Commentary By Orin Seybert
For The Cordova Times
I am a 69-year resident of this wonderful state. I and all 50-some of my children, grand-children and great grand-children still live here. I am the founder of Penair over 60 years ago, and am now retired, with my future secure for the rest of my life. Just want to see that our children have the best future possible here, which requires a stable, conservative government.
So, I urge you to support Mead Treadwell for governor in the up-coming elections. Mead has the political experience and background to do the job, preserving your dividend at its full amount, as well as balancing our budget and paying our bills.
In the last three years, over $14 billion has been wasted, directly out of our savings, by past administrations. The legislature has been much to blame, particularly the Senate Republican Majority caucus, which has adamantly refused to consider forms of new revenue, while continuing to cut our essential services, such as education, health care, etc.
My life has revolved around commercial fisheries, and Mead was very helpful in assisting Sen. Ted Stevens in creating the Magnuson-Stevens act, which created the 200-mile limit to aid our fishermen.
As well he helped draw up the Stevens federal CDQ program, which guarantees many of our Western Alaska communities a share of the Bering Sea bottom-fish production, which has been of direct financial benefit to so many of our coastal communities.
In contrast, the other contender for the primary election Aug. 21 is Mike Dunleavy. Mike has a history of leaving a job to benefit himself. He resigned from the Northwest Arctic Borough school district eight months into a three-year contract, and of course, resigned from the State Senate early to run for governor. Does this remind you of a recent governor who resigned halfway through her term to run for National office? We don’t need more people who are only looking out for personal gain!
In Dunleavy’s answer to our fiscal crisis, he only says that he will cut the budget more, (thus depriving us of more needed government services) and find new revenue sources. Not once has he ever said specifically where those cuts or revenue increases would come from. He did sponsor, in 2016, SB 198, which would have imposed a 12.5 percent royalty on all commercial fish operations. Is that his answer to solve our problem? Just put it on the backs of commercial fishermen!
Please support Mead Treadwell for Governor, for the benefit of all of us.
Orin Seybert founded Peninsula Airways (PenAir) at Pilot Point in Bristol Bay in 1955. He turned the company over to his son Danny about five years ago, and is now retired in Anchorage. Seybert is also the author of “You breathe, I fly,” an autobiography of his life and the story of PenAir, available only at the Alaska Aviation Museum on Lake Hood in Anchorage.
