Governor Mike Dunleavy will be presenting in front of a joint Kenai / Soldotna chamber luncheon on Monday, March 9 at noon, followed by a town hall meeting at Kenai Central High School at 6 p.m. The town hall meeting is part of a series of ‘Conversations With Alaskans’ town hall meetings conducted by the Governor throughout the state.
According to a release, the Governor wants to have a conversation about Alaska’s future. At the joint chamber luncheon, he wants to hear from local business leaders on important issues facing the state, such as the budget, taxes, the PFD, a spending cap, and resource development.
In addition, at the town hall, he will lay out his vision for Alaska’s future and expects to hear solutions or potential ideas from Alaskans on how to improve the state. The Governor’s release refers to the town hall as way to discuss “Alaska’s fiscal realities and how we can put our state on a path to prosperity for generations to come.”
Dave Stieren, community relations liaison for the Governor, referencing a recent town hall meeting: “They had a couple-hundred people there. There were people who agreed with the Governor on things, people who disagreed with the Governor on things, people who brought up ideas and concerns. A lot of people, I think, walked in and thought it was going to be two hours of the Governor talking to them or at them – and there was interaction with folks who had queries, quibbles, questions, and complaints – but for the most part, it was people saying, ‘This is what my experience has been. This is the challenge that my family has, or that my small business has.'”
Stieren says that business concerns have proven to be profoundly important to Alaskans: “A consistent theme with a lot of the folks was, ‘Look, I want to do business in the state, and I had to wait months for a permit to do work, and that just costs everybody money, it slows everything down. There was input about the state lottery and perhaps expanding gambling, so I’m looking forward to Monday evening as is the Governor, and Monday-Monday.”
The luncheon will be located at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex, and if any attendees plan on eating there, the cost is $15 and an RSVP is required. Click here to RSVP for a meal. No RSVP is required to attend the town hall at Kenai Central High School.