One-third of Alaska’s population — those in the Anchorage municipality from Girdwood to Chugiak — will be subject to a mask mandate implemented by Mayor Ethan Berkowitz.
All persons inside of Anchorage, as of Monday at 8 am, will need to mask their nose and mouths if they are in a public building or place such as restaurant, bar, store, or other facility.
Berkowitz said he is “astounded” at all the uninformed pushback he has heard against the mask mandate. “I am just astounded by the number of constitutional scholars in our community,” he said.
Berkowitz said he had three options: Do nothing and let the COVID-19 virus spread, enact a mask mandate, or shut down the economy once again. He chose the mask mandate as the least consequential choice in terms of how it negatively impacts people.
There are exceptions: Young children, those with certain health conditions or breathing problems, and if a mask would interfere with your duties in some way.
He said that he does not expect people to wear masks when they are eating in a restaurant or sipping a beverage.
“It helps generate consumer confidence in the marketplace,” he said. “People don’t feel safe going to restaurant. They don’t feel safe going to bars. They don’t feel safe going to stores.”
He pointed to an op-ed in the Anchorage Daily News authored by “a number of economists and they came to the same conclusion.”
(Four of the six authors of that op-ed had also signed the recall petition against Gov. Mike Dunleavy, and the two that did not are not registered voters in Alaska.) Many of Dunleavy’s supporters across the state do not support a mask mandate and he has been reluctant to force Alaskans to mask up.
Berkowitz said that the mandate “can extend” to office settings where people are not in contact with the public.
The end date for the mask mandate is the end of July, Berkowitz said.
Calls to take down the statue of William Henry Seward from the Court Plaza across from the Capitol in downtown Juneau accelerated after a petition (directed to Juneau state Sen. Jesse Kiehl and Juneau Rep. Sara Hannan) circulated online.
Citing Seward as a symbol of American imperialism and colonialism as reasons to remove his statue they deem offensive, activists accompanied their demands with pleas for unity, reconciliation, and respect for individual differences.
Win Gruening
Will removing or replacing Seward’s statue accomplish this or will it just sow more division and feelings of resentment?
The 6-foot bronze sculpture of abolitionist and Secretary of State William Seward, the work of Ketchikan-based sculptor David Rubin, was unveiled on July 3, 2017.
It marked the 150th anniversary of the 1867 purchase transferring Alaska from Imperial Russia to the United States.
As the single most persistent and persuasive voice supporting the purchase, Seward was instrumental in modern-day Alaska’s founding, first as a territory and eventually as our nation’s 49th state. It’s entirely appropriate that he be honored for his role in Alaska’s history and his statue be sited near the state capitol.
There is hardly unanimity of opinion among Native leaders regarding Seward’s legacy.
“Across the Shaman’s River” author Dan Henry wrote that when Seward visited Klukwan two years after the purchase in 1869, he was received with great respect and exchanged gifts with Koh’klux, a fearsome Tlingit leader. Henry writes because of that respect: “…he (Koh’klux} tattooed Seward’s name in his arm…and finally freed his own slaves in 1883, twenty-one years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.”
Noted Alaskan Native leader, politician, and educator, Willie Hensley, in his 2017 article re-published in Smithsonian Magazine commemorating the Alaska Purchase anniversary, concluded with this quote:
“As the United States celebrates the signing of the Treaty of Cession, we all – Alaskans, Natives and Americans of the lower 48 – should salute Secretary of State William H. Seward, the man who eventually brought democracy and the rule of law to Alaska.”
Nevertheless, it’s appropriate to call attention to the fact that indigenous people were neither consulted on the purchase nor immediately granted citizenship in their new country. After many years, this injustice has been acknowledged in a myriad of ways.
In 1945, the advocacy of Elizabeth Peratrovich, a Petersburg-born Tlingit, resulted in the passage of the territory’s Anti-Discrimination Act, the first such law in the United States. Her impassioned testimony before the territorial legislature was considered decisive in its passage when she stated:
“I would not have expected that I, who am barely out of savagery, would have to remind gentlemen with five thousand years of recorded civilization behind them, of our Bill of Rights.”
In 1971, after the tireless advocacy of Willie Hensley and other Native leaders, Congress passed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). It was the largest land claims settlement in United States history. ANCSA sought to resolve (and provide compensation for) long-standing aboriginal land claims in Alaska.
Speaking at the Seward statue dedication, Alaska’s first Native Lt. Gov, Byron Mallott, expressed hope for Alaska reaching the potential that Seward envisioned. Mallott also speculated Seward would have appreciated the exceptional negotiating skills of Alaska Native tribes when ANCSA was enacted.
“Like the Brooklyn Bridge, Alaska Natives sold Alaska again in 1971 for a bit more than $7.2 million,” Mallott said. “(Our compensation)…was for a billion dollars and 44 million acres of land.”
Even without the land and after adjusting for inflation, ANCSA’s monetary settlement dwarfed Alaska’s original purchase price. Then, under a special tax exemption engineered by Sen. Ted Stevens, between 1986 and 1988, Alaska Native corporations reaped another bonanza by selling an estimated $1.5 billion in net operating losses for $445 million in revenues.
Today, Alaska Natives populate our legislature, corporation boardrooms, social and civic organizations, and wield considerable political power.
The progress made since 1867 doesn’t diminish past injustices inflicted on Native people which must be part of any fair recounting of Alaska’s history. Nor does it mean we shouldn’t continue to recognize the historical rights and contributions of Alaska Natives.
But taking down Seward’s statue won’t make our history more fair, nor will it advance the cause of Alaska Natives.
It’s been suggested that Seward’s statue be replaced by one honoring Elizabeth Peratrovich. Why not commemorate her in an equally visible location – perhaps in front of the Alaska State Museum?
Elizabeth Peratrovich represents a shining example of Alaskans’ determination to eliminate discrimination and establish equal rights in our state.
But elevating Peratrovich over Seward detracts from that message. Each of them occupies a unique place in time in Alaska history.
A balanced view of history demands that both should be preserved.
Win Gruening retired as the senior vice president in charge of business banking for Key Bank in 2012. He was born and raised in Juneau and graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1970. He is active in community affairs as a 30-plus year member of Juneau Downtown Rotary Club and has been involved in various local and statewide organizations.
Anchorage resident Bernadette Wilson has started a fundraising campaign to produce high-quality videos featuring local doctors who have concerns about an upcoming face mask mandate that Mayor Ethan Berkowitz has warned he will order.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/truth-unmasked
Wilson said that the doctors who are willing to help with the message have already stuck their neck out during public testimony at the Anchorage Assembly meeting earlier this week. And she has a production team willing to turn around a few videos of about two minutes each.
She plans to raise at least $1,500 for the videos, and then purchase social media space and radio ads to educate the public about two main topics:
The alternative viewpoint that doctors have regarding masks for the general public, in the doctors’ own words.
The legal rights the public has regarding the mask mandate and how to proceed if you are denied service due to the mask mandate.
As of Thursday afternoon, her Truth Unmasked project had already raised $1,270.
Wilson was the recent organizer of the Open Anchorage rolling rally and the impromptu Memorial Day observance in Anchorage, after Mayor Ethan Berkowitz had cancelled the city-sponsored event.
She said any excess funds donated will be used to purchase radio ad time to get the messages out about legal rights for those who cannot wear masks.
Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz has turned the fate of the Captain Cook statue over to the Village of Eklutna, he said on the Tom Anderson Show on KVNT on Thursday morning.
Anderson asked the mayor what he had intended to with with the bronze statue that stands at Resolution Park along the Anchorage waterfront downtown.
An online petition to have the statue taken down is active at Change.org.
Berkowitz said he’s turning the statue’s fate over to the Village of Eklutna, which he says Anchorage has government-to-government relations with. Because they are a sovereign government, he has given them control over the statue’s future.
“Because the desire to take it down is borne of some of the historic concerns about injustice in the way the colonialists treated the Native people, we have given the process of what to do with the statue to the Native village of Eklutna. We have a government-to-government relationship. It is a sovereign-to-sovereign relationship,” Berkowitz said.
He explained that Eklutna Chief Aaron Leggett will set up a process in consultation with other tribes in the region to decide the fate of the statue — it could come down or it could be “contextualized.”
The village of Eklutna is within the Municipality of Anchorage, but lies 24 miles northeast of Anchorage near Mile 142 of the Alaska Railroad and Mile 26 of the Glenn Highway. About 70 people live in Eklutna; they are either all or part Native.
Berkowitz said that Captain Cook was only in the Inlet for a couple of weeks, and the people who had lived there for centuries have the right to determine what happens to the statue.
Give a listen to that segment of the Tom Anderson Show:
Candidate for Anchorage Mayor Forrest Dunbar has been pondering the U.S. Constitution lately and how this moment of civil unrest in the country, coupled with funds from the CARES Act and the new alcohol tax, can lead to a restructuring of the economy to make things more equitable.
“The fact is, that at that time, if you weren’t a white, landholding man, you were systematically excluded from those conversations. And we are still dealing with that legacy today,” he said during his closing comments at the regular Assembly meeting on Tuesday.
Dunbar then referred to a book by Akhil Amar: “The Constitution Biography,” that discusses constitutional law. Amar, a Yale Law School graduate, was named by Democrat Presidential Candidate Mike Gravel as someone he would appoint to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“What becomes inescapable when you read it is how shot through every portion of our constitutional law is with race when it comes to the three-fifths compromise, the way the Senate was apportioned in Congress, the Electoral College,” he said.
“All of it. All of it was tied to race,” Dunbar said, referring to the founding documents.
Dunbar said the country is now in a unique moment when the nation, state, and city can work on eliminating systemic racism by using tax funds that are newly available.
“We have this unique pot of money from the CARES Act, and we have another pot of money coming from the alcohol tax, and we have the ability to spend it in such a way where we can promote equity, and where we can materially improve the lives of the people of this city, and we can hopefully set up our economy to function long into the future,” Dunbar said.
NEIGHBOR: MAYOR BERKOWITZ WEARS MASK ONLY WHEN ON STAGE
Even as Alaska House Democrats posted a press release on Wednesday saying that hundreds of doctors want a face mask mandate for Alaskans and that “additional resources are also needed to enforce health mandates across Alaska,” not all doctors in Alaska are on board.
Three doctors testifying at Tuesday’s Anchorage Assembly meeting had a different viewpoint than the ones aligned with House Democrats.
Dr. Shawn Degler, an Anchorage anesthesiologist, told the Assembly that he can be considered a subject expert in face masks because he wears a mask all day due to his work but takes great pains to never touch his face.
He testified that personal liberty is a high societal value and that a mask mandate should only be used in extreme circumstances “where there’s compelling data and such interventions will merit the violation of the public’s rights.”
“To be clear, I’m not against wearing masks,” Degler said, adding that he has taken many precautions since the emergence of the COVID-19 virus, even going so far as to self-quarantine from his family during times he was caring for possible COVID-19 patients.
But he said this is not an extreme circumstance that overrides liberty:
Dr. David Paulson, a neurosurgeon, also spoke to the Assembly, observing that everyone who was wearing masks on the Assembly panel was constantly adjusting their masks and touching them, an unsafe practice that defeats the purpose of the mask:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoJgPxa1OV4
Dr. David Paulson, a neurosurgeon, discusses why there should not be a general mask mandate.
Throughout the meeting on Tuesday, Assembly members and some of the public testifiers pulled and tugged at their face masks, contaminating everything they touched with their fingers afterward. Testifiers pulled their masks down to speak, then used their hands to adjust the microphone, and then touched their masks again to put them back on.
Jasmin Smith, organizer of a Black Lives Matter rally earlier this year, pulls down her mask to testify on Tuesday about a grievance she has with an Assembly member, touching her mask in a way that is not recommended by medical professionals.
Assembly Chair Felix Rivera was one of the most visible repeat offenders, sitting in the center of the panel of elected officials and constantly fidgeting with his cloth mask while he kept the agenda moving.
Then came to testify Anchorage resident Rosalyn Griffin, a neighbor of Mayor Ethan Berkowitz, who said she observes him every day not wearing a mask — when not on camera.
Berkowitz is preparing to mandate face coverings for Anchorage residents and visitors through the use of his emergency powers granted by the Assembly. He said during the meeting that he’s likely to do so within days because “there is disregard for some of the public health measures that have kept us safe to this point.”
Griffin said that the mayor is setting the standard by his own behavior and she will not wear a mask if he won’t.
“Don’t put into law what you’re not doing at home,” Griffin said. The room applauded her enthusiastically.
Berkowitz was later seen in the back of the Assembly chambers conferring closely with Assembly member Austin Quinn-Davidson. He had no mask on, and was whispering into her face, which was only covered with a homemade cloth mask.
Mayor Ethan Berkowitz in the back of the Assembly Chambers, with no mask, speaking closely to Assembly member Austin Quinn-Davidson.
Many businesses and public buildings, such as Costco, Anchorage City Hall, and state ferries now require people to wear face masks when inside those facilities.
Other states and cities around the country have implemented mask mandates such as the one that Mayor Berkowitz is prepared to roll out. None of the mandates around the country that Must Read Alaska researched come with expiration dates on them — they are open ended laws.
The mandates have wide variability between jurisdictions. In Orange County, Florida, the home of Disney World, the county mandate makes an exception for government workers:
In Lincoln County, Oregon, the mask mandate comes with an exception for persons of color who feel that wearing a mask will expose them to racist profiling.
Lincoln County, Oregon has mandated face masks for everyone, except for persons of color who are fearful they will be racially profiled or harassed.
The coastal county’s health department announced that all residents must wear face coverings in public settings where they may come within six feet of each other.
Other exceptions include people with medical conditions.
Lincoln County is the home of Lincoln City, Newport, Depot Beach, and Yachats, all rural logging and cow grazing country along the Pacific Ocean, with a population of 46,034.
The racial makeup of the county is 90.59% White, 0.30% Black or African American, 3.14% Native American, 0.93% Asian, 0.16% Pacific Islander, 1.66% from other races, and 3.23% from two or more races. 4.76% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race, according to the 2010 Census.
Bernadette Wilson, an Anchorage political activist, was sitting at home, monitoring the Anchorage Assembly meeting online, when she noticed two individuals lying on the floor directly in front of the Assembly panel.
Just lying there.
Earlier, the two had been doing pushups in the space between the podium for public testimony and the Assembly. But for most of the meeting, they just were prone, gazing up at the ceiling.
No one on the Assembly asked them to leave. No one in the audience knew what to make of it, but finally when it was time for public testimony, Dave Bronson scolded the Assembly Chair Felix Rivera for turning the proceedings into a circus.
“Dick Traini would never have allowed this,” Bronson said, referring to former assemblyman. Bronson told Must Read Alaska that for the Assembly to allow the antics in front of them shows disrespect for the institution of lawmaking.
“They need to stop with their virtue signaling and start treating this with respect,” Bronson said today.
Meanwhile, Wilson, watching the meeting from home, also decided that enough was enough. She grabbed a white plastic bucket and wrote “TIPS” on it, and drove to the Loussac Library, where the Assembly meets.
Without announcing anything in advance, Wilson strode to the front of the chambers and set the “tip bucket” down by the protesters. Then she walked out.
One of the protesters is known as MoHagani Magnetek, who is a transgender activist and performer who occasionally runs for office, most recently against Austin Quinn-Davidson. Born a man, Magnetek is in the process of living as a woman, although he has the burly body of a man and did pushups before the meeting, as captured in the video:
The other protester calls him/herself Dana Dardis, a person who is also involved in the petition to take down the statue of Captain James Cook at Resolution Park in Anchorage.
Dardis said on Facebook that the protest was because of racism, sexism, COVID-19, intersectionality, incarceration, children in cages, LGBTQ, and the “whiteness of the Assembly,” among other complaints. Dardis claimed that people of color are being attacked by design.
It wasn’t long before the tip bucket was removed to the hallway by a municipal staff member, but the protesters were able to continue on with their antics and eventually they testified.
Three Anchorage Assembly members introduced an ordinance Tuesday that would make it illegal for counselors to help teenagers seeking to overcome unwanted same-sex attractions or gender identity confusion issues.
The ordinance would use the full force of government to require all counselors to endorse the gay lifestyle and transgenderism when dealing with minors. Assembly Chair, Felix Rivera, Austin Quinn-Davidson, and Christopher Constant introduced the ordinance. All three do not have children and all are openly gay.
“Contemporary science recognizes that being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender is part of the natural spectrum of human identity and is not a disease, disorder, or illness,” the ordinance reads in part.
The ordinance endorsing homosexuality and transgenderism may not sit well with traditionalists that typically evaluate such matters based on the teachings of their faith. Many Christians view homosexuality as an unhealthy distortion of God’s original design. They see the practice as self-destructive leading to a life of unhappiness. They believe homosexuality is a counterfeit of God’s purpose for sex which they view as best practiced between a man and a woman living together under the marriage covenant.
Scriptures are clear on homosexuality. The Bible describes those who practice gay sex as depraved, detestable, inflamed with lust, and haters of God.
The Christian worldview on homosexuality has steadily lost favor with many Americans through the years, especially among the young. Typically, pastors and clergy are fearful of taking on the topic from the pulpit worried they’ll lose parishioners.
Pew Research found 60% opposed same-sex marriage while 31% favored it in 2004. But a 2019 Pew poll showed the numbers flipped with 61% now favoring same-sex marriage.
It’s no secret we are in the midst of an intense culture war between those who favor traditional family values and those who loath them and in the case of Tuesday’s Assembly ordinance, want to make some of them illegal.
The Marxist social justice warriors backed by a mostly leftist media are taking advantage of the changing attitudes to legislate away family values traditionalists hold dear. One of the biggest differences between the two factions is traditionalists don’t seek to advance their agenda through changing laws. No one is calling for making illegal the practice of homosexuality.
But Tuesday’s Assembly ordinance would make it illegal for counselors, even some that work for churches, from discouraging teens from changing their gender or practicing gay sex.
“The Anchorage Assembly desires to protect minors within the Municipality from harmful and discredited approaches to change sexual orientation or gender identity with minors, including so-called “conversion” or “reparative” therapy,” reads the ordinance.
The municipality would fine counselors $500 for each day they violate the ordinance. The ordinance also opens the door for lawyers to step in and make money by targeting counselors.
“Any person aggrieved, harmed, injured, or suffering loss or damage” could be eligible for injunctive relief.
This provision will allow lawyers to seek out faith-based counselors refusing to endorse sex changes and gay sex and take them to court for damages. Much like attorneys have targeted cake makers and wedding photographers for not participating in gay weddings.
Social justice warriors like Rivera, Quinn-Davidson and Constant are savvy enough to advance their radical agenda only up to the point it won’t cost them their power.
The website, The Alaska Watchman reports Constant told an LBGT news site he was waiting until after the April election to introduce Tuesday’s ordinance “because his fellow gay Assembly members Rivera and Quinn-Davidson were up for reelection.”
Imagine what social justice warriors like Constant, Rivera and Quinn-Davidson would propose if they thought they could get away with it politically.
Dan Fagan hosts a radio show on Newsradio 650 KENI from 5:40 to 8 A.M.
