The Anchorage Assembly interviewed and voted to name Eagle River resident Robin Dern as the temporary replacement for former Assemblywoman Jamie Allard, who is now a sitting legislator. Dern was among 10 people who applied for the seat, which will be filled by the voters on April 4 through a regular municipal election.
On the first round of voting, Dern received 5 votes and Matt Cruickshank received 2 votes. On the second round, Dern got 7 votes and Cruickshank received 4 votes. The Assembly uses ranked choice voting in its procedure to replace a vacancy.
Dern, an artist, writer, and poet, said that in addition to her other qualities, she is the only woman to have applied for the seat. Her background includes: Executive director in local nonprofits for 20 years, United Jewish Communities Alaska Board member, FEMA State Set Aside board chairwoman, Anchorage Schools Foundation co-chairwoman, Special Olympics World Winter Games volunteer coordinator, Arctic Winter Games volunteer, Anti-Defamation League Pacific Northwest Regional Board member, Anti-Defamation League trained facilitator in “No Place for Hate, Hate Crimes, Inclusive Policing & Response to Violent Extremism,” Eagle River Food Pantry volunteer, Anchorage School District volunteer and parent, FBI and Anchorage Police Department Citizen Academy participant.
Dern took her position on the dais and, through her face mask said she was grateful for the opportunity to serve Eagle River. Her first meeting, which was underway this afternoon, proceeded into executive session to consider legal action against the mayor of Anchorage or members of the mayor’s administration.
Wow, the perfect Liberal to push the agenda and an impressive resume of Liberal ideals. Here’s the problem…hard working real Americans are too busy working, raising families, and helping their communities. Can’t commit to public service. Liberals don’t have real jobs and have lots of spare time to hold office. Am I wrong?
At least one of the applicants, David Syzdek, is a working man, father of a large young family, and volunteer youth leader. He was willing to commit to public service; the problem is that the very fact that he’s a working family man tells the Assembly that they don’t want him within a mile of their “socialist paradise.”
Matt Cruikshank is also an upstanding, common sense, working class man (i.e., non-governmental parasite), with a very strong and committed sense of REAL community service. But sadly, he is not a virtue-signaling radical leftist, so he had no real chance of being appointed to the open seat.
After listening to all of the answers from the applicants to fill the vacancy on the assembly, Matt Cruikshank would have been my pick. I believe among other things two things stood out against him in the interview. Ms Quinn-Davidson opened the questioning by asking if we planned to run for the permanent seat and added that it is the tradition of the assembly to not appoint someone to the interim seat who is also running for the permanent. I believe he, like myself, stated that he does not believe it is the mayor’s job to implement the policies of the assembly, but is an equal branch of government. Ms. LaFrance visibly cringed and recoiled when both he and I made this statement.
Matt Cruikshank spoke well during the interview, demonstrated a deep knowledge of the issues presented by the assembly, and clearly loves his community. To use his words, he is a blue-collar, local boy.
In my closing comments I told the assembly that I had watched their faces during the interviews and that some of them would visibly show disagreement in their facial expressions to some of the answers provided. I then reminded them that they are not choosing someone to represent them, but to represent us and that they should choose someone who best represents us and our district even if that person does not see eye to eye with them and even if appointing that person would violate the tradition of the assembly.
I think Matt Cruikshank would have best represented the character of the people in our district. Though Ms Dern came across as sincere and nice, I feel she is a better representative of the assembly majority than of the families in district 2.
As for Ms. Dern wearing a mask, in her opening comments she implied that she is only wearing a mask as a precaution since she will be taking her daughter to the airport and did not want to get her daughter sick. I’m not including this to approve or condemn her mask wearing, just to provide the explanation she provided to the assembly.
As for those of you who were complaining about the candidate the assembly chose, where were you during this process? If the majority of the candidates came across as either wishy-washy or agreeing with the assembly positions, can you blame the assembly for choosing someone who embodied their position? It is much easier to rant on the Internet than it is to actually show up.
Syzdek: I haven’t followed this at all but wanted to give you an atta-boy for a calm, well stated, defensible and informative comment. Rare thing around here.
So, the assembly appointed a Democrat to OUR seat, when we have made it clear we don’t want any part of their liberal agenda. What a bunch of potatoes.
Yes.
That board should consist exclusively of people that have real jobs. The more members have to crow about their volunteerism and the importance a magical dead jew plays in their life the more you can expect to get freeloader bum loving nonsense.
Here’s the heart of the matter… if the Anchorage Assembly supports her then five bucks says she’s probably lesbian and probably financially irresponsible.
Ten says she doesn’t have a spine and will vote yeah to whatever any of the others say next.
“the importance a magical dead jew plays in their life the more you can expect to get freeloader bum loving nonsense ”
That is quite an observation of Christians.
Why is she wearing a mask ? Is she about to rob a bank ?? Or is she afraid of being recognised ? Did the assembly consider all candidates or just promote the person with left wing “inclusive” values such as theirs ?
A mask, a 1940’s armband, what’s the difference to any self-respecting dictatorship………..
She sounds like a well qualified member of our community. Good choice !
Your sarcasm is duly noted.
“she is the only woman to have applied for the seat”
So?
She is probably the only person of her height and weight that applied as well. Who cares?
Can she do the job? Will she represent the people of Eagle River?
A friend of a friend waiting in the wings. A Artist/ Writer/ Poet /Director/Member/Chairwoman/Volunteer Coordinator/Coordinator/Trained Facilitator/Participant wearing a mask appointed to represent people who didn’t elect her. PERFECT!!!!!
It appears the Assembly so cherished the extremely fine working relationship they had With Ms. Allard that they searched high and low for someone with strikingly similar attributes to replace her with so as not to disappoint or disrupt her constituents faith in fair representation from Eagle River. Another well thought out decision by our faithful Regime who have yet to let us down with a poor choice!
Oh and by the way I forgot to mention the look of the mask…. Is that a Darth Vader Limited Edition?
So they gave Eagle River the middle finger by picking a leftist? No.
Perfect timing for Eaglexit now.
It was perfect timing for Eagle Exit 50 years ago, and 40 years ago, and 30 years ago, and 20 years ago ….
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But you can expect the radical far-left assembly majority, as well as other political forces in Alaska, to fight Eaglexit tooth and nail. Because NOBODY can be allowed to slip from their totalitarian control!
Totally representative of Eagle River /s. Jaime, I miss you already.
I don’t care that she wears a mask, I’m required to wear one every day at my job. I care that they replaced a conservative voice in a conservative district with a liberal voice that would never be elected there. The socialists on the assembly now have even more power for a few months to push their agenda.
Linus has his blanket, this woman has her mask. So nice to live in a conservative state that somehow allows political representation by woke ideologues like this poetic ‘train wreck’ that isn’t mature enough to let go of her useless face diaper.
Oh God! How utterly predictable.
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Not just a far-left radical extremist, but a Covidiot and maskhole to boot.
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Behold your democrazy!
Does her wearing a mask affect you in any way?
She is not telling us, the common folk, to wear a mask. She is wearing it because it makes her feel better or safer. Whatever her reasons are for wearing the mask are hers, and as long as she isn’t forcing her beliefs/views on everyone, who cares.
I choose not to wear a mask unless I absolutely have to (doctors office), but I also don’t disparage anyone who still chooses to wear one out and about, however dumb the masks may be.
Live and let live. Now if she decides to pursue an ordinance or law that would require everyone to wear a mask, have at her for that. But please save your anger for issues that really matter.
Yes, I openly and shamelessly disparage the maskholes, every one of them, because they are just indicating to me that 1) they are emotion-driven, conformist sheep without an ounce of critical thinking in their head, and/or 2) they are virtue(sic)-signaling their approval of, and allegiance to, the totalitarian globalist agenda, and/or 3) they are gullible, naive idiots who actually place blind trust in corrupt authority, and in the innumerable lies that those authorities have engaged in surrounding the entire so-called pandemic. I have nothing but contempt for any one of those classes of people — obviously, those classes significantly overlap each other anyway, if not directly correspond to each other.
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The Wuhan Virus so-called pandemic, and the establishment-pumped fearmongering reactions to it, were an intelligence test. A test that the majority totally failed.
What happened to the idea of live and let live?
So long as someone is not harming or affecting you in any way, why do you care what that person does with their own life?
The people in this country used to be able to agree to disagree on things. All of us are different and have different experiences throughout our lives that shape the way we are and act and what we believe in.
Both sides of the political spectrum have made it so anyone who does not agree with the message is an enemy. That is the problem, and by your response to my post and many others, you are clearly demonstrating that you embrace being part of the problems affecting our country and state
The problem with “live and let live” is that the morons still wearing masks refuse to “let live.” They have an insatiable compulsion to make everyone around them think and act as they do and destroy those who do not wish to conform to their ideology. The time for squishy libertarianism is over. We must crush the Marxist NPCs. We absolutely should be disparaging these communist bastards. Don’t forget what they did over the last 3 years: lockdowns, handouts, mass firings, fearmongering, fines…general totalitarianism. Wake the f*** up.
Called it!
Total Commie freak show.
Wacko background. Nothing substantive in her resume. Maybe she can write LGBTQ poems for the Assembly during recess. And that mask……..robbed of all that precious oxygen. No wonder Democrats have a hard time thinking and concentrating.
If you read my comments on the live chat you would call me an autistic prophet about now. Not shocking at all.
They should have chose the intern with zero life experience. I liked him the best. I dont care if he is left, or that he may not understand minimum wage, we agree that it would be good for humanity to ban the use of facial recognition.
I rise today to join his sentiment.
SHAME on the APD and any other government agency that uses this Chinese style tyranny tactic. Disgusting.
I’ll put my name on it.
wut?
Nothing like breathing your own exhaust all day.
Just what Anchorage needs – a poet with no real work experience. She will fit in perfectly!
This appointment is temporary so when will Eagle River be able to hold an election for an assembly rep they have voted in?
There are the municipal elections coming up in April.
Because the election is April 4th, that falls less than 90 days after both Allard (Jan 17) and Dunbar (Jan 6 or 7) resigned to join the Legislature, the Assembly can appoint temporary replacements.
If their resignations came with more than 90 days before the next normal election, then there would be a special election.
Waiting for her to suggest the Assembly go back to mask everyone? I will for one not wear a mask every again do not care what the Leftist Assembly thinks.
What a shallow and vapid candidate.
It is probably idle speculation on my part, but I wonder how many of the comments are from homesteaders that live in Chugiak, Birchwood, Eklutna Village, Peter’s Creek or Eagle River. This is a very diverse area. Over the years many times many of these residents fought incorporation in the Anchorage Borough just to shore up the Anchorage tax base. Big things were promised by Anchorage and some did come to fruition, but most of the amenities we were providing for ourselves already.
Especially acrimonious (or is the correct word heinous?) is a municipal decision to curtail PeopleMover transportation among other ‘services’.
Yes, there are a lot of registered Republicans there.
When I delivered the Knik Arm Courier out of Peters Creek a few decades ago (ha, who am I kidding, more than a half century ago), it seemed the majority of my customers had their own dog teams, including one of graceful well-dressed standard poodles.
My mother was a volunteer with March of Dimes, member of Republican Women which worked to facilitate public elections, youth music concert coordinator (we often arrived early just to set up the chairs and help with the sound systems as well design posters etc), active in Altar Society, high school sports advocate (mountaineering, x-country, skiing, skating, folk dancing etc), French language interpreter, Girl and Boy Scout leader, original homesteader with my father, schoolteacher, military veteran, matriarch of a family of ten, and on and on … her research at Juneau on early childhood education was the basis of her Master’s degree at UAF, and she would (I think) chuckle politely at all these comments about liberals … yes, she did head toward Alaska in her Ford accompanied by her German shepherd Buzzbomb against her father’s wishes if that could be called ‘liberal’, but it’s certainly a character trait of the folks from there, and the newly appointed representative seems quite similar. My mother’s life was focused on accomplishment and achieving the goals of living in a just harmony with others, not carping about what she didn’t have, as well as a founding citizen of a place of many places in Alaska.
I’m actually happy they ended people mover service. Property crime went down in the neighborhood.
Our district has for a long time been considered a leper colony by the municipality, useful only for taxation. The original homesteaders here were a strong willed people who built this community without the help of the municipality of Anchorage. And until recent years, the municipality took our money, pretending to provide services, but left us alone. There were no Anchorage government offices except for in Anchorage. A vote was taken to remove our community from Anchorage, only to be overridden by a judge. Fast forward, our community has grown, largely because of how different we are from Anchorage. And our tax base has grown as well. If we were represented by revenue provided we would have much more representation on the assembly. But still not enough to overcome the will to make us more like Anchorage instead of the community that we love. Without exception, every function in our community that the municipality has taken control of has been degraded as the powers that be force their will on us. A fine example is the number of small businesses that were forced to failure during the assembly mandates. The valley did not have this problem. We are of equal distance to Anchorage as to the valley, so if there are not enough people interested in self government, perhaps joining up with Palmer or Wasilla would be more in line with our ideals. Let Anchorage be Anchorage.
Mrs N. I agree without a doubt that at least the fast growing homeless population within the Muni will be the only ones living harmoniously based on the way the past temp mayor along with her cohorts on the assembly designated the huge “free” covid relief package. The future of the anchorage working class and small business owners I doubt will be so “harmonious”.
Anchorage doesn’t have much more land to expand its tax-base. True. What is (are) the solution(s) to be caring properly for the homeless? Suggestions? The poor folks will always with us. Seems I read that in the Bible one time, or maybe someone told me it’s in there. (I’m mentioning this as a point of reference in time.) I also ran across an article once commenting on providing housing for the homeless in Finland somewhere. Much of Finland seems geographically similar to Southcentral. My point? Looking for answers with creative out-of-box ideas based in reality … not just building bridges to nowhere. Harmony is not just a single note.
I’m sure all the Eagle River folks who moved out of Anchorage to flee the liberal loonies will be very excited about the appointment of this newest loon. And who doesn’t love a face diaper. After all, it’s what bank robbers used to wear. Now it’s worn by liberal politicians who rob the hard working taxpayers..
Eagle River residents fleeing to Anchorage?
If I knew the Jackass Club wanted a poet I, this poet-that-didn’t- know-it until now would’ve applied!
Once upon a time,
in a land far-far away,
A band of stupid communists
believed their constituents were nothing more than prey.
They ignored indisputable history
about their comrades present and past;
They thought they would not fail and fall like them,
This time their reign would last.
Perspicacious they were not,
their blindness in sore display;
They missed the striking similarities
between tyrannical despots and of they.
Marx and Stalin failed
as well as Hitler too.
But, “To hell with history!”
said this imbecilic troupe.
These dunderheaded simpletons will fall
just like their comrades from the past;
Because their subterfuge is built on lies
Truth will rise and kick them in the a$$
Do you have a job?
The gods of the copy book heading would like a word
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