By ALEX GIMARC
I always appreciate it when the Left tells us what they think is important. This month’s example comes out of the Democrat, dark money-funded, independent campaign group that calls itself the 907 Initiative.
Earlier this month, we received a gorgeous 4-page, color brochure printed on heavy paper entitled the Annual Performance Report Bronson Administration Year 3 of 3. It’s an attack on Mayor Dave.
Not unexpectedly, it was a hatchet job on him, his administration, aimed at battlespace preparation for the mayoral election next month, essentially their local version of Orange Man Bad. It was sent out to whomever the 907 Initiative has on their mail list.
The piece concluded with an easily predictable overall performance grade of F, based on their grades on 8 areas, 2 F’s, two D’s, 3 C’s, and an incomplete. An unweighted combination of those grades in the public schools would be a D+ rather than an F, as C’s outnumber F’s.
But this is a campaign document intended to do just as much damage as possible to Bronson, so their math simply doesn’t matter. Only the conclusion does.
The piece lists 12 sources for information used to construct this thing. 6 of them were Alaska Public Media, 3 of them Alaska Daily News, with Alaska News Source, Alaska Current, and MOA Budget making up the balance of sources. How unbiased those sources are once again depends on your position on the political divide.
If you take a look at the different sections, those areas with a grade of F are the places they think they can win this election on. These are Housing and Homelessness and Ethics & Transparency. Their D grades are slightly less important to the campaign, including Hiring & Management and Roads & Transportation. Note that their incessant carping about slow response to early season record snowfall the last two years is no longer considered to be a prime campaign issue.
It is no surprise that the political left is outraged at Bronson’s refusal to kowtow to the ridiculous demands of the Assembly majority and the Homeless Industrial Complex they’ve managed to construct over the years. Completely ignored is any analysis of bad faith negotiation by that majority, when they toss aside agreements with the mayor like they do with so many homeless Alaskans.
Likewise, it is also no surprise that they are angry that their grifters and rent seekers are being left out of the competitive award of contracts. Perhaps leftist and union entitlement is not a positive in a supposedly competitive environment. As always, ethics is entirely in the eye of the beholder, and when ethics complaints are wielded early and often as political weapons aimed only at those of us on the political right, pardon me if we simply don’t care.
Those of us with memories slightly longer than a week and a half do remember ethics and Gov. Sarah Palin. One of the things Palin ran on was a promise to clean up Alaska politics. Once elected, she was buried under a dump truck full of ethics complaints via anti-Palin leftist lawfare. Perhaps Bronson ought to be congratulated for not giving the Left the rope they most desperately want to use to politically hang him with.
There is some weirdness in their grading. For instance, they give Bronson a C on Schools and Education, something the Mayor has no control over. While both the Assembly and Mayor can veto the ASD budget, neither in my memory has stepped up to the plate to do so. Imagine the heart-rending screams of pain, anguish and highly selective outrage should someone, especially someone on the political right, reject a bloated ASD budget.
In their conclusions, the grifters at the 907 Initiative ding Bronson for failing to implement a response plan to homelessness, their version of simply giving Meg Zaletel and her Homeless Industrial Complex a blank check and rubber stamp on everything they demand.
They then go on to carp about high vacancy rates across the Muni. Some would see this as a good thing, for if you are getting the same job done with fewer people, why is that a problem?
They end with a crack about unethical behavior and problematic advisors. Remind me again about the Assembly’s secret advisor for their anti-detransitioning ordinance a few years ago, notorious luggage thief Sam Brinton.
Pot, meet kettle.
This is shaping up to be an ugly campaign. Pay attention to what the Left is telling you it is about, as I expect that this has been fully focus grouped and polled so as to maximize union turnout next month.
Alex Gimarc lives in Anchorage since retiring from the military in 1997. His interests include science and technology, environment, energy, economics, military affairs, fishing and disabilities policies. His weekly column “Interesting Items” is a summary of news stories with substantive Alaska-themed topics. He was a small business owner and Information Technology professional.
Saul Alinsky has written their playbook.
Sadly, these tactics are effective – more so today than ever before.
Humans are easily programmed. Ideas and attitudes are formed by your environment and media exposure. Today, the television and telephone are the primary sources of self-confirming ideas.
The reason the country is split 50/50 is no accident.
“Rules for Defeating Radicals: Countering the Alinsky Strategy in Politics and Culture” by Christopher G. Adamo
ISBN-10: 1733218203
The 907 is just a leftist tool that’s broken.
I throw their junk mail right into the trash.
Pay attention to what they saying, as they are telling you what is important to them / what they think they can use to flip an election. Always ask: Why are they saying this? It will allow you to understand how they commit their evil a little better. Cheers –
Not to mention the prolific click bait ads running for Year 3 Grade Bronson Administration all over the place. No matter how much you futilely close and report the ads to the Google mothership – they keep coming back.
Completely predictable, and completely and predictably biased and dishonest.
As an aside, I have long been puzzled, ever since moving to Alaska in the 1990s, by reading or hearing suggestions of somebody receiving a letter grade of “F”. Who in the heck gives a grade of “F”? As in, BELOW failing, which is obviously an “E”? How can one do WORSE than failing? I don’t get this — is this some bizarre new educational fad that was instituted since I was in school? Back then, letter grades were, quite logically, A, B, C, D, E.
When I went to school 60+ years ago, I never heard of an “E” grade. It WAS A, B, C, D, F Everyone knew what getting an F meant.
The “idea” was to ease the stigma of an F snd calling it “effort” instead.
Didn’t fool anybody. Kids were called ediots, usually with a bad attempt at a Hispanic accent.
This trend has come and gone repeatedly since the 70s.
Thank you for writing this!
The 907 Initiative is clearly running a campaign against Mayor Bronson.
But what about the other color brochure we received in the mail…the one telling us how wonderful local government is and how many great things the Assembly has accomplished for us?
That struck me as an ad campaign for Zaletel, and I think it was paid for with taxpayer dollars.
I assure you then 907 initiative is closely related to the assembly. Clare Ross, who is liaison between the city and assembly is right in the middle of it. She left right after I became director of library. She has such a sweet smile but behind that is a woman who is the champion of all progressive ideas!@
Why should the far right have all the crooked political dark money , both sides suck.
The double standard is very much alive and kicking.
Would you provide some specifics?
Just for giggles….
How exactly was Bronson supposed to get anything accomplished with a veto proof majority in the Politburo?
A majority who hated the fact he existed.
These types of groups I am guessing why appears Lafrance had fundraiser more than Bronson. If she took away the donations from such groups as 907initative, common knowledge of Alaskans she either be right at what Bronson fundraised or likely she trailing 10,000 dollars less. Because Alaskans by nature aren’t big monetary givers like we are big on volunteering. Alaskans are more willing to give their time into a cause but don’t give financially except small donations unless they been a conservative or Christian or Jewish for a long time so they learned money management over a period of time to give the 500 dollar campaign contributions. But individual Democrats today aren’t very conservative. Hahaha
Don’t worry. I walk the talk. I been contributing to Bronsons re-election 25.00 plus with that little processing fee each month since November. It’s all I can afford and still being responsible for my well-being. When the mayor run is over then I’ll decide where I can put the 25.00 dollars in. It might be Nicholas Begich or another local race hitting closer to home.
Some conservative ladies at the AMAC meeting here in Anchorage reported that they were so outraged at the mudslinging 907 brochure they recieved in the mail that they collected a score of them up and attempted to return them to to the physical adress given. They were apparently unable to find this adress; it didn’t exist!!
I just googled the address and ‘IT” gave me: 645 G Street, STE 100 Anchorage, AK 99501 I just used my google earth.. what a “JOKE”?? this is the City Hall downtown. No wonder…??
Prayers that the Anchorage people see what is going on here. Bronson is doing something right that has the demons worried!
Their office is a mail box at the downtown Mail Box Etc. They do not list any funding sources, no phone number, no idea who works for them. The only name listed is Aubrey Wieber who used to work for ADN and then Chris Constant.
“…….It was sent out to whomever the 907 Initiative has on their mail list……..”
It’s comforting to know that I didn’t make it on at least one list of junk mail. I wish the flood of junk emails I get could be shut off like a faucet.
I appreciate Mayor Bronson willingness to implement the people’s will even though the assembly of leftists get upset. They do knot know or support the US Constitution and therefore should go.
I keep looking for the counter piece by category titled “Assembly Assessment” with factual information showing the mayor’s effort thwarted by the assembly’s roadblocks/opposition. MRAK would be a significant reference source 🙂
Heaven Help Us has a great idea. Imagine the flyer patterned after this 907 flyer with the assembly responses and actions they took against everything they accuse Bronson of not doing or accomplishing. Their preserved record clearly shows tht no matter what Bronson did, they worked against it. Yes, they used their wringing of hands and frankly lame excuses to counter everything. If this were to blanket the city, I wonder what the response would be? Especially in that Bronson is a FISCAL conservative which hits all homeowners in the MOA right in the pocket. – Cheers
Create the anti Klaus Swab house bill: one way back to the Davos Switzerland if you press the wrong button! Supplemental: no 4th Industrial Revolution allowed in Alaska! No great reset, no bugs, no chips!
Or it’s propaganda!
Face it people.
The left is better at marketing than the right.
.
Does not matter if anything they say is correct, it sounds a lot better, so people believe it. A small grain of truth, without any supporting context, and it sells.
People believe what they want to believe.
I appreciate the men phyically removing the EXTRANEOUS blockade/barricade between the assembly and we the people when the flu was going around. The assembly was mad about proximity to the constituent neighbors who pay for the running this city by the UNFORTUNATE blossom with nine petals, the nine elected nonrepresenters – the assembly. The Mayor is our executive not they. Each one of them needs to go and Bronson stay for our safety. Their job description is not running the city. Their job description is talking on the phone to their neighbors. DO they have any time at all to speak to their neighbors? Can they talk all day? That is all we hired them to do and constituents’ services. IF they don’t want to do that that any more then they must quit and let a neighbor volunteer to take those calls all day. When the phone rings for you assembly you talk not your answering machine. You answer. HOW are you doing at your only job? Good? If you hate your political opposites when they call that is a sign for you to quit and let someone else talk on the phone for a while. Not a sign to you to run for Mayor fo instance. YOU INTEND TO DO AN OPPOSITIONAL JOB. The current Mayor Bronson is doing a good job of representing the people of Anchorage..
A. Think before you send.
No, kc, it is the building south BEHIND City Hall on G street. City Halls address is 632 W 6th Ave.
That said, the supposed 907 Initiative is a nearly completely outside leftist funding source so as to support local leftist endeavors, far outweighing financially, anything locally supporting said same issues.
Should the local leftists rely solely upon their own local funding, they would lose said funding effort by leaps and bounds. It is only within the funding support of the National 907 Initiative that any of their candidates, or ideals, even make news.
Alaska offers promising returns for dark money. Two senate, 1 rep and a gov for a rounding error of the cost of the largest markets.
“They then go on to carp about high vacancy rates across the Muni. Some would see this as a good thing, for if you are getting the same job done with fewer people, why is that a problem?”
Good argument, except many jobs aren’t getting done! And the ones that are getting done are being done by Bronson’s favorite contractors (many of whom are donors) being paid way more than an employee would be paid. And that’s why it’s a problem.
Every time I receive junk mail from 907 Initiative, I smell a dirty, stinking, commie rat.
Aubrey Wieber, he got let go from a newspaper in Oregon and came here, got hired onto the ADN and then got let go again. Tunseth told me he was pretty sketchy. He’d probably open up to the right person about working with him.
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