What: 10th Annual Holiday Lunch started by Sen. Ted Stevens, Featuring Sen. Lisa Murkowski
When: Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020
Where: South High School Parking Lot, $20 per car.
In-home Zoom options.
Kenai Peninsula parents call for families to strike until schools open up for students
In an act of civil disobedience, some Kenai parents are removing their students from the Kenai Peninsula Schools until the school district opens for in-person learning.
A petition at Change.org has 138 signatures so far, after the Dec. 7 Kenai School Board meeting in which parents gave overwhelming testimony in favor of a return to normalcy in schools.
The schools remain locked and the president of the Kenai Peninsula Educators Association, David Brighton, has refused to have his union members go back to school until it is deemed 100 percent safe from COVID-19.
“The delay to return to in person education is harming children and families, some beyond repair. The School District’s long term closure is the result of weak, fearful actions and lack of leadership of the Superintendent and the School Board,” the petitions states.
The school board has left the opening of the schools to the superintendent’s discretion, but John O’Brien has declined to act and has given parents no comfort that their children will be served anytime soon.
A Kenai group called “We’re done with distance” started on Facebook and now has over 350 members in just two days. The group is planning on picketing, protesting, and removing their students from the district if the schools are not back in session by Jan. 4.
“Continued isolation is the worst thing that can placed upon children. The unfounded fear, not facts, being used in the decision making, is punishing our students. Forced isolation without proper instruction has caused more harm to our children than a virus with a 98% recovery rate ever will cause,” the group wrote. “Parents on the Kenai Peninsula want schools open for all grades, now. The job of KPBSD is to facilitate educating children, not push an agenda forcing our community into a false sense of safety.”
During the 2019 contract negotiations, the community overwhelmingly supported KPBSD teachers and support staff, according to the petition.” The message used was ‘it’s about the kids.'”
“Now, our children are in a dire crisis. They are not represented by an organized union, they are isolated, and they are suffering while falling further away from a proper education.”
One of the petition sponsors is James Baisden, chief of staff to Kenai Borough Mayor Charlie Pierce. Baisden is also the parent of school-age children in the Kenai School District.
Kenai district schools let out for the Christmas holidays starting on Friday, so the matter of the strike may not have as much effect as intended. State funding for the district is based on October enrollments, and would likely not be impacted by the strike.
Judge denies open meetings group their injunction on Assembly actions
Alaskans for Open Meetings will likely ratchet up their complaint to the Alaska Supreme Court, now that Superior Court Judge Una Gandbhir has told the group to take a hike.
Alaskans for Open Meetings had sought to stop Anchorage from implementing a number of measures the Anchorage Assembly had passed during the month when they had locked the public out of their meetings. Their lockout began after former Mayor Ethan Berkowitz had banned group gatherings greater than 15 in Anchorage
Among those controversial decisions were the purchase of several buildings to be used for a geographically spread network of services and shelters for vagrants, homeless, and drug addicts in Anchorage. Other controversial measures included a ban on so-called “conversion therapy,” which Wikipedia calls “pseudoscientific practice of trying to change an individual’s sexual orientation from homosexual or bisexual to heterosexual.”
Gandbhir said that a preliminary injunction was an “extraordinary remedy,” she didn’t think was necessary.
Tune into the Must Read Alaska Show podcast on Monday afternoon for a discussion with Frank McQueary, chairman of Alaskans for Open Meetings, where you can learn more about the group and what its next steps are. You can listen at one of the sites listed here.
Vaccine to arrive Monday; 35,000 doses at once
The Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19 is expected to arrive in all 50 states on Monday, according to Gen. Gus Perna, chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed.
Alaska is expected to get 35,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine on Monday. Another 17,900 doses of the Moderna vaccine is expected soon thereafter. The first vaccination in Alaska could be as early as Monday, if all goes as planned.
“They will begin moving vaccine from the Pfizer manufacturing facility to the UPS and FedEx hubs, and then it will go out to the 636 locations nationwide, which were identified by the states and territories,” Perna told a news conference Saturday. “We expect 145 sites across all the states to receive vaccine on Monday, another 425 sites on Tuesday, and the final 66 sites on Wednesday, which will complete the initial delivery of the Pfizer orders for vaccine,” he said at a Saturday news conference.
While most states are receiving their doses in batches, Alaska will get all 35,000 doses at once. That’s because the federal government is recognizing the logistical challenges of Alaska; moving the vaccine is difficult because it must be kept at -95F until thawed, after which is is viable for only five days in a refrigerator.
Also, the vaccine is said to not be stable to a great deal of vibration, which makes it difficult to move to remote villages on the usual planes that fly there, such as Cessnas. Hub communities such as Bethel and Kotzebue will at the top of the list, as places where larger aircraft can land.
These first vaccine doses will be distributed statewide among public, private and Tribal health systems. Must Read Alaska has learned that the vaccine will be flown, along with someone to administer it, to specific airports, where the first eligible people — medical professionals and those working in long-term care facilities — will meet the plane and get their vaccines. Then the plane will head to the next location.
Alaska is receiving its state allocation and additional vaccine through the Indian Health Service, according to the Department of Health and Social Services. The federal government has allocated 11,700 doses of the initial Pfizer shipment for the Alaska Tribal Health System. Distribution is left to the discretion of the Alaska Tribal Health Caucus.
Alaska’s distribution process does not include military service members, who will be vaccinated separately through a federal allocation.
Ketchikan mayor: Civil rights and privacy must prevail with vaccines
A draft letter by Ketchikan Borough mayor seeks to assure the public that their civil rights will be respected, and that any use of the COVID-19 vaccine in Ketchikan will be purely voluntary.
Mayor Rodney Dial says citizens should never be required to disclose personal health information, such as whether they have been vaccinated, in order to access goods and services from either private entities or the government.
Dial will introduce a resolution to be heard at the Dec. 21 meeting of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly meeting.
Dial said his resolution is in response to a number of concerns he has heard from citizens that the vaccines will eventually be required for things like traveling on aircraft or ferry between islands, or health procedures such as dental work.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has also declared that vaccines are optional, but Mayor Dial is addressing the possible use of coercion, such as if a businesses requires proof of vaccination to access goods or services, or requiring tourists to show proof of vaccination before disembarking in Ketchikan. He wants an affirmative resolution in Ketchikan that reasserts constitutional protections.
Mayor Dial views this as a civil rights issue, and said the resolution he proposes seeks to reassure the citizens of the First City that their liberties and privacy are important and will be protected.
He stressed that this is not his statement on the vaccine, either for or against. He wants the vaccine to be made available to all who want it, as quickly as possible. His resolution to protect the civil liberties of residents of his community is being offered to the Assembly for their approval, he said.
Judicial conduct commission asks for conversation with supremes over ‘systemic racism’ confessional letter
A “systemic racism” letter penned by and signed by the Alaska Supreme Court and posted on its State of Alaska website in early June prompted robust conversation at the commission that deals with complaints about judges in Alaska.
Now, the commissioners would like a conversation with the Supreme Court justices who signed it.
The letter made its way to the commission agenda in August, when long-time member Robert Sheldon raised a concern about the appearance of the Supreme Court justices condemning the justice system in Alaska; the discussion about the letter was tabled until Dec. 11.
Must Read Alaska wrote about the letter in June:
During the Dec. 11 meeting, the commissioners heard more of Sheldon’s concerns. Front and center, he said that the justices had a choice: They could have acknowledged that Alaska has done more for its primary minority population than any place in history with extensive reparations. He also pointed out that the letter the justices signed was eerily similar to the one penned by the Massachusetts Supreme Court, and other courts around the nation in an effort that seemed coordinated.
Ultimately, Sheldon prevailed in his motion to have the Judicial Conduct Commission write a letter to the Supreme Court justices and invite them in for a private conversation about what they meant by the letter, and how it came to be written.
The commission voted 5-3 to make the request of the justices, recognizing that they may, if they choose, simply refuse to talk to the commission.
Background: In June, shortly after the death of George Floyd, a number of courts around the nation signed confessional letters taking responsibility for racism. Alaska’s Supreme Court letter echoed the phrasing of others, indicating there was a coordinated effort, which appears to have been coordinated by the National Center for State Courts.
Few of them were as radical as Washington Supreme Court’s confessional, which states, in part,
“As judges, we must recognize the role we have played in devaluing black lives. This very court once held that a cemetery could lawfully deny grieving black parents the right to bury their infant. We cannot undo this wrong⸺but we can recognize our ability to do better in the future. We can develop a greater awareness of our own conscious and unconscious biases in order to make just decisions in individual cases, and we can administer justice and support court rules in a way that brings greater racial justice to our system as a whole.”
Alaska’s Supreme Court wrote, in part,
“We recognize that too often African-Americans, Alaska Natives, and other people of color are not treated with the same dignity and respect as white members of our communities. And we recognize that as community members, lawyers, and especially as judicial officers, we must do more to change this reality….As judges we must examine what those changes must be, what biases – both conscious and unconscious – we bring, and how we can improve our justice system so that all who enter may be its judges reflect the community that we serve.assured they will receive equal treatment. We must continue our efforts to make our court system and its judges reflect the community that we serve.”
California’s Chief Justice also wrote, in part,
..We must continue to remove barriers to access and fairness, to address conscious and unconscious bias—and yes, racism…
Massachusetts’ chief justices wrote, in part,
As judges, we must look afresh at what we are doing, or failing to do, to root out any conscious and unconscious bias in our courtrooms; to ensure that the justice provided to African-Americans is the same that is provided to white Americans; to create in our courtrooms, our corner of the world, a place where all are truly equal.
The complete list of confessional letters from judges and justices is at this NCSC link.
Sheldon on Friday expounded on the Alaska exceptionalism in the court system, and said the statement by the Alaska justices was in error or at least ill-advised.
Alaska has completed four reparation cycles, he said, including the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, two recapitalizations of Native corporations, and land grants for Native Vietnam veterans.
Alaska’s largest corporations are owned by Natives, he pointed out.
Every Alaskan gets a Permanent Fund dividend, which is viewed by many as a form of universal basic income, Sheldon said.
In his 13 years on the Judicial Conduct Commission, the commission has investigated or reviewed each complaint of bias, whether or not it was even jurisdictional, he said.
More of the commission’s discussion of whether to have the justices respond to them on the topic of their letter is at this YouTube link:
Alaska’s Commission on Judicial Conduct oversees the conduct of justices of the Alaska Supreme Court, judges of the state court of appeals, state superior court judges, and state district court judges.
Tom Williams: Leadership and integrity, or smoke and mirrors on Cascade Point?
By TOM WILLIAMS
Last May I was a signatory to a letter to Gov. Mike Dunleavy asking the governor to direct the Department of Transportation to sign a lease with Goldbelt Inc. and begin construction of a ferry terminal at Cascade Point.
The letter outlined a whole host of reasons for making the project happen without further delay, including a wide range of political and labor support for the project.
In its September report to the governor, the Alaska Marine Highway Working Group lead by Vice Admiral Tom Barrett also recommended the Cascade Point project as a way to improve service and reduce costs.
Although the governor and his chief of staff have publicly stated they support a Cascade Point ferry terminal, the project is languishing while the clock runs on the $42 million of state funds appropriated and available to pay for it.
If those funds are not obligated without any more delays, legislators across the state will target those funds for projects in their own districts. When that happens, the governor may be tempted to use the money as a bargaining chip, dooming the Cascade Point project.
In a public meeting last month Goldbelt CEO McHugh Pierre advised Chief of Staff Ben Stevens that he has provided the Department of Transportation a proposed land lease based on previously approved state leases.
Pierre has also stated that Goldbelt is ready, willing and able to work with the State to make a ferry terminal at Cascade Point a reality, a necessary step in improving the Alaska Marine Highway System.
Getting any bureaucracy, including DOTPF, to implement a Governor’s policy can be a challenge, especially if there are those in the bureaucracy that either do not support or outright opposed the policy.
However, I know from personal experience that if you are committed to getting something done, you can actually get the bureaucracy to do it and do it timely. But it takes leadership, commitment, determination, clear communication and constant follow-up.
Juneau Access supporters listened to former Gov. Bill Walker promise that he supported the Juneau Access road, and then string them along until he finally announced that he didn’t support the project after all. We all know what it is like to be told by politicians what we want to hear, but not get any actual results.
With regard to a Cascade Point ferry terminal there are several questions that need to be asked. Does the governor or his staff not know how to get this done? Is the governor and his staff letting DOTPF subvert his policy, by outright opposing it or intentionally slowing the process? Are there exempt and partially exempt DOTPF staff that need to be replaced? Or does the governor not really support this project?
Carly Fiorina once made an observation in response to a statement made by Hillary Clinton. Carly correctly noted that, “Travel is an activity, not an accomplishment.” There is a corollary to that statement. “It is not what you do all day, it is what you get done that counts.”
The bottom line is this: When can we expect a land lease with Goldbelt to be signed and construction of a Cascade Point ferry terminal to be put out for bid?
The answer to that question will indicate whether Gov. Dunleavy is a leader, good for his word, or just another politician, no different than his predecessor Bill Walker.
Tom Williams is a 43-year resident of Juneau with both private sector and public sector experience, including 18 years of Alaska executive and legislative branch service.
Dunleavy says we need the full dividend for economic stabilization in Alaska
Gov. Mike Dunleavy is proposing an economic stabilization dividend, which would be the rest of the 2020 Permanent Fund dividend of approximately $1,900, a full statutory PFD for 2021, for a total of a $5 billion recovery package delivering nearly $5,000 to each eligible Alaskan.
Today, Dunleavy said that 40,000 Alaskans are now on unemployment, businesses are in trouble and many are closing their doors, and Alaska is in the middle of a 100-year crisis, with oil prices, tourism, fisheries, and a pandemic creating a perfect storm.
He said the Permanent Fund has grown by more than $1 billion per month during the pandemic, (and is now at over $72 billion.) Dunleavy is proposing to use half of the growth on recovery.
“This year has presented Alaskans with challenges unlike any we’ve experienced in this lifetime. The widespread global pandemic led to economic devastation for every sector of Alaska’s economy. In the face of this, Alaskans adapted and overcame many hurdles, successfully completing a construction season and a safe fishing season. The state and federal government partnered to distribute $2.3 billion of Federal CARES Act funds to Alaska businesses, $1.3 billion to Alaskan workers, and $568.6 million in community assistance,” he said in a statement.
More details of his budget are at this link.
Dunleavy is proposing the first bond proposal in 10 years of $300-$350 million for roads to resources, renewable energy, infrastructure. It would leverage $54 million in state funding for a $1.4 billion capital budget.
The savings accounts are all gone, he said, calling once again for the three constitutional amendments he wanted for the past two years, which got no traction in the Legislature:
- A cap on government spending
- Require a vote of the people to pass new taxes
- Constitutionally protect the Permanent Fund and the Dividend
State revenue forecast leaves huge budget gap
The Department of Revenue’s Fall 2020 Revenue Sources Book today forecasted that funding from the Permanent Fund Earnings Reserve account will be $1.6 billion in this fiscal year, and will be only $1.2 billion in both FY 2021 and 2022.
The Permanent Fund is expected to transfer $3.1 billion to the General Fund in both fiscal years, which begin July 1, 2021. These amounts include funds for general government spending.
The forecast indicates that the State of Alaska’s budget gap is much larger than it was last year.
Between continued growth of the fund and continued low oil prices, the Permanent Fund transfer is now the state’s largest source of UGF revenue, contributing 65% of undesignated general funds in FY 2020 and projected to contribute at least 67% for each of the next 10 years.
The current balance of the Earnings Reserve Account of the Permanent Fund is $6.7 billion, including realized and unrealized gains.
The fund itself has a value of over $70 billion but that fluctuates with the market and is not liquid assets. It cannot be accessed by the Legislature.
For FY 2020, Alaska North Slope oil prices averaged $52.12 per barrel.
ANS oil price of $45.32 per barrel for FY 2021 and $48.00 per barrel for FY 2022.
For FY 2020, ANS oil production averaged 472,200 barrels per day. ANS oil production is expected to average 477,300 barrels per day in FY 2021 and 439,600 barrels per day in FY 2022, before climbing to 481,800 barrels per day by FY 2030.
Drilling and investment were sharply reduced over the past year, and are reflected in the lower near-term forecast, but the department is optimistic that new developments will contribute to stabilizing production over the coming decade.
The Revenue Sources Book is an annual publication that provides basic information about state revenue, as well as a forecast of state revenue over the next ten years.
The Revenue Sources Book is at www.tax.alaska.gov.
