Jeffrey Bruce Staser

West Point, 1972

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Al Ewing on March 13, 2020:

Though our paths may have crossed previously the first meeting I recall with Jeff Staser came in the Winter of 1999. I was living in Juneau Alaska and had recently left the Deputy Commissioner position with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and was pondering where I wanted to go next for employment when I got a call from Jeff inquiring about my availability. I invited him to my home and over dinner we talked about the challenge he faced in getting the Denali Commission up and running. He had enabling legislation which named him as Federal Co-chair. It also named the Governor as State Co-chair, named 5 Commissioners and provided a $20 million appropriation. He had no office and no staff but a burning desire to get something in place and to get about the work of solving the seeming intractable problems of rural Alaska. My wife and I found Jeff to be bright, charming, articulate and highly motivated. He wanted to get things done for the people of rural Alaska. I was attracted to the great potential that Jeff described for the Denali Commission. I agreed to join the effort and over the next 6 years under Jeff's visionary leadership the Commission exploded in to action. Jeff had a bias for action that was obvious from the beginning. In less than 6 months the basic infrastructure of the Commission was in place and the $20 million initial appropriation was allocated to a multitude of rural energy projects. No one except Jeff thought that could happen. The Commission was off and running. The initial focus as mentioned, was rural energy, but it was soon recognized that rural health facilities were a high priority as well. As one success lead to another, appropriations continued to grow and by 2006 the Commission appropriations (direct and indirect) approached $200 million annually. The Commission became known for its capability of getting things done cost effectively and expeditiously. When a teacher housing shortage came to light, Congress turned to the Commission to deal with it and the Commission responded. When a bridge needed replacing in rural Alaska, Congress again turned to the Commission and under Jeff's leadership it was replaced in a matter of months. Jeff was successful at the Commission not just because he was a bright capable leader, but because he genuinely cared about the people of rural Alaska. He traveled extensively in rural Alaska to meet the people and to see the problems as much as possible through the eyes of the local residents. He held many of the Commission meetings in rural locations so the Commissioners could see the problems and so locals could see the Commission at work. Jeff was generous to a fault. He wanted to help everyone even though he knew that was not possible. Most of the Commission funding went to large projects, but Jeff set aside a small percentage of funds to be allocated in "funding forums" which were held at a variety of locations in rural Alaska. Proposals for small community projects could be brought forward and if they were deemed to have sufficient merit they could be funded on the spot. Despite his position as Federal Co-chair, Jeff's office door was always open to staff and more importantly his mind was always open as well. He was not always an easy sell. He would challenge staff, but ultimately he would accept good ideas. He would empower staff and the trust he placed in them resulted in accomplishments that are very uncommon in most organizations I am familiar with. The work of the Commission kept Jeff moving at a frenetic pace, but everyone in the office knew that his family was his top priority. When ever a call came from his wife of one of his daughters, nothing was too important to be interrupted for him to take the call. Jeff very much wanted to solve all the problems of rural Alaska. He didn't accomplish that, and no one could have, but he left a legacy of monumental accomplishment that will for ever make the lives of rural Alaskans better.

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