Democratic sacrificial lamb Steve Lindbeck rolled out his first video ad this week and he looked peeved — or at least as peeved as a milk-fed veal calf without a bottle.
Lindbeck leaned on his credentials as a former journalist to say how hopping mad he is at Rep. Don Young.
Young, he says, accepted campaign donations from a company and then refused to intervene when that company decided not to do business in Alaska. As if Young should force a company like Crowley to bid on a contract when it has other plans.
It was Lindbeck’s best Bob Woodward impersonation.
Lindbeck might have wanted to think that strategy through because that ad doesn’t do him any favors. Journalists are supposed to stick to the facts, but since they don’t do so reliably, they’re losing the high ground with the public.
Gallup just released a new poll that shows how journalists have sunk to a new low of trust with the general public. That’s down eight points in just one year alone, and the lowest point since 1972. Not surprisingly, Democrats still trust the mass media, but Independents and Republicans? Not so much.
From a technical standpoint, the ad just goes in fits and starts. If it’s intentional, it’s just distracting. But it looks like they had to work at getting any usable footage with the candidate, who isn’t a natural in front of the camera. In fact, the whole thing seems kind of low-tech, low-budget and low-energy.
From an ethical standpoint, Lindbeck should blush: Using congressional authority to sway private contracts one way or another is a big no-no. Suppose Don Young had done so — he would have faced charges. Lindbeck knows that, but has taken the first few steps down the slippery road of political lying.
As evidenced by the Aug. 16 primary and his latest lackluster FEC reports, Lindbeck is struggling, but he’ll keep fighting and Rep. Don Young shouldn’t dismiss him entirely.
After all, we’ve seen what happens when the Alaska Dispatch News goes after a candidate. The evidence is beginning to mount that Publisher Alice Rogoff has chosen Don Young as her next big target, and she’s unleashed the hounds from hell on him.
Lindbeck has a lot of friends among those hounds, and the howling has already begun.
Alaska Gov. Bill Walker has hired Mark Wiggin as his new DNR deputy commissioner, starting Sept. 19.
Mark Wiggin
“Wiggin, of Anchorage, brings to DNR 36 years of oil field experience including 33 years in the Alaska oil field. He was a lead start-up engineer for the Alpine and Milne Point oil fields and during his three decades in Alaska, Wiggin served in engineering, operations, exploration, and project management roles for a number of high-profile developments including Lisburne, Alpine, Nikaitchuq, and most recently, Mustang,” according to the governor’s press release.
Until the end of this week, Wiggin is the engineering and development manager for Brooks Range Petroleum, where he has been since 2012.
A registered Democrat and active in state Alaska Democratic Party politics, he joins the governor’s team halfway through Walker’s term, and is replacing Marty Rutherford, who left in June.
Wiggin gave $2,000 in contributions to Mark Begich’s 2014 Senate bid, and is a regular donor to the Alaska Democratic Party and ActBlue, a political action group that allows donors to funnel money to their specific candidates and liberal causes.
GOVERNOR STACKING UP WITH HARD-CORE DEMOCRATS
In addition to his large donations to Begich, Wiggin has made nice-sized contributions to a whole list of Democrats that include Eric Croft, Forrest Dunbar, Matt Claman, Tom Begich, Harriet Drummond, Ethan Berkowitz, Hollis French, Clare Ross, Harry Crawford Jr., Nick Moe, Paul Honeman, Starr Marsett, and Governor Bill Walker. He is a well-known go-to person for hosting Democrat candidate fundraisers.
Gov. Walker has endured the resignations of one-third of his cabinet in his first 18 months in office, losing his originally chosen attorney general (his law partner whom he hired back as a contractor), his commissioner and deputy commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources, Education commissioner, Public Safety commissioner and Corrections commissioner. He also forced out and replaced the president of the Alaska Gasline Development Authority, and the vice president of AGDC resigned last month.
Governor Walker recently hired another hard-core Democrat — Hollis French, former senator and candidate for offices such as governor and lieutenant governor — as a commissioner from the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
BROOKS RANGE – HOPING FOR THOSE TAX CREDITS
Brooks Range Petroleum, the company from which Wiggin hails, is a beneficiary of the tax credits the state has promised the small oil and gas explorers in recent years. The governor’s refusal to make good on the tax credits has burdened companies like Brooks Range, whose business models depended on the credits. Some observers are speculating that Wiggin is leaving because the company needs to downsize in the current difficult business environment.
Brooks Range has a discovery on the North Slope, but may not be in a position to develop it under the current regime of Bill Walker.
Mayor Ethan Berkowitz was sitting back, eyelids heavy, looking languid. The mayor, who normally spends much of the Assembly meetings in the back of the room, talking with friends and not paying attention to the proceedings, was in his seat.
The Anchorage Assembly meeting was being taken over by the topic of violent crime. This was not going well.
Fifteen months into his term as mayor, and this is what he’s identified with: Murder, mayhem, and an adorable little basketball court on top of a downtown parking garage that he’s had converted into a park where no vagrants — and no other Anchorage residents — are likely to go.
The cameras were on him now. The testimony continued from the angry public. City Manager Mike Abbott kept his eyes glued to his computer screen, not looking at the large crowd that had gathered in the Z.J. Loussac Library Assembly Chambers to express their worries to the Assembly.
Earlier this month, Berkowitz had to change up plans and meet with residents in the North Star neighborhoods, and they were hopping mad over the latest double homicide in a place where their children play.
Berkowitz was explaining that it’s complicated. It’s more than just murder, it’s just a lot of stuff, he was saying. Mike Abbott the city manager kept face down, looking at his screen.
One Anchorage resident from the Mountain View neighborhood was telling the Assembly that she is not a happy camper: “There are rapes, shootings, frequent gunfire.”
“People are not at ease in their homes, yards or streets. They are avoiding the parks and the trails.” – Stephanie Warnoch, to the Anchorage Assembly
Berkowitz shifted the blame to the state: “The State is drawing down the number of Troopers in the Anchorage area,” he explained.
Assemblyman Dick Traini also kicked the can over to the state. SB 91, the crime reform bill, was to blame: “They’re dumping the people who should be in prison out on the streets,” he said.
SB 91 was signed into law on July 11 by Gov. Bill Walker. The city was already well on the way to setting a new murder record.
“These are complicated problems and it requires a concerted community effort to move forward,” Berkowitz said, helpfully.
The public outcry was mounting. Earlier this month, two men were shot in the Valley of the Moon Park.
The city’s response was slow, but finally the official word was: Don’t go out at night alone. Be wary. Stay off the trails. After all, this is the second double homicide on a city trail. Is it a serial killer? The official word is simply: We can’t tell you.
Tommy Rumph
Then, on Tuesday, just two block away from Valley of the Moon Park, Tommy Rumph, age 31, allegedly pulled a gun on Treavonne Owens and shot him dead at 15th and E streets at about 6:15 am, right next to Central Middle School. The late Mr. Owens had multiple gunshot wounds to his body.
SAFE AND SECURE BERKOWITZ
The Ethan Berkowitz whom voters chose was the “Safe and Secure” Berkowitz, the Harvard lawyer who could hold the floor of the Alaska House of Representatives with long soliloquies about oil and gas taxes.
When he ran for governor, he proposed allowing Alaskans to invest in a new “Great Alaska Gasline” as investors with their Permanent Fund Dividends. As politicians do, Berkowitz knows to talk about things that people are focused on. So when it came time to run for mayor, he focused on crime.
As mayor, can Berkowitz make people in Anchorage feel safe?
“We are as far from feeling safe and secure as we have been in many years,” said one Anchorage resident who would not give her name for publication. “The only thing we’ve gotten from the city is ‘don’t travel alone and night and don’t go on the trails. Since when is that acceptable?'”
DEATH TOLL: OFFICIALLY 26, PLUS TWO HIT-AND-RUNS
There are 22 homicide cases in Anchorage this year, with 26 deaths between them.
The rate is based on the FBI’s Uniform Crime Rate standard that doesn’t add in those hit-and-runs.
To the families of the deceased, a hit and run is murder, but it’s simply not counted that way year-over-year.
Of the 22 cases, 12 have been solved with charges lodged and arrests made; there are three cases where the assailant is known, but charges await prosecutorial review.
There are six unsolved cases (involving nine victims), where a suspect has not been identified, according to Jennifer Castro of the Anchorage Police Department.
Nine souls awaiting justice and an entire city on edge over murder and mayhem that has folks making sure their doors are locked and their children are not playing outside, where the bad guys have taken over.
TALK TO THE MAN
Mayor Berkowitz will have office hours in his Parking Lot Park, top of the 5th Avenue Garage, this Friday, Sept. 18, from 11 am to 1 pm, five stories above the killing zone. It’s a stone’s throw from where Treavonne Owens used to work in a popular downtown restaurant kitchen, and within view of where someone on Tuesday pumped Mr. Owens full of lead and left him to die next to a school — a school where children would arrive within the hour.
Residents of the city can also find him tonight, Sept 14, at the North Star Neighborhood Community Council, where public safety is an agenda item. The NSCC meets in the library of the North Star Elementary School at 605 West Fireweed Lane, and begins at 7 pm. Sam Moore is the president of the NSCC; reach Moore with your questions about the meeting at [email protected].
PRIVATE PARTY PLANNED WITH ANN COULTER – TICKET INFO
With all that has happened on the “Hillary Health front” this week, what does Ann Coulter have to say about the Clinton track record of lies and deceit?
Let’s ask her ourselves! Author, lawyer, and political lightning rod Ann Coulter will be in Anchorage for a speaking engagement on Sept. 17 at the Egan Center in Anchorage. Tickets are going fast at Ticketmaster.
An after-party VIP reception with Ms. Coulter is where Alaskans can actually meet her, and at the same time help fund the operations of the Alaska Republican Party.
Coulter will have copies of her latest book, In Trump We Trust, available for purchase, and she’ll inscribe it for you. But wait! There’s more! You can also have your photo taken with her, which would be the social media throwdown of the year among your friends.
It’s a small crowd, so an opportunity to visit with her one-on-one. See you there.
Coulter is a frequent guest on many TV shows, including Hannity, Piers Morgan, Red Eye, HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, Fox & Friends, Dr. Drew, Entertainment tonight, The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Early Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Hannity, and The O’Reilly Factor.
SINGAPORE $LING
Word is that Gov. Bill Walker has paid $50,000 for his 15-minute speaking opportunity at the CWC World LNG & Gas Series: Asia Pacific Summit. We think it’s more likely that the $50,000 is the sponsorship that includes 15 minutes at the podium and the beverage break being sponsored by Alaska Gasline Development Corporation. The pay-to-play trip by Walker and entourage is set for Sept. 20-23.
MARK BEGICH TRYING TO STAY RELEVANT
Mark Begich is thinking about running as a write-in candidate against Lisa Murkowski. By thinking, he means he is polling to see what everyone else is thinking.
Liz Raines, reporter at KTVA, had the good sense to call Begich and let him put the rumor on the record, which he did:
“That decision I can make as, you know, as the time permits, but you know, the election isn’t until November,” Begich told her.
Is it a cry for help or a plea for attention?
“Mark Begich can never be taken for granted because he has a knack for staying two steps ahead of the truth,” said longtime political consultant Art Hackney. “He ran for U.S. Senate on a record as Anchorage mayor that only caught up with him after he was elected.”
Hackney added, “In this case, his record as U.S. senator has already caught up to him and he will have a hard time making the case that returning him to the Senate would be anything but a disaster for Alaska.”
“This is self-immolation,” said Frank McQueary, communication chair of the Alaska Republican Party. “Mark Begich, the guy who brought us Obamacare, the guy who is Obama’s handmaiden, has such a visceral hatred of Lisa Murkowski that he’s ready to throw himself upon the fire.”
As for Joe Miller, McQueary said, “He doesn’t the capacity any longer to raise the kind of money he needs to mount an effective campaign. At this point, the only one who might contribute cash to him would be Mark Begich.”
SALAD DAYS IN THE CAPITAL CITY
The featured speaker at the end-of-summer Salad Luncheon for Capital City Republican Women is John Moller, former rural advisor for Gov. Sean Parnell, and Kathy Hosford of Skagway.
The event is noon-1:30, Sept. 17, [contact for location: [email protected]] in Juneau. Moller and Hosford will discuss what it was like to be a delegate at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this summer.
The part of union money and influence that is little known and receives little attention is union “trust” assets.
In the private sector unions and employers participate in so-called “Taft-Hartley Trusts” to provide retirement benefits, health care, and in some cases other “fringe” benefits to union members.
The union and the employer negotiate the amount that the employer will contribute to the “trust,” and the trust is theoretically jointly run by the union and the employer(s).
The reality is that the trusts are run by the unions and employers take little interest. Many are bankrupt or have been placed under federal supervision, most are underfunded, but they represent a huge amount of money that doesn’t have the legal strictures that apply to dues money.
Rest assured that a lot of trust money was behind enacting ObamaCare, and a lot of trust money gets spent on lobbying and on conferences in warm, stylish places.
The structure varies in the public sector because it is a creature of state or local law, but the principles are the same.
The sheer amount of the money involved allows the unions to bully banks and credit unions and the numbers of members involved allow them to bully service providers. If the Bank of Podunk is contemplating providing financing for a commercial building, the union just calls the bank president and says: “If that project isn’t built union, we’re pulling our trust money out of your bank.”
Just to give some perspective, the Alaska State Employees Association has maybe 8,500 members. The State pays into a “trust” with which ASEA buys health insurance for the bargaining unit members. It is hard to find the exact amount the State pays, but I’m estimating about $1,300 per member per month.
That is $1 million bucks a month, $13-and -change million a year that ASEA, a small union by national standards, can run through whatever bank or credit union it chooses.
Bankers will do a lot of things for a depositor that runs that kind of money through their bank; think what they might do for a depositor that runs billions through their bank.
Then there are dues monies. It is black-letter law illegal to use compelled dues money to play politics and has been since 1986. But then, adultery is still illegal in lots of places; and that must be why nobody ever does it.
Only in the most corrupt “Blue” places do unions use dues money for direct political contributions or actions in support of a particular candidate. Even if you bought the governor or attorney general, if they know for a fact that you illegally spent dues money, then they own you. And if they own you and you oppose their agenda, the attorney general would make the union head’s life a living hell.
But what unions can do with dues money is “member education.” There is a blurry line between political action and member education. In the recent August 16 primary I had five visits from union activists campaigning for union-endorsed candidates, and only two visits from actual candidates — one Democrat, one Republican.
Since I was a union member during my State tenure for only a couple of years in the 1990s, I assume the unions were using the membership lists from the Alaska Retired Public Employees Association, which I was a member of for a year until it became apparent that it cared far more about Democrat politics than about retiree benefits. That was 10 years ago, but I’m still on the list of people that the unions have members out walking the streets to “educate.”
Unions can do almost all of the “ground game” side of politics using dues money, which saves the Democrats a tremendous amount of hard money. The Democrats can use all of their legal, or arguably legal, political money on pure political action and political messaging; the unions will take care of all of the get-out-the-vote, poll-watching, and parallel messaging.
The other thing they do with dues money is fund other union-related or union/Democrat leaning organizations. These groups purport to be interested in improving the lot of “working people.” The reality is that these are interlocking leftist organizations and if they pass the money around enough, everyone loses track of the pea. If some group is singing songs, carrying signs, or burning buildings in your town, if you scratch far enough you’ll find dues money paying the organizers.
I’m not prepared to accept that all of the unions’ legal money is truly legal, but some portion of their legal money is, in fact, legal and they can spend it as hard money contributions to candidates or initiatives. Hard money is reportable to state and federal campaign finance regulators and is accessible to the public, so it is difficult but not impossible to cheat. Even with all the restrictions on hard money, the major unions, especially the major public employee unions, are perennially in the top 10 contributors to Democrat political campaigns.
Bottom line: If you’re a Republican politician in a union state, and make no mistake, Alaska is a union state, you cannot take on unions unless you are both willing and positioned to take on their revenue stream. They are very well organized and very well funded; the failed AO-37 initiative saw to that. If you’re facing a union financed opponent, you don’t have time to seek any meaningful remedy from the courts and the Executive Branch is your enemy. There is no relief available; you simply have to win the election the hard way.
Art Chance is a retired Director of Labor Relations for the State of Alaska. He is the author of the book, Red on Blue, Establishing a Republican Governance, available at Amazon.
The Division of Elections has released its recount of the 2016 Primary election in District 40. A four-vote lead by Dean Westlake of Kotzebue has stretched into a eight-vote lead. Westlake has 825 votes to Rep. Ben Nageak’s 817.
Nageak has hired Tim McKeever, an Anchorage lawyer who specializes in election law, to represent him in a legal challenge to the process.
Tuckerman Babcock, the chairman of the Alaska Republican Party, has followed the election closely with the interest of a man who started his political career as a clerk in the Division of Elections.
“The bottom line is you cannot recount corrupted ballots, or you can recount them all you want but that doesn’t mean you will know who won the race,” Babcock said.
Rep. Ben Nageak
Voters in Shungnak and Kobuk were given two ballots, both the Republican one and the Democratic one, while in five other precincts, Republicans were not allowed to vote the “open” ballot containing Alaska Independence Party, Democrats and Libertarians.
In Buckland, there were an extraordinary number of “personal representative” ballots, where people vote for each other by proxy. In Newtok, ballots were cast in the open, within view of others.
“The only reasonable thing to do is to hold another election,” Babcock said. “We’re sorry it is this way, but they did a lousy job, and there’s no way to know who won the race.”
Election observers found numerous irregularities that could have swung the close election one way or another. Allegations of violations of the Voting Rights Act are also under review by third parties interested in clean elections.
The most recent count posted by the Division of Elections:
ALASKA, SHAKE HANDS WITH YOUR NEXT GENERATION OF LEADERS
Aaron Lojewski is heading out the door to go door-to-door campaign for House District 5. He’s on a roll.
Within minutes, he is talking to residents of Fairbanks about the state’s finances with the knowledge of an expert.
He doesn’t resort to political hyperbole. He’s got a fact-based message. He knows the difference between the Consitutional Budget Reserve, the Earnings Reserve, and the principle of the Alaska Permanent Fund. And he doesn’t waste any time going to houses where he knows people just don’t vote.
He can quote Jay Hammond on the origins and strategy of the fund, and how it was intended to work. Aaron doesn’t just recite statistics: He has spent the past five years thinking through the state’s finances with the passion of a numbers expert who cares about Alaska and has taken the time to look at its budget problems from every angle.
People who know Aaron tell you he is serious about winning his race for House. Competitive by nature, he has studied and understands the science of campaigning, has a feel for the rhythms of the campaign cycle, and sticks to the high road.
By days, he knocks on doors and listens to what constituents have to say. In the evenings, he’s building his next walking list, analyzing his district, making notes on what he has heard, and keeping current on the issues.
This is his second run for House. The first time, at age 24, he had no name recognition at all, yet still took 48 percent of the vote. With shoe leather and hardly a penny to work with, he came within 100 votes of winning the 2012 primary.
This time, the 28-year-old Republican has pulled nearly 20 percent more votes than the Democrat incumbent in the August primary. With Aaron’s campaigning skills and smarts, the District 5 seat is in serious play for Republicans to take back. Things are looking good.
EARLY YEARS: SCOUTING, CAMPING, EXPLORING
Born in Greeley, Colorado, Aaron grew up in the Badlands of South Dakota and Northern Michigan, before his family moved to Colorado Springs, where he finished high school and then struck out on his own to Fairbanks to attend college.
He was always interested in politics and served as class president of his high school. Aaron was also interested in finance, as evidenced by his huge coin collection he started as a child. “Wheat pennies — I have a lot of them,” he says.
“I learned about inflation from collecting coins,” he says. “I saw how copper coins became zinc, and how quarters went from silver to copper, and dollars went from gold to paper.”
He also learned the definition of the word “crooked” when he heard his father say, “Watch out for that Bill Clinton guy — he’s crooked.”
Aaron Lojewski, cub scout, (looks even younger without a beard, he says.)
The young Aaron was also involved in Boy Scouts, hiking and camping throughout his youth in northern Michigan woods and across Colorado.
When he took on studies the University of Alaska Fairbanks, there was no messing around: He finished his undergraduate Finance degree in just three years, powering through the summer classes to make the most of his time, because when he does something, he fully commits.
Aaron Lojewski, boy scout
Aaron had a lifelong dream to travel to Australia, and he spent several months exploring the country while also in the middle of a masters degree program at UAF.
Australia, although hotter, drier, and at the other end of the world, reminded him of Alaska, with its vast areas of wilderness and a few city centers. The difference, of course, is that in Australia, everything outside the cities is pretty desolate.
He found Australians to be friendly, even in the big cities, but he also became aware that racism is still a problem in that nation, even more so than our own. He studied the Australian version of Social Security, which is more privatized, and liked what he saw. He also thinks they do a pretty good job with their street roundabouts — something Alaskans can still struggle with.
Finishing his masters in resource economics, Aaron wanted to remain in Fairbanks after he graduated, so he chose a career in real estate. Just two weeks ago, he left his job to concentrate on his campaign full time.
IT’S THE BUDGET
What is he hearing from constituents in District 5? There are a whole lot of Alaskans who do not see the need for the government to “garnish” their Permanent Fund checks as it is doing through the governor’s veto pen. But there are others who are OK with that, but only if it’s necessary.
As for Aaron, he doesn’t think it’s necessary right now. The reserves the State is sitting on will last a few more years, and there are still cuts that can and should be made to state spending. He doesn’t think restructuring the Permanent Fund is needed at this time, and that lawmakers may be making it more complicated than it needs to be.
If you are in Fairbanks you can meet Aaron Lojewski this evening (Sept. 12) at the House Majority Fundraiser at the Regency Hotel, from 5-7 pm. He’ll have his own fundraiser at Grizzlies in Fairbanks on Sept. 26.
Aaron’s campaign page will have more fundraisers listed in the weeks ahead, and it shows just how savvy, fresh, and serious this campaign is. It also has an all-important donate button. This finance guru is looking for help in taking his message to Juneau.
Bronze whale being transported to its final destination near the Douglas Bridge in Juneau in August.
CRUISE INDUSTRY BEING TREATED LIKE AN ENEMY
BY WIN GRUENING, JUNEAU
Win Gruening
In my last column, I discussed how the word “divisive” is often over-used and misused. Mostly its use is an attempt to squelch debate and paint someone else’s argument as unworthy of further discussion.
Another way to do the same thing is to ascribe all sorts of hidden motives to the person you disagree with in the hopes some will stick – discrediting their argument to the point it is no longer being heard.
Typically, you might find this tactic in extreme left and right wing political blogs where there are “no-holds barred” and civility and measured responses are non-existent.
But you don’t see this kind of behavior often in our local newspaper – let alone in the editorial pages. I’m referring to the Sept. 6 Empire Readers Council editorial regarding the pending cruise industry lawsuit against the City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ).
Facts and reason are suspended in their lengthy editorial and one wonders if the writers just ran out of words due to their inability to grapple with the real issues.
The editorial begins by misstating the basis of the lawsuit when it says the cruise industry is “challenging Juneau’s fee for cruise ship passengers.”
Not so. The marine passenger fee being charged is not at issue. Clearly, it is legal to charge such a fee and other communities in various parts of the country including Alaska have done exactly that for years.
What is being challenged is how the fees are spent. Under Federal and State law, the fees can only be used for limited purposes. After years of disagreement and a lack of response to their concerns, the cruise industry took legal action as a last resort. In that lawsuit, they contend CBJ has over-reached by going far beyond the legal definition of permissible uses.
The lawsuit details funding, among other questionable items, a seawalk, 2.6 acre artificial island, and associated park improvements located over a mile from the cruise ship docks.
The editorial writers confuse the issue further by arguing marine passenger fees have funded wharves and other infrastructure improvements for passenger safety and efficiency. The editorial also points out the controversial erection of a bronze whale was secured by private donations.
While true, these items are not the basis for this lawsuit.
The editorial points out no cruise ship passengers have signed on to the lawsuit and therefore makes the writers “wonder whether the complaints advanced by the cruise lines are legitimate.” Legally, the cruise lines are responsible for collecting and remitting the tax and passengers view it as part of the price of a cruise.
Juneau competes with other cruise destinations for traveling passengers so don’t the cruise lines have a stake in the fees they are mandated to collect? And since marine passenger fees are legally required to benefit the ship and the passenger, shouldn’t the industry be allowed to object if fees are being spent incorrectly or frivolously?
Think about this. Since the use of the fees has been called into question, wouldn’t a negotiated settlement be preferable to losing the lawsuit altogether? And why wouldn’t CBJ want a clarification of permissible uses?
But since the ERC editorial was unable to refute the basis for the lawsuit, it launches into multiple conspiracy theories. The writers speculate the lawsuit is nothing more than a political ploy to intimidate CBJ. They hypothesize the industry is trying to lower the fee and is singling Juneau out to warn other cruise ship destinations they better not follow Juneau’s lead.
They offer no proof but accuse the industry of threats, bluster, and animosity towards Juneau. And that’s just the beginning.
What has me scratching my head is the attitude of the Empire Readers Council that leads them to portray the cruise industry as an enemy. Why does our local newspaper editorial council take such an adversarial position regarding this lawsuit instead of treating it for what it is – a disagreement among business partners that should be settled by mutual negotiation?
As one of our economy’s most important contributors, the cruise industry has supported many of Juneau’s charities, provided thousands of jobs for Juneau residents (especially school age kids and retirees) and been a spring board for scores of small businesses. The cruise industry generates almost $8 million in sales taxes for Juneau in addition to over $14 million in passenger and docking fees each year.
The dismissive tone of the ERC editorial, headlined in part “lawsuit is nothing but hot air”, does nothing to promote “working together” or to encourage the industry “to work thoughtfully….to make Juneau a worthy tourist destination” as the writers envision.
Regrettably, the ERC editorial further bolsters CBJ’s intractable position which is what led the cruise industry to file the lawsuit in the first place.
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. The editorial to which this commentary refers appeared in The Juneau Empire on Sept. 6.
MURKOWSKI AND MILLER SUPPORTERS SHAKE HANDS AT A FORK IN THE ROAD
A handful of Republican party officers – from the Mat-Su Valley, Interior and greater Anchorage primarily – are stepping out of their official roles this week so they can openly support the campaign of Joe Miller for Senate.
And now for the news: The Republicans, even those who are leaving their official party positions, were in good cheer at their regularly scheduled Fall meeting on Saturday. They expressed strong fellowship and camaraderie with those who are continuing on in support the candidacy of Alaska’s senior Senator Lisa Murkowski.
The road has diverged, but they agreed to part ways for a short period of time and meet up on the other side.
In fact, dare we say, there was a lot of love in the room.
The State Central Committee gaveled in at the Government Peak Chalet and went through the requisite roll call and reports. Then they went into executive session.
Dave Bronson is the kind of guy who will do what he thinks is right. In this case, he’s supporting Joe Miller for U.S. Senate instead of Lisa Murkowski. Screenshot from his Facebook page.
The matter under discussion was Dave Bronson. A veteran of the U.S. Air Force and a commercial pilot, until yesterday he was also the chair of District 25 for the Republican Party.
But Bronson decided that Joe Miller better represents the values of the platform of the Republican Party, and so the question to the central committee was: Can there be an exception, or are party officers bound to support the Republican nominee, as chosen by Republican primary voters?
The executive committee had said earlier in the week that it was sticking with the party rules. No officer is allowed to support a candidate from another party — whether it’s the Green Party, Democrats, or Libertarian.
In essence, the officers had said, “What you do in the voting booth is your business, but as a party officer, you’ve got to stick with the party rules.”
Now, the matter was before the entire body, including district chairs and bonus votes. Bronson was making his case that he felt duty-bound to support Miller, the candidate now running under the Libertarian flag.
“Here in the Alaska Republican Party our principles are clear and they are written down. These principles are articulated in our platform for all to see and understand. We publish them on our website,” Bronson said to the leadership of the Alaska Republican Party.
“For example, in Article 4 of our platform we claim, ‘Man is made in the image of God; therefore, we embrace the sanctity of life from the moment of conception until natural death.'”
Bronson went on to say that too often Republican politicians subtly and openly reject that platform, “even as they demand support from our party, especially at election time. And too often and for too long we Republicans have let them do it.” He was talking about Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
And then it came time to vote. By paper ballot, the group broke 36 to 23 in favor of staying with the rules.
That meant Bronson’s district chairmanship was vacated. Five others resigned their seats over the weekend. A note to Chairman Tuckerman Babcock from District 8’s Bonus Vote Michael Widney expressed the prevailing sentiment:
“I am stepping down from the position of Bonus Vote for District 8 to support a candidate for U.S. Senate other than a Republican. The rules are perfectly clear and I have been aware of them or a rule similar to them for several years. I appreciate the professional and open attitude and actions of the new party leadership and can see no reason to be the cause of any unnecessary strife and division in the party be delaying to comply with the rules in this matter.”
WHAT’S AT STAKE: UNITY
Some Alaska conservatives support Joe Miller because of his strong stances on social issues close to the hearts of the Republicans who believe that social issues are as important as economic issues.
But Miller has filed for Senate as a Libertarian, unlike last time when he ran as a Republican against Murkowski, only to have her beat him as a Republican write-in candidate at the end.
“Alaskans deserve a real choice,” said Miller, in a press release on Saturday. “The choice between a Democrat, a Democrat-backed independent, and a Republican-In-Name-Only – who has been one of Barack Obama’s chief enablers – is no choice at all.”
Tuckerman Babcock, the chairman of the Alaska Republican Party, said he recognized the right of every individual to back the candidate of his or her choice.
“But we also honor the obligations of party officers and decisions made by the voters int he primary, when they chose the candidiate. We will support the candidate the voters have chosen. If an officer wants to support someone else, that is perfectly ok and they go with our blessings. Let’s just remember the real opponents are the Democrats, Vince Beltrami, and Hillary Clinton,” Babcock said.
Over the past two years, the Alaska Republican Party has healed and has knitted together its somewhat broken bones, which fractured during the last Miller-Murkowski match-up. The party now seems stronger and with a greater sense of community than even three years ago, in part because of the steady succession of leadership from past chairman Randy Ruedrich, to Peter Goldberg, and now Tuckerman Babcock.
Murkowski supporters and Miller supporters are breaking bread together again. They hugged each other as they said farewell, knowing some would take different paths to what they hope is a good destination.
Those who are “taking a break” from being a party officer told Must Read Alaska they look forward to returning to Republican district activities after the election on Nov. 8.
Will the love last through the contest of ideas that will now take place before the entire world?
This will be the test of the values that Alaska Republicans embrace and the foundation they have built over the past few years.
“Regardless of the interaction between candidates,” Chairman Babcock said, “the interaction between Republicans will leave us united at the end of the day.”