‘MORE THAN TWO WOMEN…’ SAID REP. IVY SPOHNHOLZ. BUT WHO?
By CRAIG MEDRED
CRAIGMEDRED.NEWS
In a historic and unprecedented move, the Alaska Legislature on Wednesday night vetoed a gubernatorial appointment on the basis of a #metoo rumor.
The vote came after Rep. Ivy Sponholz, D-Anch., said she had concerns about Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s appointment of retired Anchorage Superior Court Judge Karl Johnstone to the state Board of Fisheries.
“In the last 24-hours, more than two women have reached out to my office, people who worked for the Board of Fish when Johnstone was previously on the Board of Fish to share concerns about his behavior,” Sponholz said. “They each described inappropriate sexual comments, which created a hostile work environment for them repeatedly.”
The discussion didn’t go much farther before the Johnstone vote was tabled only to have the joint session of the House and Senate reconvene later to vote 33-24 against his confirmation.
“It is hurtful knowing that my daughters will read this and have to explain,” Johnstone said today.
Rumors that sexual harassment charges might be leveled at Johnstone first circulated over the weekend. They were expected to come up when Johnstone spent hours before the House Resources Committee on Monday night. They did not.
Still, it was being whispered that former BOF member Sue Jeffrey from Kodiak had an issue with Johnstone. Asked about the rumor today, she said, that if there was anyone with an issue “I’m absolutely not that person.”
She added that she had no knowledge of Johnstone sexually harassing anyone.
The Johnstone confirmation process was rife with anonymous or vague accusations that he harassed or threatened people, who were said to be afraid to testify as to the specifics of any incidents because they feared “retaliation” from the former judge. It was never clear how Johnstone was expected to retaliate.
Alaska fishery politics – or fishtics as they are often called – are known for being down and dirty. Commercial fishing was the state’s original big business. Government, oil and tourism now do more to power the Alaska economy, but the fishing industry still rides through the halls of power on a golden image and swings a mean billie when it thinks that necessary.
FOUR YEARS AGO
Johnstone previously served on the Board of Fish from 2008 to 2015. The Board operates as a tiny section within the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. It is now down to four employees though there were once more.
For at least part of the time that Johnstone served on the BOF, at least two of the employees were women – the executive director and one of two publication specialists. The then BOF director later transferred to another job within Fish and Game. The publication specialist left and eventually became the executive director of the United Fishermen of Alaska (UFA), the commercial fishing organization that is one of the state’s most influential – if not the most influential – political lobbies.
Neither woman returned phone calls today. The UFA vowed it would block Johnstone’s confirmation to the Board and lobbied hard to stop it. Johnstone had in the past backed the idea of shifting some Cook Inlet salmon harvest from commercial fishermen to personal-use and sport fishermen to meet the demands of anglers and dipnetters in the Anchorage metro area.
