I live in the Palmer area and am represented in the Alaska Senate by Shelley Hughes. I have never voted for her and probably never will. I do admire her moxy.
For instance, on her website she has a quote that begins with “I am not a politician and will never be one.” Maybe she is correct; after four years in the State House and four in the State Senate, that adds up to only eight years as a non-politician.
It does raise the question: How many years as an elected representative defines one as a politician? Her response to the Alaska House tying the infrastructure funding for the Mat-Su Borough to an $1,100 Permanent Fund dividend was “It was a legal maneuver.” She stated this after being part of groups in previous years tying rural funding to specific unsustainable PFD amounts in “legal maneuvering.” Seems like a flip-flop view — similar to what a politician would say.
Ms. Hughes tried to explain the current “legal maneuver” in terms of driving her car with her feet. She stated, “I could drive my car and hold the steering wheel with my feet, but it doesn’t mean it is a good idea.” Sen. Hughes is correct. Not only is it not a good idea, it would be illegal. Sen. Hughes driving with her feet would be an illegal maneuver, not a legal maneuver.
I can state with clarity that in my time living in the Mat-Su, with Ms. Hughes as a “non-politician,” that the infrastructure is worse. Maybe Sen. Hughes should drive with her feet through the intersection of the Parks Highway and the Palmer-Wasilla Highway. After doing so, she may understand the need to maneuver (just a hint: negotiate is a synonym).
— Jon Stewart
Palmer
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