MatSu Business Alliance (MSBA)

03/27/2022

Look around at other cities and states and see which ones truly support their local businesses by creating possibilities not division!

04/15/2021

Alaska’s oil industry has seen a string of new discoveries and planned developments in recent months, with the state determined not to let Biden pause what could be a major rebound

02/09/2021

We hear “run government like a business”. What does that mean?
-manage your expenses
- take shift action
- know your exit stradegy
- know your audience
- don’t over obligate the next generations of leaders
- always play defense
- be honest with where you are and where you are going.

Turn it around “run business like government”
- get paid to show up
- work for guarantees
- no consequences for finances
- say what people want to hear not the truth
- work for the marketplace not special interest

Just sayin

02/08/2021

Some quick local news

02/08/2021

- For every working defined-benefit enrollee, there are 2.3 defined-benefit retirees (PERS and TRS, combined).

- For every two working defined-benefit enrollees, there are three working defined contribution enrollees.

- The total number of PERS and TRS defined benefit retirees will hit about 58,000 in 2029 and then begin falling off as deaths exceed new retirees.

- The retirement payments will peak at about $2 billion per year in 2036 and then rapidly fall off to zero after 2100

For the public employee defined benefit plan, the employers (of which there are over 100) pay 22 percent of payroll, and because the employers have not been keeping up with the actuarially determined requirement, the state kicks in another 8.1 percent, for a total of 30.1 percent of payroll.

- For the teachers' defined benefit plan, the employer pays 12.6 percent of payroll, and because the employers have not been keeping up, the state kicks in another 19.3 percent, for a total of 31.9 percent. For REAAs, (rural) the employer payment is a fiction, as the state pays virtually all rural education costs.

- Health care costs for defined benefit enrollees begin falling off when enrollees and dependents reach age 65 because, unless the enrollee leaves the United States, the primary health care insurer becomes Medicare.

All this is unfunded liabilities for future generations to pay!

02/08/2021

From Must Read Alaska

Two Mat-Su ordinances fail

Two ordinances failed to get traction at the Mat-Su Borough Assembly last week. The first would have reclassified the borough from a second-class borough to a first-class borough. Opponents were concerned about the level of authority the borough would have, such as being able to enact a mask mandate.

The other was to change to a strong mayor form of government. Currently, the borough is operated with a strong manager form of government, who works for the Assembly.

Do you want a local government to hand over the veto power to the Mayor? Also, the strong mayor form pays for a FT position whereas our current mayor is a PT position.

Below are some boroughs in our state that have these classifications

02/05/2021

Today our Alaska leaders discuss how to pay future obligations...$62M a year in prescription drugs; total UNFUNDED retirement liabilities for the state are $6.1B costing the state $300M a year. This is a micro economic movie of what we could see as a nation...add a few zero’s and the new administration wants to eliminate oil and gas.

02/04/2021

Join job Assembly! It all starts local

Fellow MSB Residents, a quick update on a few local issues & Assembly action for each:

• An Ordinance proposing a reclassification of the MSB from a 2nd class government to a 1st class failed last night as it should have. I campaigned heavily against this & will fight against it for the rest of my life. Becoming a 1st class gov. would give emergency health powers to the Assembly of the MSB. Emergency health powers should be no broader than that of who resides in your home. Masks (and any other potential health issues in the future) should be a decision made by individuals & families, not the government.
• An Ordinance repealing the Strong Manager plan of government & becoming a government lead by a Strong Mayor failed as well. Again, this type of government would take the MSB one step closer to becoming Anchorage. What is to guarantee that someday the MSB won’t wind up with some well-spoken, well-funded moron in office like Anchorage had with Ethan Berkowitz? Could you imagine how catastrophic that would be? As it sits right now the MSB is lead by a Strong Manager. The beauty of this is the Manager works directly for the Assembly, not the Mayor. The odds of having 4 (majority) or 5 (veto proof majority) terrible Assembly members is substantially less than having a terrible Mayor & thus ensures the MSB as a whole is represented in a more broad & fair manner. Let’s face it; the MSB & almost all of our residents are very conservative, which in turn means we often have a conservative assembly. If & when the day comes that he MSB has a Strong Mayor form of Government we run the risk of the far left polishing up a turd sandwich like Berkowitz & putting a ton of money behind the race to get him or her elected. The far left knows winning 4 or 5 assembly seats is darn near impossible. We must always keep it this way.
• Port Mackenzie. Last night a presentation was done on Port Mac. I know there are a lot of people who dislike the fact that the port is losing money yearly but the port has massive potential. Last night the Assembly approved the Borough Staff to hire a marketing consultant to help us get more business to the Port. I also, on record, asked our staff to get the names of every single company who docks at the Anchorage port & as part of our marketing plan to reach out to them & let them know we’re open for business & remind them our rates are 3 times lower. Life is a competition, it’s time the MSB start openly competing against Anchorage. Assemblyman Jesse Sumner (the MSB’s best Assemblyman in my opinion) asked the staff to look at possibly lowering our rates even more so we could entice companies who have never done business with the MSB to take a shot at it. I like where your heads at Jesse, let’s get aggressive & start running the MSB like a business.
• Jonesville public use area management plan: I’m appalled that this almost passed during the last 2nd meeting of January & am very grateful to Assembly members Sumner, McKee & Tew for supporting me in slowing this process down for 180 days so the wonderful residents in that are have more time to read, red-line & process this legislation. Me personally, I hate the idea of the MSB signing any sort of management agreement with the State (Juneau can’t even balance a budget, are we really going to want to count on them to properly manage future MSB investments?). I will keep everyone updated on this as it progresses.
• This Friday I will be presenting a Resolution asking the Assembly to support my desire to identify local control of Alcohol licenses as a priority of the MSB. Right now, we can’t lure Costco in because they can’t get a packaging license. We’re one bad earthquake or natural disaster away from damaging a bridge on the flats & not having more than two days worth of food on our shelves & this worries me. Having Costco would help bring down our residents cost of living as well as give us a longer supply of local food in case of an emergency. Other businesses are suffering as well. Zushi, Smash Burger & many others can’t even get a beer & wine license. Nor can any other potential incoming restaurant. This infuriates me. There is no reason Juneau should have anything to do with licenses that affect life here in the MSB & in due time I hope we can fix this.

Enjoy your day,
Yundt

02/02/2021

Strong Mayor/1st Class Borough. OR 20-046 / OR 20-061
Assembly Meeting Tuesday, February 2nd
Where: Assembly Chambers - 350 E. Dahlia Ave., Palmer
When: Tuesday 2/2/2021 6:00 PM
Testify: Public Hearings

The following 2 ordinances will, if passed, have a huge impact on the Borough and the way it functions.
The first will allow the elected Mayor to manage the Borough upon voter approval.
The second brings the borough to a “First Class” status from its current status as “Second Class”. This gives the borough many powers without voter approval. Such powers would include Health Powers (mandatory masks, etc - see the Anchorage assembly). Police powers to install a police department without your input - Police would be responsible to the assembly. Some already want to do this.
Although a vote by Borough residents is required for both ordinances, I am in opposition of the 1st Class Borough change due to the powers given the Borough. This one shouldn’t even make the ballot, in my opinion. I am in favor of the Strong Mayor because borough residents can vote the Mayor in/out. Currently, it requires a majority of the assembly to change the borough manager.

OR 20-046 - [Strong Mayor] An Ordinance Repealing The Manager Plan Of Government And Submitting The Proposal To The Qualified Voters At The November 3, 2020, Regular Borough Election.
OR 20-061 - [1st CLASS BOROUGH]An Ordinance Proposing A Reclassification Of The Matanuska-Susitna Borough From A Second Class Borough To A First Class Borough And Submitting The Proposal To The Qualified Voters At The November 3, 2020 Regular Borough Election.

01/28/2021

https://www.dailywire.com/news/john-kerry-gas-industry-workers-who-lose-their-jobs-can-go-make-the-solar-panels

The Biden administration admitted to killing jobs in the fossil fuel industries, but insists workers can find livelihoods in clean energy.