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Mayor Jim Matherly: Will he fend off Kathryn Dodge in Fairbanks mayor’s race?

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR
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Mayor Jim Matherly: Will he fend off Kathryn Dodge in Fairbanks mayor’s race?

MOST WATCHED RACE IN THE STATE FOR OCT. 1

By KOBE RIZK

Incumbent Fairbanks mayor Jim Matherly will face off with Democrat Kathryn Dodge in Fairbanks’ municipal election next week.

The entire state will be watching. Dodge’s campaign represents a growing progressive-left wing of the Golden Heart City’s political landscape.

Must Read Alaska caught up with Mayor Matherly recently to discuss the race and hear his pitch to swing voters unsure of their vote on October 1. 

“The stakes are pretty high in my opinion. Fairbanks is a pretty conservative town, and I hope to emulate those conservative values” said Matherly. 

The incumbent mayor cited public safety as one of his main priorities should Fairbanks residents elect him to another term. Matherly also cited the opioid epidemic as a pressing problem for the city.

“We need to get back to a fully staffed police force. It’s the only area of the city that’s not fully staffed right now, but we’re getting there. I brought on a new police chief who’s a great lady and she’s going to work really hard [to fully staff the police department]” he said. 

Matherly appointed Anchorage Police Department lieutenant Nancy Reeder to the city’s top law enforcement post in April upon the retirement of Chief Eric Jewkes. She is Fairbanks’ first female police chief. 

Matherly’s most prominent challenger, Kathryn Dodge, ran for state house in 2018, losing to incumbent Representative Bart LeBon by just one vote. She has since aimed her efforts towards local politics. Her campaign website, alaskansfordodge.com, displays endorsements from several prominent Fairbanks groups including Interior Democrats of Alaska, Planned Parenthood, and the Fairbanks Central Labor Council. 

Dodge’s supporters include numerous progressive activists in the Fairbanks area, many emboldened and angered by Matherly’s recent veto of City Ordinance 6093, the so-called “equal rights ordinance” to prevent discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. 

“I was on board [with the ordinance] originally, but after we did our work sessions…I didn’t like the way it sounded, it didn’t have a religious exemption in it and we needed to do some homework on it. The ordinance was introduced but it looked very different at the end of its period of debate.”

Matherly vetoed the ordinance after several weeks of discussion and 4-2 passage by the Fairbanks City Council. 

“I decided to veto it because I thought that an issue this big, this passionate, belonged on the ballot for the people to decide.”

When asked about his strongest opponent, Matherly refused to engage in negative campaign rhetoric. 

“Kathryn Dodge and I go back a long time and she has served Fairbanks in many different ways. That said, she’s more liberal minded than myself and she made some decisions on the borough assembly that I don’t think were in the best interest of Fairbanks.” 

Either way, it seems the candidates’ worst enemy isn’t each other. It’s voter turnout. 

“We’ve averaged 10 percent or less in the city in prior mayoral races. It’s very disheartening. In 2016 when I won for the first time, I got 1,700 votes, my opponent got 1,300 votes, and a third candidate got around 300 votes. That’s out of around 28,000 registered voters in the city limits,” he said.

And, with a progressive base emboldened by his veto last spring, Matherly reminded supporters that their votes matter more than ever. 

“Local politics is where the rubber meets the road and we’ve got to get involved…we’ve reached a place in discourse in America where disagreement means hate. I do not subscribe to that for one second” he said. 

Running for city mayor certainly isn’t an easy task, and it’s not always a fun one either. But Mayor Matherly is quick to shrug off any negativity, even during the heat of campaign season. 

“We’ve got a terrific town with a bright future, I know we do. We just need to fully staff the police department, get rid of some problem properties in town, and tackle the homelessness issue, which we’re making big strides on”.

The question for Fairbanks voters is clear: Are they on board with continuing Mayor Jim Matherly’s vision for the city over the next three years, or are they ready to take the Golden Heart City in a definitively different direction?

This question will be answered next Tuesday. If you aren’t sure of your polling place, be sure to visit this link and find out. 

Kobe Rizk is a lifelong Fairbanks resident studying history at Yale University.

What does it mean to be a Republican these days?

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
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What does it mean to be a Republican these days?

By ALISHA HILDE

What does it mean to be a Republican?

It seems there is some confusion on what it means to be a Republican these days. 

Being a Republican means your moral compass is not moved by political winds. We all have a responsibility to promote robust and respectful debate at the national, state, and local level.

Being a Republican does not mean jumping on political bandwagons. It means thinking deeply about issues and how our actions fit into the larger narrative of American history. 

Being a Republican means you support smaller government, local decision-making, and responsible spending because we’re spending the public’s money. 

It means being the adult in the room willing to tackle complex budget issues rather than pursuing simplistic wins that make for good sound bites. Republicans are smart enough to ask thoughtful questions to better understand an issue rather than rushing to conclusions.

Republicans work to prevent unnecessary regulations. That doesn’t mean preventing all regulations –things like child labor laws are necessary and good. But if we’re going to have a new regulation, it should generally lead to a greater benefit than the time and money spent creating and enforcing it. 

Republicans do not strive to control the thoughts and aspirations of others. Rather, the focus is on supporting free enterprise and preserving liberty. 

Not too long ago, Republicans knew that modeling desired behaviors is what motivates people to change. Love changes people. Love your neighbor. And treat others as you want to be treated… even on the internet.

You get one precious life. Build something. Help someone. And take to heart President Washington’s admonition that “a good moral character is the first essential in a man.”

Alisha Hilde is an attorney and life-long Republican. She lives in Anchorage with her husband and three young children. 

Rep. Sara Rasmussen to Seattle City Council: Knock it off

Suzanne Downing
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Rep. Sara Rasmussen to Seattle City Council: Knock it off

Rep. Sara Rasmussen, the freshman legislator from Anchorage District 22, wrote the Seattle City Council this week to correct the record on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Rasmussen’s letter was in response to the Seattle City Council passing a resolution to stop the Emerald City from doing business with any company that drills in ANWR.

“First and foremost, a large majority of Alaskans from across the political spectrum support drilling in ANWR. This past legislative session, a resolution in support of drilling in ANWR was overwhelmingly passed by the Alaska House of Representatives, with bipartisan support, by a vote of 36-3,” Rasmussen wrote in her role as a member of the House Natural Resource Committee.

Rasmussen added that the Inupiaq living on the North Slope – the area of the state most affected by drilling – support responsible development of resources in ANWR.

“In fact, denying them the right to develop their own land is, in a way, a violation of their economic self- determination. The resolution mentions the Gwich’in and ‘other Alaska Native tribes that live in the region,’ yet completely ignores the Inupiaq’s ownership of the land and support for responsible development,” she wrote.

Rasmussen acknowledged that Seattle has a right to choose which vendors it uses, but she argued that disqualifying vendors for their participation in resource development – an industry that employs and sustains tens of thousands of Alaskans and supports more than 113,000 jobs in the Puget Sound Region – places an undue burden on those who rely on resource development jobs to feed their families.

“I would ask that the Council reconsider its resolution and carefully consider how the City of Seattle can constructively interact with businesses and industries that sustain the people of Alaska,” she wrote.

In fact, the City of Seattle doesn’t actually do any business of note with companies that may drill in the 1002 area of ANWR’s coastal plain. Not directly anyway. But the indirect business interests are completely intertwined between Puget Sound and Alaska.

There are hundreds of businesses that operate out of Seattle and supply dozens of companies working on the North Slope. Companies like Lynden, Alaska Air, and even Amazon, which has become a significant part of the supply chain for Alaska’s business community are based in Seattle and supply goods, services, and workers to the North Slope.

Microsoft products are used all across the oil patch, from company headquarters to the oil field. Then there’s the Cherry Point and Anacortes refineries, where all Alaska crude oil gets refined before it is sent to the Sea-Tac Airport for jet fuel, and to gas stations, where the City of Seattle garbage trucks fill their fuel tanks.

Juneau Assembly hijacking taxpayers on JACC

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR
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Juneau Assembly hijacking taxpayers on JACC

By WIN GRUENING

Assembly members have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure that city-owned and taxpayer-funded facilities essential to Juneau’s role as a capital city are properly maintained before considering a public grant to a private entity.

The CBJ Assembly abdicated that responsibility when forwarding voter propositions for Juneau’s October municipal election.

Ballot Proposition 1 would increase Juneau’s bed tax, making our visitor tax burden one of the highest in the state.   This will penalize legislators and constituents visiting our capital city and will negatively affect future convention business for Centennial Hall.

However, Ballot Proposition 3, providing for a $4.5 million grant to a private non-profit, deserves the most serious scrutiny. 

In August 2018, the CBJ Assembly rejected a $12 million plan to partially fund a new and greatly enlarged Juneau Arts and Culture Center (JACC).  A new Assembly resurrected the issue in January.  Unlike the previous proposal that provided funding through property taxes (via a bond issue requiring CBJ ownership of the new JACC), the Assembly focused this time on using sales taxes.

As sales tax proceeds for capital projects were already determined after voters approved a 5-year extension of the 1% sales tax in October 2017, JACC boosters advocated an advisory vote (Proposition 3) to shift $4.5 million of those funds previously designated for Centennial Hall to the JACC.  Those monies were to be replaced with a $7.0 million bond issue (Proposition 2).

Doing that, however, forces voters to accept higher property taxes if they support the Centennial Hall funding proposition – an added handicap to its passage.

To level the playing field, the Assembly considered two changes.  The first was to ask voters to approve an increase in Juneau’s bed tax (Proposition 1) – from 7% to 9% – which would be used to reduce some of the property tax increase. 

The second change was a condition requiring the $7 million bond issue for Centennial Hall to pass before the JACC could receive the $4.5 million CBJ grant. 

This condition was critical because tying the two measures together prevented a situation where the JACC proposal could receive a positive advisory vote, but the other two propositions would fail, and Centennial Hall would be left with no way to fund necessary improvements previously authorized by voters.

This condition justified the public rationale used repeatedly to illustrate that new JACC funding would not jeopardize funding for long over-due upgrades to Centennial Hall. No one objected to this condition and it was contained in numerous drafts of the ordinance provided to the Assembly and the public – including the Assembly meeting on August 19 when the three ballot propositions were finally adopted.  

More than halfway through that final meeting, after public testimony had concluded, Assemblyman Loren Jones proposed amending the JACC advisory vote ordinance to “de-couple” the two measures and delete the condition requiring passage of both propositions. Assembly members Becker and Bryson, along with Mayor Weldon, objected strenuously to the amendment but were outvoted 6-3.

Strangely, media coverage of Jones’ last-minute maneuver was either reported incorrectly or not at all.

Why was this sudden change made and how will it affect the vote?

As public skepticism and opposition to the new JACC proposal mounted, proponents calculated it would be difficult to convince the public to say yes to both propositions – a $7 million bond issue and a $4.5 million grant – and it was advantageous for them to have each project voted on separately.

To construe this action as spontaneous and that it was not discussed improperly in advance outside of the public process stretches credulity.

While it increases prospects for JACC funding approval, it clearly lowers the chances for Centennial Hall.

Centennial Hall is a vital component of Juneau’s public facilities and economy and, as a piece of capital infrastructure, deserves a higher funding priority.  Further, our current economic climate demands that municipal finances should conserve – not squander – our resources.

The six assembly members who engaged in this bait-and-switch stunt to promote a special interest project damaged the credibility and integrity of our municipal government.

Juneau voters can send the Assembly a message.  Vote no on both Ballot Proposition 1 and Ballot Proposition 3.

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.

Dunleavy delivers unity message to Republican Party

Suzanne Downing
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Dunleavy delivers unity message to Republican Party

Gov. Michael Dunleavy gave a “won’t back down” message to Alaska Republicans in Fairbanks on Friday evening at Pike’s Landing. Woven into his talking points was full-throated support for President Donald Trump, and all that he has done for America — and Alaska. He counted off some of Trump’s accomplishments:

  • 4 million jobs created since Trump’s election.
  • More Americans employed than ever before.
  • 400,000 manufacturing jobs created since Trump’s took office.
  • Economic growth of 2.4 percent during the last quarter.
  • Unemployment at a 49-year low.
  • African-American unemployment lowest rate ever recorded.
  • Hispanic American unemployment lowest ever recorded.
  • Women’s unemployment rate is the lowest rate in 65 years.
  • Youth unemployment rate lowest in 50 years.
  • Veterans unemployment rate is lowest in 20 years.
  • 3.9 million Americans lifted off of food stamps.
  • Opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Coastal Plain to oil leasing.
  • Fighting for the people of King Cove.
  • Easing off the “roadless rule” for the Tongass National Forest.
  • Ensuring mining efforts are treated fairly by the EPA.

“It’s not the narrative the Left wants you to believe. The Left wants you to believe America is falling apart,” Dunleavy said. “But it’s not falling apart.”

“What we see in the headlines is: ‘President Trump is racist, sexist and should be impeached.’ So why are they saying these things?  They’re saying it because he won the election and they lost. He won the election and they disagree with his policies,” Dunleavy said.  

“They can’t win on their own arguments and they know it.  So, they’re not going to give the president a fair shake. Trump wins, and they go wild because they will not accept an election.”

Trump has been the subject of frivolous lawsuits, and one attack after another since the day he took office. But Dunleavy said in the four times he has met with Trump, the president has always been nonchalant about the attacks and the never-ending quest for impeachment. As they chatted on Air Force One, Trump told Dunleavy that he doesn’t need the job of president — he certainly doesn’t need the $140,000 a year. He is simply doing it because of his love for America.

Dunleavy seemed to shrug off the relentless attacks from the media and the left that are aimed at him. It’s as if he’s taken a page from the Trump playbook and decided not to worry about playing nice with the media.

“Since taking office, I’ve been above the fold of the newspaper probably more than any other governor is state history. I should have bought stock in the newspaper,” Dunleavy joked, reminding people that just two years ago the Anchorage Daily News had declared bankruptcy.

He then went through the good things that are happening in Alaska, in spite of the oil prices that fell in 2014 and impacted Alaska dramatically:

  • GDP grew 3.3 percent in the first quarter of 2019.
  • Unemployment is at 6.2 percent, the lowest it has been in nine years. 
  • Personal income grew 4.1 percent in the first quarter of 2019, greater than Alaska’s 10-year average.
  • Oil and gas employment is up over the prior year levels for several months in a row — for the first time in the past five years. 
  • Private investment on the North Slope is up and is projected to be $5.5 billion.  
  • Alaska had a record year for tourism with cruise ship passengers expected to increase by 16.5 percent next year.
  • The governor launched an “Alaska is Open for Business” initiative to draw businesses to Alaska, including timber, mining, transportation, and logistics. Dunleavy said that in the coming week the team will have announcements of large investment projects at the Anchorage Airport.  And he’s working on the rail line to Canada, which could bring hundreds of jobs across Alaska.

But as with President Trump, “the Left can’t talk about the positives that we have going on in Alaska. That’s because they lost the election and they are going to do everything they can to fight our agenda.” 

The Republican agenda he described favors a smaller government footprint, more individual freedoms, less regulation, and more jobs.

Hence, the recall efforts.

“You might ask: Isn’t this recall about your vetoes?” Dunleavy asked the audience made up of Republicans from Bettles to Juneau. “No, it’s not.  They started the recall efforts only three months after I took office.  In January. This is simply about my agenda. They’re using the vetoes as the excuse.”

“These are the people whose ideology is to disrupt, trip and hamstring the agendas and principles that made America great,” Dunleavy said. “They must be stopped or they win. They know how to cooperate with each other. They know how to work together. They are out and united to change this country and state towards their agenda. 

“You have to ask yourself — is the U.S. better under Donald Trump than it would’ve been under Hillary Clinton? 

“You have to ask yourself — is Alaska better off with me than we would be under Mark Begich?”

The press and the pundits are trying to get Alaskans to question whether they made the right choice, Dunleavy told the audience of about 100 at Pike’s Landing in Fairbanks.

“Is unemployment down? Yes. Is investment up? Yes. Is there new development and excitement about the future of our country and our state? Yes,” he said.

“Then our agenda must be doing something right.  And we must work together to forward this agenda.”

Rep. Laddie Shaw gets hero’s welcome in Fairbanks

Suzanne Downing
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Rep. Laddie Shaw gets hero’s welcome in Fairbanks

Rep. Laddie Shaw showed up at the Alaska Republican Party’s State Central Committee meeting in Fairbanks on Friday, and was given a hero’s welcome and a standing ovation.

Shaw had been denied a seat in the Senate after six Senate Republicans voted against his confirmation to Senate Seat M. The seat is vacant after the passing of Sen. Chris Birch in August.

[Read: No go: Senate Republicans take a pass on Laddie Shaw]

Shaw was introduced Friday night along with other lawmakers present, including former State Senator Pete Kelly and House Representative Dave Talerico. The audience applauded for all of them, but the heavy applause and whistles were reserved for Shaw, who was seated in a place of honor next to Gov. Michael Dunleavy.

[Read: Republicans react with shock over Laddie Shaw vote]

Shaw was nominated to be the District M senator by Republicans in his district. His name was among three forwarded to the governor, who had interviewed all three candidates before choosing Shaw.

On Thursday, the Senate Republicans met and split the vote 6-6, which denied Shaw the seat in the Senate.

Alaska Republicans won’t conduct Presidential Preference Poll

Suzanne Downing
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Alaska Republicans won’t conduct Presidential Preference Poll

PLEDGE ALL DELEGATES TO TRUMP

Alaska Republicans, meeting in Fairbanks, voted to not conduct a Presidential Preference Poll in 2020, and they approved a resolution to pledge all of their delegates to the National Convention to President Donald Trump.

“Today, the Alaska Republican Party State Central Committee (SCC) elected to pass an interim rule allowing it to determine that conducting a PPP would serve no useful purpose when we have an incumbent Republican president, such as President Trump, running for the Republican nomination for President. As that is the case in 2020, no PPP will be conducted for the 2020 presidential cycle,” the party’s statement said.

The Presidential Preference Poll is an all volunteer exercise that is like doing a caucus via ballot. It’s a complicated exercise that is conducted in all 40 House districts by party volunteers, and is especially hard to conduct in the very rural rural districts that have small communities hundreds of miles apart, and few Republicans.

[Read the Road to the White House series published earlier this week]

The vote to cancel the PPP came as most delegates to the State Central Committee realized that the $2,500 that is charged to candidates to qualify for the PPP would likely not cover the cost of producing the event, and that the minor candidate who might pay the amount would certainly not gain the 13 percent of the vote they’d need to earn one of the 28 voting delegates to the National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., Aug. 24-27, 2020.

The decision to forego the PPP frees up party activists to work on local and state campaigns, as well as the Congressional and Senate race.

Other states parties in Nevada, Arizona, Kansas, and South Carolina have cancelled their primaries. State parties have until Oct. 1 to tell the Republican National Committee what their plans are for how they will apportion their delegate votes.

Alaska Democrats are holding a full-on privately run primary on April 4, to include absentee ballots, electronic voting, early voting, and paper ballots. They have numerous candidates to choose from, as the Republicans did in 2016.

Republican Party reluctant to sanction Reps. Johnston, Kopp

Suzanne Downing
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Republican Party reluctant to sanction Reps. Johnston, Kopp

The Alaska Republican Party voted against sanctioning Reps. Jennifer Johnston and Chuck Kopp for their role in enabling the Democrats to take control of the House of Representatives through their actions in joining the Democrat caucus in February, 32 days into the session.

The caucus with the Democrats formed after the longest legislative standoff in Alaska history.

Kopp represents District 24 and Johnston represents District 28, both Anchorage districts.

The vote was 40 against sanctioning them, with 21 in favor of the motion to sanction.

The tally came after vigorous, but respectful debate about the importance of enforcing party rules vs. allowing the sanctions to emerge from the local Republican districts first, before a state party vote is held.

That’s the sequence that occurred with the sanction of Rep. Gary Knopp of Kenai in a State Central Committee meeting in May. The party had also sanctioned Reps. Gabrielle LeDoux and Louise Stutes previously, for the same general offense of joining the Democrats’ caucus and installing a Democrat speaker.

In January, Kopp and Johnston, along with Reps. Steve Thompson, Bart LeBon, Tammie Wilson, LeDoux, Stutes, and Knopp, formed up a majority with the minority Democrats, and staged the equivalent of a coup against the Republicans, who had chosen District 6 Rep. Dave Talerico as the House Speaker.

The Republicans had a clear majority until the eight defected.

Since then, Wilson and LeDoux have left the Democrats’ caucus, leaving six Republicans with the Democrats. Wilson has rejoined the Republican caucus, while LeDoux remains without a caucus. But the Republicans still don’t have enough to regain control of the House.

District 9 Chair Carol Carman of Wasilla offered a motion to withdraw party support for just Kopp and Johnston, since they were the two who tipped the balance of power, which enabled a Democrat to become speaker and control the House’s appointment to the redistricting board.

“The party realizes we are all trying to do the right thing. We’re all invested in making Alaska a great place for future generations,” Johnston said.

Alaska Republicans endorse Congressman Don Young, Senator Dan Sullivan

Suzanne Downing
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Alaska Republicans endorse Congressman Don Young, Senator Dan Sullivan

Alaska Republicans gathering at their fall meeting in Fairbanks gave their full-throated support to Congressman Don Young and Sen. Dan Sullivan.

The vote taken on Saturday may seem perfunctory, but it serves notice to any other Republicans who might have thought of challenging them for the House of Representatives or Senate that the window has closed; the party can now expend funds to help Young and Sullivan to get reelected, and can freely deploy volunteers or other resources to assist them in their campaigns. It will not support contenders, who would have to simply go it alone if they filed for office.

Young has been Alaska’s congressman since 1973, while Sullivan was first elected in 2014. Both will stand for reelection in 2020.

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