Feb 10: Guest Comment: The pillaging of Matanuska Maid

I must have missed the memo because what is happening here is nothing short of embezzlement. DNR told the farmers that they could not have any of the $600,000 appropriated to Mat Maid. So, instead this board chose to allow a paltry lease to legitimize use of hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment and a truck fleet. They still did not follow any state statute on disposal procedures. Will the same follow for the plastics blowmolding facility here in Palmer? There were several letters of interest in buying that property along with one open letter of an offer. All those companies should be allowed to bid on it. At some point money needs to be returned to the ARLF for continued loans for future agriculture ventures. Tom Irwin needs to make the terms of the lease public. It would only be fair to see what has been done behind closed doors.

In the book "Extreme Conditions", author John Strohmeyer concluded that as the cows died and dropped in the fields during the last collapse of Mat Maid the only people who benefitted were the dog mushers on Knik Goosebay Rd. It is now happening again because dead, frozen cows are seen being carted from the farms to the homes of the dogs mushers to feed their hungry Iditarod teams. It brings back old memories of the first time I met old Joe Redington Sr.. Back then, he was busy cutting up some dairy cows with a chain saw and throwing the peices to his kennel. Some times he would just drag a whole cow out into the kennel and let the dogs feast. When we elect people from this very area who seemingly were more interest in beauty pagents during this time than history, this is what we get and probably deserve. Andrew was right during the 2006 election when his theme was "THINK".

Again, we want to succeed as a economically viable state, with investment and jobs! Sarah has dismantled this state very quickly! However, this disposal of the States Assets must be monitored in an open and transparent forum. How do we know if this kind of close door dealings aren't taking place all over the state? Sarah's perverted good old boy style leads me to believe she has her peeps incompetent as their are on every board or commission to serve them personally....

Creditors are still unpaid! Just one example is a trucking company in Anchorage is still owed several hundred thousand dollars! And yet the farmers got $39,000 more for spilled milk and this new dairy operation just recieved $1-2 million in equipment? This should have been sold or auctioned to pay things off and get money back to the Revolving Loan Fund. This new board is totally inept and reckless and did things outside of the law. The prior corporate attorney for Mat Maid was fired for telling the board members of their "duty of care and duty of loyalty".....none of that happened. She got fired for telling the truth.

As someone who was previously associated with the Creamery Board, I find it odd that the old board could not get one cent from the State since 1988, nor a line of credit because of the Private Corporation Status of Mat Maid. So, now we have three private entrepeneurs (2 were dairy farmers who cost this state a few million dollars), not the 4 farmers who had formed the south Central Dairy Joint Venture who are being given over a million dollars of equipment and turcks for $200 a month lease? It is obvious this board acted outside the limits of the statutes and by laws and are setting themselves up to be sued personally for their recklessness. As Creamery Board members their purpose is to return the highest and best value to be repaid to the ARLF. These three entrepreneurs will have their business venture fully funded by the Federal Gov't ($650,000) plus up to 2 million in equipment yanked out of Mat Maid. This is the biggest bank heist without a gun in Alaska's history. Northern Lights Dairy gave this board $40,000 up front to purchase a full load of resin to make 250,000 gallon bottles before Mat Maid was closed the end of December. They came up short nearly 50,000 bottles! Can we even guess where those missing 50,000 bottles are? This new dairy has been given everything else...why not give away some of the resin paid for by Northern Lights Dairy? Mark your calendars.....February 19...next board meeting.....Media people show up........the next thing to be given to them will be the plastics blowmolding building and equipment in downtown Palmer. This board will stop short of nothing. Why give them all this stuff if they are not also going to give them the blowmolding plant??????? They are going to need bottles. This has got to be exposed! Any small business person in the state is going to be looking for the same kinds of help as these three people have been given. It is a flat out "railroad deal."

If true, this is grand theft. Allegations such as this have been floating around for weeks, where is the denial from the administration and where is ADN and KTUU? This is not happening without the highest levels of government knowing about it.

The original lease was to have been for 12 pieces of cheese equipment to be rented for $200 a month. After seeing the news clip, it appears they have gutted all the equipment out of Mat Maid. Where is the public process, the outcry auction, the competitive bids????? No one else was given an opportunity for the great "Dairy Giveaway." Next they will give away the blow molding plant.....after all they will need it for their operation and we wouldn't want a private business to fail. Yes....at board meetings several groups expressed and also made formal offers to buy equipment. They were dismissed by Kristan Cole saying that they would "discuss it later"....later never came. Executive seeions would last hours with the public session being 5-10 minutes. The Governor made a statement in June that she "would save the farms"....at what price? All this could have been sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars. One truck dealer in Anchorage made a cash offer to buy all the rolling stock. How much is this new group paying? $200 a month???? Where is a copy of the lease? That should be public information. Be prepared for many appeals to this out and out violation of state statutes. Many laws broken and the corporate veil was pierced on June 19 when a State board inserted itself onto the top of a private corporation board(even though it had State ownership) On November 3, 2007 there was a "Decisional Document" (on the DNR website under Mat Maid Disposal) signed by all members of the Board Of Agriculture stating that they had decided it was not in the best interest to do a lease. They wanted to sell things to return money to the Revolving Loan Fund. Guess they changed their minds. What do you call this? A "gift?" There are plenty of other folks who were not even given a chance through normal disposal actions. This is a railroad deal. A Sham from start to finish. And this board accused the previous board of mismanagment????? This is an outrage! This is out and out THEFT! Tow of the three owners of this new Valley Dairy, Inc. Stiffed the state for millions in the last 10 years. How unfair is this for the Northern Lights Dairy.........this will bput them out of business. No one ever stepped up and gave them grants or free equipment. KTUU conveniently does not tell where 90% of that equipment came from.....straight from Mat Maid. They act like these guys are bankrolling this project. The Feds gave them $650,000, now a couple million in trucks and equipment and 15,000 cases, plus the farmers just got $39,000 voted in on January 26 for milk being dumped on the ground. Everyone is "whole." I just don't know how this can continue to go on with absolutley no oversight. Where is the Talis Colberg....laws are being broken---get out your state statute book. With creditors and employees not paid how is it that there is always money to help the Governor's neighbors and babysitters? Perhaps the laid off AGRIUM employees should band together and have a rally and see if they get this kind of response. All being done behind closed doors. Like she says....."OPEN & TRANSPARENT!" It's a joke........ Lyda-----how is your audit coming of this board's actions since June? 5 volunteers with no experience in Agriculture except that they are neighbors of the new dairy bunch. this outcome has been steered by this hand picked board from the beginning. What about paying for milk being dumped on the fields after Dick Lefebvre at DNR stated the State had no legal obligation to pay anymore to them? This is one incestuous mess.

IS SOMEONE GOING TO FILE A DAMN LAWSUIT ALREADY? This administration is a disaster. What is it going to take? I am sick of the Creamery Cooperative stealing from the state. What can we do about this Andrew? Someone please tell me.