A baker's dozen of state House and Senate candidates answered questions Monday at an Anchorage Chamber of Commerce forum, trying to draw distinctions among themselves without straying too far from the needs for safe streets, better schools, a thriving economy and doing something with that North Slope natural gas.

"I think the state's going in the wrong direction," said Dave Harbour, a Republican who's trying to unseat Sen. Bettye Davis, the two-term incumbent in East Anchorage's District K.

Davis, a Democrat who has served either in the state House, the Senate or on the Anchorage School Board for most of the last quarter-century, defended the work the Legislature has done on education, long one of her priorities, energy issues and renewable energy, among other things.

"We are in a good spot at this time," said Davis.

Harbour, a consultant who formerly headed the Anchorage Parking Authority and served on a utility regulatory board, fretted about the unknown consequences of two of Gov. Sarah Palin's Legislature-approved initiatives -- a new, higher oil tax and her gas pipeline inducement act.

"You'll never know what projects never come" because of such changes in course, Harbour said.

What about deferred maintenance on state roads and other facilities? That question went to Craig Johnson, the incumbent Republican in House District 28, and Valerie Baffone, the Democrat who wants his seat for Southwest Anchorage.

Baffone, a former small business owner and union professional, said she'd try to look at where the greatest needs are, and see to it that "roads are not only properly constructed but properly maintained."

Johnson said Alaska faces perhaps billions in expenses over the next decade to get the state's roads ready for pipeline construction. "The (North Slope) haul road needs major, major work," said Johnson, a businessman.

BUSINESS AND DEVELOPMENT

House District 22 incumbent Sharon Cissna, a Democrat, and Republican challenger Mark Fish were asked if climate change and global warming present the state any economic opportunities.

"There's opportunities in any change," said Fish, who's retired after 20 years with the Alaska Army National Guard. He noted that a shrinking Arctic ice pack is expected to open shipping lanes across Alaska's northern coastline, presenting both opportunities and a need to protect such shipping lanes.

Cissna, a counselor and five-term House veteran, warned of the need to address threats that climate changes pose in rural Alaska, "jeopardizing the survival of rural Alaska ... And if rural Alaska goes, we (in urban centers) go here," she said. District 22 covers neighborhoods in the Providence/University area of Anchorage.

Has Alaska fostered or hindered development of a pro-business climate? was another Chamber question.

"I don't think we score very well in some areas," said Democrat Harry Crawford, the incumbent in House District 21 in East Anchorage. Crawford said he plans to introduce legislation to encourage new "heavy industry" to make use of Alaska's geothermal, wind and solar energy potential. "We've got more potential here than any other state in the United States," said Crawford, an iron worker.

His Republican challenger, Gene -- "I'm Gene the Engineer" -- Brokaw, said it's also important not to forget the "numerous light industry" and service businesses that will be needed too. "We need a climate ... where smaller industries can survive," Brokaw said.

THE DROPOUT RATE

House District 25 incumbent Mike Doogan and Republican challenger Lynda Placek were asked about tracking studies that show many Alaska students aren't graduating and pursuing higher education.

Teachers "need to get tougher ... keep the attention of the children," Placek said. "Our kids could do a lot better."

Doogan, a Democrat finishing his first two-year term, said some kids weren't too interested in school back in his days as a student, either.

"What's new is that the numbers have increased substantially," he said, adding that a return to the old scheme -- a core curriculum focused on basics, giving teachers time to prepare, and getting parents to do their part is the way to go. District 25 includes Spenard and neighborhoods just east of the airport.

Senate District I incumbent Fred Dyson and challenger Steven Colin Amundson fielded an education question too.

Amundson, a Democrat and a research technician at the University of Alaska Anchorage, said it's important to concentrate on delivering good schooling from pre-kindergarten and the earliest grades on up. And to "train them to do the jobs that Alaska needs ... not necessarily playwrights and poets."

In Anchorage, said Dyson, "we've got good schools and some extraordinarily good teachers," adding that most of the problems kids have succeeding in school start in some "very, very dysfunctional homes." District I covers the military bases and the Eagle River area.

The only politician at the Chamber's forum without a foil Monday was Kevin Meyer, a four-term House veteran who's trying to move into a vacant seat in Senate District O -- part of the Hillside and South Anchorage along the Seward Highway. Meyer's opponent, Democrat Doug Van Etten, didn't attend.

Meyer, a Republican who works for Conoco Phillips Alaska Inc., talked a bit about the price of oil, going down after a year in which the per-barrel price soared above $140 and brought a windfall to the state treasury. The price was $71.59 on Monday.