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It has been an honor and a pleasure to represent District 33 in Juneau for the past four years. What is my vision for the Kenai Peninsula? I would like to see the next generation have the same opportunities that we have had; a chance for a quality education, a good job, and a safe and secure community to live and work in. Sadly, many of our children are leaving the Peninsula and even Alaska to pursue an education or career.

The remedy to this problem will be neither simple nor cheap. We have made significant inroads to the issue of K-12 education funding and now need to tackle vocational training. When we break ground on the bullet line and either the Denali or AGIA line, we must have skilled local workers to fill the jobs of constructing and maintaining those projects. We cannot afford to have those jobs filled by workers from Canada or the Lower 48.

We need in-state gas within five years. We need reasonably priced gas for residential use, electrical generation, and as a feedstock for value-added products. With adequate and reliable gas supplies from the North Slope and our existing Cook Inlet fields we can attract new industry to the Central Peninsula. New industry and expansion of current and mothballed facilities will lead to new jobs and improve our tax base.

I am participating in preliminary discussions on a new Central Peninsula vocational education center. With a solid vocational training program located in our area we can prepare our labor force for jobs in other sectors such as resource extraction, heavy construction, and specialty equipment operation.

It is apparent that the Kenai Peninsula will be the future hub for both gas related industry and as the service and operation center for mineral development across Cook Inlet. Our local governments will need to foster the growth of new and existing local businesses to meet the needs of the regional energy and mineral companies.

Looking a decade or so into the future, I see construction on a hybrid 48-inch line from the North Slope to the Lower 48. I believe that this line will be constructed by the North Slope producers and TransCanada, at least for a portion of it. The current estimate for the construction has grown from $28 billion to $40 billion. A portion of that increase is no doubt due to the increase in the price of steel and the ranking of our line on the TransCanada project priority list. The line must have the potential of being profitable before the North Slope producers will commit the $40 billion to the project. With funding for the ANGDA portion of the line, we will still have the option of looking at LNG.

In the next decade I see reliance in the Central Peninsula on fossil fuel being reduced by alternate power from hydro, geothermal, and possibly tidal sources. There are currently efforts to build a meteorological test tower in Kenai to explore the potential for wind generation in this part of the Peninsula. It appears that we are in a better position to weather the economic downturn that has impacted the rest of the country. Our local housing industry has taken some hits, but the forecast for new construction is still looking hopeful. Our mortgage defaults are among the lowest in the country thanks to our local lenders and the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation.

Other segments of our local economy need to be nurtured. The loan and grant programs for commercial fishing need adequate funds. Our growing health and medical community is providing services that we used to go to Anchorage for. We need to encourage and support their endeavors.

The tourism industry is vital to the Central Peninsula. With other states providing generic destination advertising for their tourism industry, I believe that it would be in the best interest of not only our area, but all of Alaska to work on national generic advertising. We lost visitors due to the high price of fuel last summer and national advertising will help bring tourists north again.

Again, I have enjoyed working for you and with you during the past four years. I would be honored if you choose on November 4th to send me back down to Juneau for another two years. In the evenings I can be reached at 260-4822. Please feel free to call me with your questions or concerns.