine is right now, you better get your ass out of that airplane.”
If those two could find common cause and common ground, so can Mike and Beth.
They get it.
Stroller
