Katie Hurley, who served as the chief clerk of Alaska’s Constitutional Convention, has died at age 99.
She was born Olga Katherine Torkelsen in Juneau on March 30, 1921 and was raised in Juneau, living in “the flats” area of downtown, and graduating from Juneau High School. She worked as the secretary to Territorial Gov. Ernest Gruening, and then became Chief Clerk to the Constitutional Convention, which convened at the University of Fairbanks in 1953.
She then became secretary to the Alaska Senate for five terms.
A diehard liberal Democrat, she ran for State House as a Democrat from Wasilla, and was elected in 1984, but was defeated in 1986 by Curt Menard, a Republican. For many years she lived in her home on the shores of Wasilla Lake, close to the big Fred Meyer that was eventually built nearby.
Sen. Jesse Kiehl read a tribute to Hurley on the floor of the Senate on Feb. 22, 2021, a day after her passing:
If the Recall Dunleavy Committee puts out a press release, readers can count on the Anchorage Daily News to genuflect — with a front-page story.
Just one month since the Recall Dunleavy Committee won a front-page story about its “reboot” of the recall signature gathering, (which is to say they had lost momentum and needed to regain it), the group has gotten yet another front-page story intended to give the group the added momentum needed to reach the over 71,000 signatures required to put the question to voters.
All it took was a press release.
Back in January, the group had just over 50,000 signatures. Since the group hired signature-gatherers to stand in front of stores in Anchorage and the Mat-Su, the number has increased to what is now reported as 55,613.
Is this the new journalism standard that says every time the Recall Dunleavy group puts out a press release, the ADN will respond with a front-page story? It appears that way.
Keep Dunleavy, a group that formed a year ago, is still a viable entity and is ready to stand up as an active group if it’s needed, according to MRAK sources. The group was ignored by the ADN report.
Another group, called Stand Tall With Mike, is also registered with the Alaska Public Offices Commission, but was a legal team to fight the recall in court. It lost the battle in court to prevent the recall from proceeding and is not active.
Keep Dunleavy, like Recall Dunleavy, is not required to disclose its financial positions with the Alaska Public Offices Commission since there is no active campaign until the recall group files its signatures with the Division of Elections, and after those signatures are certified and a date set for an election.
Dunleavy isn’t the only governor operating under the threat of recall. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California has been under even more pressure. The Recall Newsom group has gathered more than 1 million signatures. It only needed 900,000 to get the recall of the governor on a statewide ballot.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York is also facing a growing call for recall, after a coverup of his role in the nursing home deaths of thousands of New Yorkers who were forced to live with Covid-19 patients in proximity. He was a recent recipient of an Emmy Award for his press conferences.
The TV Academy in November presented Cuomo with the International Emmy Founders Award in recognition of “his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and his masterful use of TV to inform and calm people around the world.”
The number of Republican districts that have censured Sen. Lisa Murkowski has grown.
As first reported at Must Read Alaska, Murkowski drew the censure of five Republican district organizations. These are subsets of the Alaska Republican Party. Last week, five districts had passed censures of Murkowski.
Over the weekend, an entire region of the state had passed an additional censure and the list of Alaska Republican Party subdivisions had grown to 15, including two Republican women’s clubs in the Mat-Su Valley.
In addition to the Region 2 censure, districts 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 23, 30, and 31 have passed separate-but-similar censures and the districts plan to bring the matter before the Alaska Republican Party at its March 13 State Central Committee meeting for a formal vote from the organization.
Murkowski voted to convict former President Donald Trump in the impeachment trial that took place in the U.S. Senate. He was acquitted, but seven Republicans, including Alaska’s senior senator, crossed over to vote with the Democrats to convict him on a single charge of inciting an insurrection.
Not all districts in the state have organized Republican Party groups, which involve grassroots activists who make up the base of the Party.
The Region 2 Republicans are asking not only for a resolution of censure against Murkowski, but a separate resolution with appreciation for the presidency of Donald Trump. The group is asking for the two resolutions to be voted on during the same SCC meeting, which takes place in Anchorage.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy is self-quarantining after finding out on Sunday that he was was in close contact on Saturday with an individual who was later found to be positive for the coronavirus.
Dunleavy has not been vaccinated against the contagion, according to MRAK sources. He has publicly stated he will get the vaccine after all who need it (elderly, health compromised) have had an opportunity to get the series. Dunleavy is 59 years old and has had some heart health issues in the past.
After receiving a COVID-19 rapid test, the governor immediately went into self-isolation at his home in the Mat-Su Valley. The test result came back this morning and was negative, he continues to show no symptoms of the disease.
The governor is following the self-quarantine procedures set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services by remaining at his residence for a minimum of seven days, according to his press office.
“Like so many other Alaskans who have experienced a close contact, he will continue to fulfill his duties by teleworking from home and receive additional tests until it is certain he is free of the virus,” the statement read.
Alaskan Tara Sweeney has been replaced by a temporary appointee at the Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Darryl LaCounte, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians in North Dakota, will be exercising the delegated authority of the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs in the U.S. Department of the Interior. Over the weekend, Sweeney’s information disappeared from the Department of Interior’s website.
LaCounte appears to be a placeholder, however with “delegated authority.” He has been director at BIA since last year.
Sweeney had been the first Alaska Native to head the BIA.
President Joe Biden also added EarthJustice and Wilderness Society lawyers to high-ranking positions in the Department of Interior.
In an announcement today, Daniel Cordalis, formerly of EarthJustice and Native American Rights Fund, was named the new deputy solicitor of Water.
He replaces Brandon Middleton, who had come to the position after serving as a lawyer in the Environment and Natural Resources Division at the Department of Justice.
Nada Culver was named deputy director for Policy and Programs, Bureau of Land Management. She is coming from the position of vice president, public lands and senior policy counsel at the National Audubon Society. She had served in a similar position for the Wilderness Society.
Culver replaces William Perry Pendley, who came to the position from the Mountain States Legal Fund, but who had served as deputy assistant secretary of the Interior, Energy and Minerals and as director of the Minerals Management Service.
Bryan Newland has been named principal deputy assistant secretary, Indian Affairs. Until Alaskan Tara Sweeney is replaced as head of the BIA, Newland is a Biden political appointment who reports to her. Newland is Ojibwe and served as chief judge of the Bay Mills Tribal Court, and as a counselor and policy advisor to the head of the BIA from 2009-2012.
He was part of the consortium of Native and environmental groups who successfully lobbied to halt the easement for the Enbridge Line 5 oil and gas conduit beneath the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan. Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer revoked the permit.
John Tahsuda III was the prior principal deputy assistant secretary, Indian Affairs.
Prior Biden appointments to the Department of Interior show a 180-degree policy shift from the Trump Administration, which took a multi-use approach to public lands.
Eagle River Sen. Lora Reinbold says she doesn’t have the resources the governor has at his disposal, but she is still “ready to rumble.”
Her Facebook video response to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s letter of rebuke was posted this weekend on Facebook.
Reinbold says the governor’s letter is an “assault on the Legislature,” and she is firm in her role as a legislator overseeing the executive branch. “We’re just asking questions that Alaskans want answered,” Reinbold said. She said that she is short, while he is tall, and she has a staff of two, while he has a staff of 20,000, but she is not intimidated by him.
Dunleavy had written a scathing letter to Reinbold last week, in which the governor told the senator to stop spreading misinformation to the public about his actions and about the Covid-19 virus and vaccines.
He also said that due to her behavior, he is not allowing anyone from his administration to cooperate with her any longer, citing the excessive demands she has made in her role as chair of the Judiciary Committee.
Judge Phillip Pallenberg ruled last week that the Legislature can simply avoid approving the governor’s appointees, thus invalidating those appointments. The ruling has at least one potential major effect: The Legislature can essentially decapitate State government by refusing to meet.
Last year, the Legislature left Juneau without approving Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s 94 appointments, including those to the Board of Fisheries, as well as his new Revenue commissioner and public defender to replace Quinlan Steiner, who resigned. Those appointments expired in December because of the Legislature’s inaction.
If allowed to stand, the decision means the Legislature can hold the governor hostage by gaveling out and leaving those positions subject to expiration.
Alaskans know about commissioners and even the public defender as being critical to the functioning of state government. But equally important are the health professional boards that oversee licenses, and fish and game boards that set seasons and approve guide licenses.
Especially in the first year of any new administration, when a governor has to submit all his or her names for approval by the Legislature, this ruling could allow a recalcitrant Legislature to sandbag the executive branch.
That’s what happened last year under Sen. Cathy Giessel and Speaker Bryce Edgmon.
Pallenberg may have thrown the Alaska government into chaos with his decision that may embolden further refusal to confirm appointments by the Legislature.
The Pallenberg decision came after the Legislative Council filed a lawsuit against the governor, saying his 94 appointees were invalid after Dec. 15, since they lacked confirmation.
Dunleavy said it was his duty to keep the government running and it was the constitutional duty of the Legislature to meet and consider those appointments.
Dunleavy could have made a formal demand for the Legislature to convene, but the pandemic was still raging, and many legislators were fearful of travel. They had already shown an unwillingness to convene outside of Juneau; Dunleavy called them into special session in Wasilla in 2019, and Democrats refused to go.
They had also not passed legislation that would have allowed them to meet remotely, although such legislation had been filed. Giessel and Edgmon did not want to change the rules under which the Legislature operates.
Dunleavy reappointed those 94 individuals when the new Legislature reconvened on Jan. 19, 2021. Once again, they must be confirmed before Dec. 15, or they expire.
Democrats in the House and Senate are reviewing decisions that may have been made by boards and commissions, and Commissioner Lucinda Mahoney in that one-month period, with an eye toward unwinding those decisions through lawsuits.
Kodiak Republican Sen. Gary Stevens, who was chair of the Legislative Council when the lawsuit was filed, said the decision affirms the Legislature’s confirmation power.
On Feb17, 2021, the Alaska Republican Party District 14 (Eagle River) unanimously passed a resolution to censure D14 House Rep. Kelly Merrick.
Why was this done?
During District 14 meetings prior to the 2020 general and primary elections, Rep. Merrick officially and on several occasions announced that she would not caucus with the Alaska House Democrats.
This public announcement was a commitment to protect the integrity of the Alaska Republican Party platform in District 14 as well as secure support from D14 Alaska Republicans for Rep. Merrick’s upcoming election. Based on this commitment, D14 Alaska Republicans voted to support her.
On Feb. 11, Representative Merrick was the needed vote out of all Republican House members in attendance to elect District 32 Rep. Louise Stutes as Speaker of the House of the 32nd Legislature. In so doing, Rep. Merrick handed power and control of the Alaska House of Representatives to the Democrats.
Rep. Louise Stutes is the first Republican elected as House speaker since 2017. She came into the legislature in 2015. One of her first actions as a new legislator was to join the Musk Ox Coalition with other Republicans who then caucused with the Democrats.
Out of that coalition, she is the only legislator to survive the last election process.
By Feb. 15, Representative Merrick was named Co-Chair of the House Finance Committee and given a seat on the House Committee on Committees, which establishes the power and control of house representatives over agenda and each other. This typically is along party lines, which in this case is the Democratic party.
Was this series of actions a violation of Representative Merrick’s commitment to D14?
Was this an act of corruption?
After several requests by D14 Alaska Republican Party leaders to explain herself, Rep. Merrick has chosen not to respond.
On Feb. 17, the D14 Alaska Republican Party saw this as a violation of Rep. Merrick’s commitment and unanimously censured her.
Alaska State law appears to have no statutory definition of corruption but it is included in Alaska Statutes 15.45.510 as one of the grounds for recall.
Corruption is defined per Black’s Law Dictionary as: “a fiduciary’s or official’s use of a station or office to procure some benefit either personally or for someone else, contrary to the rights of others.”
The Alaska Supreme Court has directed that the recall statutes “should be liberally construed so that the people [are] permitted to vote and express their will.”
To date, no Alaska state legislator has ever been recalled.
On or before Feb. 11, Representative Merrick made the decision to vote for Representative Stutes as House Speaker.
Did she do this after discussion with her District 14 Alaska Republican party constituency? It appears not.
Did she do this after discussion with any of her Republican House members? It also appears not.
Instead, she met with members of the Alaska House Democratic Caucus.
This meeting included District 20 Rep. Zack Fields, a Democrat. The details of this meeting are not available, but the outcome resulted in Rep. Stutes becoming House Speaker.
Zack Fields is the director of business development at the Laborers Local 341 Union in Anchorage.
Joey Merrick, Rep. Merrick’s husband, is the business manager/secretary-treasurer of the Laborers Local 341 Union in Anchorage and is Zack Fields’ superior.
On Feb. 11, during the House session as recorded on “Gavel to Gavel,” Rep. Fields asked for unanimous consent to nominate Rep. Stutes as Speaker of the House. This was objected to and a roll call vote was held. The screenshot below tells what then happened.
Later that same day of Feb. 11, Rep. Merrick double downed on her stated commitment not to caucus with the Alaska House Democrats in writing officially announced, “To be clear, I have not joined the Alaska House Coalition. However, like most Alaskans, I have been frustrated by taking the same fruitless votes day after day and I felt we could no longer afford to delay extending the Governor’s emergency disaster declaration, crafting a fiscally conservative budget, and passing the construction jobs bill.”
Why would she out of all the other issues in front of the Alaska Legislature include “passing the construction jobs bill”?
Was this statement predicated upon her agreement with Rep. Zack Fields, Director of Business Development at the Laborers Local 341 Union, under orders from his superior, Joey Merrick, Rep. Merrick’s husband, who is the business manager/secretary-treasurer of the Laborers Local 341 Union?
The failsafe exoneration used by many politicos for this is the typical refrain, “That’s politics.” This is generally accepted by some but for others this is not acceptable.
Let’s examine this from a different angle.
When a person is used by others to accomplish something which is deliberately concealed from others, that person is deemed a patsy.
Was Rep. Merrick set up by Representative Fields and other Democrats to take the fall for yet another Alaska legislative controversy?
Was this even more stinging with the fingerprints of her own husband as the puppet master?
When a person, while acting in an official and fiduciary capacity, uses her station to wrongfully procure a benefit for herself and others which were contrary to her oath of office, her duty, and the rights of those she represents, is this corruption?
William Blake once wrote,
“A truth that’s told with bad intent
Beats all the lies you can invent.”
Michael Tavoliero is a realtor at Core Real Estate Group in Eagle River, is active in the Alaska Republican Party and chairs Eaglexit.
Former Sen. Cathy Giessel, who did not survive her last election, says that Reps. Kelly Merrick and Louise Stutes demonstrated leadership in the past 10 days in resolving divisions in the House.
“The harsh polarization that has infected our policy-making entities in our city, state and nation is paralyzing producing movement forward,” Giessel wrote in her new newsletter, which is a personal newsletter that goes out to a select list of Alaskans.
Giessel lost her election primarily because she came out in harsh opposition to the governor, and was collaborating more closely with Democrats than with Republicans. Her District N voters chose Roger Holland instead in last year’s Republican primary.
“I appreciate the courage these two women have demonstrated in reaching across ‘party’ lines to bring folks together. I understand the challenge they face in doing this hard word … and the challenge they face in criticism of their collaboration,” Giessel wrote.
After suddenly joining the Democrat-led caucus, Rep. Merrick slipped out the side door of the House Chambers and scurried to a car with her handler, Rep. Zack Fields escorting her. She headed for the airport, refused to take calls from her District 14 constituents and refused to return text messages from her former allies.
Stutes has caucused with the Democrats for several years and is only a nominal Republican. She became House Speaker of a caucus of 20, which now includes Republican Merrick.
The Democrat caucus is a binding caucus, which means all members must vote on the budget and procedural votes together.
Merrick also refused to attend a meeting called by her district last week. The district has now issued a censure of her for ditching the Republican caucus. The district has since called for a town hall meeting next week in Eagle River with Rep. Merrick, Rep. Ken McCarty, and Sen. Lora Reinbold.
