Anchorage Municipal Clerk Barbara Jones has announced her retirement, effective June 30. She has served as the election chief for Anchorage for 24 years, reporting to the Assembly. Before becoming the city clerk, Jones was the city’s Ombudsman for one year and served 12 years as the executive director and staff attorney for the Anchorage Equal Rights Commission.
In her role as municipal clerk, Jones has worked alongside 11 Assembly chairs through four mayoral administrations. She was a leader in the state in pushing for all-mail-in and drop-box elections, which is how the Anchorage voters now cast their ballots.
She has also been blamed for not giving over what should be public documents to people who have made records requests, or being heavy-handed in redacting documents that should be public. She has lost in court three times to citizen Russell Biggs over her documented collusion with liberal members of the Assembly, which she refused to hand over public documents.
Jones has not been without other controversies. Many voters under the new mail-in system enacted by the Assembly — without a vote of the public — have had their ballots tossed because their signatures did not match that on file and they were not able to successfully “cure” their ballots.
Jones is considered by many in Anchorage to be a partisan actor who puts her thumb on the scale on behalf of Democrats who are on the Assembly.
“The Municipality is fortunate to have benefitted from Barbara’s service. She is a team player and has built incredibly successful teams that enabled Anchorage to reach its goal for easy, accessible and open Vote-At-Home elections. In the last regular election, 66,844 voters, or 96.4% of all voters, completed their ballots from home, demonstrating the impact and reach of her team’s work,” said Assembly Chair Suzanne LaFrance. “Additionally, she has helped the Assembly run meetings with accuracy and efficiency and oversaw several initiatives to improve access to the Assembly process, such as livestreaming meetings and making Assembly documents more readily available.”
Mayor Dave Bronson will be holding a town hall event to hear the public’s thoughts and concerns regarding the Anchorage Assembly’s proposed plan to purchase and turn the Arctic Recreation Center into a homeless shelter.
The Anchorage Assembly, after foiling the mayor’s plans to create a navigation center where people who are living on the streets can get the help they need to destabilize their lives, plans to start its own homeless shelter by purchasing the center for nearly $13 million with the intent of turning it into a year-round homeless shelter for those who are not eligible, due to their behaviors, to stay at other shelters. The Assembly is lobbyists the Legislature for assistance with the project.
The plan is to turn the property over to former Assemblyman John Weddleton, who has started a nonprofit to get into the homeless business, which is where all the money is in government these days. Weddleton lost his seat on the Assembly to Randy Sulte in 2022.
The town hall will be held on Friday, March 24, from 6:30-8 pm inside the gym at the Arctic Recreation Center, located at 4855 Arctic Blvd, Anchorage, AK 99503.
The University of Alaska, Anchorage is offering a course on the proper use of pronouns. The class doesn’t focus on how to properly use pronouns grammatically. Instead, the course gives instruction on which pronouns to use when speaking to gender-confused individuals. The course is being considered for inclusion in the next course catalog.
The “Pronouns Matter” description course reads: “Explore the importance of using students correct pronouns to create a more welcoming and inclusive learning environment. The session will introduce the topic of pronoun use, explore practices for gender inclusivity in a university context, and illustrate the importance of this practice for student belonging.”
The university’s LGBTQIA2S+ Advisory Committee hosts the course, which is open to both faculty and students. Sara Caldwell-Kan, UAA’s Multicultural Student Services director, is listed as the course contact. UAA hired Caldwell-Kan from Oregon State in 2021.
UAA described Caldwell-Kan as someone who “earned a PhD in language, equity and education policy after learning about the unique and embedded systems that continually underserve and marginalized some communities.”
“Caldwell will promote the academic and personal growth of UAA’s minoritized students by continually working with university leadership and the Seawolf community to address barriers and create opportunities,” the school’s website read.
“Higher ed is still disproportionately serving some students better than others and I know we know that otherwise this position wouldn’t exist,” wrote Caldwell-Kan.“Thankfully everyone at UAA that I talked to agreed to want to continue to grow and be a better institution and support students of color, queer students, first-gen students – any marginalized groups.”
For clarification, the word “queer” refers to anyone who is not straight or aligns with so-called heteronormative expectations.
“First gen” students are those whose parents did not graduate college.
Caldwell-Kan released a video six months ago entitled “Pronouns Matter: Understanding Pronoun Use in Teaching and Learning Contexts.” It has had eight views, nine if you include this writer.
In the video, Caldwell-Kan criticizes gender reveal parties for the unborn claiming it could be years until we know the true gender of the child.
Caldwell-Kan says in the training video, “There are some basic things that we have to agree on starting out. And one is that gender is a social construct.”
She also said education systems are built for white affluent men.
“The focus needs to be on folks with marginalized identities because it (education systems) was made for folks with dominant identities,” Caldwell-Kan said in the video.
Caldwell-Kan argues to move forward we must all agree that gender not a matter of biology or x or y chromosomes. Rather, gender is determined by environment and external influences.
Unless students and faculty agreed to this principle, advancement is not possible, she implies.
In other words, unless students and faculty are willing to ignore the science of biology, they won’t get much from the “Pronouns Matter” curriculum.
Dan Fagan is a reporter for Must Read Alaska. Email him. At [email protected]
The latest debate over a commercial use permit in Juneau to use city land for a bike tour seems overblown. The permit request is for a locally established company, iRide, to operate limited e-bike tours on a remote city-owned road. The road, officially known as the “West Douglas Pioneer Road”, is part of adecades-old effort by the City and Borough of Juneau to open the far side of Douglas Island to development. The gravel road, completed in 2017, is 3.5 miles long.
Most people believe that roads should be used for vehicular traffic but according to opponents of the permit, commercial use would be hazardous to other users and infringe on locals now using it as a trail. Since the road is not yet built to highway standards, it is closed to motorized traffic but has been used recreationally by bikers, hikers, and skiers since it opened.
Kim Metcalfe, a frequent critic of the cruise industry, has long decried impacts of visiting ship passengers on downtown Juneau and local neighborhoods and recently testified against granting the permit. However, recreational venues such as this would serve to mitigate those impacts by spreading visitors out more widely and lessening congestion in downtown Juneau.
In this case, the fact a road is being used temporarily as a trail shouldn’t prevent commercial use on it.
The city also wrestled with the definition of “motorized vehicle.” Depending on whether a battery assisted e-bike is defined as such could affect the permit approval. Yet, it is hard to see why it should be classified the same as an automobile, ATV, or motorcycle. It makes no noise and is operated in exactly the same way as a regular bicycle. In fact, thirty-seven states have already passed legislation classifying e-bikes as non-motorized vehicles and similar legislation is now pending in the Alaska Legislature.
Apparently, most Juneau Assembly members agree and an enabling draft ordinance will likely be formally introduced during the Assembly’s next regular meeting.
Beyond the road vs. trail issue, some Assembly members correctly see this discussion in the larger context of economic development. Cruise tourism is a major (and critical) component of Juneau’s economy and that is not going to change anytime soon. According to a 2017 McDowell Economic Impact Study, the visitor industry contributed as much as $218 million in direct spending, 2,800 full and part-time jobs, and $109 million in labor income which resulted in $13.5 million in municipal sales and property tax revenue. These numbers will undoubtedly be significantly higher this season. In addition, $21.5 million in marine passenger fees and docks and harbor fees are projected to flow directly into city coffers this next year.
Efforts to severely regulate cruise ships in Juneau have been unsuccessful, most recently in 2021 when a proposed initiative to limit cruise ship size and hours in port failed to garner sufficient signatures to qualify for the ballot. However, more reasonable measures such as a city task force recommendation for a five large-ship limit and ban on “hot-berthing” seem acceptable to most Juneauites.
Cruise tourism impacts can be managed in a way that balances the trade-offs inherent in any large-scale activity in a town of Juneau’s size. The Assembly can achieve this without discouraging investment in new attractions/venues that will add to city revenues and alleviate congestion in other areas. Besides the proposed e-bike tour, the city is moving ahead on the Eaglecrest gondola project, and studying the proposed Aak’w Landing dock project at the subport property.
The industry and city officials have done a creditable job in managing visitor industry impacts in Juneau to date. In aDecember 2022 Tourism Survey by McKinley Research Group, 87% respondents felt the industry either had no impact, a positive or neutral impact, or more positive impacts than negative impacts. (This is an increase over the 2019 season survey that reported 80%).
With higher numbers of visitors expected this season, the cruise industry’s Tourism Best Management Practices program will continue to be instrumental in moderating impacts.
Instead of getting bogged down in road vs. trail issues, it’s gratifying to see that the Assembly believes their time is better spent looking at the bigger picture of essential economic development.
After retiring as the senior vice president in charge of business banking for Key Bank in Alaska, Win Gruening became a regular opinion page columnist for the Juneau Empire. He was born and raised in Juneau and graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1970. He is involved in various local and statewide organizations.
On Tuesday, Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland announced she took back land that her department had traded with the King Cove community — land that was needed for an 18-mile, one-lane gravel road to the Cold Bay airport, where people of the village could be evacuated if injured or sick.
Immediately, Alaska’s Sen. Dan Sullivan issued a statement: T”his decision is the latest act in Secretary Haaland’s disingenuous playbook: Tell Alaskans, particularly Alaska Native people, that you support something, like Native veteran allotments or the King Cove Road, then purposefully delay it for years so it can never actually happen.”
Gov. Mike Dunleavy also quickly responded to the take-back: “While Secretary Haaland claims that she wants to consider alternative land exchanges, that will push the entire process back to square one and place the lives of King Cove residents at risk today,” Dunleavy said. “The fact is her decision to halt the land swap increases the likelihood that a resident in King Cove won’t be able to receive life-saving medical treatment in time due to bad weather at the villages airstrip. The 11-mile road from King Cove to Cold Bay would connect residents in King Cove to an all-weather airport in Cold Bay and would save lives. It makes zero sense that Secretary Haaland would want to deprive Alaskans of the life-saving services the road would provide access to.”
The following day, Sen. Lisa Murkowski issued a statement: “For years, the people of King Cove have heard false promises that brought them empty hope for a life-saving road. That’s why this announcement – that the Department of the Interior will withdraw from the 2020 land exchange agreement to facilitate that road – is so disappointing. My message is no more false promises. No further delay. I will be watching and doing everything I can to hold the Secretary to her word. And I know Della Trumble, Etta Kuzakin, and her daughter, Sunny Rae—who is now a beautiful 10-year-old, thanks to an emergency Coast Guard medevac—will be right there with me, along with all who live in King Cove.”
But three days later, Rep. Mary Peltola has only given a statement to reporters who asked for it. She appears uncomfortable criticizing Halaland for her double-cross and has tried to fly under the media radar and put a positive spin on Haaland’s theft of land that belongs, by agreement, to King Cove Corp.:
“It is unclear to me why the (Interior) Department decided that the existing proposal, which they had previously defended in court, is now seen as deficient,” Peltola said to a reporter in a statement not posted anywhere on her social media feed or at her congressional website. “However, I am glad that the Secretary has stated her support to the people of King Cove for a road and other land exchange proposals, and I encourage the Department to rapidly begin their process for doing so, in order to minimize the effects of this disruption. The people of King Cove have waited too long for the basic right of access to life-saving medical evacuation, and they cannot afford more unnecessary delays.”
The land exchange was negotiated because the federal government didn’t want a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. As far back as Interior Secretary Sally Jewell in the Obama Administration, the animals were prioritized by administrations over the health of the majority native population of King Cove.
In 2014, Jewell told the people of King Cove, Alaska, that she cared more about animals than she cared about the human health and that was why she was refusing their request for the land swap. The land needed for a road is less than 1 percent of the Izembek refuge.
“She stood up in the gymnasium and told those kids, ‘I’ve listened to your stories, now I have to listen to the animals,” said former Democrat state Rep. Bob Herron, describing the meeting to a reporter in 2014. “You could have heard a pin drop in that gymnasium.”
Under President Donald Trump, Secretary of Interior David Bernhardt made a different choice in 2019, and allowed the land swap to take place.
But Haaland and the Biden Administration have taken back the land, which represents less than 1 percent of the Izembek refuge. Haaland said she wants to go through the review process for the deal that was made four years ago.
Her review of the sealed exchanged is, Haaland said, “rooted in a commitment to engagement in meaningful nation-to-nation consultation with Tribes, to protecting the national wildlife refuge system, and to upholding the integrity of ANILCA’s subsistence and conservation purposes.”
Leo Durocher was a fiercely competitive baseball lifer whose autobiography was titled, Nice Guys Finish Last. Despite being dubbed “the All American Out” by Yankee roommate Babe Ruth, Durocher had a decent career as a Major Leaguer and was a key member of the fiery and bawdry St. Louis Cardinals’ world championship team known as “The Gashouse Gang.” His passion for the game and determination to win at all costs earned him a promotion to player-manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers at the age of 33, after which he went on to manage in the big leagues for 24 seasons.
When repeatedly asked to give an example of how badly he wanted to win, Leo “The Lip” finally produced a very Durocheresque example: If he was playing third base and his mother was a baserunner rounding third with the winning run, he would trip her. Critics be damned. The important thing was to come out on top.
In today’s political climate there is one group of people who seem to adhere to Leo’s mantra that nice guys finish last: the political left. Their manifesto dictates an unalterable dedication to passing and promoting their agenda; whether it’s redistributing wealth, demanding abortion at any time for any reason, or promoting genital mutilation in the name of gender identity, the left plays to win. And they’re really good at it.
Just look at the current legislative session. Promises were made by the left side of the aisle that they would not introduce controversial social legislation, but those promises were broken early on when the following bills were filed during the 33rd Legislature:
SB43 would mandate sex education for public school students beginning in kindergarten and give schools a way to bypass parental notification when it comes to teaching children highly divisive sex education topics like how to “safely” engage in both heterosexual and homosexual sexual activities.
HB17 opens the door for abortion pills to be made available to minors and dismisses the conscious protections of faith-based business owners who would be opposed to providing abortifacients to their employees.
HB43 would prevent individuals with unwanted same sex or gender identity issues from seeking the counseling they are wanting.
What of the Republicans – those who allege to be conservative in their values? Firstly, they ceded power to the Democrats in the Senate, forming a coalition majority despite having won a majority of Republican seats (11 of 20). The House Republicans, also having won a majority of seats (21 of 40), withstood a similar attempt at control but elected a true conservative in Cathy Tilton as speaker.
But what has happened to conservative bills being introduced in the Senate, or far left bills being introduced in the House? The Senate conservatives abided by the “no controversial social bills” agreement and have not introduced any socially conservative legislation, despite the actions taken by liberal senators to introduce very contentious, socially charged legislation. The House has allowed the contraceptive bill (HB17) to be heard and referred out of committee.
An argument can certainly be made that the Republicans are maintaining their integrity by allowing socially liberal bills to be heard while not introducing socially conservative bills, but being the nice guys in this scenario ignores the damage being done by the left. When in charge, the Democrats do not allow conservative bills to be forwarded. When the Republicans allow liberal bills to be heard and referred out of committee, it takes time away from hearing legislation that advances the cause of Faith, family, and freedom.
The left is knowingly, willfully, and quite intentionally taking advantage of the nice guys. Does this mean the right needs to be mean-spirited and vengeful? Absolutely not, but it does mean they must be tough and stand their ground. Democrat Senators Tobi Loken, Jesse Kiehl, and Elvi Gray-Jackson are some of the most congenial people you could meet. They comport themselves with good manners and kindness. We can do the same while advancing the causes of parental rights, common sense, and moral decency.
It’s a constant source of frustration, and at times a dilemma, but the price of being too nice and allowing the win-at-all-costs Left the courtesies they would never grant conservatives is a losing strategy. Jim Minnery at Alaska Family Council shares this dilemma.
Jim, his lovely wife, Kim, and other part time staff over the years have been working determinedly for a decade and a half to advance Christian values in Alaska. They want to win for common sense, parental rights, family values, and moral decency. And while they do not condone tripping mothers on the basepaths, they stand their ground and seek wins for what is right. It is my honor to have been asked to come alongside them in this task.
Tim Barto is the new Vice President of Operations for Alaska Family Council, and a fan of Leo Durocher . . . which, he believes, are not mutually exclusive.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has announced that Susan McKenzie has decided to not accept the position of commissioner for the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development.
“I was so blessed to have been chosen to lead Alaska Department of Education and Early Development as Commissioner,” said McKenzie. “Thank you to all who encouraged me. Due to personal reasons, I’ve made the difficult decision to decline the offer of position as Commissioner. I will continue to serve in the capacity as Director of Innovation and Education Excellence for AK DEED.”
The Alaska State Board of Education and Early Development will begin the recruitment process for a new commissioner and forward a candidate to Governor Dunleavy for his approval.
The media is condemning officials in Republican-led states for withdrawing from a controversial data-sharing consortium that purports to help manage voter registration rolls and, not surprisingly, the news reports fail to tell the whole story. The system is known as the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) and it claims to be an efficient and cost-effective mechanism for states to maintain accurate voter rolls. ERIC is a nonprofit that was formed by leftist operatives in 2012 and, until recently, had more than 30 member states. It claims that its sole mission is assisting states to improve the accuracy of America’s voter rolls and increase access to voter registration for all eligible voters.
The reality is much different and Judicial Watch offers compelling information deliberately omitted by the media in a White Paper released this week. The document presents facts that directly contradict recent news coverage attacking Republican-led states—including Florida, West Virginia, and Missouri—for cutting ties with ERIC. The New York Timesexpresses fervent support for ERIC, writing that the nonprofit “has faced intensifying attacks from election deniers and right-wing media.” National Public Radio proclaims that “the far right is now running a disinformation campaign against one of the best tools that states have to detect and prevent voter fraud.” The headline of a recent Washington Post story reads: “Election deniers take aim at group that helps states maintain voter rolls.” The list of media critics is extensive and ranges from national outlets to small town newspapers.
The fact is that ERIC has been far more successful at identifying unregistered voters than duplicate or invalid registrations, according to research conducted by Judicial Watch.
The organization reports identifying more than 60 million unregistered voters since 2012. That is not to say that it has not been effective at identifying many potentially improper or invalid voter registrations. However, certain aspects of its operations are incredibly dubious.
For instance, ERIC was founded by the liberal Pew Charitable Trusts, potentially with funding that originated from leftist billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Foundations network. Its founder, who remains influential within the organization, has a history of leftwing activism and unethical conduct. ERIC also shares the vast amount of sensitive personal data it receives from member states with another liberal nonprofit, the Center for Election Innovation and Research, a key player in the Zuckerbucks scandal in which private entities donated millions of dollars to fund government vote counts in the 2020 elections.
Records obtained by Judicial Watch show that ERIC is far more effective at swelling voter registration rolls than at keeping them clean. Our research also determined that the large amount of sensitive data provided to ERIC by member states and the organization’s role in maintaining voter rolls may violate a number of federal statutes.
A Palmer jury on Monday convicted Gavin Sullivan Christiansen, 41, of murder in the second degree, manslaughter, and misconduct involving weapons in the second degree, among other charges related to a vehicle chase after a hit and run incident.
Christiansen, who ran for Senate Seat F, Wasilla, was still on the 2020 ballot as a petition Libertarian candidate, although he had withdrawn from the race, which was won decisively by Sen. Shelley Hughes.
Weeks before the election, Christiansen was involved in a road rage incident, during which he chased, shot, and killed Devin Moorhouse, 35, of Anchorage. The car Moorhouse was driving had a child as a passenger, but the child was not hit by the bullets.
The incident occurred Oct. 11, 2020, when Christiansen contacted 911 to report that his vehicle had been struck in a hit and run and that he was pursuing the person who hit him and was near Mile 37 of Wasilla-Fishook Road in Willow.
An investigation revealed that Chistiansen was outside of his vehicle when his car was struck and that Christiansen had fired from his gun at the departing vehicle approximately 15 times before he began pursuing the vehicle driven by Moorhouse.
The pursuit lasted for approximately five miles before Moorhouse lost control of his vehicle and went off the road, stranding Moorhouse and his juvenile passenger in a ditch.
While on the phone with the dispatch office, Christiansen drove up to Moorhouse’s driver’s side window and announced, “I am about to shoot somebody” and then fired several shots into Moorhouse’s vehicle, killing Moorhouse.
Christiansen told investigators that Moorhouse had pointed a firearm at him as Christiansen approached the stranded vehicle. Moorhouse’s gun was found at the scene, but investigation revealed that it was not loaded, the State Department of Law wrote.
Christiansen had argued it was self-defense, but Palmer Assistant District Attorney Kerry Corliss said in response, “Alaska has a stand your ground self-defense law, but it is stand your ground, not chase them down.”
Corliss stated that the Christiansen had shot at the victim and then pursued him for miles and that the victim had every right to employ self-defense because he had unequivocally communicated his withdrawal from the conflict by fleeing twice.
Christiansen’s sentencing is scheduled for June. The sentence range for second-degree murder is 15 to 99 years.
