Mike Kenny (D)
House District 32 Candidate
House District 32 Candidate
Representative Mike Hawker,
District 32 (R)
District 32 (R)
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Mike Kenny (D) House District 32 Candidate |
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Representative Mike Hawker, District 32 (R) |
State Rep. Mike Hawker, the incumbent Republican for District 32 representing South Anchorage and Turnagain Arm communities, is being challenged in this year’s General Election Tuesday, Nov. 4 by Democrat Mike Kenny.
Hawker was first elected State Representative in 2002. He is the senior Anchorage member of the House Finance Committee, chairman of the House Special Committee on Ways and Means and a member of the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee. Hawker is 52 years old, married to Carol Carlson, has lived in our District since 1979 and spent his career as a successful CPA and corporate financial officer. He is an active firearms collector, reader, world traveler and an aviation and history buff.
Mike Kenny is 61 years old and his wife Val raised their family in Alaska living in Hope and then the Anchorage hillside for the past 38 years. Their kids, Meme and Mickey attended local schools like Bear Valley, Hanshew, Goldenview and Service. Meme is now raising her family in Eagle River with her husband, Matt Jones.
Kenny obtained a B.S. in Business Administration from Marquette University where he graduated in 1969. He spent 30 years as a construction surveyor with the Teamsters Local 959. He ran for Principal Executive Officer of the Local 959 on a reform platform and served in that role from 2004-2007. Kenny has also been President of the All-Alaska Alliance, President of Alaska Joint Crafts Council, and President of Fairbanks Joint Crafts Council. He is currently retired.
To better acquaint local voters with the candidates, the Turnagain Times asked them to answer a series of questions pertaining to local and state issues.
Do you think the Legislature has done enough with the ethics reform bill to restore public trust and fight political corruption?
Hawker: At this time the focus of the ethics discussion will shift to considering a constitutional change making the Attorney General an elected position rather than an appointment by the governor. It is a proposal that probably should be put before the state’s voters.
Kenny: We cannot make an unethical legislator ethical by passing laws alone. Alaskans need a fresh start in the legislature. We can achieve that by voting against legislators, like my opponent who was a top recipient of VECO contributions and had other oil industry conflicts. Some of Representative Hawker’s fellow legislators who were club members of the “Corrupt Bastards Club” are now serving sentences in federal prisons.
The Alaska Department of Transportation is considering widening a section of the Seward Highway between Indian and Bird. They are also looking into building a frontage road, which would pass directly in front of businesses. Do you support this construction project?
Hawker: I have been working with the community and DOT to make certain there is a thorough public process where all alternatives are considered and any final decision has the concurrence of the community. At this time my sense is that the frontage road, as currently envisioned, has not gained sufficient acceptance with the community.
Kenny: I support both the widening of the Seward Highway and the building of a frontage road. Maximum opportunity to safely access the businesses for transient customers must be a prime consideration.
The issue of right of way has been contentious in Indian and Bird. The DOT has threatened to remove all business signs if the owners do not move them. Right now there is a stalemate. Do you believe the businesses should remove the signs? Are there options you would propose?
Hawker: I have been instrumental in holding off the attempt by DOT to force relocation of these signs. The greatest problem is that the relocation is a federal government mandate that overrides state authority to stop the moves. There is a court challenge currently underway that will clarify the state’s authority. If the court rules against the property owners, it is my intent to pursue a statutory change creating a “right-of-way reserve program” that will allow landowners to request the state to relinquish a portion of their right-of-way sufficient to protect the land owner’s signage. The program would include a reversionary clause allowing the state to reclaim the right-of-way should it be needed for a specific highway expansion sometime in the future.
Kenny: If the signs are legally sited at the current time but will become illegal with the construction of the proposed access road, I am in favor of allowing the signs to remain as long as they do not present a clear safety hazard on the access road right-of-way. If they are within the current right-of- way, unless there are “grandfather rights” provisions allowing them to stay, they should be removed.
Cook Inlet Beluga whales are a unique subspecies that rely on Turnagain Arm as a feeding ground. They also attract a great deal of sightseers both local and tourists alike. Beluga numbers have dwindled from a population of 1,300 to a little over 300 in the past ten years. Do you think Cook Inlet Beluga whales should be listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act as is being considered by the National Marine Fisheries Service?
Hawker: Any such decision should be based on the best possible science with all evidence given fair and proper consideration. I do not know enough about the relevant science and provisions of the Endangered Species Act to take a position on the possible listing.
Kenny: Yes, given the accuracy of these population numbers, they should be listed as endangered. I support Cook Inletkeeper’s efforts to designate critical habitat for the beluga.
The U.S. Interior Department’s declared the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act? And most recently, the federal government reached an agreement to designate “critical habitat” for polar bears. What is your position on both these rulings?
Hawker: I am concerned that these decisions are not being driven purely by objective scientific consideration. I believe it is appropriate for the State of Alaska, The North Slope Borough and Alaska Native organizations to take an active and ongoing role in the federal process to assure as fair and objective an outcome as possible that is in the best interests of all Alaskans.
Kenny: If the U.S. Interior Department has determined from scientific analysis that polar bears need the protection offered by being listed as a threatened species, I support that declaration. As far as an agreement to designate “critical habitat”, my support would be contingent upon which parties were at the table drawing up this agreement.
I believe the U.S. must ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea as soon as possible.
What state projects do you feel are most important in the coming years?
Hawker: I have been successful securing state funding for projects requested by the communities I represent including the new Girdwood Community Center, Whittier School improvements, Hope public safety and community development, and emergency response equipment throughout the district. The state still has a huge backlog of deferred maintenance on public facilities including public buildings, schools, roads and harbors. Alaska really needs to “reinforce our foundations before we build any new wings on the building.” In our district these needs include continued improvements to the power distribution grid, Seward Highway surface and bridges, Girdwood community streets and drainage, school facilities, Whittier Harbor and Shotgun Cove Road, and access points to Chugach State Park.
Kenny: Developing renewable energy sources, including hydro projects such as Chakachamna. Building an All Alaska Gas Line LNG project with a spur line connecting the Cook Inlet Basin and developing “value added” industries to build wealth within the state, such as Mass transit options to Girdwood & Mat-Su.
What do you think the Legislature can do to combat global warming?
Hawker: Several years ago I co-sponsored the first carbon sequestration bill considered by the Alaska legislature at a time few people had even heard of Alaska’s potential role in carbon credit trading to reduce worldwide production of greenhouse gases. Alaska should continue investigating how greenhouse gas production within Alaska can be reduced through changes to our public transportation systems and resource development industries in addition to evaluating possible roles we could take in coordination with global efforts.
Kenny: Fund the development of a world class (global warming/climate change) research center in Alaska to help us understand what, if anything, we can do to combat global warming.
What is your position on development of the natural gas pipeline? Do you support the direction the state is headed?
Hawker: Alaska’s economic future depends upon utilizing our vast undeveloped natural gas resources. In addition to the long-term revenue stream gas will provide, Alaskans must be guaranteed gas for in-state consumption and the development of value-added industry. Exploring for gas will also result in the additional oil needed to extend the operating life of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline.
I have come to believe that the actions of Alaska’s government raise barriers rather than remove barriers to making progress towards developing our gas resources.
The approach taken by government has been to “pick a winner” from among the possible stakeholders in a gas export project and then backing that “winner” to the exclusion of all others. This approach is destined to fail by erecting barriers to all the other stakeholders, especially those who want to develop gas to meet our in-state needs.
Alaska will get a pipeline project started when government stops trying to pick a winner. Government should focus on creating an economic and regulatory environment that protects our interests, but assures every stakeholder has equal footing and opportunity to succeed.
Getting Alaska’s gas to market is a huge undertaking with a place for everyone who wants to be a part of the great venture. Government must bring all those stakeholders together and tear down the barriers to willing cooperation that we have been erecting.
Industrialist Henry Ford once said, “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” This is the lesson Alaska needs to remember as we work to develop our natural gas resources.
Kenny: As described above, I support the All Alaska Gas Line to Valdez being built first for many reasons but primarily because it is my belief that if our resources are used to create wealth, that wealth should be created in Alaska when at all possible.
It is likely that a number of issues in Canada whirling around the Tar Sands development will delay pipeline construction for many years. It is also likely that improved drilling techniques and recent large discoveries of natural gas in the lower 48, will make Alaska’s gas non-competitive.
No, I do not support the state’s direction. Nor do I support the Denali (Conoco Phillips/BP) direction. Alaska’s future must come first.