CHARR CEO SAYS MANY ANCHORAGE BUSINESSES WILL GO UNDER

“Life is a cabaret, old chum. Come to the cabaret!” – from the 1966 musical Cabaret

The CEO of the Cabaret, Hotel, Restaurant, and Retailers Association has written a letter to the group’s entire membership statewide, expressing her deep disappointment in the actions of Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz.

Sarah Daulton Oates, who just weeks ago stood side by side with the mayor as he announced massive reductions in capacity at restaurants and bars, and other emergency pandemic measures that crushed retailers, is standing by him no longer.

” You have undoubtedly heard by now about this afternoon’s announcement by Mayor Berkowitz that Emergency Order 15 (EO-15) will go into effect on Monday, August 3. EO-15 mandates a ‘four-week reset’ through limitations for individuals, gathering sizes, bars and nightclubs, restaurants and breweries, and bingo halls and theaters. 

“More specifically, bars and nightclubs will be required to close except for takeout and delivery service, and restaurants and breweries will be required to close all indoor dining and drinking,” she wrote.

Oates said her letter was going statewide because she believes it is likely that other municipalities will follow Berkowitz’ lead.

“I can’t even begin to describe my current level of disappointment, heartache, and anger. To tell you the truth, I bawled for over ten minutes after receiving the news, as I know how devastating another closure will be to many of you. The last five months have been unbelievably trying for all of us, and my emotions finally came to a head,” she wrote.

Oates had tried to work with the mayor, and stood by him with the reduction of services, the closures and the mask mandates. But now, returning to a shutdown is too much.

“Our weeks of collaboration and negotiations that resulted in EO-14 (dialing back hospitality establishments to essentially Phase 2) were very encouraging. But the Municipality hasn’t given that order time to know whether it’s made a difference. Yet again, our lone industry has been singled out.”

“It’s important for me to also note that during his press conference, Mayor Berkowitz misled viewers when he stated that he has been keeping Alaska CHARR apprised on this pending shutdown. After weeks of talking with members of his administration on a daily basis, I suddenly received zero communications from them after EO-14 went into effect. Instead, I received forewarning only two hours before the press conference this morning,” Oates wrote.

“I’m very disappointed that the communication from the Municipality with the industry was discontinued once closures were again being considered. Outdoor dining is just not an option for many businesses. It is my opinion that relying on pending legislation at the federal level to save businesses, particularly when House Democrats and Senate Republicans are miles apart on many of the issues, is ludicrous.

“Regardless of our tireless efforts at the local, state, and federal levels, and regardless of what happens with the HEROES and HEALS legislation, I believe that we will see a significant number of permanent closures over the next year of our local bars and restaurants that we own, know, and love. 

“My heart is breaking for our industry and the Anchorage community right now,” – Oates wrote.

“Please know that our team will continue to fight for all of you. Governor Dunleavy assured me during my call with him this Monday that he would continue to defer to local governments for at least the next three weeks, rather than considering statewide mandates or closures. With that, our efforts are focused on a federal aid package, continuing to work with AMCO and the ABC Board, and assisting our affiliates around the state when they request help on local issues,” Oates wrote.

If you want to eat out at a restaurant or go to church in Anchorage, you’ll need to do it this weekend.

As of Monday, Anchorage will be yet again in a lockdown mode. No more indoor dining. No more church. No more bingo halls, bars, or breweries that can’t provide outdoor seating.

Mayor Ethan Berkowitz signed Emergency Order 15 on Friday, saying Anchorage had just experienced “our worst week of the epidemic as measured by new cases, active cases, and cases per day. New local cases are being found at more than double the rate of last week. The number of cases has exceeded the Anchorage Health Department’s capacity to rapidly trace and monitor every known case.”

The mayor said that “more people are in the hospital with COVID-19 in Anchorage now than at any point in the epidemic, and modeling from the University of Alaska Anchorage shows a deteriorating situation in which Anchorage exceeds hospital ICU capacity by mid-September if we don’t act immediately to flatten the curve.”

In fact, there were 28 people in Alaska hospitals who have COVID-19 on Friday, the lowest number in nine days. Three were on ventilators. 75 new cases of the coronavirus were identified in Anchorage on Friday and cases in the city are clearly on the rise, in spite of the mask mandate the mayor put in place over a month ago.

The Emergency Order begins Aug. 3 at 8 am and is in effect until Aug. 30 at midnight, requires extreme limits for the next months on all gatherings, bars, nightclubs, restaurants, breweries, bingo halls, and theaters.

• The mask mandate is also continued for another month for anyone outside of their household if they come into contact with people.
• At-risk individuals are asked to stay home.
• Anyone with symptoms that might be COVID-19 must stay home except for medical care and testing.
• Those coming into Anchorage from out of state must quarantine for 14 days.
• No gatherings of over 15 people.
• Outdoor gatherings that do not involve food or drink are limited to 50 people.
• Masks must be worn at all gatherings.
• Farmers markets are exempted.
• Outdoor food-truck events, and drive-in events where groups remain in separate vehicles and maintain physical distancing are exempted.
• Day cares, day camps, and K-12 schools are exempt.
• All workers who can work from home are required to do so.
• Bars and nightclubs are closed to dine-in service.
• Restaurants and breweries are closed to indoor dining.
• Bingo halls and theaters closed.
• Mayor Berkowitz extended the mask mandate effective today and remains in effect until modified or revoked. In other words, masks are required indefinitely.

On Tuesday, the Anchorage Assembly extended Mayor Berkowitz’s Proclamation of Emergency until Oct. 16. This action extends previous emergency orders that are in effect until modified, revoked, or until the end of the Proclamation of Emergency.

The men and women in blue are endorsing Sen. Dan Sullivan and Congressman Don Young this cycle, turning away from their Democrat challengers and supporting those who don’t want to defund the police.

The Public Safety Employees Association, PSEA, voted Thursday to endorse the two Republican incumbents.

“These are the people who keep our communities safe, and Congressman Young has long been a supporter of our men and women in blue,” said Truman Reed, campaign manager. “He is honored to receive and thankful to receive this endorsement from PSEA.”

The Alaska House of Representatives Committee on Committees unanimously supported Speaker Bryce Edgmon’s choice for the Alaska Redistricting Board, according to a source that was close to the committee.

That means four Republicans denied their own party a conservative pick to the board that will shape the political destiny of Alaska for the next decade.

Although Nicole Borromeo is not the most radical member of any Redistricting Board in the state’s history, she is close. Perhaps only Vikki Otte and Julian Mason of the 2001 Redistricting Board are more to the left of Borromeo, who is a Doyon shareholder. She was a leader and spokesperson in the successful ouster of sitting Judge Michael Corey in 2018, and she was outspoken against the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Read the letter she signed here.

Borromeo also signed the petition to recall the governor.

The concern about the Redistricting Board going blue all started in 2019. Edgmon, a Democrat who only became an undeclared voter in order to become Speaker, had signed a pledge in February of 2019 that said his pick to the board would meet with the approval of the majority of the Committee on Committees, which was mainly Republican, albeit Republicans who had abandoned their fellow Republican Majority.

That single line was part of the binding caucus agreement that seven Republicans cobbled together to put him in the Speaker’s chair for the past two years, even though he is a lifelong Democrat. The House of Representatives has a clear majority of Republicans, with 23 of the 40 seats. In fact, it had been controlled by Republicans for decades. Then seven Republicans went over to the other side and created a deal for themselves.

On Feb. 13, 2019, one day before the binding caucus agreement was signed, Must Read Alaska wrote: “Giving Edgmon the Speaker’s gavel effectively gives the Democrats one seat on the five-member redistricting board, something Republicans are opposed to.”

There are just 15 Democrats and two members who are undeclared in the House. The seat on the Redistricting Board was supposed to be chosen by a Republican Speaker — but that was denied by the “unity” ticket approach that installed a Democrat at its head.

The four Republicans on the Committee on Committees who supported this choice for Redistricting are Louise Stutes, Jennifer Johnston, Chuck Kopp and Steve Thompson. Neal Foser and Bryce Edgmon are the only two Democrats actually on the committee.

According to MRAK sources, the committee met telephonically with all members present except for Rep. Chuck Kopp, who was fishing in Bristol Bay. Edgmon said he had Kopp’s approval before the meeting.

The Redistricting Board is appointed toward the end of every U.S. Census and redraws political boundaries as populations shift. The board members must come from different areas of the state. Borromeo is in place to represent rural Alaska because she has roots in McGrath, although she lives in Anchorage.

An excellent history of Alaska redistricting can be found at this link in a master’s thesis by Chloe Cotton, while a student at Claremont College.

Only one seat remains to be named to the Redistricting Board, and it is the choice of Alaska Supreme Court Justice Joel Bolger, who has come out publicly against the Dunleavy Administration on several occasions. The other seats have been named by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who chose Bethany Marcum and E. Budd Simpson, and by Senate President Cathy Giessel, who chose John Binkley.