Upper Valley Largely Unrepresented in Borough

Community councils in the Upper Susitna valley have all wondered where District seven Representative Ron Bernier is. The council representatives note that he has only attended one or two meetings since being elected and some have never met him. Mayor Edna DeVries says that there is no requirement for Assembly members to attend community council meetings.

Bernier was elected in November 2021. Only 2,229 people voted in that election across all of District seven. That includes Trapper Creek, Talkeetna, Susitna, Chase, Willow, and Meadow Lakes. The district also covers the Lake Louise, Susitna, Tyonek and Glacier View council areas. District seven covers the largest land area by far. 

Meadow Lakes reported that he does attend meetings, but not regularly. Bernier lives in the Meadow Lakes area. Susitna, Trapper Creek, Chase, and Talkeetna all noted that he has not been to meetings in at least the last year. Bernier states that he went to the Susitna meeting last year, but there is no record of that. He says that he attends church in the upper valley on occasion. 

Bernier also says that he attended the August Talkeetna Community Council meeting via Zoom, though there is no record of his attendance nor a Borough report from him in the minutes for that month. Talkeetna Community Council Chair Jon Korta says that the council is frustrated with his lack of engagement. 

Linda Oxley, past chair of the Willow Area Community Organization, says that he did attend the 2022 northern Valley Assembly budget hearing. Oxley says that Willow has hosted that meeting for many years to improve access for communities in the northern Valley. She went on to say that he has no communication with the council otherwise, for issues of concern or to send reports.

All Upper Valley community council representatives state they regularly send agendas and minutes to Bernier via email. When asked why he doesn’t attend community council meetings, Bernier says, “You would think they would reach out, wouldn’t you?” 

Local issues, such as Benka Lake access, police presence, changes to the gravel and water body buffer setback have all been discussed at the community council meetings. In the case of gravel and waterbody setbacks, none of the upper Valley councils received background from or were able to informally ask Bernier questions before the legislation went to the Assembly floor. 

There is a general consensus among all the District seven Community Councils that no one at the Assembly level cares about their local issues. Most have stated that they attend the Assembly meetings to learn about issues that might directly affect their area. Community councils and citizens are left to bring their concerns and issues directly to the Assembly.

By contrast, Upper Valley Community Councils did note that State Representative Kevin McCabe regularly attends or sends someone to provide updates and hear local issues. Senator Mike Shower also often sends a representative to attend meetings.

Bernier says that he will attend council meetings if he receives an invitation for a specific issue.