In just four days, residents will elect Cordova’s next mayor, plus members of the city council, hospital and school boards, and propositions regarding harbor and capital improvements.
The real future of Proposition 1, the harbor matching grant program, hinges on Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed budget, should it be approved by legislators.
“The capital budget has the funding removed for the harbor matching grant program,” the city’s legislative lobbyist, John Bitney, told the Cordova City Council on Feb. 20.
The harbor matching grant program has been around nearly 10 years and has always had at least $5 million, even when the capital budget was down to basics, he said.
While there is legislative support for adding it back, it’s uncertain whether any amount will be added into the governor’s budget during negotiations at the end of sessions, he said.
“Depending upon the state budget, they will at some point say the grant is intact or not intact,” City Manager Alan Lanning said. “And that will drive everything that we do.”
Bitney also addressed proposed Dunleavy cuts to education.
“Across the aisle it appears that there’s going to be a major push back in the Legislature on that issue,” Bitney said.
Proposed cuts to the University of Alaska’s budget also worry many people who take online courses.
School officials are trying to keep students informed, with talks on the current budget climate and via email communications.
Dunleavy has proposed a $134 million, or 41 percent, cut to the university’s current operating budget, UA President Jim Johnsen said in an email to students.
“… If this large cut is approved by the state Legislature or as a result of a governor’s budget veto, we would have $134 million less in state funds to fulfill our mission in the fiscal year beginning July 1,” Johnsen said.
Johnsen added that UA has made budget cuts four out of the last five years by reductions in faculty and staff, programs and services, and facility maintenance, while also increasing tuition.
The fate of the state’s marine highway system also weighs heavily on those in town.
“They’ve now put out a budget that says that ferry service is going to shut off after October,” Bitney said.
Currently, there is a summer schedule, a reduced September schedule and no schedule after October, he said.
“Not a lot of details, a lot of skepticism down here about what went into that,” Bitney said. “It appears that it was just a numbers issue … that there was really no management proposal in place. At this time, they are talking about bringing in some sort of consultant … to somehow come up with a better way of running the system.”
Meanwhile, Cordova Mayor Clay Koplin and Native Village of Eyak Chairman Darrel Olsen have written to Transportation Commissioner John MacKinnon to encourage conversation and address proposed AMHS service cuts.
“Residents here are alarmed at the state’s position toward Alaska’s coastal transportation network …,” the letter stated. “The marine highway system functions as Cordova’s road for our families and our economy to the rest of Alaska. Our sustainability from our road connection is just as important as the Glenn Highway is to the Mat-Su, and the Seward Highway is for the Kenai Peninsula.”
