What others say: Two buildings cost more than one

  • By Juneau Empire editorial
  • Tuesday, May 17, 2016 5:58pm
  • Opinion

We’re not mathematicians. That’s why we prefer to dabble in words and not numbers.

Fortunately, it doesn’t require a declaration of the Alaska Office of Management and Budget for us to know that heating, powering and maintaining two buildings is more expensive than one.

That’s why we’re scratching our heads at the Legislative Council’s 12-1 vote last week to purchase a new office building for Anchorage lawmakers.

Just because the most recent building, considered by some lawmakers a deal at just $12.5 million, is cheaper than the current Legislative Information office ($32.5 million) doesn’t mean it’s a smart purchase. That’s like deciding to purchase a Subaru instead of a Ferrari when you can’t afford gas money for either.

Sen. Anna MacKinnon says purchasing the building from current owner Wells Fargo will be cheaper than renovating the state-owned Atwood Building and paying for interim office space while renovations take place. This statement underscores a major problem with our Legislature as a whole: They refuse to look beyond next year. Purchasing a $12.5 million building may be the cheaper option (that’s if the Wells Fargo building requires no renovation) over the next few years, but elected leaders should be thinking long-term savings. This lack of foresight is how Alaska ended up with a $4 billion deficit to begin with. Somewhere along the way, we forgot that oil prices go down as well as up.

This newspaper said just a week ago that the City and Borough of Juneau should avoid putting public dollars toward the Juneau Ocean Center because this isn’t the time for state or local governments to begin building new things. We must take care of what we already have. The same argument holds true for the Legislative Council’s persistent attempts to buy a building, even though it already has one that will suffice.

Juneau is very familiar with the notion of having two buildings where one will do. We’ve learned a painful lesson through the experience of building a second high school and a second community pool. We enjoy these facilities, but now that we’ve been confronted with the bill, they seem much less necessary.

The majority of Alaskans we’ve heard from are OK with the idea of getting less from the state. We have to be. The Legislature shouldn’t treat itself differently. If the rest of us are expected to sacrifice jobs, services and public safety, those making these decisions shouldn’t increase their own luxuries.

On Thursday, the Alaska Senate Finance Committee approved a state capital budget that contains $12.5 million for the new building. What was left out? $7.2 million for a new village school in Kivalina. That payment is, we believe, required by a lawsuit the state settled.

For the sake of a new office building in Anchorage, the Alaska Legislature is sacrificing the children of Kivalina. It is putting the state at risk of a new lawsuit. This is atop the lawsuit already being threatened by the bank that funded renovations to the existing Anchorage Legislative offices. The Kivalina school is just one example among many of where money is needed but won’t be received if unnecessary spending isn’t curbed.

We don’t know whether to cry or laugh.

A new office might make legislative staffers more efficient, but that new office isn’t essential. We’ve heard time and again from legislators this year that only essential services can be offered in this budget. Lawmakers should listen to themselves.

Gov. Bill Walker previously said he’d veto any attempt to purchase the Anchorage LIO for $32.5 million. He has declined to say whether he’d do the same for this building. We hope he will again vow to veto this proposal for the sake of fiscal conservatism and Alaska’s shrunken revenue.

Our simple hope is that politicians who call themselves fiscal conservatives will act like they are.

— Juneau Empire,

May 13

More in Opinion

No to 67%

Recently, the Alaska State Officers Compensation Commission voted to raise the pay… Continue reading

This image available under the Creative Commons license shows the outline of the state of Alaska filled with the pattern of the state flag.
Opinion: Old models of development are not sustainable for Alaska

Sustainability means investing in keeping Alaska as healthy as possible.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy unveils proposals to offer public school teachers annual retention bonuses and enact policies restricting discussion of sex and gender in education during a news conference in Anchorage. (Screenshot)
Opinion: As a father and a grandfather, I believe the governor’s proposed laws are anti-family

Now, the discrimination sword is pointing to our gay and transgender friends and families.

Kenai Peninsula Education Association President Nathan Erfurth works in his office on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Voices of the Peninsula: Now is the time to invest in Kenai Peninsula students

Parents, educators and community members addressed the potential budget cuts with a clear message.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy holds a press conference at the Capitol on Tuesday, April 9, 2019. (Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: An accurate portrayal of parental rights isn’t controversial

Affirming and defining parental rights is a matter of respect for the relationship between parent and child

t
Opinion: When the state values bigotry over the lives of queer kids

It has been a long, difficult week for queer and trans Alaskans like me.

Unsplash / Louis Velazquez
Opinion: Fish, family and freedom… from Big Oil

“Ultimate investment in the status quo” is not what I voted for.

Dr. Sarah Spencer. (Photo by Maureen Todd and courtesy of Dr. Sarah Spencer)
Voices of the Peninsula: Let’s bring opioid addiction treatment to the Alaskans who need it most

This incredibly effective and safe medication has the potential to dramatically increase access to treatment

An orphaned moose calf reared by the author is seen in 1970. (Stephen F. Stringham/courtesy photo)
Voices of the Peninsula: Maximizing moose productivity on the Kenai Peninsula

Maximum isn’t necessarily optimum, as cattle ranchers learned long ago.

(Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)
Opinion: The time has come to stop Eastman’s willful and wanton damage

God in the Bible makes it clear that we are to care for the vulnerable among us.

Caribou graze on the greening tundra of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska in June, 2001. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
Opinion: AIDEA’s $20 million-and-growing investment looks like a bad bet

Not producing in ANWR could probably generate a lot of money for Alaska.

A fisher holds a reel on the Kenai River near Soldotna on June 30, 2021. (Photo by Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Voices of the Peninsula: King salmon closures long overdue

Returns have progressively gone downhill since the early run was closed in June 2012