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Bonus: Alaska Air awards $1,000 to 22,000 workers

Suzanne Downing
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Bonus: Alaska Air awards $1,000 to 22,000 workers

TAX CUT CREDITED

Alaska Air Group will give $1,000 bonuses to its 22,000 workers, including those at Virgin America, Horizon Air, and McGee Air Services.

The decision was announced Thursday and comes after Congress approved the Trump Administration’s corporate tax cut, and also comes in advance of the company’s announcement of its fourth quarter and full year 2017 financial results, expected on Jan. 25.

Employees of the company will receive the bonus in addition to their annual performance bonus, which is paid every January and is often more than $1,000. Corporate executives will not receive the bonus.

Other airlines have given the same level of bonuses to workers: Jet Blue, Southwest, and American Airlines.

Based in Seattle, Alaska Airlines is the fifth-largest U.S. airline based on passenger traffic and is the dominant carrier in the Northwest and Alaska, moving more passengers between Alaska and the Lower 48 than any other airline.

Valley political pieces start to move

Suzanne Downing
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With Sen. Mike Dunleavy of Wasilla rejoining the race for governor, the political players in the Mat-Su are starting to rustle.

Pam Goode

Pam Goode of Delta Junction filed for the primary first, but didn’t indicate whether she will challenge Rep. George Rauscher or go for Dunleavy’s Senate seat.

She recently rejoined the ranks of the Republican Party after having been associated with the Alaska Constitution Party for several years.

Goode ran against Rauscher for House District 9 in 2016 and took 37.18 percent of the vote in the general election as a member of the Constitution Party. In 2014 she ran against Jim Colver for the House District 9 seat and took 27 percent of the general election vote as a CP. This makes her an experienced campaigner in the district, and she has conservative credentials.

The first to file for Dunleavy’s Senate seat is Mat-Su Borough Assembly member Randall Kowalke, who represents the District 7 area of the borough, encompassing Meadow Lakes west, and the northern area of the Borough up to the Denali Highway including Trapper Creek, Talkeetna, Willow, and Sheep Mountain Areas.

Randall Kowalke

Kowalke won his seat on the Assembly by a slim margin in 2015 against Doyle Holmes. He and Holmes have some bad blood between them that stemmed from a lawsuit a few years ago, and some speculate that Holmes could try to foil him by filing against him. Kowalke sees himself as a moderate conservative.

David Eastman and George Rauscher

Rep. David Eastman, District 10, and Rep. George Rauscher, District 9, have eyed the Dunleavy seat, but neither has indicated whether he’ll make a move. Both are conservative Republicans who have not agreed with the way the governor has proceeded by cutting Permanent Fund dividends in half.

If Rauscher jumps in, Pam Goode may decide to run for his seat, which would then be an open seat. The man who Rauscher beat in the 2016 primary, Jim Colver, might also jump in to regain his seat.

And if Eastman jumps in and runs for Senate, it’s just as likely that Randall Kowalke will consider running for the House seat Eastman would vacate.

Liberal poll shows Walker in trouble in three-way

Suzanne Downing
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The Lottsfeldt Strategies leaked a poll in recent days that shows Gov. Bill Walker has a high hill to climb with the Alaska voter.

In a contest between Walker, Republican John Binkley, and Democrat Mark Begich, only 10 percent of participants were strongly in favor of Walker, while 19 percent said they strongly favored Binkley (who is not a declared candidate), and 16 percent were strongly for Begich, (also undeclared).

Patinkin is a survey firm out of Portland that provides research mainly for liberal organizations. Jim Lottsfeldt, the principal of Lottsfeldt Strategies, would be the type of client that Patinkin would accept. PRS also did work to create the Permanent Fund automatic voter registration messaging that helped convince voters to pass the ballot measure in 2016.

The company also checked the pulse of the Republican side of the ballot to see who is gaining traction. Under that question, Binkley still does well, according to the data that has been released, while Mike Dunleavy and Scott Hawkins follow at a distance, and Charlie Huggins and Mike Chenault are in the back of the pack.

 

Here’s what the governor’s race breakdown looks like in the Patinkin Poll:

Among a wider sample of Republican candidates, Binkley still had the advantage as of mid-December, keeping in mind that Dunleavy had not re-entered the race and so the results are likely skewed:

The Patinkin poll was leaked two weeks ago, but why it was leaked is a mystery. It’s possible that Lottsfeldt is working with his usual client Mark Begich to test the waters. But Begich often uses Harstad Strategies out of Colorado for his polling. It’s equally possible that Lottsfeldt is trying to talk Begich into running by leaking the poll and seeing what kind of support gets generated.

It’s a political year, so anything is possible, and things are often not what they seem.

 

Dunleavy hires campaign team: Brett Huber, Amanda Price

Suzanne Downing
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Dunleavy hires campaign team: Brett Huber, Amanda Price

Sen. Mike Dunleavy announced the appointment of key staff to his 2018 gubernatorial campaign: Brett Huber as campaign manager, and Amanda Price as deputy campaign manager.

“Together, they bring a powerhouse of talent, connections, and political savvy to our growing organization,” Dunleavy said.

Brett Huber has extensive experience in business management, public policy, and grass roots organization. He was chief of staff to former Sen. Rick Halford of Chugiak and the Senate Resources Committee.

He was chief of staff for Sen. Lesil McGuire of Anchorage and the Senate Rules Committee, chief of staff for Sen. Dunleavy, and policy advisor to Sen. Pete Kelly of Fairbanks.

Huber also brings to the campaign his in-depth knowledge of natural resource policy and fish and game management.  He previously worked as Executive Director of the Kenai River Sportfishing Association, and as a Program Director for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.  Huber is past President of the Alaska Outdoor Council and AOC Political Action Committee.  He also served as Chairman of the Public Advisory Committee for the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council.

Amanda Price brings to the campaign nearly two decades of experience in government affairs and organizational management.  She most recently served as senior advisor to Gov. Bill Walker on issues of violent crime prevention, intervention, and response, and policy with a particular focus on the epidemic of domestic violence and sexual assault.

Price served as the executive director of the non-profit Standing Together Against Rape (STAR), the only statewide agency serving victims of sexual assault, sexual abuse, and child sexual abuse.  She has been an active community leader holding many roles including serving as the Finance Committee Chair and Legislative Committee Member for the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. Price was also appointed to the Municipality of Anchorage Housing and Neighborhood Development Commission.

“Amanda Price’s expertise in strategic organization, planning, and fiscal responsibility will be crucial as our campaign builds momentum,” said Dunleavy. “Even more important is her deep knowledge of the public safety challenges facing our state, her knowledge of the resources available to our state, the gaps in service that exist, and immediate steps that can be taken to protect Alaskans.”

District 40: Will it be the Year of the Woman?

Suzanne Downing
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OR WILL EUGENE SMITH BE WALKER’S CHOICE?

Thursday is the final day for applicants to get their resumes in for the House District 40 vacancy.

So far, we know with certainty that Sandy Shroyer-Beaver of Kotzebue has applied. Shroyer-Beaver is a member of the Kotzebue City Council. She let her intent be known on Facebook in December.

But Must Read Alaska is also learning that Ben Nageak, of Barrow, is putting his name in for consideration. The former representative for District 40 lost the seat to Dean Westlake in 2016 by just eight votes, after the Alaska Democratic Party came after him with all guns blazing. Nageak had joined the Republican-led majority in the House and was chair of the Natural Resources Committee. That offended Democrats and they “primaried” him with Dean Westlake, a known sexual harasser.

Westlake’s resignation was official on Dec. 25. He had been accused of sexual harassment while serving in the Legislature over this past year.

[Read: Did Edgmon and Tuck conspire to cover up Westlake complaint?]

In addition to those two names, the former mayor of the city of Kotzebue Eugene Smith has resurfaced.

Smith is the former chief of staff to the mayor of the Northwest Arctic Borough.  He is associated with Gov. Bill Walker through John Baker, who is a close ally of Walker’s and whose family runs successful companies in the region.

But questions about both Smith and Baker were raised at a December, 2016 retreat of the Northwest Arctic Borough because of a controversial school construction project for Kivalina, in which Baker’s company proposed that it receive a no-bid contract with a 20 percent management fee attached to it, which they later re-proposed at 12 percent. The overall project was worth about $60 million. The management fee seemed extraordinarily high in either case. Shortly after the third of three meetings on the proposed contract, Smith was let go from his position in the borough.

The meeting was reported on by KTUU.

“The meeting revealed a sharp division – at least at the time – between the mayor’s administration and the school district when Richards called for a vote on a proposal to award a construction manager project for construction of a new Kivalina school.

“It was the third time in a month that the Assembly had been asked to consider the proposal. Previous resolutions specified Remote Solutions, a company owned by Iditarod mushers John Baker and Katherine Keith, as a recipient of the no-bid contract. An attorney for the school district wrote that the proposal might violate a state law that requires competitive bidding on such projects, while district officials argued they could perform the same work for less money.

“This decision should not be made in Seattle, Washington,” school district director of property services Craig McConnell testified at the Dec. 16 meeting. “It should be made here in our region. So people can speak in person.”

“Savok said the location of the meeting was a matter of common-sense timing and convenience.

“I don’t think there was any withholding of public involvement in any way, shape or form,” he said. “The meeting just happened to coincide where all Assembly members were present.”

Baker’s company, Remote Solutions, won the bid. And since Baker is pulling for Eugene Smith, some people in the borough say it is a foregone conclusion that Walker will pick Smith.

Will the governor go with the Baker recommendation?

Will this be the Year of the Woman for the Northwest Arctic Borough and Sandy Shroyer-Beaver?

Or will Nageak, the man who lost the seat when the Division of Elections allowed people in some communities to vote two ballots, be appointed to finish the term of Dean Westlake? That would seem to be the choice the best respects the will of the voters, but it may not advance the Walker-Mallott political agenda.

The final answer may be none of the above, but we will know within a few days.

[Read: The election of a predator]

 

Today in history: President signs order, Alaska admitted as state

Suzanne Downing
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On Jan. 3, 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed Proclamation 3269, admitting the territory of Alaska as the 49th and largest state in the union. The signing took place in the Cabinet Room of the White House in the presence of Senators-elect E. L. Bartlett and Ernest Gruening, Representative-elect Ralph J. Rivers, Acting Governor Waino Hendrickson, Michael A. Stepovich, former Governor of Alaska, and Robert Atwood, Publisher of the Anchorage Daily Times. Vice President Richard Nixon and House Speaker Sam Rayburn sat on either side of the president.

The president made these remarks immediately after signing the proclamation:

Gentlemen, I think that all of us recognize this as an historic occasion. Certainly for myself I feel very highly privileged and honored to welcome the forty-ninth State into the Union.

Such a ceremony has not taken place in almost half a century, so at least I have the feeling of self-gratification that I am not just one of a group in this kind of ceremony.

To the State itself, to its people, I extend on behalf of all their sister States, best wishes and hope for prosperity and success. And to each of you gentlemen elected to high office to represent your new State, in both State and Federal offices, my congratulations, my felicitations, and my hope that we will all work together to the benefit of all forty-nine States.
Certainly, I pledge to you my cooperation in that effort.

And now, as far as these pens are concerned, I hope there’s one for each of you people who has worked so hard to bring this about.

The new 49-star flag, which would become official on July 4, was unfurled the same day.

When deceit becomes the new ‘truth,’ we’re in trouble as a society

Suzanne Downing
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BY DAVID WILSON
GUEST COLUMNIST

Can there be justice for those who have done nothing, but have been brought up on charges anyway?

Most would want to think, yes.  Well…I’m here to tell you one story of retribution that could, potentially, change how false accusations are dealt with and settled.

In a time of censorship, insensitivity, selfishness, and extreme intolerance, “deceit” can become the new “truth.” The entertainment industry, media/journalism and political arenas have been blown wide open with career-crushing accusations. Self-awareness and honest reflection are quickly becoming the new platform for restitution, but not resolution.

Here I will focus on what I know: the political arena. With all the valid accusations that have come forth, we, the general public, have completely glossed over the false accusations that have come to the forefront. Why is that? For now, allow me to focus on a specific and particular case that hasn’t had wide-spread media attention as yet.

I am David Wilson, a state senator in Alaska who was recently accused of sexual harassment of a legislative aide by House leadership, a blogger, and a news reporter.

No one registered a formal complaint against me, but that did not stop others from filing baseless accusations, pushing forward without knowing the facts, or doing a proper investigation before labeling me guilty.

In October 2017, a blogger named Jeff Landfield “covered” this story in his new blog and it quickly spread throughout social media and local news programming without any due diligence.

The blog caught the attention of KTVA’s Reporter Liz Raines, who took this matter into her own hands, joining Mr. Landfield. Ms. Raines gave an inaccurate account of what happened as she went on her media campaign to tell her story. As time moved on, however, holes in Ms. Raines’ account began to appear.

A video that surfaced exonerated me. That video has yet to be viewed by the public. However, those who did have the opportunity to view the video saw to it that the charges against me were dropped.

The Bible states that for all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all.

Imagine, if you will, my frustrations that dragged on for weeks, knowing that I was innocent the entire time. The lost hours of sleep, the pressures of work and deadlines, along with the loss of focus, should be completely understandable. I am but one case. Yet, there are thousands like mine, where innocent professionals are losing their livelihoods based on verbal accusations without any proof.

This is a fearful time in this society. When the burden of proof is on the defendant, the plaintiff can sit back and watch the disintegration of a human life, based on absolutely nothing.

It doesn’t take much for someone’s life to be turned totally upside down, their reputation ruined, future goals dashed, and families devastated and destroyed. I hope the lesson my case has taught is that you should never take your presumed innocence as a given in the eyes of others.

Someone desperately wanted to end my political career, livelihood, and, ultimately, my life as I knew it.

Maybe what I proved to my accusers in my counter action is that the innocents who stand and fight for their right to be heard will ultimately be the winners.

Harriet Beecher Stowe once said “When you get into a tight place, and everything goes against you till it seems as if you couldn’t hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that’s just the place and time that the tide will turn.”

“Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody,” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow stated centuries ago. My plight just may be the perfect example to another under the same pressures today.

Throughout this fight I never forgot those that were important to me. I remained focused on my wife and my family, a difficult thing to do under such duress and pressure.

Criss Jami said “The pressure of adversity is the most powerful sustainer of accountability. It’s as though everything you do is multiplied by 50 in order to surpass those with a head-start. I was never capable of slacking when at the threshold of failure.”

These words ring true in my situation.

When will our society focus again upon the truth? We have laws in place like perjury, making a false statement to police, and obstruction of justice. Do we also need to create laws about bearing false witness and false claims of sexual harassment?

David Wilson is state senator who represents Wasilla, Meadow Lakes, Knik, Big Lake, Point MacKenzie, Goose Bay and North Fairview.

Anchorage housing market sagged in 2017

Suzanne Downing
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Anchorage housing market sagged in 2017

According to data released by ReMax, only five metropolitan areas in the country saw a year-over-year decrease in median prices for homes in 2017.

Anchorage was the worst.

The only Alaska community in the survey, Anchorage led the pack with a -5.3 percent decrease in median home prices.

Alaska’s largest city was followed by Trenton, N.J. -4.2 percent; and Honolulu, -3.4 percent.

Nine metro areas increased year-over-year by double-digit percentages. The largest increases were in San Francisco, +13.8 percent; Cleveland, Ohio, +12.9 percent; Orlando, Fla, +11.6; and Seattle, +11.4 percent.

Not all real estate services report information in the same way. A review of Zillow.com, Trulia.com and Realtor.com found wide variations in Anchorage data.

The Multiple Listing Service of Alaska reports that the average sales price in Anchorage in 2017 is fairly flat: $365,472, down slightly from $366,203 in 2016, and $367,710 in 2015.

Houses stayed on the market for an average of 49 days in 2017, the same as in 2016 and only slightly longer than in 2015.

The average price of a condominium in Anchorage has firmed from $211,536  in 2016 to $212,530, with units staying on the market for an average of 70 days.

Some 1,079 homes are for sale in Anchorage, a figure that appears consistent throughout the various companies reporting such data.

In the past three years, total sales volume for homes in Anchorage has dropped over 6 percent, according to MLS data.

In November, the median price of all 54 metro sales was $227,500, an increase of 1.7 percent over October 2017 and up 3.7 percent from November 2016.

After midnight, Anchorage’s first murder of the year

Suzanne Downing
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After midnight, Anchorage’s first murder of the year

Mayor Ethan Berkowitz might have had it right all along: The city is perfectly safe, so long as you don’t go out after midnight or are not involved with the underground drug trade.

Berkowitz said that last September in the glib way he says stuff, and all hell broke loose among the citizens of Anchorage, causing him to take back those words. There had been 34 murders in 2016 and, by the end of 2017, there would be 35 — an all time record.

But maybe he was just being honest.

Thirty-nine-year-old Timothy Smith broke the Berkowitz safety curfew: Smith, who seems to have had no major brushes with the law and who seemed like a fairly happy-go-lucky guy, lasted just a few minutes past midnight on New Years Day, 2018 in Anchorage, before he was shot dead in the middle of downtown Anchorage.

Smith had been out celebrating the new year with a friend, someone described as the love of his life. He’d been riding a mechanical bull in a local nightclub, the Gaslight Lounge. And then, after the clock struck midnight, he was out on the street, where he went down in a hail of bullets near the Avenue Bar at 4th and D Streets.

Police are looking for occupants of a silver Chevy TrailBlazer that was in the area.

According to media reports, Smith was the father of two sons, ages 20 and 17. In 1996, he set the long-jump record for Dimond High School at more than 22 feet, a record that stands today. He was described as a handyman and auto mechanic, and on social media, his friends said that he brought a lot of joy to their lives.

Smith would have turned 40 on Jan. 3. Instead, he was the first homicide victim of 2018 in his hometown, where even the mayor said it’s not safe to be out after midnight.

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