04/05/2011 01:00 PM House TRANSPORTATION

             HB 214-WALTER L. KUBLEY FERRY TERMINAL                                                                         
                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
1:15:20 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
VICE CHAIR PRUITT announced the  final order of business would be                                                               
HOUSE BILL NO.  214, "An Act naming the  Ketchikan ferry terminal                                                               
the Walter L. Kubley Ferry Terminal."                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
1:15:45 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE KYLE JOHANSEN,  Alaska State Legislature, speaking                                                               
as prime sponsor of HB 214,  stated this bill could be passed out                                                               
in 45  seconds, but he  asked to  speak about the  gentleman this                                                               
ferry terminal  would be named  after, Mr. Walter L.  Kubley, Sr.                                                               
He noted  several members on  the committee were  acquainted with                                                               
Mr.  Kubley, Sr.   When  "Wally"  was alive  he was  a legend  to                                                               
anyone involved  in politics in  Southeast Alaska.  He  said, "If                                                               
you got Wally's stamp of approval  that meant a lot" since he was                                                               
so well  respected throughout  the state.   He recalled  that the                                                               
legislature passed  a resolution  in memoriam  for Mr.  Walter L.                                                               
Kubley, Sr.   He recapped  Mr. Kubley's experience.   Wally began                                                               
his  community service  and political  career by  serving on  the                                                               
Ketchikan  City  Council  for  four   years.    He  served  as  a                                                               
legislator  for  two  terms  representing  District  1,  a  chief                                                               
adviser  and  legislature liaison  to  Governor  Wally Hickel,  a                                                               
commissioner  of the  Department of  Commerce for  Governor Keith                                                               
Miller, a  commissioner on the Alaska  transportation Commission,                                                               
and  as  the  Alaskan  Secretary   for  the  U.S.  Department  of                                                               
Agriculture.   He was  close personal  friends with  U.S. Senator                                                               
Ted  Stevens,  U.S.  Representative  Don  Young,  Governor  Wally                                                               
Hickel,  and  Governor  Frank  Murkowski.   He  was  one  of  the                                                               
"Titans"  who built  Alaska,  he said.   He  said  the reason  he                                                               
selected naming the Alaska Marine  Highway System (AMHS) terminal                                                               
in  Ketchikan after  Mr. Walter  L.  Kubley, Sr.  is because  Mr.                                                               
Kubley, Sr.  was a legislator at  the time the first  AMHS vessel                                                               
was funded.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
1:18:29 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE JOHANSEN  emphasized that the voters  approved the                                                               
bonding, and  "Wally" was  the lead  legislator in  selecting the                                                               
AMHS infrastructure,  so it seems  fitting to name  this terminal                                                               
after Mr. Walter  L. Kubley, Sr.  He related  a scenario in which                                                               
"Wally"   telephoned   after  Representative   Johansen's   first                                                               
primary, even  though Wally had strongly  supported his opponent.                                                               
Mr. Kubley, Sr. talked to him about  his sense of the 70 years of                                                               
Alaska's history and what it meant to be a legislator.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  JOHANSEN stated  that  Wally's  son, Don  Kubley,                                                               
worked  with him  in his  lobbying business.   He  commented that                                                               
Wally's  son,  Larry, who  is  a  Vietnam Veteran,  operates  the                                                               
Sourdough Bar which  has numerous shipwreck photos.   "This means                                                               
a lot  to the  community.   And I just  wanted to  put it  on the                                                               
record, some of the details about  what a really good man he was,                                                               
and a leader for the state," he said.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE JOHANSEN  added that  he talked to  the Department                                                               
of Transportation  & Public Facilities (DOT&PF)  about the fiscal                                                               
note, which is  a zero fiscal note, since the  DOT&PF assured him                                                               
that  any costs  in naming  the facility  could be  absorbed into                                                               
their  budget Department  of Transportation  & Public  Facilities                                                               
(DOT&PF).                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
VICE CHAIR  PRUITT reiterated the  DOT&PF advises that  any costs                                                               
could be absorbed into its current budget.                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
1:21:55 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
DON KUBLEY, Captain,  stated he is a vessel  captain and lobbyist                                                               
representing  many  Southeast  communities.   He  said  that  his                                                               
father,  Mr. Walter  L. Kubley,  Sr. served  his country  and his                                                               
state.   His father withdrew  from Whitman College the  day after                                                               
Pearl Harbor  was bombed to join  the U.S. Coast Guard.   His dad                                                               
later married my mom, Fern,  and started a business in Ketchikan.                                                               
His  dad spent  ten years  as a  volunteer fire  fighter for  the                                                               
Ketchikan Volunteer  Fire Department.   Long  before his  dad ran                                                               
for  the  legislature, his  dad  lobbied  during the  territorial                                                               
days.  Loggers  would come to him and asked  him to share details                                                               
on issues  with the  territorial legislature.   His dad  and Alec                                                               
Miller were the  first lobbyists in the state.   He characterized                                                               
the  relationship between  Alec Miller  and his  father as  being                                                               
like brothers.   In the territorial days Alec  Miller would lobby                                                               
for Interior  issues such as  mining, and his father  would lobby                                                               
for Southeast Alaska  issues such as logging,  fishing, and bars.                                                               
At the time, they were "unpaid"  lobbyists.  Later, after his dad                                                               
retired, Walter L. Kubley, Sr. came  out of his retirement in mid                                                               
80s.  At that time he  had the privilege of working together with                                                               
his father as lobbyists.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
1:26:32 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MR. KUBLEY related that his  father was very excited at statehood                                                               
and was with several former  governors, including Egan and Hickel                                                               
at the  time Alaska  became a  state.   He said,  "He is  in this                                                               
building.   He was a  man of few words,"  he said.   He commended                                                               
his father.  He acknowledged  his father would be embarrassed but                                                               
honored by  this bill.  He  remarked that the AMHS  was important                                                               
to his  father, who fought tooth  and nail for the  ferry system.                                                               
He  noted  that  he  and  his  father  represented  many  of  the                                                               
Southeast Alaska  communities and the  AMHS was his  father's top                                                               
priority.   He concluded  that "Dad  would just  be honored.   He                                                               
would be  embarrassed.   He would  be humbled.   He would  say he                                                               
doesn't  deserve  it, but  he  does,"  he  said reverently.    He                                                               
thanked  Representative  Johansen   for  introducing  this  bill.                                                               
"From  what  I  hear  in  Ketchikan the  people  down  there  are                                                               
thrilled.   I just think it's  a wonderful thing to  do," he also                                                               
said.                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
VICE CHAIR PRUITT, after first  determining no one else wished to                                                               
testify, closed public testimony on HB 214.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
1:29:03 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE MUNOZ stated this is  a very fitting honor to have                                                               
the ferry terminal, which is  the "Gateway to Alaska" named after                                                               
Mr. Walter  L. Kubley, Sr.    She said  that he was a  great man.                                                               
She acknowledged  that she  previously has  met with  Mr. Kubley,                                                               
Sr.  on  numerous  occasions,  but  had the  honor  to  attend  a                                                               
Salvation  Army dinner  with him  shortly  before he  died.   She                                                               
stated  that   during  dinner  she  had   a  wonderful,  engaging                                                               
conversation about  Alaska politics.   She said, "He truly  was a                                                               
legend and a great man and I'm really happy to support this."                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
1:30:00 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  MUNOZ moved  to report  HB 214  out of  committee                                                               
with individual recommendations and  the accompanying zero fiscal                                                               
note.   There being no  objection, HB  214 was reported  from the                                                               
House Transportation Standing Committee.