The Mat-Su Assembly is not interested in even considering the possibility of annexing the Eagle River/Chugiak area into the Mat-Su Borough, at least not right now.
On Dec. 16, the Assembly overwhelmingly voted to indefinitely postpone any investigation into the idea, effectively killing the proposal for the foreseeable future. Assemblyman Dmitri Fonov was the only person who voted against the indefinite postponement.
Prior to the vote, the Assembly heard testimony from Eaglexit advocates, a group of residents in the Eagle River and Chugiak area who has been working for the past seven years to formally detach from Anchorage in order to create a new, independent borough. They urged the Mat-Su Assembly to reject talk of annexation, which they said only confuses and undermines their ongoing efforts to create new borough.
Another group – Annex Now 2 Mat-Su – also had representatives on hand. They urged the Mat-Su Assembly to at least begin looking into the possibility of adding the Eagle River/Chugiak to the borough.
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The main argument by Annex Now was that they wanted to have a backup plan, in case Eaglexit fails to create a new borough. They also claimed Eaglexit was taking too long, and life under the rule of Anchorage was increasingly burdensome for Eagle River/Chugiak residents, who do not share the same values or vision as Anchorage, and are much more closely aligned with the Mat-Su.
Assemblyman Fonov sponsored the resolution to initiated preliminary discussions about possible annexation. He noted that any exploration into annexation was merely a proposal to have discussions about the topic, nothing more.
Eaglexit advocates countered, noting that a parallel annexation movement only causes confusion at this point. Most Eaglexit speakers were not opposed to considering annexation at some point in the future, if they ultimately fail in creating a new borough.
2 Comments
This is only the first attempt! There will be another and another until the new ideas are better communicated. Truthfully, there is more in common than not!
“Values and vision”? You mean they’re closet socialists who want a free ride? Let them form their own borough, maybe make Allard the mayor, then see what actually paying for themselves for a change is like. That would certainly make many in the legislature happy.