Welcome to the Hotel Alaska

Posted by Paulette Simpson

Posted: July 9, 2009 - 9:11 am

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The chance of a capital move animates the Juneau mindset. It’s why we fret about airfares and lobby for road access but mostly, why we stress about who’s governor. Among the most common questions a Juneauite asks a gubernatorial candidate is, “Will you live here and make your commissioners do likewise?”

Most statewide elections are decided by voters living between Homer and Talkeetna so Juneau (population 31,000) will never play more than its proportional role in selecting the executive who gets to live in the big house on Calhoun Ave. But we do have a role – and an important one in the grand scheme of Alaska politics – because as the capital, we host the winners of Alaska elections.

So if you live in Juneau and want the capital to stay, it seems reasonable to welcome whomever the state sends us and try to make it work. A friend in tourism put it this way: “Juneau is like a hotel. Nearly everyone who comes through is temporary. You treat all your guests equally well, no matter who they are or where they’re from.”

My friend is right. Whether it’s a governor, cabinet member or legislator, it’s in Juneau’s best self interest to treat every elected official and member of the Administration living temporarily in our city with civility and respect. The people of Alaska sent them to us and it’s not our job to second-guess everyone else. It’s also not particularly helpful to put up nasty signs in the Governor’s neighborhood.

We’re all entitled to our own opinions and thankfully endowed with 1st Amendment rights to say whatever we want. But life teaches us that just because we can express something doesn’t mean we always ought to. Did the Juneau Empire’s editorial headline really have to say, “Alaska better off without Sarah Palin”? I think not. She’s still popular throughout the state and a simple, classy “Good luck Governor Palin” would have sufficed.

Capital city citizens who value Juneau’s continued designation as the seat of government should self-impose a measure of restraint, especially when it comes to unnecessary slams or devolves to low brow insults. And when that happens our leaders should speak out and, well, show some leadership.

While Gov. Palin was never comfortable with Juneau, Gov. Frank Murkowski was fully committed to cementing the capital here and required his commissioners to reside in Juneau. Neither our newspaper nor our state senator ever gave him credit or thanks and instead relentlessly attacked him. But then, both governors were Republican and for some, that’s in itself enough to cancel out any good they might have done.

Of course, most people living here really try to make it work and don’t go out of their way to be snarky. They understandably get upset when jobs leave Juneau and the lights aren’t often on in the Governor’s House. But as we learned last week, elected officials are all temporary, some more than others. Juneau’s status as the capital, however, doesn’t have to be. Very soon we’ll have another chance to demonstrate why as Sean Parnell checks in to our historic house on Calhoun.

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