Page 1608 – Must Read Alaska

Fewer Alaskans enrolled in Obamacare for 2018

Politics

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February 8, 2018

Fewer Alaskans enrolled in Obamacare for 2018

Alaska saw a 4.35 percent drop in the number of residents signing up for private health insurance during the Obamacare open enrollment period that ended in December.

For comparison, in the open enrollment for coverage for 2017, some 19,145 Alaskans signed up for health insurance on the federally run marketplace, which has but one provider to choose from: Premera Blue Cross.

But this past fall, only 18,313 Alaskans signed up for the insurance coverage for the 2018 cycle, according to the National Academy for State Health Policy.

The drop in Alaska enrollment was not as great as in other states using the federally run market. Among the 34 using the federal exchange, the enrollee drop was 5.28 percent from the previous year.

The enrollment period during the fall of 2017 was only six weeks long, rather than the two months from the previous year, which may account for some of the drop. Another reason may be that President Donald Trump signed an order to roll back the requirement that Americans must have insurance coverage or pay a tax to the IRS.

But enrollment doesn’t mean that people have coverage. They have to pay their premiums to get that. Actual, or “effectuated enrollment” as it’s called, is substantially less.

2016 – 15,252 Alaskans who enrolled ended up paying their first month premium. By the end of the year, only 13,243 still were paying for coverage.

2017 – 14,954 Alaskans who enrolled ended up paying for coverage. The year-end figure is not yet available.

Alaska has the smallest number of enrollees in the Obamacare private health insurance program, also known as the Affordable Care Act. The typical cost for a 27-year-old buying the health insurance offered is more than $1,000 per month, but many receive tax credits that bring the cost down. The average tax credit in Alaska for the insurance is $965.53 per month.

District 38 Democrats choose new chair, begin process of replacing Fansler

Suzanne Downing

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February 8, 2018

1

BETHEL DEMOCRAT’S AIDE TO HELP PICK HIS OWN NEW BOSS

Democrats in Bethel caucused on Tuesday and chose an aide to former Rep. Zach Fansler as their District 38 chair. The district had been unorganized for Democrats, meaning there were no party officers for the sprawling region in Western Alaska.

Ben Anderson-Agimuk, 25, has the task of organizing the committee that will review resumes from those interested in replacing his former boss, Fansler, who stepped down last month after being accused of striking a woman in Juneau. Fansler is technically on payroll through mid-February but was kicked out of the Democratic caucus.

[Read: He’s out: Fansler resigns]

Anderson-Agimuk is a fresh-faced political science student whose legislative job is legislative secretary, and he may also be picking his next boss. His LinkedIn profile shows that, in spite of youth, he has strong political chops.

For KYUK radio, he described the ideal candidate as someone who will vote with the Democrat’s majority coalition in the State House and be willing to run for reelection this year.

That might eliminate Bob Herron, who was the man replaced by Fansler when Anchorage Democrats poured tens of thousands of dollars into Fansler’s campaign in 2016.

Fansler lasted a year, but then was accused by a Juneau woman of hitting her so hard her eardrum burst. That accusation is still under investigation and may not lead to charges, but Fansler was forced out by his fellow Democrats.

As for Herron, who is more of a family man, he has since left the Democratic Party, perhaps in anger for the party having run someone against him in a primary, and he has registered as “unaffiliated.”

The replacement for Fansler involves the District Democrats choosing three prospective nominees and presenting them to the governor. Gov. Bill Walker, who helped Fansler get elected, will need to choose a replacement by March 14.

Anderson-Agimuk first needs to assemble his committee to review applicants. Those interested in serving either on the committee or as a state representative for District 38 may contact him at [email protected].

Dunleavy support PAC funds roll in

Politics

Suzanne Downing

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February 7, 2018

0

AS EXPECTED

The group “Dunleavy for Alaska” has received more than $250,000 of the $560,000 initially pledged to support the campaign of Mike Dunleavy, who is running for governor. The group formed in late January.

The majority of the funds received have come from Alaskans, including $100,000 from real estate investor Bob Penney; and $50,000 from Alaskan Josh Pepperd, who is president of Davis Constructors and Engineers. Francis Dunleavy, the brother of candidate Dunleavy, has added $100,000, and Alaskan Bob Griffin, the group’s treasurer, has pledged $10,000.

An earlier media report this week stated the majority of the funds were from Francis Dunleavy. However, others who pledge funds had been traveling and had not written their checks, according to a statement from the group, which added that additional pledges are on the sidelines to be called in as the group needs them.

The political action committee, or “independent expenditure group,” is also spending funds.

In addition to a statewide radio advertising buy it made earlier this month, and an ad during the Super Bowl, Dunleavy for Alaska has added $35,000 to its radio ad budget for February alone, according to FCC records. Ads will be heard in every part of the state.

Dunleavy for Alaska is separate PAC and cannot coordinate with the campaign of Mike Dunleavy, which is called Alaskans for Dunleavy.

Seriously, who doesn’t love Etsy?

Suzanne Downing

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February 7, 2018

4

UM, SEN. DAN SULLIVAN NOT FEELING IT, AFTER IVORY BAN

Etsy, the online e-commerce platform for all-things-handmade (and all-things-faux-handmade), has reportedly been deleting the accounts of some Alaska Native artists and artisans or delisting the items made from ivory and otter fur. Alaska Natives have handcrafted and traded these items for thousands of years.

Etsy is like the Amazon of handmade stuff, a place where you can purchase, for instance, a hedgehog-themed yarn holder, pictured above.

Artists all over the world use Etsy, including many from Alaska, both Native and non-Native. Etsy takes a cut of every sale.

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan took exception to the company’s hardline against ivory and fur artisans, and wrote a stern letter explaining that these Alaskan artists were having their e-commerce accounts unfairly terminated or items delisted.

“I write to make you aware that Etsy has been unfairly terminating some of my Alaska Native (i.e., indigenous Alaskans) constituents’ accounts. Your company’s actions – due to your well-meaning, but frankly misguided policies and terms of service – are having unintended consequences that are harming Alaska Natives and their communities in my state,” Sullivan wrote to CEO Josh Silverman on Feb. 2.

Sen. Sullivan said he was trying to raise Silverman’s awareness of the problem, and explain the unintended consequences the policy is having in rural Alaska, where few jobs exist and some have been able to carve out a living by selling artwork made from the land.

“These are Alaska Natives who are legally selling sustainably harvested sealskin, sea otter, and ivory based art and clothing products. I understand your company has taken the position through your policy that these are ‘prohibited items.’ This policy seems to lack awareness and recognition that Alaska Natives have historically and legally created and sold these products as a key source of income in rural economies,” Sullivan wrote.

“This policy also discriminates against my constituents, denies them a prime forum to sell their sustainably produced goods, and falls short of your company’s stated mission. You claim “Etsy is the global marketplace for unique and creative goods … [and your] mission is to Keep Commerce Human.” By banning these products and denying Alaska Natives’ ability to exercise their statutory right to produce and sell authentic articles of handicrafts and clothing, your company is failing to live up to this mission by inadvertently discriminating against Alaska Natives’ age-old traditions and denying a market and financial development to remote Alaskans practicing their legal and cultural heritage.”

HUMAN REMAINS? REALLY, ETSY?

“Your prohibition without recognizing the legal production and sale of these items by Alaskan Natives is disheartening and shortsighted,” Sen. Sullivan wrote. “Worse yet, Etsy explicitly allows the sale of items made from human teeth and hair. To recognize a market for these “human remains” on your site while failing to account for unique and century’s old cultural practices of Alaska Natives seems to be an odd way to ‘Keep Commerce Human.’”

“While we can all agree that measures must be taken to combat elephant poaching and protect various species of marine mammals, harming Alaska’s rich cultural traditions and rural economies will do little to achieve additional conservation benefits…,” he wrote, “I urge you to consider the impacts that your policies—including your decision to terminate my constituents’ accounts—are having on Alaskans, in particular Alaska Natives. Finally, I ask that you reconsider your policies to recognize sales of Alaska Natives’ legal and tradition cultural and art.”

In 2016, Sullivan introduced S. 1965, the Allowing Alaska IVORY Act. This legislation, cosponsored by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, would preempt states from banning walrus ivory or whale bone products that have been legally carved by Alaska Natives under the Marine Mammal Protection Act; in addition to preempting states from issuing bans on mammoth ivory products.

Alaskan Kristina Woolston, who is Athabaskan, applauded Sullivan on Facebook and said she would delete her Etsy account and boycott the company “until they can recognize the legal and historically approved practice of Alaska Native artisans traditional use of an entire animal, which includes creating beautiful art and clothing.”

Alaska’s students are being failed at every level

Columns

Suzanne Downing

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February 7, 2018

8

Alaska’s students are being failed at every level

EXCEPT WHEN IT COMES TO MOVING THEM UP A GRADE

By WIN GRUENING
SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR

The National Council on Teacher Quality advocates for tougher evaluations of classroom teachers.

The organization believes effective teachers should be recognized and rewarded, both monetarily and through increased opportunities for teacher leadership. Conversely, ineffective teachers should be identified and counseled, and, if unable to meet student achievement goals, dismissed.

In its 2017 survey of states ranked by implementation of best practices of teacher policies, Alaska is ranked D-, one of only 4 states with that grade or lower.

This survey follows Alaska’s Department of Education announcement last year that more than 60 percent of Alaska’s public-school students failed to meet grade-level academic standards in English language arts and math in statewide standardized tests.

Students did slightly better on the statewide science exam but barely half were considered proficient.

Equally poor results were experienced by Alaska schools in 2015.

Teachers and administrators acknowledge Alaska’s test scores consistently rank below national averages.

So how do we hold government, schools, teachers, parents and students accountable? We start by getting the facts.

You can view your school’s report card at https://education.alaska.gov/ReportCardToThePublic.

Alaska’s Education Challenge, a state-wide effort studying student achievement gaps and ways to increase Alaska’s graduation rates, is still in the early stages. Some of the changes being advocated are increasing teacher diversity and better preparing teachers for the classroom, but one of the most glaring omissions is teacher accountability.

In his State of the State address, Governor Walker once again pledged his support for education. But, up to now, that hasn’t resulted in any discernable improvement in student achievement. His solution seems to be to pump more money into a declining system and expand it by offering free Pre-K-12 school.

We need to face facts.

Despite some of the highest expenditures per pupil in the country, our K-12 education system is plagued by poor test scores, absenteeism, and low graduation rates.

If we keep doing things the way they have always been done, we can’t expect anything to change.

Perhaps it’s time for education advocates to stop viewing this issue through the single lens of funding and ask why it is that a national teacher quality think tank gave Alaska a D- grade in teacher accountability.

This is an opportunity to exercise the kind of leadership and bold initiatives that made this state great.

Accountability for student achievement runs from Gov. Walker, through his Commissioner of Education, to the 54 school districts around the state, including their school boards, administrators, teachers and finally parents and students.

Teachers are not solely responsible for student results – indeed, factors influencing student achievement are many and all deserve attention.

But one place we need to start is in the classroom.

The U.S. Education Department reports that nationally graduation rates are increasing. While this sounds like a reason for optimism, it is overshadowed by a very disturbing trend. While 80 percent of high school seniors receive a diploma, less than half of those can proficiently read or complete math problems.

The problem is that students are being passed on to the next grade when they should be held back. They are then unable to complete grade-level work and keep up with their classmates.

In Alaska, our statewide trend is even worse. Last year only 45% of 3^rd graders in Alaska tested proficient in math but by the time students reached 10^th grade less than 15% were considered proficient.

The pressure from administrators and parents to continue to promote students is wide-spread and difficult to combat. Surely, teachers should be able to hold non-proficient students back. That is the only fair way teachers can be evaluated on whether their students are at least minimally proficient in various grade-level subjects.

But this is a two-pronged issue. Most teachers are competent, dedicated public servants. But not all.

National estimates conducted by the U.S. Department of Education find school districts dismiss a very small percentage of teachers each year for poor performance. Alaska is no exception.

If we really want to effect change, students shouldn’t routinely be promoted regardless of proficiency. Teachers should be evaluated using objective student achievement growth measures to determine their effectiveness. School administrators – such as principals – could be evaluated similarly.

Parents also need to accept responsibility in changing educational expectations, but continuation of the status quo only means continuing to pay for mediocre or poor results.

Championing change like this requires tremendous political courage. It would require battling unions, school board members, and many entrenched interests across the state.

Most of all it would require leadership and accountability at every level.

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.

Walker names Planned Parenthood veteran to midwives oversight board

Anchorage Daily Planet

Suzanne Downing

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February 6, 2018

10

AWKWARD APPOINTMENT

Gov. Bill Walker has named a Palmer woman who was a political field organizer for Planned Parenthood to a group that oversees the delivery of live births: the Board of Certified Direct-Entry Midwives.

Kenni Linden is a graduate of Palmer High School and Naropa University, a Buddhist-inspired school in Colorado.

Linden ran for Palmer City Council and was endorsed by the AFL-CIO Mat-Su coalition of unions, including Local 302, IBEW, MSBEA, and MSEA. She lost to Sabrena Combs.

Linden describes herself in her previous campaign material as a “fierce reproductive justice activist—I was a political field organizer with Planned Parenthood.”

Direct-entry midwives are those who come into the field through apprenticeship, rather than for a formal nursing program.

The Board consists of two direct-entry midwives, one physician, one certified nurse midwife, and one public member, which is the board seat that expires March 1, and the one to which Linden would be confirmed.

According to the state’s web site, the Board adopts regulations to carry out laws governing the practice of direct-entry midwifery in Alaska and makes licensing decisions. It also takes disciplinary action against people who violate the licensing laws.

Will Linden get confirmed by the House and Senate, or is her nomination considered to be red meat to attract Republican ire? Is the plan to make her the new Drew Phoenix (controversial nomination of 2017) to draw attention away from other appointees?

Speaker Bryce Edgmon referred the nomination to the, er, Labor and Commerce Committee.

[Read: Transgender dosn’t make cut for commission]

The complete list of Walker’s most recent appointments:

Commissioner – Department of Revenue

Sheldon Fisher

Appointed: September 7, 2017

Commissioner – Department of Administration

Leslie Ridle

Appointed: October 6, 2017

Commissioner – Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development

Mike Navarre

Appointed: November 1, 2017

Accountancy, Alaska State Board of Public

Leslie Schmitz – Anchorage

Appointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Alcoholic Beverage Control Board

Sara Crapuchettes – Soldotna

Appointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2021

Rex Wilhelm – Anchorage

Appointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2021

Architects, Engineers and Land Surveyors, State Board of Registration for

William Mott – Anchorage

Appointed: 5/26/2017 Term Expires: 3/1/2020

Luanne Urfer – Eagle River

Appointed: 7/7/2017 Term Expires: 3/1/2021

Jennifer Anderson – Anchorage

Appointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Richard Jones – Juneau

Appointed: 10/26/2016

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Assessment Review Board, State

Bradley Pickett – Palmer

Appointed: 5/26/2017 Term Expires: n/a

Bar, Board of Governors of the Alaska

William Gordon – Salcha

Appointed: 8/15/2012 Reappointed: 3/1/2015

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2021

Barbers and Hairdressers, Board of

Vershawn Idom – Anchorage

Appointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Big Game Commercial Services Board

Robert Beans – Palmer

Appointed: 1/29/2018

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Adam Trombley – Anchorage

Appointed: 2/2/2017

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Michelle Heun – Palmer

Appointed: 1/29/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2021

Cash Joyce – Wasilla

Appointed: 1/29/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2019

Chiropractic Examiners, Board of

James Morris – Dutch Harbor

Appointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission, Alaska

Vance Fate Putman – Juneau

Appointed: 12/1/2017

Reappointed (to different seat): 1/29/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2021

Carol Petraborg – Juneau

Appointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Dental Examiners, Board of

Dominic Wenzell – Girdwood

Appointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Robin Wahto – Anchorage

Appointed: 11/15/2017 Term Expires: 3/1/2021

Education and Early Development, Board of

James Fields – Glennallen

Appointed: 3/22/2013

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2023

Sandra Kowalski – Fairbanks

Appointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2023

Lorri Van Diest – Palmer

Appointed: 1/29/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2020

Fishermen’s Fund Advisory and Appeals Council

Mark Saldi – Skagway

Appointed: 3/26/2008 Reappointed: 3/1/2013

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2023

Human Rights, State Commission for

Megan Mackiernan – Nome

Appointed: 8/18/2017 Term Expires: 3/1/2020

Christa Bruce-Kotrc – Ketchikan

Appointed: 8/1/2011

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2023

Freddie Olin IV – Anchorage

Appointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2023

Labor Relations Agency, Alaska

Tyler Andrews – Anchorage

Appointed: 6/9/2008 Reappointed: 3/1/2009

Reappointed: 3/1/2012 Reappointed: 3/1/2015

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2021

Melinda (Mila) Cosgrove – Juneau

Appointed: 1/3/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2020

Lon Needles – Valdez

Appointed: 3/1/2015

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2021

Marijuana Control Board

Loren Jones – Douglas

Appointed: 7/1/2015

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2021

Nicholas Miller – Anchorage

Appointed: 8/19/2016

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2021

Travis Welch – Utqiagvik

Appointed: 1/19/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2020

Marine Pilots, Board of

Peggy McLaughlin – Dutch Harbor

Appointed: 5/26/2017

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Richard Harris – Juneau

Appointed: 12/18/2017 Term Expires: 3/1/2020

Les Cronk – Ketchikan

Appointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Marital and Family Therapy, Board of

Natalie Lewis – Kotzebue

Appointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Massage Therapists, Board of

David Edwards-Smith – Soldotna

Appointed: 1/19/2015

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Jill Motz – Wasilla

Appointed: 1/23/2017

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Medical Board, State

Sai-Ling Liu – Nome

Appointed: 3/1/2014

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Catherine Hyndman – Dillingham

Appointed: 12/18/2017 Term Expires: 3/1/2020

Mental Health Trust Authority Board of Trustees, Alaska

Mike Powers – Fairbanks

Appointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2023

Verné Boerner – Anchorage

Appointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2023

Midwives, Board of Certified Direct-Entry

Kenni Linden – Palmer

Appointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Dianna Kristeller – Fairbanks

Appointed: 12/18/2017 Term Expires: 3/1/2021

Nursing, Board of

Starla Fox – Dillingham

Appointed: 5/26/2017

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Linda Hutchings – Soldotna

Appointed: 1/24/2018

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Optometry, Board of Examiners in

Damien Delzer – Fairbanks

Appointed: 3/1/2014

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Eric Lingle – Juneau

Appointed: 3/1/2014

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Parole, State Board of

Sarah Possenti – Fairbanks

Appointed: 4/1/2011 Reappointed: 3/1/2013

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2023

Personnel Board

Alfred Tamagni, Sr. – Anchorage

Appointed: 3/1/2006

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2024

Pharmacy, Board of

Tammy Lindemuth – Anchorage

Appointed: 1/24/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2021

Sharon Long – Anchorage

Appointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Lana Bell – Anchorage

Appointed: 5/31/2016

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy Board, State

Keith Poorbaugh – Palmer

Appointed: 5/26/2017

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Robert Calhoon – Anchorage

Appointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Police Standards Council, Alaska

Michael Craig – Anchorage

Appointed: 5/26/2017

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Justin Doll – Anchorage

Appointed: 8/18/2017 Term Expires: 3/1/2021

David Knapp – Palmer

Appointed: 1/24/2018

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Professional Counselors, Board of

Steven Cardwell – Fairbanks

Appointed: 11/15/2017 Term Expires: 3/1/2021

Janece Richard – Anchorage

Appointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Alice Baum – Anchorage

Appointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Professional Teaching Practices Commission

Diane Kardash – North Pole

Appointed: 5/26/2017

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2021

Phillip Graham – Soldotna

Appointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2021

Kent Runion – Nome

Appointed: 11/18/2016

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2021

Public Offices Commission, Alaska

Anne Helzer – Anchorage

Appointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2023

Real Estate Appraisers, Board of Certified

Donald Faulkenburry – Anchorage

Appointed: 5/26/2017 Term Expires: 3/1/2019

David Derry – Kenai

Appointed: 3/1/2014

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Wendy Lawrence – Sitka

Appointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Regulatory Commission of Alaska

Janis Wilson – Anchorage

Appointed: 4/10/2006

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2024

Paul Lisankie – Anchorage

Appointed: 1/31/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2019

Social Work Examiners, Board of

Lisa Hay – Fairbanks

Appointed: 1/24/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2021

Danielle LaFon – Fairbanks

Appointed: 3/1/2014

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Veterinary Examiners, Board of

Chris Michetti – Anchorage

Appointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2022

Violent Crimes Compensation Board

Jeffrey Stubblefield – Eagle River

Appointed: 1/23/2017

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2021

Workers’ Compensation Appeals Commission

Michael Notar – Juneau

Appointed: 9/24/2015

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2023

Workers’ Compensation Board, Alaska

Bradley Evans – Anchorage

Appointed: 5/26/2017 Term Expires: 3/1/2019

David Kester – Anchorage

Appointed: 7/7/2017 Term Expires: 3/1/2019

Justin Mack – Anchorage

Appointed: 1/29/2018

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2021

Chad Bolduc – Juneau

Appointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2021

Nancy Shaw – Anchorage

Appointed: 12/18/2017 Term Expires: 3/1/2020

Jacob Howdeshell – North Pole

Appointed: 3/1/2015

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2021

Bronson Frye – Anchorage

Appointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2021

Robert Weel – Anchorage

Appointed: 1/23/2006 Reappointed: 3/1/2006

Reappointed: 3/1/2012 Reappointed: 3/1/2015

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2021

Pamela Cline – Wasilla

Appointed: 9/21/2012 Reappointed: 3/1/2015

Reappointed: 3/1/2018 Term Expires: 3/1/2021

Also, in accordance with AS 18.85.030, the Governor submits the following name for legislative confirmation.

Public Defender

Quinlan Steiner – Anchorage

Appointed: 10/13/2005

Reappointed: 10/13/2009 Reappointed: 10/13/2013

Reappointed: 10/13/2017 Term Expires: 10/13/2021

Rep. Parish on thinking: It’s a slow process

The Social

Suzanne Downing

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February 6, 2018

1

Rep. Justin Parish, in House Military and Veterans Affairc Committee last week, makes a stunning admission in the first 20 seconds of this video.

The topics were occupational licensing for military education, training and service credit for military service members, and temporary occupational licenses for military spouses.

Outside group complains about Alaska Super-PACs

Suzanne Downing

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February 6, 2018

4

Outside group complains about Alaska Super-PACs

[Update: The public relations company SoundSpeedPR, representing Equal Citizens, has demanded that Must Read Alaska take this story down from our web site because the company has not given MRAK permission to write about it. – SD)

A well-funded election group with strong ties to the Democratic Party filed a complaint with the Alaska Public Offices Commission against two Alaska “independent expenditure” groups who participated in the 2016 election cycle.

One of the groups was run by a laborers union boss in Anchorage.

The other was run by a 92-year-old Fairbanks woman who has been recovering from a broken hip.

“Equal Citizens,” the group behind the APOC complaint, may have picked the wrong fight.

Kathleen “Mike” Dalton, the 92-year-old chair who is on a cane in Fairbanks, said, “There’s nothing I like better than a political battle.”

*Mike Dalton, Republican matriarch of Fairbanks, left, meets with other Fairbanks activists, including Pauline Martens, center.*

The Alaska Public Offices Commission staff has ruled against Equal Citizens, which used Anchorage lawyers from the offices of Davis Wright Tremaine to file complaints against “Interior Voters for John Coghill” and “Working Families of Alaska.”

The official complainants in the matter had to be Alaskans, so the group rounded up Donna Patrick of Fairbanks, John Lambert of Ester, and James Barnett, of Anchorage — all registered Democrats — to sign their names.

WHO ARE INTERIOR VOTERS FOR COGHILL?

Interior Voters for John Coghill was a group supported in large part by The Accountability Project, whose head is Scott Hawkins, now a candidate for governor. Chairwoman Mike Dalton is a longtime political activist with a take-no-prisoners view of politics.

The Accountability Project put $47,000 into Interior Voters for John Coghill, and Hawkins put in $2,500 of his own money. The Interior Voters attacked the political track record of Coghill’s opponent, Democrat Luke Hopkins, in the 2016 general election.

There were a dozen other smaller donations to the group, which spent $50,000 to help Coghill, a Republican, fend off a fierce challenge from a popular former mayor.

WORKING FAMILIES OF ALASKA — LOOK FOR THE UNION LABEL

Working Families of Alaska is an independent expenditure group of the Laborers Local 341, with Business Manager Joey Merrick as its chairman.

Top contributors were the Laborers Political League Education Fund of Washington, D.C. and Local Laborers 341.

Working Families of Alaska endeavored to elect AFL-CIO president Vince Beltrami to the Senate over incumbent Sen. Cathy Giessel, and to re-elect Fairbanks Rep. Adam Wool.

It spent over $70,000, and Wool was re-elected, while Beltrami lost to Giessel, due in part due to the counterbalancing efforts of Hawkins’ independent expenditure group, The Accountability Project.

WHERE DOES ‘CITIZENS UNITED’ FIT IN?

“Citizens United” was a landmark case that went to the Supreme Court, which eight years ago decided that Americans are entitled to form up independent groups and participate in campaigning on behalf of candidates, so long as they do not coordinate with the candidates’ actual campaigns.

Citizens United sought an injunction against the Federal Election Commission to prevent the agency from blocking its distribution of the film, Hillary: The Movie, which expressed the opinion that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton would not make a good president. Citizens United won.

[Read: Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission]

Just as federal law overrides state law in matters pertaining to abortion (Roe v. Wade), the Citizens United decision is settled law that makes it a federal violation for Alaska to enforce its donation limits that are still on the state statutes.

WHO IS BEHIND THE COMPLAINT TO APOC?

The force behind the complaint to APOC is a group called “Equal Citizens,” which is run by a group that is also trying to dismantle the Electoral College System.

The group, according to Federal Election Commission records, gets its funding from Act Blue, the Democratic fundraising software and organization that raises hundreds of million of dollars to sway elections.

The complaint said Alaska Statute prohibits individuals from contributing more than $500 to organizations like Interior Voters for John Coghill and Working Families of Alaska, and that groups may also not contribute large sums to such independent expenditure efforts.

It seems likely that the complaint, while rejected by APOC staff, won’t stop there.

The Equal Citizens group will now likely sue APOC for not enforcing a superseded state law that is in conflict with federal law. The group has launched similar complaints in other carefully chosen states, and is finding independent expenditure groups to target from both sides of the political aisle, so as to appear nonpartisan.

Alaskans may see the Alaska Department of Law having to defend the Alaska Public Offices Commission decision in court, and if Equal Citizens has the money it appears to have, the case might continue through the courts and eventually end up at the U.S. Supreme Court.

DEPARTMENT OF IRONY

Scott Hawkins, who was a driving force behind the Accountability Project in 2016, which was one of the funders of Interior Voters for Coghill, is now a candidate for governor. His biggest challenge in the primary, at this stage, is Mike Dunleavy, the former senator from the Mat-Su Valley.

Last week, an independent expenditure group formed to support Dunleavy’s election, and its chair is Terre Gales, who lives in Wasilla. To date, the group has over $560,000 in financial commitments and started running ads during the Super Bowl and on the radio this week.

Hawkins was named in the complaint. If Hawkins has to defend his own independent expenditure efforts in the past, which he started after the Citizens United decision was settled, his current primary opponent will benefit from his efforts.

Deeper in the irony department is that Equal Citizens runs a super-PAC itself.

And if the reader has not had enough irony for one day, consider one of the main collaborators with Equal Citizens: Larry Lessig, the Harvard lawyer who is trying to dismantle the Electoral College, so that states like Alaska will have no voice at all in elections.

Lessig stood up his own super-PAC, the Mayday PAC, which spent millions of dollars to elect lawmakers who would pass laws to eliminate…wait for it… Super-PACs.

Heads and Tails: Who’s in for Anchorage mayor, explaining the Fansler replacement process

Politics

Suzanne Downing

-

February 6, 2018

0

THE LINEUP

The Feb. 2 deadline for filing for mayor has come and gone. Here’s the list of who filed to run Alaska’s biggest metropolis:

Ethan A. Berkowitz
Rebecca Logan
Dustin Darden
Timothy R. Huit
Paul Kendall
Jacob Kern
Matthew Mendonsa
Nelson Godoy
Ron Stafford

The election starts when ballots are mailed on March 13 and ends on April 3. This will be the first mail-in election that Anchorage has held after the Anchorage Assembly approved moving to what is essentially absentee voting only.

EGAN TO ANNOUNCE RETIREMENT

Dennis Egan, who has served in a public capacity for Juneau for decades, will announce his retirement on his old radio show, “Problem Corner,” on KINY today. Egan, 70, has served since 2009, when Gov. Sarah Palin appointed him to replace Sen. Kim Elton, who resigned to serve in the Obama Administration.

Egan will serve out the remainder of his term and his replacement will be sworn in next January. Who might that be? Among the names discussed in Juneau are his aide, Jessie Kiehl, who seems likely to announce his candidacy. Kiehl also serves on the Juneau Assembly.

Other possible candidates include Mayor Ken Koelsch, a Republican, and Maria Gladziszewski, unaffiliated, who is on the Assembly.

Larry Cotter, the president of the Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Assn., filed notice last week that he’s a candidate. He’s unaffiliated.

The last Republican to represent Juneau in the Senate was Elton Engstrom, Jr., the father of former Rep. Cathy Muñoz. He lost in 1970 to Bill Ray.

FANSLER REPLACEMENT HAS HURDLES

*Gov. Walker celebrating with now disgraced Reps. Zach Fansler and Dean Westlake, who his Democratic allies pushed into office.*

Which three names will District 38 Democrats suggest Gov. Bill Walker pick from to serve out the term of former Rep. Zach Fansler of Bethel?

Actually, that’s putting the cart before the horse, because the district doesn’t have a functioning organization right now. They first need a district chair.

District 38 Democrats meet at 6 pm today at the UA Kuskokwim Campus in Bethel to get the ball rolling. They’ll elect a district chair to serve until April, when they convene again formally.

That person will need to organize the committee that will review resumes and applications for the District 38 seat.

The seat was formerly held by Bob Herron, but urban Democrats from Anchorage recruited Fansler to run and ensured his victory by managing his campaign through the Democrat-leaning Ship Creek Group, founded by John-Henry Heckendorn, now the governor’s top aide and defacto campaign manager. Heckendorn was the driving force behind Fansler’s recruitment and win.

Fansler has been accused of beating a woman so badly her eardrum burst.

Jill Yordy, an aide to Fansler, wrote:

“Today my former boss did the right thing given the circumstances and submitted his resignation letter. Like many others, I was shocked and saddened to learn of the allegations that were reported last week in the Juneau Empire. Those allegations came as a surprise to the staff in his office. As a Representative, Mr. Fansler always treated his staff and constituents with respect and professionalism. He had done his best to serve the people of House District 38. However, these are very serious allegations that undermine public trust and they warrant full and careful consideration. Both Mr. Fansler and the victim deserve to have the matter handled within the criminal justice system. Mr. Fansler’s resignation allows that investigation to proceed without further impeding legislative work or House District 38.

“I support Speaker Edgmon’s leadership and swift action last week in addressing the allegations. This is not an easy situation for anyone and it is reassuring to see the issue of domestic violence being taken seriously by the House Majority Coalition. The next few weeks may be confusing as the selection process for a replacement moves forward, but the staff in the House District 38 office are committed to continuing our work to support the communities in House District 38. The office remains open and we will continue to do our best to keep constituents informed and have their legislative and agency issues addressed as the second session of the 30th Alaska State Legislature continues.”

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District 38 Democrats choose new chair, begin process of replacing Fansler

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Heads and Tails: Who’s in for Anchorage mayor, explaining the Fansler replacement process

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