Why is the MSB Assembly holding a “Planning” Meeting at Turkey Red (in the restaurant’s small conference room) instead of at their Chambers which is located just down the street at the main MSB Building? (This was originally posted on the Facebook group “Borough Budget Watch.”) OFF SITE MEETINGS:…
MatsuMuckraker.com
Newly released public records show that the Mat-Su Borough paid out $80,000 as part of a legal settlement and release agreement to William F. Gamble, the former Director of Emergency Services, in April, 2017. Mr. Gamble was the Director of EMS from April 2015 until January 2017 when the MSB…
The MSB hired former Alaska Governor Sean Parnell’s firm “Navigate North Consultants, LLC” (known as NavNorth) for “consulting work” at a cost of $4500 per month. Public records I received yesterday show that the first payments were made to NavNorth in July of 2016 and the last payment was made…
Colaska, Inc., is getting in on the Wetlands Mitigation Banking action. Colaska, which is involved in many Alaska highway projects, has submitted a proposal to the US Army Corps of Engineers to develop a mitigation bank in the Mat-Su Valley. Colaska owns QAP. QAP won the contract for the big…
The MSB makes it very, very difficult to get financial records. I submitted this new Public Records request a few days ago (January 8, 2019): The MSB’s response – Please pay $258.90. Me: What? MSB: Me:
A group of current and former teachers has filed a lawsuit in federal court against NEA-Alaska, the Matanuska-Susitna Education Association, the Mat-Su Borough School District, and the Alaska Labor Relations Board, over union dues and union activities citing the brand new US Supreme Court case Janus v. American Federation of…
The State of Alaska issues an annual Executive Compensation and Travel Report. The MSB needs to issue a similar report. The public has a right to review all salaries and all travel expenses – who travelled, purpose of travel, and costs. Here are examples from the State’s report. The…
The MSB is seeking more money for the Port repair project at the upcoming Assembly Meeting (Oct 16, 2018): The Port Repair project seems to be never-ending. Here is a letter from Assembly member George McKee expressing his frustration: Here is a MSB press release from December 2015: Below are…
This chart was in a recent Port Commission meeting package (or this may have been in some of the FERC documents). Since 2015, there has been very little traffic at the Port. One barge visited in the summer of 2016. No ships visited in 2017. Two barges visited in 2018.…
The Mat-Su Borough leaders love to dine on the taxpayers’ dimes. Despite making very good salaries (and receiving fabulous retirement and health benefits), the Manager, Clerk, Attorney, and Directors, all of whom have MSB credit cards, often dine out at local restaurants on workdays. It is understandable that these folks,…