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Red sky in the morning: China’s Arctic ambitions, Alaska’s LNG

Suzanne Downing
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Red sky in the morning: China’s Arctic ambitions, Alaska’s LNG

As Gov. Bill Walker and a delegation of business and government representatives embark on a trade mission to China on Saturday through May 26, Must Read Alaska brings you a cautionary view from scholars studying the growing influence of China on state politics in America, even while President Donald Trump is taking a more guarded path.

IF BEIJING GOES FORWARD WITH ALASKA LNG, IT WILL UNEVENLY BENEFIT CHINA
By ASHLEY FENG AND SAGATOM SAHA
THE DIPLOMAT MAGAZINE

For signs of Beijing’s Arctic ambition, Washington need look no further than Alaska.

After Chinese President Xi Jinping left the Mar-a-Lago summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in April 2017, he stopped in Alaska, not Silicon Valley, to talk business. Alaskan Governor Bill Walker pitched Xi on his state’s economic opportunities, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments. Before Trump’s trip to China a few months later, the White House announced multiple memoranda of understanding between U.S. and Chinese oil and gas corporations, including the $43 billion Alaska LNG project. In the months since these presidential visits, the U.S.-China relationship — now on the precipice of a trade war — has grown tense. But in Alaska, deals are still moving forward.

China’s energy interests are not limited to just Alaska, but include the entire Arctic, where climate change is opening up new shipping lanes and recoverable energy resources. As ice begins to melt, energy-insecure Beijing has begun to assert itself more forcefully in the region, investing in the economic, diplomatic, and strategic benefits that it believes the Arctic will bring. Unless the United States pays more attention to China’s Arctic ambitions, Beijing will strengthen its economic and strategic position in the world’s largest emerging frontier at America’s expense.

Beijing to Juneau 

The flurry of deals between Beijing and Juneau stem from China’s frenzied rush to secure projected LNG demand. The world’s second largest LNG importer, China has already signed deals with Australia and Qatar, among others, for 40 million tons a year through 2030, but will still need an additional 20 million tons by the end of that period.

[Read the rest of this story at The Diplomat Magazine]

[Read: Governor announces roster of trade mission participants]

Video: Watch Don Young work the House for last vote on Roadless Rule exemption

Suzanne Downing
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Video: Watch Don Young work the House for last vote on Roadless Rule exemption

EPIC EFFORT TO GET COLLEAGUES TO SWITCH THEIR VOTES

Congressman Don Young needed a few more votes for an amendment to the Farm Bill on Thursday. As the Department of Agriculture is over the U.S. Forest Service, Young slipped a germane amendment into the Farm Bill to reverse a Clinton-era rule that disallows roads in Alaska’s national forests.

It’s known as the Roadless Rule, and it’s a rule that is hated by the timber industry, which has been essentially put out of business in Alaska as a result.

“The Clinton-era Roadless rule applies a one-size-fits all approach to areas where those policies rarely work. Especially the federally locked lands in Alaska,” said Congressman Young. “At 16.8 million acres, the Tongass National Forest is the largest in the nation. Coupled with the Chugach National Forest, Alaska contains over 12 percent of the total acreage in the national forest system. The Roadless Rule is nothing more than another effort to end the multiple use mandate of federal forest lands. Something that’s required by law but often ignored by nameless, faceless, unelected bureaucrats.”

But the vote on the amendment was 209 to 206. And yet the House waited while Dean of the House Don Young went around and rounded up the votes he needed to pass the historic amendment.

Young turns 85 next month, but watch this video as as he darts around the House of Representatives and looks for representatives to change their votes, and watch the white lettering to see how the vote total changes due to his efforts:

In the end, Young’s amendment passed, 208-207.

“Over 90 percent of the Tongass is inaccessible by road,” Young said. “The lack of access to timber not only costs Alaskans good paying jobs, but results in trees dying of disease and infestations. To be clear, we’re not talking about clear-cutting the entire Tongass National Forest, we just want to help it stay healthy and fulfill its multi-use mandate. Those who don’t manage anything, allow for it to be destroyed. If any reasonable form of timber industry is to exist in the future, we must get this exempted from the Roadless Rule as soon as possible. So I’m urging my body, this Congress to do what’s right for the state of Alaska and right for the timber, right for the people that live there and depend upon a source of income.”

The other amendment Young saw through passage referred to Native and traditional foods.

“This amendment builds on a previous provision of mine in the 2014 Farm Bill that authorized the donation and serving of traditional food which meet the safety standards and are in facilities that serve these indigenous populations.  It applies to programs in hospitals, long-term care facilities, and others,” Young said. “No safety issues have been documented, and the food handling, storage safety standards were incorporated in my previous amendment. The standards were in part based on successful standards from Alaska which has long led the way for safety procedures for traditional foods. This amendment is truly focused on the importance of nutrition.”

The amendment was approved by the House on a voice vote.

Are over-pumping hatchery humpies disrupting food chain?

Suzanne Downing
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Are over-pumping hatchery humpies disrupting food chain?

FISHING GROUPS WORRY PINK SALMON ARE LEADING TO SMALLER KING RUNS

Alaska sport fishing groups have refiled a petition with the Alaska Board of Fisheries, asking the board to stop the planned 20 million egg increase of pink salmon to be reared and released by hatcheries in Prince William Sound.

Too many humpies are causing a crisis, the groups say.

The latest salvo came two days after the board failed on a 3-3 vote to take action on the group’s first petition.

The groups claim that adding more pink salmon into the food chain is having a dramatic impact on other species, including competition for food with king salmon associated with streams and rivers from Kachemak Bay to the Kuskokwim River. Kings and sockeye are getting smaller — gone are the days when Kenai sports fishers could haul in an 80-pounder. The runs are thinning out, too. And pinks are showing up in streams where they don’t historically belong.

Think of it like going to the Golden Corral for dinner and arriving just after a basketball team from Service High School came through the buffet line. Those kids load their plates and eat every drumstick in sight, and by the time you get to the protein, it’s picked clean. You’re stuck with the kale garnish.

Hatchery pink salmon are voracious, fast-growing youngsters in the food chain, but they also may be disrupting the entire balance for other species, not just salmon.

Eight Alaska fishing groups have joined in the emergency petition.

“The State of Alaska law mandates that hatcheries shall operate without adversely affecting natural stocks of fish, and that wild salmon stocks and fisheries on those stocks should be protected from adverse impacts from artificial propagation and enhancement efforts. In 2017, straying PWS hatchery pink salmon showed up in large numbers across the streams of Lower Cook Inlet, with some locations registering more than two-thirds PWS hatchery-origin of all pinks sampled,” the groups said in their letter.

Earlier this month, the groups asked the board to write a letter to the commissioner of Fish and Game, asking him to take action.

Now, it’s beyond the letter writing stage; the groups are asking for the Board of Fisheries to simply act under its own authority and stop the over-pumping of humpies into the ocean.

The entire letter sent to the Board of Fisheries is here:

Emergency Petition

“For the past 15 years or so, they’s been adding 20 million more, then 30 million more,” said Ricky Gease, of the Kenai River Sportfishing Association. “The rate we’ve grown the number of hatchery fish is phenomenal. There are more salmon in ocean than at any other time period, but one third or more is from hatcheries.”

The consequence? Gease says the science is coming in, and it agrees with the petitioners. It’s time to stop adding more pinks until the ecosystem changes are better understood.

The board has 30 days to consider whether it will agree with the petitioners.

Must Read Alaska’s initial story from May 3 is here:

Outdoor groups ask board of fish to slow pink salmon hatcheries

 

Heads and tails: Juneau assemblyman files for Senate

Suzanne Downing
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Heads and tails: Juneau assemblyman files for Senate

JESSE KIEHL TO RUN FOR DENNIS EGAN’S SEAT

Legislative aide and City and Borough Assemblyman Jesse Kiehl has announced in front of Alaska’s Capitol his run for Senate.

Kiehl has been the aide to Sen. Dennis Egan, who is retiring from Senate District Q and whose seat Kiehl hopes to win. He is a Democrat and the announcement has been expected since Sen. Dennis Egan announced his retirement.

Kiehl lives just steps from the Capitol in what is likely the most liberal precinct in the state. Precinct 2 voted for Bill Walker for governor by 83 percent in 2014, and earlier that year had voted to repeal SB 21 by 83 percent.

SB 21 was legislation that lowered some taxes for the oil industry, something that Walker and the Democrats vehemently opposed.

The rest of Senate District Q is not as liberal as Kiehl’s downtown Juneau precinct. House District 33 and 34 that make up Senate District Q voted just 56 percent for Walker and voted to repeal SB 21 by 65 percent in 2014.

Whether Kiehl is too far to the left for the entire District Q, which stretches to Haines, Skagway, and Gustavus, will be the subject of much coffee shop and church hall discussion in coming months. As a professional government worker for most of his life, he has no experience in the private sector. He worked as an aide to Sen. Kim Elton before Elton left to take a job in the Obama Administration. And Kiehl clearly has the support of the Alaska Democratic Party.

Also having filed for that seat is Don Etheridge, a labor leader who is non aligned with either party, and Larry Cotter, a nonpartisan.

It seems increasingly unlikely that a Republican will join the race.

Sticker shock for family ferry ride from Juneau to Bellingham: $4,151

Suzanne Downing
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Sticker shock for family ferry ride from Juneau to Bellingham: $4,151

PRO-JOBS, PRO-ACCESS ALASKANS WAIT TO SEE IF GOVERNOR WILL VETO ROAD — AGAIN

A family in Juneau wanted to move their GMC Yukon with a trailer, two children and two adults to Bellingham, Washington.

They booked it on the Alaska Marine Highway System last week and were quoted a price of $4,151.

That didn’t include a stateroom or meals, of course. The parents and kids would have to sleep on the floor or in chairs for three nights. Showers would be extra.

There’s a better value: It would cost them $1,600 to ship their vehicle on a barge to Seattle and another $1,000 for airline tickets from Juneau to Seattle. All private sector, it should be noted.

 

Here’s the kicker: Even if the family chose the  $4,151.00 ferry option, the State of Alaska would be subsidizing the trip.

By how much? Another $8,000, because that trip costs the State of Alaska over $12,000 for the family of four and their vehicle plus trailer. The family would only be paying a third of the actual cost.

BUILD ROADS WHERE YOU CAN, USE FERRIES WHERE YOU MUST

Ferries are expensive to run. They push a lot of water, burn massive amounts of hydrocarbons doing so, and take expensive manpower to operate and maintain. They are not green machines, as environmentalists would like to believe.

Such is the dilemma for those dependent on the Alaska Marine Highways, and part of the reason some Juneau residents are passionate about creating better access with a 48-mile road to Katzehin and a commuter-style ferry to Haines. They say, “Build roads where you can, and deploy ferries where you must.”

It’s a class thing: Too many working class people just cannot afford to leave Juneau. They spend years there and never have the funds to see what’s beyond the end of the road. While it’s unlikely a road would ever be built to Skagway due to the rugged terrain, a road and a short ferry ride would be affordable for many more than the current four-hour ride to Haines from the Auke Bay ferry terminal.

At Katzehin, there would be eight sailings a day in the summer, and as many as four in the winter. Travelers wouldn’t have to get in line two hours in advance, as they do now, because if they miss the boat, they could catch the next one.

THE FERRY FOR THE PROJECT IS IN THE WATER

On Wednesday, Vigor Shipyard in Ketchikan launched the first of two state ferries built there after Gov. Sean Parnell turned back federal funds in order to give the Ketchikan shipyard a better shot at winning the bid. The ferry will be christened in July, and likely Gov. Bill Walker will be on hand for the happy occasion.

The Tazlina floats on Wedesday. (Photo by Norman Skan, Ketchikan)

The first Alaska-class ferry, the M/V Tazlina, is 280 feet long and can carry up to 300 passengers. It will begin service in 2019, as the first Alaska ferry to be built in an Alaska shipyard by Alaskans.

Some road advocates in Juneau hope that by the time the ship is christened this summer, Gov. Walker will not have vetoed the $21 million that has been once again set aside for the Juneau Access Project that this new ferry is designed to complement. The day boat was designed without staterooms just for that purpose in upper Lynn Canal, to give Juneau residents a way out, and others an easier way in to Alaska’s capital city.

The money had been saved for the project for years, while it went through its environmental legal challenges. It’s the only major shovel-ready project in Alaska.

Then, Gov. Walker took the money away and set it aside for docks for the existing ferry system, and said the road project was dead.

This legislative session, the money was restored to the road project by the Senate, over the objections of Rep. Sam Kito III, who represents downtown Juneau. His constituents are split on the road, but many are vehemently against Juneau access.

Now, it’s back in the governor’s court again. Which side will he listen to?

[Read: The road to commonsense: Governor has a decision.]

Dunleavy signs three as state campaign co-chairs

Suzanne Downing
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Dunleavy signs three as state campaign co-chairs

Gubernatorial candidate Mike Dunleavy has named three campaign co-chairs: Dick Randolph of Fairbanks, Kristie Babcock of Kenai, and John Moller of Juneau.

“I am honored that these distinguished Alaskans have stepped forward to offer their experience, knowledge, and leadership skills to help advance my campaign,” said Dunleavy. “I couldn’t ask for a better mix of experience in business, politics, and knowledge of Alaska’s diverse communities than Dick Randolph, John Moller, and Kristie Babcock. All three share my strong commitment to bring back economic prosperity for the people of Alaska, to protect the Permanent Fund, and to ensure our state government abides by Constitutional principles.”

Randolph is a business owner and former state lawmaker from Fairbanks, who has worked as a school teacher, miner, and a commercial fisherman in Bristol Bay.  Randolph ran as a Libertarian candidate for Governor in 1982, and as a Republican primary candidate for Governor in 1986.  He is known as the “Father of the Income Tax Repeal,’ since he spearheaded the successful effort to repeal the state income tax in 1979-80.

John Moller is a Juneau commercial fisherman and former Dutch Harbor crab boat skipper. Moller served nearly six years as senior rural affairs advisor under Gov. Sean Parnell. He also served as the general manager of a community development quota (CDQ) group for more than a decade, working from Adak to Nome, and Juneau to Washington, D.C.  Moller is a partner with Parnell in Navigate North Consultants, providing executive leadership and public policy advice for businesses, local governments and non-profits. He owns his own consulting business, providing advice on matters related to rural and Arctic Alaska. Moller is married with four children.

Kristie Babcock is a business owner and soccer mom from Kenai.  Raised in Anchorage, she has also lived in Wasilla, Juneau, Ninilchik and Soldotna.  Babcock served as director of Boards and Commissions for Gov. Frank Murkowski and for Gov. Walter Hickel, managing and advising on gubernatorial appointments to the state’s 150 boards and commissions, judicial appointments, and exempt state positions.  She was the youngest member of Gov. Hickel’s senior staff (1991-1994).  Babcock served on the 2004 Conference of Alaskans, a group of 55 Alaskans convened to discuss the state’s budget challenges, where she stood out as an unwavering defender of the Permanent Fund dividend.

 

Battle of the ballot: Sample ballot language released

Suzanne Downing
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Battle of the ballot: Sample ballot language released

THE ADL BALLOT GETS MORE COMPLICATED

The move last year by the Alaska Democratic Party to allow undeclared and nonpartisan candidates to run on the party’s Primary ballot caused the Alaska Division of Elections to remodel both the Primary and General Election ballots.

Democrats want Gov. Bill Walker at the top of their ticket this year, as they did in 2014, but he can’t join the party, or he’d go down in flames at the ballot box.

They want him to be able to run as an “undeclared” candidate, but still on their Primary ballot.

The courts have said they may do so.

The confusion comes because when Walker and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott, who is a Democrat, run under the Democrat umbrella, how will voters know if they are Democrats or something else?

The Supreme Court told the Division to sort it out: It must make it clear to the voters that although a “don’t-ask-don’t-tell candidate” may run on the Democrats’ ballot, there needs to be some transparency. In other words, don’t play fast and loose with the facts, Alaska Democrats.

The draft ballots are now out from the Division of Elections in response to the court’s order to allow Walker/Mallott to be the Democrats’ combo meal. Here’s what the ballots look like, (and these are just samples):

18 ADL Primary sample

18 REP Primary sample

18 Gen sample

The ADL ‘Confusion Ballot’

THE ADL ‘CONFUSION BALLOT’

For the primary election, all voters can choose the ADL ballot, which has Democrats, Alaska Independence Party, Libertarians candidates, as well as a mishmash of minor parties.

Undeclared and nonpartisan voters can instead choose the Republican ballot, which is a ballot that has just Republican candidates. Registered Democrats (or those registered with another party) don’t get to vote this ballot, a decision upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Those who choose the ADL Primary ballot will not, for example, see the name of Rep. Don Young, who is running for re-election. His name will appear on the Republican primary ballot. This is how it has always worked. They’ll see Alyce Galvin’s name — she is a nonpartisan who is running under the Democrats’ umbrella and with their resources.

If voters choose the ADL ballot, they might see Gov. Bill Walker’s name, and the letter “U” next to it for undeclared, and then the words “Democratic Party Primary,” if he is the winner of that primary.

They won’t see the names of Mike Dunleavy, Scott Hawkins, Mike Chenault or Michael Sheldon, who are Republican candidates for governor. Those names will be on the Republican ballot.

The Libertarian candidate will be listed on the ADL ballot, with an “L” next to his or her name, and the words Libertarian Party Primary … Unless an undeclared wants to run under the Libertarian banner. Then, all bets are off. There’s no final determination yet if the Libertarians can keep someone from running under their banner; Republicans may take this question to court to keep Reps. Gabrielle LeDoux, Paul Seaton, and Louise Stutes off their primary ballot.

Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott will not be paired with Walker on the primary ballot, although the two are clearly running as a virtual ticket. He will be on his own slot on the ballot under the Lieutenant Governor box, where he’ll have to duke it out with anyone else who defies the Democratic Party and files as a Democrat for that seat.

In his case, his name will be listed Byron Mallott (D) Democratic Party Primary.

If Walker/Mallott advance to the General Election, they’ll be listed together as a ticket in November:

  • Bill Walker (U) Alaska Democratic Party Nominee
    Byron Mallott (D)

However, if another person — such as Mark Begich — wins as the Democrats’ nominee, Mallott (if he wins) would be paired with Begich on the General Election ballot.

REPUBLICAN PARTY BALLOT

Of the two, the Republican ballot will be the most easy to understand, because there isn’t any tomfoolery on it. Candidates who are on this ballot will be registered Republicans, and won’t have a U, N, or other letter by their names.

 

NOMINATING PETITION PROCESS

This year, several liberal candidates have chosen to run as undeclared or nonpartisans. Some of them may run on the Democrats’ primary ballot, while others may choose to go in as petition candidates, skip the primary, and head straight to the General Election.

That’s what Gov. Bill Walker did in 2014, although he formed a hybrid ticket with the Democrats when they agreed to withdraw their gubernatorial candidate, and allow him to game the system into an election victory.

For example of how the petition process works, undeclared Chris Dimond, who is running for House in District 33 Juneau, is skipping the Primary ballot and will appear on the General Election ballot with the letter “U” by his name  and the words “Nominating Petition” where the party would normally be listed.

Sara Hannan and Steve Handy, will be listed as Democrats for that seat, and one will be on the Primary ballot and will appear that way on the General ballot.

Here’s the list of non-party legislative candidates, so far, who have filed and who could either run under the Democrat banner in the Primary, or skip the Primary ballot and be “petition” candidates in the General.

  • Shawn Butler, nonpartisan, District 29 Kenai
  • Larry Cotter, nonpartisan, District Q, Juneau
  • Chris Dimond, undeclared, District 33, Juneau
  • Don Etheridge, undeclared, Senate District Q, Juneau
  • Sandra Katelnikoff-Lester, nonpartisan District 32, Kodiak
  • Danyelle Kimp, nonpartisan, District 13, Eagle River (did not indicate if running for House or Senate)
  • Timothy Lamkin, nonpartisan, District 4, Fairbanks
  • Daniel Ortiz, undeclared, District 36, Ketchian
  • Jason Grenn, nonpartisan, District 22, Anchorage

 

FILING DEADLINES AND SWITCHAROOS

Candidates have until 5 pm June 1 to file for the Primary; they have to decide which direction they’ll go — petition candidate or Primary candidate.

Then, if they file with a party but then change their minds and want to file without a party, they must file as a petition candidate for the General Election before 5 pm on Aug. 21, which is the same day as the Primary Election.

This means candidates would have to re-file before the results of the Primary are known, as voting ends three hours after the filing deadline.

Complicating matters, the candidate would have had to withdraw from the Primary before filing for the General Election as a petition candidate. That drop-out date is several weeks earlier — July 2.

Hence, this calendar is Gov. Walker’s hammer against Mark Begich.

If Begich jumps in the race on the Democrats’ Primary ballot, Walker would have a decision to make: Either a head-to-head with Begich, or drop out by July 2 and file as a petition candidate before Aug. 21.

All eyes will be on the Division of Elections at the close of business on June 1.

Murkowski, Sullivan split on net neutrality vote

Suzanne Downing
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Murkowski, Sullivan split on net neutrality vote

SENIOR SENATOR MURKOWSKI SIDES WITH DEMS; MEASURE GOES TO HOUSE

Senate Democrats and three Republicans — Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins of Maine, and John Kennedy of Louisiana — voted in favor of using the Congressional Review Act to reinstate “net neutrality.”

Net neutrality is a regulatory framework that supports a heavy-handed rule that Internet service providers should enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source, without favoring, slowing down, or blocking usage-intensive websites. Enacted in 2015 under Obama, it was repealed by the Trump Administration’s FCC, which said that the prior light-touch regulations that existed before Obama would lead to free market solutions to any access problems that might develop.

The vote went 52-47 to restore the Obama net neutrality rules, and will disappoint many free-market types who think such restrictions ultimately stifle innovation. Murkowski’s vote was not needed for it to pass, as it only required 50 votes, since Sen. John McCain is absent.

The ACLU of Alaska was one of the many Democrat-favoring groups involved in a last-minute push to pressure Sen. Murkowski to vote for restoring the regulation.

“Regulating the internet like a utility under a 1934 law is not the way to an open internet. I have never supported Title II regulation and do not support it today,” Murkowski said.

“I have voted to pass this resolution today so that we can reset the discussion and move beyond the politics at play here to what is really needed—lasting legislation that will provide certainty and move us beyond shifting regulatory standards that depend on who is running the FCC.

“My interest is always protecting and improving Alaska’s internet connectivity, given our unique circumstances. At stake are rural health clinics and schools that rely on the prioritization of lifesaving telemedicine services and access to educational resources. We must pass legislation that prohibits harmful practices like blocking and throttling but also allows for exceptions to support the unique needs that we have in Alaska. We must stop trying to score political points and work together to ensure an open internet with privacy protections for all consumers.”

Until this year, however, Murkowski had definitively taken the opposite stance.

SULLIVAN VOTES NO; WANTS FREE, OPEN INTERNET

Sen. Sullivan had a different take on it altogether, saying heavy-touch regulations hurt small telecommunication companies.

“I have consistently stated to Alaskans that I strongly support preserving a free and open internet – and believe that keeping the internet affordable and accessible to all consumers is an essential principle in internet governance. And because there have been recent dramatic swings from the FCC on the issue, it is critical we develop a bipartisan legislative solution,” said Senator Sullivan. “S.J. Res. 52 would re-impose regulatory burdens on Alaska’s small, rural telecommunications companies, increase regulatory uncertainty and decrease much needed investment in broadband infrastructure – particularly in rural Alaska – which is already lagging behind the rest of the country. It is estimated that the 2015 FCC Order prevented improvement and expansion of services to the 39 million Americans living in rural areas across our country.

“For the past three years, I have been focused on promoting policies that expand broadband investment, deployment, and accessibility for all Alaskans. S.J. Res. 52 would undermine these important objectives for Alaska, which is why I voted against it. Ultimately, today’s vote was more political theater than a serious attempt at a bipartisan solution,” he said.

Net neutrality rules hurt the small rural internet companies the most, like MTA or TelAlaska. But it even hurts companies like GCI, which is a relatively small company on the national scale, by making them less eager to invest in sparsely populated areas like Alaska.

The measure will now go to the House, where it will face a tough road among majority Republicans.

Alice Rogoff now accused of perjury by stiffed contractor

Suzanne Downing
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Alice Rogoff now accused of perjury by stiffed contractor

LYING UNDER OATH ABOUT WHAT SHE KNEW?

A company that rewired a building for wealthy, jet-setting Alice Rogoff wants payment for the work and says the East Coast heiress and former newspaper publisher is lying to the court.

After months of court filings and responses between lawyers for the former owner of the Alaska Dispatch News and those of M&M Wiring, the electrical contractor says Rogoff not only committed fraud, but has now committed perjury.

She’s sworn she had no knowledge of events, contracts, and mounting bills, when her own written documents say otherwise, the stiffed contractor asserts in a legal filing of last week.

The Alaska Dispatch News is in liquidation in bankruptcy court. With few to no assets left, creditors are going after Rogoff’s personal assets, including her divorce settlement. She’s doing everything she can to stop them from seeing what she’s actually worth.

Rogoff clearly doesn’t want to pay the Dispatch’s bills; that’s why she declared bankruptcy in the first place after GCI evicted her company from its location on Northway Drive last August 11.

Chapter 11 bankruptcy allowed the newspaper to be sold to the Binkley Company for $1 million (now it’s called Anchorage Daily News) and what remained of the Dispatch was converted to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy — selling it off for parts. Dozens of creditors in Alaska have been hung out to dry by Rogoff’s chain of decisions to run up the bills and then throw the keys on the counter and leave.

M&M Wiring, which is a working-class company with a modest amount of business, went a different route than some other creditors: It filed a lien on a building on Arctic Blvd., which Rogoff had leased and was improving for the purpose of installing printing presses in the space. Presses she had purchased from a company in Indiana.

She had already overextended her lease at the building she sold to GCI when she purchased the newspaper from McClatchy, and was in arrears on rent when the eviction notice finally came.

Rogoff needed to move her operations but the Arctic Blvd. building was inadequate in almost every way, and costs mounted, even though the Municipality had looked the other way on permits, allowing her to use and improve the space without the usual oversight.

ROGOFF HAS BEEN DODGING THE QUESTIONS

The cases in question are M&M Wiring vs Arctic Partners and Alaska Dispatch News and Arctic Partners vs. Alice Rogoff, the individual. They are intertwined.

M&M says that it’s owed $1.5 million. M&M has been trying to find out, through court filings, what Rogoff knew about her financial condition, when she knew it, what bills she may have paid in advance of filing for bankruptcy (which could be bankruptcy fraud), and how much personal involvement she had with the work done at the Arctic Blvd. building.

Recent filings by M&M ask Rogoff to verify whether or not the work on 22 invoices had actually been done. M&M argues that the work was done and the invoices are legitimate.

But for each request for a response on an invoice, Rogoff and her attorneys provide a “boilerplate” objection that says Rogoff “in her individual capacity is not in a position to respond,” and that the request should be made to the defunct Alaska Dispatch News.

It’s the equivalent of giving M&M the proverbial finger, since there is no Alaska Dispatch News, and since the person who ran the Dispatch is Rogoff, the only person able to speak for the now-dead company.

M&M says Rogoff is bobbing and weaving. The company has asked for either adequate responses or a meeting. But Rogoff refused, according to a court filing of May 7.

“Implicit in Rogoff’s boilerplate response is that Rogoff is imbued with multiple ‘capacities’ that can be put on like a hat to avoid responding to discovery requests. Rogoff has cited no legal authority for the proposition that a person is exempt from providing discovery related to a company which they own,” according to the electrical company’s recent explanation to the court.

The argument goes into the matter of whether a corporation is a person. While a corporation is considered to be a person, in reality corporations are operated by “natural people” and such people are required to answer for their activities on behalf of a corporation in such legal discovery proceedings, M&M claims.

And it doesn’t help Rogoff’s case that her attorneys answered the questions with the boilerplate language, and then signed for the answers, while Rogoff did not add her signature.

Further, the wiring company is not happy with Rogoff’s continuing use of hedging language such as “presume” and “appear” in her answers to the questions posed about the invoices. These are not answers at all, the wiring company says. M&M has told the court Rogoff is evading, stalling, and changing her answers to suit her quest to avoid paying the bill.

“For Rogoff to allege in this case that she does not know the amount due to M&M is perjury,” the company has written.

Their proof is in Rogoff’s own writings to readers on Sept. 12, 2017, when she identified the challenges that had developed at the building where she intended to house a new printing press she had purchased:

“But what turned out to be our fatal challenge was the need to build a new printing plant at an affordable price … And then the retrofitting of the building for the printing presses ran into one setback after another, one cost overrun too many and the accompanying, long list of permitting challenges. A series of misjudgments on my part caused the construction to grind to a halt in the spring.”

According to M&M, this sounds like a person who has significant knowledge and management responsibilities for the construction project, including design, cost estimates, budget and schedule.

“For Rogoff to now allege a lack of knowledge in response to M&M’s discovery is not credible.”

The company wrote: Rogoff’s responses were really “no responses at all.” And it wants all of her personal financial information to be available for questioning at her next deposition, which is scheduled for June 6 in Anchorage.

Rogoff has delayed these depositions before, dragging the proceedings out for the past five months, while her lawyers tried to limit the scope of what her creditors can ask her about — such as her personal finance, the value of her assets, what assets she may own and what assets she has sold, anything related to her divorce and any agreements resulting from her divorce.

The judge has denied that narrow scope. It’s on for June 6, if she doesn’t delay again or settle.

Arctic Partners wants to make sure there are no more delays because it’s costing that company money. It has asked the court to force her to the table so it doesn’t have to keep spending funds on lawyers who have been trying to find out when Rogoff will make herself available.

Arctic Partners has asked for a court order to compel her attendance.

Rogoff has also been the subject of a fraud claim brought by M&M. That occurred in March.

In addition, the separate case of bankruptcy is proceeding and the bankruptcy trustee appears to be piercing the veil between Rogoff’s defunct corporation and her personal assets — assets that, if sold, could help make dozens of creditors whole. That might include planes, property, art, and her unknown divorce settlement with David Rubenstein.

In the meantime, the bankruptcy case itself may be nearing resolution on June 4. The bankruptcy trustee has found grounds for actual wrongdoing and Rogoff’s attorneys have gotten their client to agree to mediation after the trustee released a draft complaint outlining the various weaknesses in her position.

[Read: Alaska Journal of Commerce update on Alaska Dispatch News bankruptcy]

The next court action on the M&M/Arctic Partners case is June 6, when the two companies will be able to ask Rogoff detailed questions about her personal finances — if she shows up.

[Read: The Rogoff Files: Fraud, deception, and reckless disregard]

Rogoff has been traveling the globe and attending conferences on the Arctic. She has launched a new publication, ArcticToday.com, which is incorporated in Delaware and has, it appears, two employees.

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