Alaska oil company foe Robin Brena has been doling out tens of thousands of dollars to mainly Democrat campaigns in Alaska this year, placing his bets on candidates who might raise taxes on oil companies if given the chance to take control of the Alaska House. The Alaska Senate is already under Democrat control.
Brena’s donations appear at the Alaska Public Offices Commission, showing his strong preference for people like Janice Park, a hardline Democrat, rather than moderate Republican incumbent Sen. James Kauffman who represents District F in South Anchorage.
Brena donated to Democrats House candidates Nick Moe, Cliff Groh, Denny Wells, and Ted Eischeid, and Senate candidates Sen. Scott Kawasaki, Savannah Fletcher, and Republican Sen. Kelly Merrick, who is fighting to keep her Eagle River seat in the Alaska Senate, where she has joined the Democrat-majority caucus.
Brena, who has made his sizable fortune suing oil companies, also has the municipal attorney contract for the City of Valdez, the terminus of the Trans Alaska Pipeline and one of the wealthiest municipalities in the state. That’s a contract that goes out to bid periodically and Brena, who is law partner with former Gov. Bill Walker, has won the contract for years. Many small towns in Alaska have their city attorneys on contract.
Valdez’s entire city budget is $72 million a year for a community of 3,500 people — over $20,571 per resident. The Law Department, with Brena as the contracted city attorney, has a budget of over $3.6 million, more than double what it was in 2020. His budget represents about 5% of the city’s overall budget.
Here is the Law Department budget and the actuals over the past four years:
This year, however, there were cost overruns in the Valdez Law Department, and so the City Council is awarding another $1.9 million to the contract. The increase was passed during this week’s council meeting.
The boost to Brena is nearly 53% increase for the legal services (Brena) provides in just one year. This is giving Brena the cash flow to boost Democrat candidates across the state to the tune of nearly $100,000 so far this year.
The City of Valdez has been suing the State of Alaska this year over a dispute about property taxes in a case that has dragged on for years.
