I know that sounds like a lot of you...
I have myself to blame for whatever I face in the next thirty years or so. But for hundreds of employees in the State and the Borough, that time will come sooner. They have it made, right? That stuff's been taken care of, right?
Not quite.
Pension programs are suffering from some shortfalls that will be reaching billions statewide and into the hundreds of millions locally. Dispursements are outpacing contributions, and that, along with longer life expectancies, lowering contributing payrolls (result of budget cuts) and poor investment strategy and market performance, the day of reckoning is coming FAST! These people, who are owed their deserves from the system, will find that decades of hard work and contribution will come with NOTHING at the end.
This affects us all. We, the taxpayer, will have to foot the bill. Creditworthiness of the governments involved will be jeaopardized, and any loans that our governments draw will come with harsher terms and higher interest. This may seem like something that affects a small segment of the population, but as you see, it's going to hit us all. I am aware of this because I have attended some City Council and Borough Assembly meetings, and this subject has been on the agendas at some of these meetings. It is frightening.
Something needs to be done. Again, I am not the expert in this field, but I know that there are experts out there. The Borough, and all governments, for that matter, need to consult with these experts and learn about the solution. Then such solution needs to be implemented. Not in a few years, but over the next few months. The shortage somehow needs to be brought to zero, and then the methods of contribution, investment, and disbursement need to be reformulated. Things will improve as the economy improves, but it'll be harder to fix, no matter how GOOD things get, if we wait. Steps need to be taken NOW! I don't know what those steps are, but I am willing to learn, and I am willing to act, no matter how hard, time consuming, or tedious it may be.
In 1967, the cities of Fairbanks and North Pole flooded as the Chena and the Tanana Rivers breached their banks. Levees and flood control gates were built to prevent that from happening again, but something interesting has happened since then. Areas in Salcha, which were not affected, even during the then unprecidented 1967 event, have begun flooding. It is apparent that the problems were caused by the SOLUTIONS! I've spoken to many residents of Salcha, who can attest to the altered geometry of the surface water flow. Before, flooding was handled effectively by culverts and small levees, but many of these were replaced when the Army Corps of Engineers 'improved' flood control.
How hard would it be to redirect water flow in these areas? A levee system can be built around the Piledriver Slough area (which is the source of a large bulk of flooding complaints) and some of the culverts and bridges can be replaced with larger ones to allow free flow of stream waters. We'll have to turn again to the Corps of Engineers, and to the federal government for funding. I know that's been tried, but we have to keep trying. Some of the problem was caused by Federal efforts, and it's only fair that they be solved this way. We need to keep the pressure on! Nobody should be displaced from their homes and businesses because government oversight.
Log jams have plagued sportsmen along the Chena River near Two Rivers for more than a decade now, and the problem is getting dangerous. The removal of the logs will cost tens of millions of dollars, and the logs themselves have no economic value to offset the cost of removal (they are too waterlogged, impregnated with silt and sand, and rotten for use as timber or pulp fiber) Again, this si something we will need to pressure state and federal resources for help, and we will have to research whatever grants or programs for such a problem. We cannot accept NO for an answer to this if we want it done. We'll have to continuously pressure outside agencies for help. If we don't get this taken care of in a few years, we could be facing some dangerous flooding events along the Chena River.