For Tony Knowles, Democratic Party candidate for governor, Tuesday’s visit meant it must be Homer.

Or Wasilla.

Or Kodiak.

Actually, he didn’t visit Kodiak, but after a day of flying from the Matanuska-Susitna Borough to the lower Kenai Peninsula, Knowles slipped during a speech at the District 35 Democrats “Rockin’ Rally” at Alice’s Champagne Palace and called the town Kodiak. Otherwise, the former two-term governor stayed on message, speaking to a crowd of about 100 party loyalists.

Knowles canceled a Tuesday appearance with the Homer Chamber of Commerce to attend a Wasilla Chamber of Commerce meeting with the other major candidates, independent Andrew Halcro and Republican Party candidate Sarah Palin.

Knowles spokesperson Patty Ginsburg said he felt it was important to face the other two candidates, particularly Palin, and apologized for canceling the Homer Chamber of Commerce talk.

Knowles did keep a commitment to the District 35 Democrats, and also met before the rally with reporters from the Homer News, KBBI and the Anchorage Daily News.

When asked by Daily News reporter Tom Kizzia if going to Wasilla — Palin’s hometown — was like the Boston Red Sox visiting Yankee Stadium, Knowles said he didn’t feel intimidated at all.

“I had a lot of friends in that audience. Some people even said the applause for me was louder at the end than it was for her (Palin),” he said.

KBBI reporter Mike Mason mentioned a complaint he’d heard about Knowles from commercial fishermen: that during his two terms as governor he tended to favor sport fishermen over commercial fishermen in appointments to fisheries boards.

“I know how sensitive that is,” Knowles said. “I want to make sure there’s a balance on the board. But I’m also looking for people who are problem solvers and not lightning rods.”

Knowles criticized Gov. Frank Murkowski for moving the Habitat Division out of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game into the Department of Natural Resources.

“I think we need to bring Habitat back to Fish and Game,” he said.

As for one of the bigger fishing controversies in lower Cook Inlet, that of resolving conflicts over halibut allocations between commercial fishermen and sport charter fishermen, Knowles said he tried to address that issue while he was governor, but a plan he developed got lost in Washington, D.C.

“What we have right now is a very legitimate case of unfairness. We have a guideline harvest limit for the charter industry, and it’s exceeded,” he said. “Just to put fundamental fairness into it, there should be a system by which everybody has to buy into it.”

Back in August when he spoke at the Alaska Municipal League meeting in Homer, Knowles talked about cuts in municipal revenue sharing. Tuesday, he elaborated on another funding problem faced by school districts, boroughs and cities: higher payments to public employee pension funds, the PERS/TERS issue.

“The fabricated crisis that was pushed onto the backs of local property taxpayers and school kids,” Knowles called it.

A pay down proposed by Murkowski and that he said is endorsed by Palin shows a misunderstanding of the pension system, Knowles said. Financial experts have proposed what they think the expected payout might be over 25 years based on various factors.

“It’s not a bill. It gives you an opportunity to make the necessary adjustments,” he said.

If he is elected governor, Knowles proposed returning to the prior employee contribution rate and developing a new, sustainable benefits system that wouldn’t impact local governments.

“My message to property taxpayers and school kids is ‘Hang on. Keep the faith. Help is on its way,’” he said.

Knowles said the biggest disappointment of his two terms as governor was not being able to get on the ballot an Alaska Constitutional amendment to protect subsistence.

“That issue is alive anyway,” he said. “The federal subsistence board has its crosshairs already on Kodiak and Sitka to declare them non-subsistence areas.”

He didn’t like questions about what he’d do different, though — saying it’s like sitting in his rocking chair and looking back at life.

“What I’m looking to is the future,” Knowles said.

One thing he’d like do for energy beyond building a natural gas pipeline with a spur to Southcentral Alaska is develop a state energy policy.

“We also have to look at ways we’re going to be able to get clean, affordable energy to rural Alaska,” he said.

He mentioned projects like biodiesel made from fish waste in Kodiak and Unalaska, hydrothermal programs and more hydropower.

“All very doable, and a way to break the stranglehold of diesel,” Knowles said.

On the issue of Northern Dynasty developing its Pebble prospect, Knowles said he flat out opposes it.

He cited the large scale of the project, with huge earthen dams to contain mine tailings and other waste, and the risk to fisheries resources in the Bristol Bay region, as reasons he opposes it.

“How could you possibly support a project of that magnitude if it presents such a risk?” he said.

With some polls showing Palin ahead, Knowles spoke like a candidate not ready to concede. Palin’s campaign slogan has been “New energy for Alaska.” He bristled when asked if he thought younger Alaskans should be given more opportunities to lead.

“I don’t think that’s what Alaskans are worried about,” Knowles said. “I think they want to know who’s going to get a natural gas pipeline bill, and who has the experience and understanding of the issues to get that done … that’s why I know the momentum for this race is on our side.”

The former governor, Anchorage mayor, assembly member and candidate for U.S. senator didn’t go away without answering a question most people had when he announced almost at the last minute he was running again for governor: Why he did decide to run again?

“I decided to come back into politics ... just because it’s an historic opportunity to address issues that are going to affect Alaskans in a profound way for the next 50, 75, 100 years,” Knowles said. “It’s rare that you get a chance to do something positive.”

Palin gets her chance to win over Homer voters when she visits Homer on Oct. 31.