Longtime advocate for the homeless Kim Kovol is joining the Governor’s Office as a special assistant on issues of homelessness and domestic violence statewide.
Kovol was deputy director of Bean’s Cafe, an Anchorage soup kitchen. In her new role, she will lead efforts to address homelessness with an emphasis on Alaska’s urban centers, and coordinate education and programs dealing with reducing domestic violence, one of the governor’s top priorities.
Rex Rock Jr. has also joined the governor’s team as a special assistant for both rural outreach and economic development with Alaska Native corporations.
Rock, who is in the insurance business, is on the board of directors of the Tikigaq Corporation, a village corporation created through the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, representing the Inupiat people around Point Hope, 330 miles southwest of Barrow. He serves on the North Pacific Research Board and is a whale hunter and son of Rex Rock Sr., who is the president of Arctic Slope Regional Corp.
Rock will also work on a variety of state and federal tribal issues on behalf of the State of Alaska.
Sources in the Dunleavy Administration said that now that communities are opening up across Alaska after the worst of the pandemic, it was the right time to bring on the two subject experts to work on issues requiring outreach to communities. Kovol and Rock start work on Monday.
Well, we are hearing about more hiring, but considering the budget problems, where are the position deletions to cover the costs of these people?
We will see what they can do. But Beans cafe has a terrible reputation alongside Catholic-controlled Brother Francis Shelter turning Anchorage’s Third Avenue into L.A skid row. Obviously the deputy director of Beans Cafe didn’t have her office down there to look at that mess every day!
We’ll give them the benefit without doubt they will do better in their next positions.
I don’t know how the community is going to decrease homelessness, addictions, and abuse if they have no Christ? Their homeless leaders will have to be Superman providing super gifts that are never ending in supply.
When you have a budget problem just keep adding social workers. With their salaries, lucrative benefits and travel you just added $500,000 per year to the budget. These are probably very nice people but we can’t afford them. When are Republicans going to realize Democrats are shutting Alaska down. Just the basics please. Touchy-feely cost too much.
Didn’t this man run on a thinning down the state government?
I’m beginning to miss Bill Walker. At least when he turned on us he did it fast, and didn’t try to con us into believing he was “ standing tall”
Whale hunting in your resume for a state job???? These 2 seem to be more of a reelection effort. I like the Governor and voted/supported him but this is unnecessary spending like others have said.
Dunleavy is a fraud
Good. There are large federal dollars to go out and it is wise for him to have dedicated help to report on the way these funds will be clearing. A very good idea considering the sometimes recalcirance of communities and budget creators to work with anyone.
If you think Anchorage has a homeless problem you really need to get out more.. go down to the real world and check out what they are going through with homelessness.
Homelessness only becomes a legitimate interest of government when the homeless commit crimes.
Then the only role that government has constitutional authority to play is to enforce the laws that protect our rights.
It is not our responsibility, through government, to waste public funds helping people who’ve made bad decisions or simply suffered bad luck.
That is the role of family, friends, your church and private charity. That is actual charity.
When the government takes resources from people who earned what they have and reallocates that wealth to those who did not earn it that is socialism or communism.
Dunleavy needs to learn that.
The State of Alaska does not need a homelessness advocate on the payroll…that’s just wasting even more of our money.
Well said
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