Judy Brady steps down from ML&P Commission

By
Suzanne Downing
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6
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By ANCHORAGE DAILY PLANET

‘TROUBLED BY THE PROCESS’ OF SALE TO CHUGACH

Judith Brady, longtime head of the city’s Municipal Light & Power Commission, has resigned, citing concerns about how officials are handling the run-up to the April election to decide whether Anchorage will negotiate a proposed $1 billion sale of the city’s electric utility to Chugach Electric.

In her Jan. 25 letter to Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz, Brady said she supports the decision to “review” the sale, but, “As you are also aware, I am also troubled by the process.

“Two nights ago the Anchorage Assembly voted to put the question on the April ballot. This vote includes a change to the Municipal Charter to lower the required public vote from 60 percent to 50 percent. This vote was taken after a series of executive sessions by the Assembly, in which the details of such a sale were discussed and decided. These discussions and information on which they were based remain confidential.

“This is the first time in a Alaska’s history a transaction of this size has been put on the ballot based on confidential information and after only one public hearing

“While the Assembly made it clear, if the public voted ‘yes’ to approve the sale, there would be several months of continued negotiation, “my concern is that these negotiations would continue to be in executive session. I am also concerned the only information available to the public will be from a Chugach  PowerPoint in which only cites their benefits.”

Brady said she was “uncomfortable” serving on a “municipal commission and publicly expressing views that may not agree with Municipality’s position.”

[Read the rest of this story at Anchorage Daily Planet.]

[Read: Shadow mayor Begich behind sale of ML&P?]

6 COMMENTS

  1. What a pity that we all can’t “step down” from Anchorage’s brand-new, ripe-for-corruption mail-in-vote program…

    The really offensive part is Anchorage’s voters and everybody else with an IQ above room temperature being taken for such bloody fools by Anchorage’s Ruling Elite.

    Maybe someday we can drain our very own swamp…

  2. The sale of ML&P is a huge mistake and will ultimately enslave rate payers, except those of us that know how to generate our own power. The city is trading short term income for long term increases in utility costs to the rate payers. A lot of the large consumers, like Providence Hospital, would be wise to build their own generation facilities. Both of these utilities are run for the benefit of the employees And I would like to know if AWWU will now be writing a check to Chugach every month like they do now to ML&P?

  3. I concur with Robert Rubey’s post above. What concerns me is the lack of transparency in the Anchorage Municipal government. The assembly behind all closed doors and Secret sessions is not a good sign. I know how the municipality works and the ml&p deal is no better than the Obama care plan that was written in secret and couldn’t be read until after it was voted upon. This is just plain bad government and not surprising coming from the current Municipal Administration.

  4. At first I was inclined to vote for this purchase. But after everything that has transpired, including Mark Begich’s involvement with a negotiated purchase price at the highest extremes of the market analysis and the Assembly behaving like a bunch of middle school kids with a secret, I’ll be a strong NO vote.

    • With respect, don’t you think our Assembly mandated use of a brand-new, mail-in voting system to insure that rebels like you (and possibly me) don’t mess up a perfectly Good Deal by voting incorrectly?

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