Alaska Dispatch

This week Gov. Sean Parnell sent a handful of his cabinet members on a mission to learn about the most pressing needs in rural Alaska from residents in three villages along the Yukon River.

From run-down power plants to inadequate health clinics, the governor's Rural Action Subcabinet is getting a first-hand look at issues facing many in the Bush. On their junket this week are stops in Tanana, Ruby and Galena. The subcabinet also visited Unalakleet, Kotzebue and Barrow in recent months.

The subcabinet is gathering information about energy and economic needs in rural Alaska. It is expected to make recommendations to the governor next month.

Bill McAllister, spokesman for the state Department of Law, says one idea being floated is the concept of "hub" communities, where services like health clinics could be shared between villages. "We are very sensitive that people have their own communities, their own identities, and we have no intent to mess with that," McAllister said. "Nothing will be force-fed."

Former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens suggested in the early 2000s that it might be more economical for services like schools, airstrips and power plants -- typically provided in each village -- to be consolidated into larger communities. But Stevens encountered heavy resistance from some rural Alaskans and eventually dropped the idea.

McAllister says no formal recommendations have been made to the governor, and that the subcabinet's current focus is to take inventory of rural Alaskans' concerns. (In addition to the listening tours, you can send your suggestions the subcabinet by e-mailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .)

On Monday, Attorney General Dan Sullivan, Commerce Commissioner Emil Notti, Deputy Commerce Commissioner Mike Black, Commissioner of Environmental Conservation Larry Hartig, Labor Commissioner Click Bishop, and John Moller, Parnell's rural advisor, traveled to Tanana. And on Tuesday, they made their way to Ruby, a village of about 160 people on the Yukon River 230 miles west of Fairbanks.

Pat Sweetsir , tribal administrator for the Native Village of Ruby, says he's thrilled to see the governor reaching out to rural Alaska. Except for an energy hearing under the former Palin administration, "We had none of that," he says.

As Sweetsir prepared for the subcabinet to arrive Tuesday afternoon, he said during a phone interview that he expects Ruby residents to give the team an earful, including requests for help with upgrading the village health clinic, located in a small duplex. The demise of the old clinic is linked to an improvement to the water system a few years back, which came with its own headaches.

When the city built a new water plant, some buildings, like the health clinic and city offices, were disconnected and placed on a well. A few years ago, the pipes froze and destroyed the clinic's water system, says Ruby Mayor Jay DeLima. For a while water was hand-carried to the clinic. Now the clinic operates out of a city-rented duplex equipped with running water, but the facility has limitations. For example, it's impossible to carry a stretcher in and out of the clinic, DeLima said.

The health clinic isn't the only problem for Ruby. DeLima says the city is having a hard time paying the $4,200 monthly bill to keep the newly "improved" washeteria running, in part because of rising energy prices in the past year. Energy prices have been so high, in fact, that some street lights have been turned off to save money, says Sweetsir, who worries dark streets are a problem both for motorists and kids walking to school.

Sweetsir says the aging power plant is due for replacement, and there is no money for basic maintenance on transmission lines. Even jobs as simple as keeping land easements clear under the lines have gone unperformed. Trees grow tall and become a hazard to the lines during wind storms.

The village could also use a new school, Sweetsir says. The current one is old, has no playground equipment, no handicapped access, requires constant repair, and sags a little more each winter under the weight of heavy snow.

The list goes on. The community has no village safety patrol officer. Its fire truck and ambulance have no "barn" to store and keep them warm during the winter months. The fire truck was purchased after a fatal fire about five years ago, but it won't help save lives if it's frozen, and it froze up at least once since the city bought it, Sweetsir says.

The airstrip is another high priority, DeLima says. It was supposed to get lengthened this year, and a large sag full of cracks and pot holes was scheduled for repair, but no work has been done, he says.

The most pressing issue, Sweetsir and Delima say, is making energy more affordable. Whether it's through state cost-sharing programs or turning to alternatives, like wood boilers, something needs to change so people can afford to live in Ruby, they say.

Sweetsir and DeLima are encouraged that high-ranking members of state government are making the effort to learn more about the needs in rural Alaska. For years, much of the conversation has been one sided, both men say, with villages asking for help, but little response from the Legislature and governor's office. DeLima is hopeful Parnell's Rural Subcabinet will take more of an interest.

"We can only keep our fingers crossed," he says.

Contact Jill Burke at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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