Gov. Mike Dunleavy has easily proved that campaigning on no taxes, boosting the Permanent Fund dividend and eliminating unspecified state spending was a surefire way to get elected. But now he has to honor those campaign convictions. So he has finally shown us the math he couldn’t reveal during the campaign, and laid out what type of Alaska we must accept to avoid state taxes while continuing to dole out huge dividend checks.

You do have to admire the man for standing by his convictions. It certainly takes courage to be so bold and inspire spirited public debate. In doing so, the governor has successfully focused our attention on the seriousness of the state’s fiscal dilemma. Now we must compare visions for Alaska.

Unfortunately, the governor’s vision is based entirely on only one core governmental principle: that governments should not spend more than they take in. It’s a key principle, to be sure, but in the hierarchy of importance, that principle should be second or third on the list.

At the very top of the list must be that governments exist to serve, and to take direction from, the governed. But the governor’s budget does just the opposite. By linking state government only to revenue streams that Alaskans have little to no control over, we the governed are removed from the equation. The governor’s plan therefore becomes: If the price of oil is X, then your state government will be Y.

It would seem the governor is giving oil producers far greater say than Alaskans over whether my streets get plowed, if a trooper responds to my 911 call, or how many students wind up in my grandson’s first-grade class.

The answer is distasteful to many Alaskans, but broad-based taxes, along with sustainable use of Permanent Fund earnings, are critical components of any valid comprehensive fiscal plan. The governor’s budget clearly shows that any “real” math just doesn’t work without them. But more importantly, those are needed to get Alaskans’ skin in the game. Once we have that, we get far better public engagement, more public oversight, improved government accountability and, most critically, valid public direction on what government should or should not do. In other words, that’s how we control spending. This is not theory; it is common practice in every other state in the union, as well as in local governments throughout Alaska.

With the same conviction and courage demonstrated by the governor in promoting his vision, it’s time for the silent majority of responsible Alaskans to insist on a cultural change in Juneau. It’s time to step back from the rhetoric, embrace reality, promote civic responsibility and broker a reasoned compromise for a long-term sustainable fiscal plan — one that doesn’t gut the Alaskan dream just to win elections.

But this will not happen, not unless everyone reading this makes the effort to contact their legislators and the governor’s office and insist on a comprehensive plan. Only then can we, the governed, drive the required solution.

John Hozey served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Gov. Bill Walker, Administrative Director for Sen. Ted Stevens, City Manager for the City of Valdez, and as a combat search and rescue pilot in Alaska for the U.S. Air Force. He lives in Juneau.