Eaglexit April 2025 Newsletter

April 27, 2025

Town Hall Calendar:

All town hall meetings are public and free! Here is our schedule for May through September:

Tuesday, May 13: What is a Home Rule Borough and why is it so cool?

Tuesday June 10: Costs, costs, costs. What will detachment cost us? Will taxes go up or down (our calcs all say down). Will we be broke at the beginning (again, our calcs say we’ll have money for startup).

July: **None in July – Come see us at our Bear Paw booth!

Thursday, August 7: Education: Our education committee will present the structure of the new charter school district. If you are a teacher, you know a teacher, or you have met a teacher, you will want to be at this meeting! Parents, teachers and administrators, we value your opinion and feedback and want to hear from you. Please come and join the conversation. Our youth is our future!

Tuesday, Sept 16: Status of the Petition. Where are we in the process and how much longer is this going to take? This is the big push and the time is getting close to gather signatures.

Location for all meetings:

Chugiak Senior Center, 22424 N. Birchwood Loop, Chugiak, AK 99567

Time: 7:00 PM

Eaglexit News and updates:

For this newsletter and our next Town Hall meeting, we are going over what it means to be a Home Rule Borough in Alaska. It’s clear that a Home Rule Borough provides the most freedom, autonomy and selfdetermination, but not all Alaska residents know what this means.

Restoring Local Power:

What Alaska’s Constitution Really Promises Alaska’s Constitution is one of the boldest in the country when it comes to local self-government. Unlike most states, where local governments must get permission from the state to act, Alaska flipped that model on its head. Our Constitution gives home rule municipalities broad powers to govern themselves—unless a law specifically says they can’t.

This idea comes straight from Article X, Section 11 of the Alaska Constitution, which states:

“A home rule borough or city may exercise all legislative powers not prohibited by law or by charter.”

That simple sentence carries a powerful message: local government isn’t just allowed in Alaska—it’s expected to lead the way.

Yet more than 60 years after statehood, many Alaskan communities aren’t using this authority to its full extent. Municipalities often wait for direction from Juneau or the state. But that’s not how our system was designed to work.

The Alaska Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed this local authority. Unless a state law clearly overrides a local ordinance, the local law stands. The Alaska Constitution gives communities the space to make their own decisions on local matters—from zoning and taxes to education and public safety.

So why isn’t this power being used more often?

Over time, layers of state regulation, legal caution, and habit have caused many municipalities to act more like they’re under state control—even when they have a home rule charter. That hesitation has real consequences. It delays solutions to urgent local challenges like housing shortages, infrastructure issues, and public safety needs. And it misses an opportunity to create smarter, more responsive policies that reflect the needs of individual communities.

At Eaglexit, we believe in turning Alaska’s promise of local self-government into practice. That’s why we’re pursuing a home rule charter as the foundation for the Chugach Regional Borough. It’s a model rooted in the belief that local people should make local decisions. It’s about building a government that’s responsive, efficient, and accountable to its residents—not to distant state agencies.

The Constitution is clear. The courts are on board. And the need for local solutions has never been greater. Alaska’s future will be shaped by the choices our citizens make every day. We have the legal tools. Now it’s up to us to use them.

Eaglexit chooses that path. We believe it’s time to trust local voices, embrace local leadership, and realize the full potential of home rule in Alaska.

To our members and donors:

Thank you for your support. We appreciate you and know we can’t do this without you.

Please consider supporting the creation of the next new borough in Alaska. As anticipated by our founders, when communities grow and are ready to become independent, it is right that they do so. It takes all of us. Alaska is ready for this!

Local Voices making Local Choices.

Donate at www.eaglexit.com

Thank you for joining us in this effort!

Catherine Margolin

Chair, Eaglexit

catherine.eaglexit@gmail.com

907-830-5456