Good Urban and Rural Projects, and That Tennis Court.

August 22, 2013 Voice Your Opinions! Letters to the editor make a difference. You can send a 175-word letter to the Anchorage Daily News by e-mail (letters@adn.com); or by fax or mail (call them at 257-4300). Send letters to the Anchorage Press via e-mail editor@anchoragepress.com or by mail to 540 E. Fifth Ave, Anchorage, 99501. Feel free to call us if you need factual information to help you write a letter. Contact the Governor. The Governor can be reached at 269-7450; sean.parnell@alaska.gov; or www.alaska.gov. Contact us. My office can be reached at: 716 W. 4th Ave, Anchorage, AK 99501; by phone: 269-0106; visit my website at http://gara.akdemocrats.org; or email: Rep.Les.Gara@akleg.gov

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

With Mayor Sheldon at new school

I'm just back from a great summer river trip on the Kobuk River where, get this, I learned.  Yup.  Legislators are allowed to do that.  Here are a few things that should make you feel good.

Kobuk River sheefish

A Newer, Safer, Stronger Covenant House

         First, Covenant House opened a new facility in Anchorage - which the Legislature, private entities and foundations and others helped fund.  And you might want to volunteer there after reading this - their number is 272-1255.  I did last week on a pizza and movie outing, and plan to again. 

         Covenant House has been providing services to Alaska's at-risk youth for twenty-five years. Homeless youth arrive at their door daily. Almost half have been sexually assaulted. Two-thirds have dropped out of school. Many struggle with untreated mental health problems.  Some just struggle by virtue of having no home in a state that has a shortage of quality foster homes. 

         The condition of their 6th Avenue space did not allow every youth the opportunity to rest, recover, and move onto greater goals.  Beds were a luxury.  The new home provides 62 youth with a safe place to sleep and progress - and includes nearly 30 sleep spaces more than the former facility. The center provides a new model of care which will actively engage all youth as soon as they walk through the doors.  Learn more HERE.

Be a CASA Volunteer

         Another way you can help youth is to become a volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA). The CASA program takes ordinary people with extraordinary hearts, and trains them to be able advocates. Volunteers are community members who realize the need to help neglected and abused children. You can make a difference in a child's life by volunteering to speak up for an abused or neglected child in court during foster care and other proceedings - you are there to speak up for them and inform the court of their needs and preferences. Informational meetings and trainings will be held in September and October.  For more information, contact June at 269-3510 or email June.Haisten@alaska.gov or go to www.alaskacasa.org.

A Needed Kobuk School and That State Funded Turnagain Tennis Court.

         This week I had the chance to spend four days on the Kobuk River, fishing, and had the chance to spend a lot of time with the Mayor, Alex Sheldon.  For any doubters out there, subsistence is a way of life for a lot of people in this region.  It's how the mayor has lived for 72 years.  The Mayor had a great story about how he mushed the Iditarod five times - he had sled dogs out of necessity.  Not cash rich, he'd get a ride to Kotzebue at the end of the race.  Then he'd let the dogs rest before completing the nearly 200 mile ride to Kobuk Village with his dogs.  There should be an award for someone who does the Last Great Race, and then mushes nearly 200 more miles home.

         This week the newly renovated and expanded school in Kobuk is opening.  In a town of 100 people this is the central facility for school and other social activities.  It's not huge or overbuilt.  It was needed. The existing school was inadequate to serve a student population that had doubled since the last school was built. And the old school was OLD - part of it was the original building built long ago by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The expansion will also allow Kobuk 9-12 graders to attend classes in their community instead of traveling to Shugnak or elsewhere for high school. Alaska should be about creating opportunity, and public schools are a huge part of that.

         Sometimes the state funds things I question. Many have questioned a last minute addition to the budget this year - a tennis court in West Anchorage. Few saw it when it was added on or near the last day to a budget with thousands of items. Here's my view. I support the project if the public funds are used to make sure that youth without money are allowed in for free or at a reduced cost.  The budget is silent on this issue of affordability and leaves that decision to the City. Today I am writing the Mayor on this point, to request that he make sure this city facility will be affordable to all who live in our city.

         A publicly funded tennis court shouldn't be a publicly funded country club for the few who can afford to use it.  As someone who grew up with little money, playing tennis on free public tennis courts, I think tennis is a great sport for many reasons.  But once public funds are used the plan better be to make the court accessible to all.

My Best,