Begich rolls out his ‘Rural Plan’

VICTORIA BARBER

September 25, 2008 at 10:19AM AKST

Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich has rolled out his “Rural Plan,” a strategy detailing how he would act on issues such as rural energy costs, education and Alaska Native health services if he should win the election for U.S. Senate over longtime incumbent Sen. Ted Stevens this November.

“We’re not going to wait for poll numbers to be right or the temperature to be right to get right in there,” said Begich during the 45-minute meeting to introduce the plan, held at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage on Sept. 17.

Begich was introduced by Georgianna Lincoln, a former state senator who said that during her tenure in the Legislature she’d observed Begich, mayor of Alaska’s largest city, to be a person who “listens to rural and Bush issues even though he didn’t have to.”  

Of the issue that is currently dominating the Bush, Begich said the energy crisis is “something that occurred of the last 30 years of inaction.”

In addition to developing alternative energy, Begich said he would create a national loan fund to help towns retrofit their community buildings to save energy and called for federal funding to reward schools that adopt more efficient building standards.

He also said he would want to see 25 percent of any gas line revenue to fund infrastructure throughout the state.

On the education front, Begich said that he would seek to repeal the No Child Left Behind Act, calling it “a disaster, especially in rural Alaska,” though he said values accountability in the school system. Begich spoke at length in favor of pre-kindergarten education programs, including the existing program Head Start, saying that the federal government should help states fund universal pre-kindergarten education so that all children can attend, regardless of their economic conditions.

As to the upper grades, Begich said that villages should take part in deciding how best to engage youths, particularly high-risk students in grades six to eight.
“When they graduate, it’s too late. Especially if they’ve gone down the wrong path,” said Begich.

During a question period, Begich said that he would push to offer tax write-offs to parents funding education for their children or themselves. He would also seek to attract teachers and health providers to the Bush by offering tax incentives to professionals going to underserved areas and forgiving student loans.

“When you have someone who is willing to go to underserved areas it is a benefit to the state and the country,” Begich said. “There should be an offset to their student loans on a national level.”

One audience member from Nome expressed concern about young people who are arrested in rural villages, especially in communities where there are no treatment or holding facilities and young offenders have to relocate.

Begich said that he believes mental health services should be equally important to medical health services, especially as it applies to youth prevention services. Begich advocated creating treatment facilities that are more “holistic,” holding up the Ernie Turner Center in Anchorage, which is operated by the Cook Inlet Tribal Council, as a model. Begich also said that it was necessary to create “opportunities and alternatives” such as recreational activities and job opportunities.

Begich said that he would fight for increased funding for the Alaska Native health care delivery system and double funding for federal EPA water and wastewater programs. He said he want to ensure that all Alaskans have affordable access to high-speed Internet service by tapping into the Universal Service Fund, which was created by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission in 1997 to create universal telecommunications service.

Begich called for innovative thinking in confronting the problems that face rural Alaska, highlighting a Dillingham initiative that is experimenting with using tidal power to create ice for fishing boats as an example. He said that the health of rural and urban Alaska are linked.

“The relationship is a two-way street,” said Begich. “What’s good for Anchorage is good for Alaska.”

Victoria Barber can be reached at 907-348-2424 or 800-770-9830, ext. 424.