COMMONWEALTH NORTH

PREAMBLE SUBGROUP

March 8, 2000
7:00 a.m.

Notes from Meeting

Present:Co-Chairs Mark Copeland and Sue Mason; Joe Donahue (phone); John
Doyle, Shauna Nebeker, Stephen Sheaffer, Joette Storm, and Duane Heyman

1.Some background materials were distributed:(1) copies of recent Anchorage
Daily News articles and (2) an articlefrom Alaska Economic Trends (Dec. 1999)--
“Long-Term Retrospective:Alaska’s Economy Since Statehood.”

2.

Proposed Timeline was reviewed (attached).

3.

Notes from Mark Copeland (3/6/00) and Joe Donahue (3/7/00) were distributed.

4.

General discussion

Committee participation:There was unanimous agreement that we needed to

recruit Native/rural representatives to participate on the committee. Committee members
agreed to send suggested names to the committee co-chairs, who will try to recruit
additional participants before the next meeting.

Speakers/resource people:There was discussion of several people who could be
invited to speak to the committee. The ultimate consensus, however, was that members of
this committee would try to attend presentations that are expected to be scheduled for the
three subject-area committees. Once the committee develops some draft materials
(hypotheses?), specific comments and reactions can be sought from individuals.

Members were reminded of the session with rural mayors tentatively scheduled for
Tuesday, March 21. Members also were informed of the regular meetings of Bringing
Alaskans Together (“BAT”), coordinated by United Way and the Alaska Humanities
Forum—at noon, on the first Wednesday of each month, at United Methodist Church.

Contents of Preamble:There was a general discussion of the contents of the
Preamble, including the following:

•

A statement of assumptions that underlie the report;

•

A statement of the purpose of the report;