North Slope Borough mayor candidates clash over roads and litigation

Former Mayor Harry Brower Jr. said the North Slope Borough is spending millions fighting industry in court instead of building roads. Mayor Josiah Patkotak countered that his administration hasn't lost an oil and gas legal battle and has put $600 million in projects out the door in three years.

The two met Sept. 28, ahead of the Tuesday, Oct. 6 election, at a Rotary Club of Barrow forum in the Barrow High School auditorium in Utqiagvik, carried on KBRW. Moderator Frank Damiano gave each candidate three minutes per answer and took no audience questions.

Brower served as borough mayor from 2016 to 2023, before Patkotak.

"Borough revenue is great, so why are the services we tasked with providing not being delivered and achieved?" Brower said. He called for permanent and seasonal roads to cut transportation costs, and said his administration would start building roads immediately. Asked earlier about his goals, he said, "We've made strides, but I feel we have become stagnant."

Patkotak said the borough's assessed value rose from $23 billion to $34 billion, which "boils down to more resources made available to our residents."

He named three priorities: affordability, keeping hard drugs out and controlling outside influences, so that "we're, we're not just sitting at the table, but we own the table." On cost of living, he said his team wrote an ordinance a couple of months ago waiving personal property taxes. Residents who file an exemption form shouldn't get a tax bill in 2027, he said.

Brower said calls from the villages about alcohol and drugs, which he said disrupt education and family life, pushed him to run. Patkotak cited agreements with the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security and the Postal Service. He said the Postal Service agreement puts borough officers at the Anchorage mail sorting facility and that every community now has two officers.

Both men invoked self-determination. "The environmental extremists seeking to stop all development of our oil and gas in our region are trying to rob my people of our rights to self-determination," Brower said. Patkotak said the borough must lead with local control in dealings with the state, the federal government or industry.