Forced Borough Issues Still Up in the Air

Forced Borough Issues Still Up in the Air

By Lee Revis
Editor, Valdez Star

VALDEZ - Legislative action, petition drives and a special election to halt the formation of the proposed Prince William Sound Borough without a popular vote of the people, have mostly yielded positive results to opponents of the borough, yet there is no word as of yet on whether or not any of these actions have or will successfully stop the process of borough formation in effected communities.

Voters in Whittier, the tiny hamlet on the west side of Prince William Sound, sent their city council a loud and clear message a week ago Tuesday when they soundly rejected the concept of becoming a part of the proposed borough during a special election held as a result of a petition drive initiated by its residents solely for the purpose of taking a vote of the people on the issue. The vote was nearly two to one against borough formation according to Whittier’s Deputy City Clerk Louise Haywood.

Ironically, it was the City Council of Whittier who set the ball rolling to incorporate communities in Prince William Sound into a borough. In September of last year, their city council sent a request to the Local Boundary Commission, a division of the Alaska Department of Economic Development, to prepare a petition to the State Legislature to incorporate the cities of Whittier, Cordova and Valdez into a borough, along with the unincorporated villages of Tatitlek and Chenega, without a vote of the residents of those communities.

The request and prospect of borough incorporation infuriated many residents of the Sound, especially the citizenry and elected officials of the City of Valdez. Further outrage ensued when the City Council of Cordova issued its own resolution requesting the formation of a borough along with recommendations that placed the seat of the new layer of government be placed in Cordova, and that the number of seats allocated on the borough assembly reduce Valdez representation by one seat, which would effectively reduce dominance of the assembly, although Valdez has a larger population than all of the other communities in the new borough put together.

The actions of the Cordova Council prompted Cordova residents into action when a concerned group of citizens handed over a petition containing 187 signatures asking for a referendum on the Cordova Resolution. According to a public commentary piece printed in the May 5 issue of the Cordova Times, Cordova City Hall outright rejected the citizens’ application. One of the organizers of the petition drive, Jennifer Gibbins, claims in the Times piece that the city sent her a three page legal opinion denying the petition.

In the meantime, Senator Gene Therriault, who represents Valdez in Senate District F, sought and gained passage of Senate Bill 128, which eliminates a statutory requirement that the LBC consider all requests for new boroughs made by government entities, according to a press release issued on Wednesday, May 11, 2005.

As of this writing the bill was still awaiting the signature of Governor Frank Murkowski before it can become law. According to Therriault, even the governor’s approval of the law is no guarantee that the LBC will halt their efforts on behalf of Cordova and Whittier to form the borough.

“The courts may have to ultimately decide whether the phrase “boundary change” in the state constitution can be construed to mean creation of completely new boroughs.” he said. “Until then, I wanted at least to make it clear that the legislature is not requiring the LBC to move in that direction.”