insurgent49

October 13, 2006
KABATA Must Stop Its Secretive Ways
Alaska Democratic Party, press release

Last Tuesday, Representatives Les Gara and Max Gruenberg called on the board of the Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority (KABATA) to reconsider the recent salary raises given to the company’s top executives. The decision for the increase was made by the board this summer; granting salary increases up to 38 percent. One KABATA official received a $40,000 pay increase. The meeting was closed to the public.

Gara and Gruenberg asserted that a raise of 40 percent for any publicly funded position was in need of scrutiny, and that the salary raises should be discussed in an open forum. They expressed their thoughts in a letter to KABATA board President George Wuerch.

Gara, who represents Government Hill in the Legislature, stated, “That is the problem with giving a government agency $100 million for a project that hasn’t been approved.”

Stephanie Kesler, president of the Government Hill Community Council in Anchorage, commented, “KABATA needs to bridge their self-inflicted communication gap and discuss their pay raise rationale in an open forum”. Government Hill, Anchorage’s oldest neighborhood, is in the direct path of the likely bridge route. Kesler noted that the Authority had not been responsive to community concerns or feedback in designing a bridge access route minimizing the destruction of homes.

KABATA was created by the Legislature and the Murkowski Administration to help plan a $600 million to $1.5 billion bridge connecting Anchorage to Pt. McKenzie. The bridge would not reduce the commute time between Anchorage and Palmer or Wasilla. KABATA officials recently stated they might consider starting construction of a tunnel through the Government Hill community even before plans and funding for the bridge, still an uncertain project, are finalized.

Three top KABATA officials received raises of roughly 30 percent to 40 percent. Executive Director Henry Springer’s salary increased from $104,496 to $130,000, Deputy Executive Director Darryl Jordan’s salary jumped from $90,324 to $130,000, and Chief Financial Officer Kevin Hemenway’s salary jumped from $90,324 to $129,000.

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