A Message from Rep. Les Gara About Mudflats.
By Rep. Les Gara
As the debate on my House colleague’s recent e-newsletter about Mudflats intensified this week, I was happy to see so many people come to her defense. Alaska’s most popular political blogger’s earned a loyal following with hard work and good writing.
I was as bothered as many of you by what happened, and I’ve said so to my colleague, Rep. Mike Doogan. A number of your favorite democratic legislators share your views on this one. But we don’t supervise each other around here. We don’t require each other to march in line. Democrats are pretty bad at demanding that kind of thing from each other. So, basically, I don’t get to tell Mike what to do, and he doesn’t get to tell me what to do. Trust me. At times, we both wish we could. But the fact that we can’t is, in the long run, a pretty good thing.
Shoot, as tensions mount around Juneau near the end of session, there’d be a lot of folks flying off cliffs if legislators got to tell each other what to do. I’d be typing this while free-falling past the Governor’s window right now. That wouldn’t be good.
In the end, we aren’t the bosses of each other. Our constituents are our bosses. I don’t get to tell my colleagues what do, but you do get to tell us.
So, I’m writing in part to let you know that we all don’t agree with Rep. Doogan about the manner in which he’s responded to your e-mails, and about what he did in last week’s e-newsletter.
And I’m writing for a reason I consider just as important. We have a lot of work to do in this state. Sniping at those who are trying to foster a community discussion about how to move Alaska forward isn’t helpful. Unless, of course, we all think we’re such a powerful force that we can afford to tear each other apart.
Guess what. We’re not that powerful. But together, we’ve made great progress. I know some of you personally, have worked on community efforts with you, and would rather keep us together than tear us apart.
You and I want universal health care for those who are sick, and need a doctor.
We want a renewable energy policy that protects our economy, the air we breathe, the waters we fish, and lessens America’s dependence on foreign oil.
We believe people should be paid fairly for an honest day’s work, that Alaskans should have their pension rights back, and that our children are entitled to an education that creates opportunity for all, not just the 60% who graduate from high school in Alaska today.
College shouldn’t be a luxury, and we shouldn’t be proud that Alaska ranks last in the nation in college attendance.
And Governor Palin’s failure to help move Alaska from having the nation’s second worst children’s health plan in the nation is, in my view, unacceptable. That’s why Senator Bill Wielechowski, Senator Hollis French and I have all worked on universal children’s, and universal adult health coverage plans.
That’s why Mudflats is important. It provides a way for people who want these things to stay connected, and work together. Mudflats, and its readers, have been a positive force in this community. I’ll disagree with you sometimes. I have in the past. When I do, I’ll try to do it respectfully. And when I have in the past, you’ve been respectful in your responses. But, basically, I’m just glad Mudflats is back.
Good on ya, Les Gara.
Thanks for the support, it’s most welcome!
And good on those Democratic Senators for hanging together on behalf of Juneau!
Thanks for your comments, Representative Gara. It’s really good to hear from an Alaskan legislator who sounds sincere, hard-working, involved, concerned and responsible. I hope the voters who put Doogan into office get the message that they deserve better, and make it happen the next time around.
I have to say that I disagree with Mr. Gara that the Legislators should not police each other. I think it is important that a certain behavior be expected and standards be kept. I do think that if Mr. Doogan’s behavior is left unchecked by his peers, then we are all lost.
Thanks for your insight into this. While you can’t tell Doogan how to act, he could stand to observe and follow your positive example of how to work with, and not against the citizens of Alaska.
You’re a stand up guy, Les!
good follow-up letter….and thanks for the AKM Support…
“I’m just glad Mudflats is back.”
Ain’t it the truth!
Rep. Gara, it is good to hear your opinion on Rep. Doogan’s actions. I think we all understand that one elected Representative cannot tell another Representative what to do, and your words of support for AKM and Mudflats are very welcome, I’m sure, to all of us.
However, Rep. Doogan’s action is gravely troubling… not only for folks like AKM, but for every person in Alaska and even those of us in the lower 48. Should we just say, “Hey, what you did bothers me,” and let it go at that? Will that make a difference the next time time a government official assumes he gets to decide who deserves to be ‘outed’ and when and how?
I’d be very interested to hear what actions you think should be taken, and by whom, in order to give the next Rep. Doogan pause before brandishing the weight of his office in this way.
Thanks.
Democrats are on a roll. Coleman has conceded to Franken! Way to hang in there, Al.
…Stevens off the hook & the Dems did’t take the bait, aka Timmy G’ …[guess not too many fools this April 1st]….
I don’t think tearing someone up who deserves it, like Mike Doogan, is mutually exclusive to driving forward a progressive agenda.
Doogan is getting something he roundly deserves; it’s called feedback. If what Representative Gara is saying is that we shouldn’t beat up on Doogan because it’s not productive-well I passionately disagree.
When anyone steps on someone else’s constitutional right to anonymous free speech, we cannot afford to NOT call that out and expose the egregious offender. At the same time, it IS important to move forward-calling BS on Doogan IS MOVING FORWARD!
Providing feedback to someone who obviously and desperately needs it is part of being politically active.
April Fools! Minnesota still draggin’.
@Moose Pucky – Source?
That’s what I thought. :sigh:
Les, thank you for your support of AKM and Mudflats. I know that AKM will continue to write and be a positive influence in Alaska.
Your fellow representative Mr Doogan has really made a fool of himself, and that alone will stand to punish him. He has yet to see the fallout from his actions. He owns his behavior, and it is not the responsibity of his fellow representatives to police him. There is a certain decourm that comes with the position, and if he can not rise to the office his voteing public know what to do when his term is up.
That was just mean Moose Pucky!
)
Les, I am normally a big fan of yours, but I simply cannot agree with your message here.
I don’t want you to be Doogan’s boss. I want the collective legislature, which represents the constituency , who ARE your (and Doogan’s) bosses, to get off their collective asses and censure Doogan. Not tear each other apart. Not engage in in-fighting and intrigue.
I want you and all the other Representatives to get together and censure him for his actions. Plain and simple.
But given today’s news on Unka Ted and your message of complacency, I guess the country and the state are no longer in election mode and we’re back to politics as usual and free passes for the privileged.
Who knows? Maybe if someone had censured Unka Ted when he mouthed off he would have filed properly prepared expense reports.
I appreciate you posting here, you are the voice of reason, too bad Doogan doesn’t have any of your qualities. I know we need to move on, and you said it with real sincerity. Just posting at Mudflats shows me that are concerned about the peeps you represent.
Thank you.
Representative Gara:
I think communications from citizens to legislators should be kept confidential. Many Alaskans assume their communications to legislators (including to Doogan) are confidential so they’re shocked when Doogan publishes their personal information after they have communicated with him. We should shut Doogan down on this and make citizen communications with the legislature confidential.
To further complicate matters, the federal government does protect confidentiality of constituent communications with federal officials unless the citizens have disclosed that they’ve violated laws. So people are confused that their communications to some elected officials are confidential, but not to others like Mike Doogan, who rudely pulls the rug out from under their feet.
I wish Mike Doogan were not a legislator. I think he’s a negative force. Perhaps he should resign. He may just be there for the money. I doubt he’s a public servant. Outing Mudflats (and other Alaskans) was probably unnecessary or even illegal. Doogan might want to seek another way to earn a living.
Hi Les,
Note, the following is just my own opinion.
I think it is important to remember that yourself, and the other people voted in, have a responsibility to protect the privacy of those who write letters, emails and even make calls to you.
Doogan’s actions in replying to 30 people who had written to him via one email, exposing the email addresses and potentially the identities of those people, is a serious breach of ethics that you and your colleagues should (and with the exception of Doogan, probably all do) all share.
AKMuckraker was right to call him on it here on the blog – but so should you all have. The fact that none of his colleagues did call him on it (at least as far as we are aware) painted a big target on AKMuckraker’s back, and that is likely one reason why he has been so obsessed with outing her.
If people do not feel secure in writing to the people who represent them, how will you understand what the people want?
Something more should be done. More than just saying to Doogan – “hey, you were wrong in the first place when you treated the people who wrote to you with disrespect, and when you breached their privacy, AKMuckraker had every right to write about it, and you did not have a right to expose her identity because she did that”.
I disagree with you that it is not your place to act. Where I think you are mistaken is that there should be a line drawn in the sand between what is acceptable behaviour by a representative and what is not acceptable behaviour from a representative.
I asked the other day for people to forward on emails they wrote to Doogan, and the replies they received. Some of the replies honestly are very inappropriate. At the very least, someone should take away Doogan’s state email account if he cannot use it appropriately.
And you should (if you have not already) speak to AKMuckraker about how Doogan’s actions have affected her.
I personally believe that something may be medically wrong with Doogan. I cannot believe that a rational, sane, and sober person would act in the manner that he has. I believe that should be of great concern to yourself, and your colleagues.
If someone in the legislature suddenly began to grow a large growth on their forehead, wouldn’t you suggest they get that checked out by their doctor?
This might not be a large growth everyone can visibly see, but it may be a medical problem and as such yourself and your colleagues should insist that Doogan seek medical advice.
Yours respectfully,
Snoskred.
See? Now that wasn’t so hard was it? A reasoned, mature, honest response to the important issue of right to free speech and Doogan’s trampling of that right =)
Mike Doogan can learn a lot from Les Gara.
Thank you sir for your comments and thank you for your example.
Well said Les. we are all in this together and we are all glad that mudflats and AKM is back.
Well said!!
Sorry, all. They got me first with same trick on KOS.
One bad apple makes the whole bushel look rotten.
Thanks for supporting Mudflats.
I hope you urge your colleagues on the ethics committee to take appropriate action.
If Mike Doogan gets a free pass on this, or if the consequence is small, then the legislature will set a low standard, a small price to pay for violating AKM’s rights and someone else’s rights on another day. It will damage the reputation of the legislature and erode its trust.
Will prosecuting the case against Doogan tear apart members of the legislature? Maybe if there’s a fight about it. Will that hurt the legislature? Doogan should have thought about it.
I think you’ve got a tough job, but the decision to uphold the law, and stand for ethics and citizen’s rights, is clear.
By “I’m just glad Mudflats is back.” I hope you don’t mean all is back to normal, its all okay now, she’s fine now, she’s over it, so get over it.
She’s blogging again, and we’re all happy about that, but trust has been broken, privacy violated, and the secure safe feeling that comes from the shield of anonymity is gone.
Thanks for taking the time to write those words. I hope you follow it up with appropriate action.
Finish your legislative session, then deal with Doogan, and kick him in the butt for me, ok? : )
Hoping soon it will be true though.
Mr Gara thank you for all of your work helping with the food drive that you did!
The session is going to be over very soon. Don’t all the legislators pack up and go away?
The saying goes that “The only thing evil needs to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” That is exactly what Rep. Gara is doing–NOTHING. Is see this letter to AKM as a political move intended to make himself sound re-electable. “Gosh, I understand how you feel, but there’s nothing I can do.” Sniping? If he sees protecting our freedom of speech as sniping, maybe he is in the wrong party.
Sue just how I feel.
No April Fools this one. SC Governor Sanford has pulled a Palin.
Ruling from White House is state legislators can’t accept money without concurrence of Governor. Deadline Friday.
One source among many:
http://www.thesunnews.com/155/story/844388.html
I think Les is against the sniping Doogan did.
But there is something he can do to “Tell Doogan what to do.”
There are ways to tell him to obey the ethics laws.
Les-
Thumbs up for your work on the food drive…
By the way, I don’t always agree with my democratic legislators. Last session I had quite an exchange with one after accusing him of being Palin’s strongest supporter in the legislature. I still think I was right about that. And I think he still holds this against me. I figure to hell with him– Democrats made a strategic blunder by excessively supporting Palin, and then she exploited us and took credit as the republican candidate for vice president for all the democrats’ hard work and support. I’m not happy about that. You folks should have stood up for democratic principals more.
Democrats have made bad judgements in the past, and I think it would be another bad judgement now if we just embrace Doogan like nothing happened– something happened. And it wasn’t the first time something has happened with this legislator. I think Doogan should perhaps consider other career options.
Easy folks. Gara said he has spoken to Doogan. So have lots of other folks. We each call it as we see it. Do our best, in our own style. I’m thinking you-know-who (rhymes with) has the message by now. Not to say he doesn’t deserve a little more salt in the self-inflicted wound.
And flies and mud in his eyes.
Moose Pucky, if he (you know who) got the message, he’d have apologized to AKM publicly and offered whatever restitution he could. He can’t give back what he took, but he could try to make amends.
From the unkind responses he’s made to those citizens who’ve expressed their dismay about his grossly thoughtless deed, it doesn’t sound like he has an iota of remorse.
Rep.Gara..Very nice comment to AKM..And all the mudpups here… Also to Ann Strongheart..You are soo lucky to have her and all the volunteers that is making a very big difference at this sad time for your people…Stay strong Mudpuppies…Catch ya tomorrow…:))
And the message I just read was ….. too bad about the car wreck. Now move on. We don’t have ethics in Alaska. No time for that.
I live in PA where senior legislators (Democrats) are on their way to the greybar hotel because each little event wasn’t exactly a big deal until the Fed finally came in and started cleaning house. It isn’t over here. The Fed is already in Alaska. I guess the lights are all out. It is a pathetic thing when states cannot and will not police their own ethics (e,g,, Illinois, and the list is endless). I know that Rep John Murtha in the next county over is going to be caught here shortly. He has done a lot for his district. But he did it through corruption and the corrupt benefited logarithmically over the constituents.
The public sees this crap go on so endlessly that politics as usual IS CORRUPTION. I guess it is our job to just vote you in and go away. Constituent services and ethics are obviously not important.
Thanks for your thoughts on this. But it seems you did a lot more calling out Palin’s spokesperson in front of the cameras for an apology for Monegan. Typical politician protecting their own.
I’m just glad Mudflats is back…ME TOO also
hindsite2020, Sue, Snoskred, and several others have said exactly what I feel. When I see Les Gara demand an apology on camera from Mike Doogan for what he has done to AKM and the potential danger he has put her and her family in, then I might think he is sincere. Until then, I will have to think that this is just politics as usual. It sounds so much like “let’s all just get along” when the issue is so much larger than that. Someone’s whole life has been turned upside down all because of the the small-minded, over-inflated ego of someone in a position of power who thinks he is above the law.
Mudflats is the Rush Limbaugh of Alaskan bloggers – none of the legislators want to upset her…
No, No, Nooo Rep. Gara, basically, ” basically, I’m just glad Mudflats is back.” is the only line I give you credit for. The rest belongs in another post and never, never, ever try to justify a public servant’s personal vendetta against a citizen.
Please do tell us why censure does not apply in this case.
I think that no one really wants to pick up the burden of formally censuring. Not that I think it isn’t warranted. What I think will happen will be just as good. He will never be trusted or thought of an individual with any integrity and this stench will follow him all the days of his life. This will be the same for the source who outed AK M to him. Has the source been traced or revealed yet?
I guess what it really boils down to here is this:
Are our elected officials a privileged and protected class, or public servants who share equal rights and the same status of “citizen” as the rest of us?
Unfortunately, it is the former in reality and the latter in ideal only.
…and would rather keep us together than tear us apart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Respectfully, I must disagree. I don’t see holding one of “our own” accountable, as tearing us apart. I see it as us saying, you crossed a line “we” don’t cross and this action will not be tolerated.
The last two Presidential elections should have taught us, if nothing else…to never sit idly by when you see something happen that is wrong, and say nothing. See the over 4,000 men and women who are dead now because we sat idly by and did nothing, held no one accountable, went to “war” for a lie, and turned a blind eye to the abuses of power.
I’m tired of doing nothing when we see it, and when it comes from a Dem, it makes me even more mad. Mike Doogan did NOT have the right to expose AKM’s personal details and leak to the world who she is.
So again, I respectfully disagree. We aren’t tearing each other apart when we attempt to hold Doogan accountable for the damage and harm he has caused AKM. We are bonding together and saying, “This CANNOT and WILL NOT happen on our watch!”
I am absolutely NOT a republican, but I also don’t really feel kindred with the Dems either. The Dems need to do the right thing as well, and if telling the American people and the world that AKM’s rights, freedoms and, safety don’t matter, then I have to wonder if your message is the right one either.
So basically, Gara is saying the elected Demarcates in Alaska have zero leadership– it’s a free for all. He can’t/wont do anything about it, stop emailing him. He’s too busy to be bothered with ethics in his own party– and it’s much easier to tell bloggers- leave Doogan alone, or NO health care.
Gara’s last article read about the same- mildly scolded Palin, then her critics. While whipping up support for the GINO’s failed pipeline, then finished with semi-progressive talking points covering every political base possible. Sad.
@Dame Doogan says his source wants to remain anonymous. Rich, isn’t it? : )
Actually Gara and Poe said exactly the same old thing. …. It’s too bad about Doogan, but you know how he is? We just have to put up with his behavior and move on.
If your house is burned down, your business ruined, you family attacked, well that’s just collateral damage for upsetting Mike and making the ADN jealous. Just suck it up. But see what a nice guy I am and be sure and support me.
I wouldn’t put my back to anyone, AKM!
Now I understand why Les Gara and his gang haven’t proposed legislation to put an end to breaches of ethics like collecting per diem for living in one’s own house, for taking family members at state expense on junkets to New york City, stating in $700/night hotels, etc.
Look at the most recent lobbyist disclosure- we have lobbyists making over $1 million per year for lobbying during a 90 day session- obscene.
But we won’t do any meaningful ethics and lobbyist reform because “we aren’t the bosses of each other,” and to truly have ethics reform in Juneau would mean to tell someone else how to behave.
Meanwhile, it’s platitudes- like talking about universal health care when there is a governor who is more interested in her political career than we Alaskans- and agreeing with her whenever possible without getting her to move one inch towards things that progressive Alaskans really care about.
This letter was oosted by AKM.. This was not in the comment section. So I have to think that s/he agrees with what Mr Gara says..
A letter is sent to AKM. S/he receives it..reads it ..thinks about it, while eating pumpkin flax cereal and drinking hot chocolate. I that that I will publish this on my blog, should I , or should I not. My finger is resting over that ( intimidating blue oval button). I think I am just to tired to keep up, to go along, and I will accept this help. So The blue oval button was pushed.
I think that we need to remember and respect that AKM approves the posts here and s?he has many supporters AND if s/he linked this it has to have been posted by AKM..
mhrt-oregon – I would prefer to hear that directly from AKMuckraker – I would not want to assume that just because it has been posted on the blog that AKM agrees with it 100%.
I have also seen it posted on Progressive Alaska, so it is possible this is something that was sent out to a few people and they are posting it on request, not because they agree with the sentiments expressed in it.
We’re entitled to disagree with the sentiments, too. It concerns me greatly that any politician might be given a free pass – I personally think that Doogan has broken the law, and if any politician (regardless of partisanship or what side they are on, I would say this for both democrats, republicans, or in my country it might be labor, liberal, green, any political party that exists) knowingly supports another politician breaking the law instead of putting in an ethics complaint, that is a big deal as far as I am concerned.
It’s late and I’m tired, so with all due respect Mr. Gara, I say moosesh*t. Ditto on what Sue said above. When normally stand-up folks like you don’t so much as censure a member of your own legislature who probably broke federal law and certainly trampled on the 1st amendment, and possibly endangered a fellow citizen in an infantile tantrum, then it might be time to hang it up. It’s one thing to disagree respectfully, it’s another to ignore blatantly illegal and unethical behavior under the guise of everyone getting along and being civil. Like it or not, you’re all members of an exclusive club, and you all have a responsibility to insure that your fellow clubmembers are behaving appropriately (and legally).
If you were my state rep, I would hope you would respectfully and spinefully do the right thing and deal with Doogan’s behavior instead of ignoring it for the sake of keeping the peace.
RatfishNo Gravatar Says:
April 1st, 2009 at 9:42 PM
why Les Gara and his gang haven’t proposed legislation to put an end to breaches of ethics like collecting per diem for living in one’s own house, for taking family members at state expense on junkets to New york City, stating in $700/night hotels, etc.
Good question.
Les, the ball’s in your court, so to speak. Why haven’t you and the Dems imposed such legislation in order to stop Sarah and her ilk from further grifting the state of Alaska?
RatfishNo Gravatar Says:
April 1st, 2009 at 9:42 PM
Meanwhile, it’s platitudes- like talking about universal health care when there is a governor who is more interested in her political career than we Alaskans- and agreeing with her whenever possible without getting her to move one inch towards things that progressive Alaskans really care about.
##############
That’s cause experience says they are moving up in politics where the bigger prizes are. Don’t rock the boat or they won’t get theirs. Go along to get along does lead to closing one’s eyes and ears to the corruption. If you do that long enough it just becomes normal.
Thank you for your support of Mudflats! I think people like me who are unfamiliar with the Alaska Legislature may be curious to understand what the Dems are thinking about these three things:
1) Can you fight confirmation of Mr. WAR the atty general, or is it too late?
2) What about those oil tanks next to the volcano; can you do anything about that before you all go home? Volcano probably won’t take a recess.
3) The stimulus money? Is the Leg. working on overriding GINO’s refusal of funds, or shall we other states take it for you?
Les, I do not agree. I’m sick and tire of letting things slide with my elected officials. I there NO line to be drawn for innappropriate behavior. If elected officials are not willing to hold themselves (and the colleagues) to very high standards them they have no place in politics. I know that sounds naive but we need to start aiming higher or things will never change. Just my altruistic opinion but I’m sick and tired of this same old, same old.
Mr Gara,
Of course no legislator is “the boss” of any other legislator. That is one of those statements that is undeniably true, and also undeniably pointless in this case.
You state that you are “as bothered” as we, and that you’ve mentioned it to Mr Doogan. Whoopee. If you are actually “bothered”, there are a number of things you could do, despite not being the boss of Doogan. For instance, you could just say, publicly, that what he did was wrong. Or you could get together with other legislators who are also “bothered” and issue a joint statement to that effect. Or you could describe him as a jerk.
I have no idea if Doogan’s behavior in this matter violates any law, but it definitely violates civility. And it’s a trapdoor event — once it happens, it is impossible to restore the status quo ante. That makes it particularly vile.
I too am happy that AKM is still posting, but since I do not know who she is, or what her circumstances are, I have no idea how this “outing” is going to affect her and her family. What I do know is that she did not want it to happen, and that your colleague Doogan decided that his injured ego was more important than her wish to keep her family out of it. And you, apparently, think that is just one of those things.
AKM has a high opinion of you, so I will just say adios.
So AKM graciously yields the floor of her formerly anonymous forum to you in order for you to reach her readers with your message of, what, conciliation?
Without serious consequences for his odious behavior, Mike Doogan endangers not just AKM’s free speech, but mine as well.
I respectfully suggest that this situation demands much more than you’re offering here.
@VidOmnia
Ohhhh, nooooo, say it isn’t so! For one thing, AKM gives states when it’s opinion, and gives sources for what isn’t.
Often, AKM will write about something that piques my interest and I’ll look for more information. I have yet to find factual errors in the writing here, in the research I do.
There is at least a nod to civility here. There is some “snarky”, but I don’t see the egregious comments here that I’ve seen on other blogs.
So please, please(!) would you be willing to rethink that comment just a little bit?
Nan
Representative Gara:
I’m sorry but this is just too aggravating. You said:
“Sniping at those who are trying to foster a community discussion about how to move Alaska forward isn’t helpful.”
Huh? Are you accusing us of “sniping”? Please define “community discussion.” Is that where people express their opinions to a certain legislator, and then he tells them to go to hell?
Sorry, we’re fed up.
Your message above is a wake up call– apparently we democrats have a big problem with our legislators and with our party leaders.
rats – I thought I proofread that better “AKM states when” (omit “gives”)
sorry,
Nan
Hey akdennis, perhaps you should look into politics… clearly AK can use some standup folks in its legislature.
Just sayin’ also too.
I do agree with Les on this one. Doogan is a jealous, petty chump, but the recourse is with public shaming and his districts constituents voting his sorry arse out of office. We’ve got very limited number of legislative days to get something in this session. I would love for our legislators to ignore Doofuses like Doogan, get out of our bedrooms, get their hands off women’s uterus’, shoot Sarah Palin’s recent appointment of sexist/racist WAR in the Neanderthal foot and work on the economy!
Nan, FYI, VidO is a troll. Don’t feed the trolls, please.
Further, Les Gara,
You wrote:
We want a renewable energy policy that protects our economy, the air we breathe, the waters we fish, and lessens America’s dependence on foreign oil.
We believe people should be paid fairly for an honest day’s work, that Alaskans should have their pension rights back, and that our children are entitled to an education that creates opportunity for all, not just the 60% who graduate from high school in Alaska today.
College shouldn’t be a luxury, and we shouldn’t be proud that Alaska ranks last in the nation in college attendance.
And Governor Palin’s failure to help move Alaska from having the nation’s second worst children’s health plan in the nation is, in my view, unacceptable.
Well, Rep. Gara, if you are indeed a politician with a conscience, has is not occurred to you that you should be doing everything possible to impeach Sarah Palin? Shoot, you acknowledge that she’s inept.
Certainly you must be aware that we the people rely on people in power like you to take action.
For goodness sake, Les Gara, do whatever possible to impeach Sarah Palin. PLEASE?
I believe that the biggest problem in the USA right now is that people are on one side, or on the other side, and nobody seems to be on the side of doing the right thing. Both sides do wrong things – and when it is one side doing it the other side cry out, and the side doing it justifies. If you are on the side who did the wrong thing, you keep your mouth shut and refuse to call your side on it, or attack the people who are calling your side on it.
America will never get anywhere if this keeps up. It is time for people to forget Republican or Democrat, and start thinking American. It is wrong to stalk people, regardless of their political beliefs. It is wrong to breach the privacy of constituents who wrote to their legislator to let them know what they thought on any subject – regardless of the position the legislator wants to take or has taken on that subject – and it is wrong, wrong, WRONGGITY wrong to reply to anyone who took the time to write an email to their legislator with disrespect and in some cases outright rudeness, regardless of where that email writer might live, and regardless of what sex that email writer might be.
Both sides should be able to agree that the above is wrong.. But they use it to score political points instead – or if they can’t use it to score political points because that person is on their side, they ask you to suck it up and focus on other “more important” things.
It is somewhat ironic that AKMuckraker was initially posting about something inappropriate that a Democrat did, and this seems to have set him on a path of obsession and further inappropriate behaviour. But it is my belief that AKMuckraker is exactly what America needs – people willing to stand up to the side they “support” and say “No, you’re doing the wrong thing”.
And now here in this comments section, people are saying the same thing to you, Les Gara. No. You’re doing the wrong thing.
Mr. Gara…..I generally admire you and Mr. Poe but both of your letters to The Mudflats have been too solicitous of Mike Doogan.
Poe argued that Doogan had “been changed” by his tenure in the legislature, coming out a “saddened and angry man” as a rationalization or explanation for his actions.
Your argument is essentially that you are not your Brother-Representative’s Keeper…..and further augment your argument in a substantial part of the post by detailing the pressing business of the state of Alaska.
You are absolutely correct about the pressing business of the state but……. by juxtaposing AKM’s personal civil rights violation with the long list of state concerns…..you are indirectly minimizing Doogan’s actions and putting pressure on the reader to rally around the flag of Alaska instead of rallying around the U.S. Constitution. Nice diversionary tactic, Sir.
There’s a time for speeches about working together and a time (and post) to say simply “The civil rights of just one person in this country is guaranteed by the constitution and we will fight as representatives of that constitution/government with all of our best capabilities and passion to protect those rights.” Period.
Lastly, I’m not buying it that there’s not a peer system of review in the legislature regarding ethical problems by one of the members. Doogan used his elected office and government newsletter to trample the First Amendment rights for anonymous free speech of a private citizen….who, I might add, did not post blogs in any way, shape, or form that were threatening or seditious.
Hmmm. Fair points, but I think a few posters have taken my note the opposite way I meant to write it. Maybe my fault for not writing that well.
When I wrote that it’s not useful for us to tear each other apart – I wasn’t telling anyone to stop expressing your opinions on this, or, as Angler worries – for anyone to “stop e-mailing” my colleague. Quite to the contrary. I felt my colleague’s conduct was divisive, not your responses or e-mails. So – speak your minds. Best, Les
I think that we need to remember and respect that AKM approves the posts here and s?he has many supporters AND if s/he linked this it has to have been posted by AKM.
—–
Here’s my perspective on the whole “the blogger agrees with the posts” thing. I have a blog. Some of my readers don’t agree with me. In fact, some disagree vehemently. And, unless they are abusive or hateful, I publish what they send–not because I “agree” with them, but because all of us have a right to speak our piece–no matter how cockamamie we may sound doing it. I also post conflicting opinions because I honestly think that’s the best way to arrive at something like an informed position–those who don’t agree with me provide me with an opportunity to examine and refine my own position.
I find Mr. Gara’s letter disappointing; we’ve all seen what a laissez faire philosophy can do without a firm framework within which to operate. While I am not privy (a telling choice of words there) to what goes on in Juneau, I find his explanation less than convincing–and in reading it, I understand the way Mr. Gara thinks. I don’t like him better. I don’t respect him more. But I understand him better. There’s value in that. And that’s why it’s important, whenever possible, to grant conflicting opinions a voice. We do not change opinions by ignoring them. We do not deal more effectively with the people who govern us by listening only to the things that please us. The elephant in the room does not go away just because we don’t talk about it.
I am not an Alaska native, so maybe it’s not my elephant to talk about, but it seems to me that this issue is more than just a matter of invaded privacy, of dangerous, reckless disregard for a private citizen’s well-being, of using government power and position to vent one’s spleen. That’s just the elephant poop. That can be swept under the rug. And maybe that’s just what seems to be happening. But the elephant–the political culture that has given rise to a corrupt political atmosphere that would be hilarious if people weren’t being hurt–will still be there, still eating, still pooping. So what do you do if you don’t like elephant poop in your living room? That’s a good question. Until we have a comprehensive solution, AKM at least lets us see the elephant, and warns us about the poop.
(Can you IMAGINE what I was like when I was potty-training my son?)
This is what we have in the wild wild west! Alaska is still very rough around the edges, and it shows. The politicians here have been “in the dark” for too long, with only their own ethic sense to guide them. If they have it, great! If they don’t, and without a real governor at the helm, this is what we end up with. We do NOT have any leadership in Alaska, and the lawmakers are not leaders, they are lawmakers (when so willing). We are completely off course with a constituency who is NOT paying attention (Alaskans are famous for ignoring what doesn’t affect them in the short term), and w/o a governor who is worth a damn.
I am an Alaskan, hanging my head in shame for the shambles we are making of our beautiful state and our people. We were NOT ready for the limelight by any stretch of the imagination! WE didn’t even know we were this dysfunctional until August 29, 2008. It was then that Pandora flew out in all of her wicked selfishness and chaos, and showed us her box, her prison – which was named Alaska.
When this came down I was advocating for using our energized forces to advocate for state issues while also standing up for AKM, and that would show that we are still concerned about others in the state, not just protecting our buddies. But somehow the tone of this article isn’t what I had in mind. This doesn’t have to be an either / or proposition.
Whether it was intended or not, Palin’s press release about CelticDiva’s ethics complaint and Doogan’s outing of AKM has potentially sidetracked some of the discussion in the blogging community. It seems we can be supportive of them while continuing other efforts.
@ Bodie P
Does this mean that I can cheer myself up with some elephant poop jokes?
Martha UYS–
Does this mean that I can cheer myself up with some elephant poop jokes?
——
Butt of course!
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mhrt-oregonNo Gravatar Says:
April 1st, 2009 at 9:44 PM
This letter was oosted by AKM.. This was not in the comment section. So I have to think that s/he agrees with what Mr Gara says..
A letter is sent to AKM. S/he receives it..reads it ..thinks about it, while eating pumpkin flax cereal and drinking hot chocolate. I that that I will publish this on my blog, should I , or should I not. My finger is resting over that ( intimidating blue oval button). I think I am just to tired to keep up, to go along, and I will accept this help. So The blue oval button was pushed.
I think that we need to remember and respect that AKM approves the posts here and s?he has many supporters AND if s/he linked this it has to have been posted by AKM..
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SnoskredNo Gravatar Says:
April 1st, 2009 at 9:51 PM
mhrt-oregon – I would prefer to hear that directly from AKMuckraker – I would not want to assume that just because it has been posted on the blog that AKM agrees with it 100%.
I have also seen it posted on Progressive Alaska, so it is possible this is something that was sent out to a few people and they are posting it on request, not because they agree with the sentiments expressed in it.
We’re entitled to disagree with the sentiments, too. It concerns me greatly that any politician might be given a free pass – I personally think that Doogan has broken the law, and if any politician (regardless of partisanship or what side they are on, I would say this for both democrats, republicans, or in my country it might be labor, liberal, green, any political party that exists) knowingly supports another politician breaking the law instead of putting in an ethics complaint, that is a big deal as far as I am concerned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
me/too/also/
not sure why you are so angry
where did I say some thing wrong .
But AKM can delete as can you guys… any think that you want..
what I said had NOTHING to do with doogan..
The post was about Gara and I Know that AKM has held him in High openion.
some one has to push that publish button…why are you mad at me..
@Snoskred,
You have a point; this may be something that has been posted by request. We don’t know one way or another.
The thing is, we don’t know what AKM thinks about the whole thing besides it shouldn’t oughta have happened, and she’s not happy it did. Same goes for us, and a whole lot of other people. I’ve only seen a very few statements of support for Doogan.
Most likely, any possible action taken would have to come from AKM, or at the very least, from someone *in* Alaska. Besides, I think by now Rep Doogan knows how his actions are being perceived. (I have this mental picture of all those letters flying into the Dursley’s house in the 1st Potter movie… his office must be pretty crowded by now – ha).
Just sayin’
Nan
“I was as bothered as many of you by what happened,”
BOTHERED!!!!!!!!!!?????????? (bother: “to annoy especially by petty provocation” — Merriam-Webster dictionary).
I don’t think the majority of people who are aware of what Doogan did and wrote about it here were merely “bothered,” as you suggest, Mr. Gara. Please don’t insult our collective intelligence. And don’t try and trivialize what Doogan did to AMK by characterizing it as something that merely “bothered” AKM and this blogging community. Seriously: Did you read any of the comments here in the past several days?
Shocked, livid, furious, dumbfounded, really, really mad, outraged, angry, speechless and extremely disappointed in a government official — and such similar words and sentiments are a much more accurate way to describe how many folks (repeatedly) commented here.
All you could think to do was to have a private conversation with Doogan? Really???? Gee, don’t wanna rock the boat too much??
I can think of three productive things you could do, or could have done already, to more appropriately respond to Doogan’s outrageous conduct:
First, instead of just having a private conversation with Doogan, how about writing an open letter, signed by ALL of the state and local elected officials (both D’s and R’s) and have it published in a local paper that unequivocally condemns what Doogan did and demands that he resign immediately.
Second, having ALL of the elected officials (both D’s and R’s) collectively filing an ethics complaint against Doogan, and also taking whatever other official actions can be taken to have Doogan immediatelty removed from office.
Third, as a legislature, I assume what you do is write and sponsor laws and do whatever it takes to get such laws passed. So, because it is probable that there is no specific law that expressly prohibits a public official from outing a private citizen blogger who wants to remain anonymous — there likely is no such specific law because probably nobody ever imagined that an elected official could conceivably be as big a smuck as Doogan and do what he did) — write such a law, sponsor it and get it passed. The law should have very servere penalties for any violation.
And, because many laws are named after the victim of the act the new law is intended to deal with, the new law you should write, sponsor and have passed — before this legislative session ends — should be named “The AKMuckraker’s Blogger’s Right To Privacy Act,” or something like that.
Finally, I agree that you seem to be just pandering to this blog.
Represenative Gara,
Point taken on the emails to Doogan. I think the issue is that Doogan doesn’t give a rats a$$ about our emails, seeing as how they come from us lowly private citizens. You represent the system as a peer who can effect change through disciplinary action yet you seem to have no interest in righting a wrong. What is the difference in calling out a spokeperson for Palin and calling out a collegue?
mhrt-Oregon –
I am not mad at you
If you could go back and read what I wrote again, I thought it was pretty clear that I’m not mad at you, I am just concerned that people might make the same assumption you made, but if it wasn’t clear that I am not mad at you, I apologise. 
I just wanted to clarify that at the moment, we don’t know if AKMuckraker agrees with what Les Gara has said, or not. And regardless of whether she agrees or not, we can disagree with him.
@Snoskred: You accurately reference the partisan divide in the US, but I think you may overkill a bit when you say “nobody seems to be on the side of doing the right thing”. I suspect that most of the comments on this thread that have suggested that Mr Gara’s response is deficient have come from Democrats. (i’m certain about one comment).
In the AK Legislature, most of the Democrats are part of a sort of coalition majority with most of the Republicans, and I imagine that many of them are concerned to maintain that coalition. And that’s a valid concern. However, civil behavior by elected (i.e., taxpayer-paid) officials is also a valid concern.
I’ve never cared much for the “He’s an SOB but he’s our SOB” line of reasoning, mainly because if he’s really an SOB, there’s no reason to assume that he will remain our SOB. If you want to be on the side of right behavior, you pretty much have to pass up the support of those who don’t practice it.
If the AK Legislative Dems continue to fluff this off, they are going to “cheapen their brand” at a time when they should be expecting to grow stronger.
You know, I just realized I’m free-associating, so I’ll stop.
Thank you very much for all the support you give the blog.
I wonder what the openly hateful and unpublished comments by the trolls sounded like.
To anyone in public office who would like to show support for AKM, I would like to suggest they read Andrew Halcro’s ‘Dirty Martini Philosophy’ for inspiration on non-committal support.
http://www.andrewhalcro.com/outing_mudflats_the_dirty_martini_philosophy
There WAS an elephant hiding in the room!
It whispered to me “I am doom and gloom!”
First I teared up, got mad, then you know what?
I swatted the elephant hard on the butt
It pooped and pooped on its way out the door
Pooped big elephant poop right on the floor
I’ll keep the poop, but not the gover-nor!
One grows your garden, the other’s a bore!
OK OK, I will not be progressing to the fifth grade at this rate.
Oh Martha–
You’ve made my night. I think I feel a cartoon coming on (I LOVE drawing elephants in awkward positions).
Strangelet, you’re probably right on that one. Clearly there are people on the side of doing the right thing. Let me clarify.
When you read some of the.. hmm.. how can I put it.. extreme websites on either side, you tend to get the impression that nobody there seems to be on the side of doing the right thing, they are just on the side of doing what *their* side wants done. That is what I was thinking when I wrote it.
But clearly I did not mean *nobody* is on the side of doing the right thing – I meant it just seems like nobody is, because later in the same post I said that AKM was on the side of doing the right thing.. so.. apologies.
I probably should back away from the keyboard right about now. It hasn’t even been a week yet since AKMuckraker was “outed” – we’re all still very upset. Add to that I am low on sleep and high on caffeine, and I seem to be writing stuff that isn’t making sense or is making people think I am mad at them when the only person I am mad at is Doogan. Sorry guys.
sorry, non- committal may be the wrong word. I mean to say support for the sake of support and not trying to explain inaction in their part.
Thank you for reading.
Thank You NYHawk!!!
I agree with your post.
All of it.
Mr. Gara,
We do have quite the mess around here, but I for one, am thankful to have you as a legislator. I do not have my soapbox handy, so I’m just going to say “thanks for being you” and go to bed. I will dream of you telling off MegA Mouth Stapleton in downtown Anchorage, on video, and I will sleep well for one night, at least!
Les is trying to have it both ways here. He lays out all the grand Democratic ideals that we all love so much, but he forgets about the ETHICS. Mike Doogan used a state resource, his legislative newsletter, to exact revenge on an anonymous citizen who dared to make public MIKE’S OWN WORDS. He used state resources for his own purposes in a way that should not go uncensured. Are we going to stand for that? That has been one of our main complaints against the governor, but we won’t hold our own to the same standards?
What is the problem with Alaska’s politicians and ethics? I want some honest government for a change.
Snos…I read the other night that you UP 40 hours trying to keep the Flats up and running..I wish that I could send fire works or some thing your way to show our appreciation…Thank you.. I think that we are all getting over loaded . but we ..still need to hang together…….
Les Gara Says:
April 1st, 2009 at 10:17 PM
Hmmm. Fair points, but I think a few posters have taken my note the opposite way I meant to write it. Maybe my fault for not writing that well.
When I wrote that it’s not useful for us to tear each other apart – I wasn’t telling anyone to stop expressing your opinions on this, or, as Angler worries – for anyone to “stop e-mailing” my colleague. Quite to the contrary. I felt my colleague’s conduct was divisive, not your responses or e-mails. So – speak your minds. Best, Les
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Les,
Instead of encouraging us to take action and speak our minds – which you know very well we will do – I encourage you to reconsider taking a leadership role in a call for censure of Mike Doogan by the entire House of Rrepresentatives.
Your words are not enough. Action, please.
Snoskred,
Heartfelt thanks.
I hope that the hate mail AKM has received is kept as evidence of damage caused by Rep. Doogan’s actions.
I say this in response of feeling sick of Les gara’s post even when I know it is supposed to be a nice show of support. No harm intended Mr. Gara.
…the little voice crying in the wilderness….is it possible that the press release and subsequent hate mail that targeted Celtic Diva and the ‘outing’ of AKM were intended to throw Diva, AKM and us off track from looking at other, and I will not say ‘bigger’ issues? For different reasons than what Gara has stated, I would suggest we keep our eye on the ball. We have sent DooPoo and other legislators emails, but it seems if any next steps are to be taken, they are up to AKM, as it was her privacy that was messed with, she knows the consequences better than we do. The issue of free speech and privacy rights are vitally important, but in this case, someone may be hoping that we will forget about other things while we are taking on this cause. Once again I will suggest, let’s use that energy that we are charged up with to keep on for the Rural folks, advocate for sufficient vetting of WAR, ask legislators to take seriously that the Alaska Federation of Natives just voted to oppose WAR’s appointment, and encourage the acceptance and clearheaded use of the stim funds, etc. I keep writing this and nobody seems to notice, so I am going to keep on until somebody does…! so there… Love you all and good night. WfAK
If Vidomnia is the same commenter as Vidomnia at Shannyn’s blog, then be aware that he/she is a c4p person.
That said, it takes a special sort of dirtbag to compare anyone but Rush to Rush. He is a vile, repulsive person who takes delight in those labels and in inciting the masses with disgusting comments and “calls to action.”
so i feel idiotic for asking this…but:
why so much hate for les gara in these comments? so maybe he’s being more wishy-washy than you all would like, but he does seem to be supporting AKM in his statement -which she chose to publish here. has he done/failed-to-do-other political acts which upset you?
if y’all want him to step up and do more maybe your should say “thanks for this gesture of support for AKM, now HERE are the things we really need you to do for our fair state: …” not just slightly sarcastically mock his words AKM published. snark is way fun, but not the most constructive thing to pour into a listening ear.
seriously, instead of just telling him he’s also now disappointing you, you should spell out what you want him to change, in firm terms. he’s reading these comments (based on his earlier response), so why not be clear about exactly what you want him to do? state it politely but very firmly and see if he hears it.
i also admit i’m not an alaskan, i live in illinois -so i know something about bad governors and generally sketchy politicians- and i’m a liberal and a progressive and a young(ish) person (just turned 29), and i’ve been to AK (but back in 1998). when emmonak went into deep crisis i emailed every news outlet i could think of, imploring them to bring it to national attention.
i read here and gryphen over at IM every day, i support all the AK progressive bloggers.
so why is everyone so snarkily dismissive of this les gara post? can someone tell me (an outsider with love) why no one is taking him at his word?
Les’ letter sucked. Didn’t really address the issue. Skated around it, lots of word salad about everyone being friends, big issues, can’t boss anyone around, blah blah blah.
Platitudes. Why bother?
You’re doing great things for the state, Les. Let’s just leave it at that, cuz on this issue you aren’t adding anything of value to the discussion.
At least Rep. Gara had the guts to wade into the waters here at The Mudflats. He took some criticism but he was here nonetheless.
Contrast those guts with Palin who sits in her ivory tower issuing a myriad of petulant press releases while intermittently looking at her photo on the wallpaper of her Blackberry. Or Doogan whose gutless ethical sins are well-documented on many blogs and newspapers.(BTW….Doogan ducked into a restroom to hide from Shannyn Moore’s questions. Real gutsy, eh? She apparently has his fox-hole maneuver on tape in all its glory.)
@Writing from Alaska:
Unfortunately i think war is a shoe in. However the least our legislators could do is ask questions about his rural views as well as other issues that have involved the Department of Law and been in the forefront recently. I’m sure we could come up with a list.
Mr Les Gara,
I have no idea what the AK Legislature’s ‘ Rules ‘ are on this matter because I am not from your State and don’t know that environment. My feeling tends to be that of Lee323 (post 70). The post covered most of the key points.
========
For the moment….
Lets just suppose you live in ‘your neighborhood’ and all of your Neighbors were Democrats like YOU. You have block parties, You get together for BBq’s, maybe a pool party, the kids play together… etc. It’s a really nice little ‘ Community ‘ and everybody gets along… because of course… You are ALL Democrats.
Let’s say one day ‘ONE’ of the neighbors gets a little carried away and gets a little ‘drunk’. You were standing in your front yard… in the neighborhood…. and see this, BUT he has never harmed anybody BEFORE. But he’s not ‘thinking clearly’ now and is out of Beer. So he jumps in his car to go to the Store for more. On the way back home though he happens to RUN OVER your next door neighbor who was on the sidewalk, enjoying the beautiful day.
YOUR neighbor has catastrophic injuries, is put in the hospital for a few months, and the bills pile up too. Plus being out of work while in the hospital Your neighbor was not there to go to work to support his two young kids and wife.
As he is being wheeled up the driveway in the wheelchair, you notice because You are standing in your front yard again… just like the day of the accident.
Being the Good neighbor you are you feel it is your ‘ Duty ‘ to go say something to your neighbor. Pleasantries are exchanged and then you ADMIT to the neighbor you saw Him driving drunk… but did nothing. Because after all… he had never hurt anyone before. Because he was a fellow Democrat and lived in ‘the Neighborhood’… you didn’t think it was necessary to say something… because he KNOWS how Democrats are SUPPOSED to act and knows the ‘Rules ‘. After he ran over the neighbor… other people were talking about Him behind his back as well.
WHO do/should You feel more sorry for..?
Is it the drunk neighbor across the street… or the neighbor who got ran over by His car..?
Maybe you just let it go and move on because You don’t want to create any friction or problems for the Democratic neighborhood (Legislature ). After all ,you have to continue come home every day and live there. Who needs problems. If you were to ‘stir things up’ … people might start talking about You behind your back as well. You just want to get along and go back to the way it was… BEFORE the Accident.
Sorry… the Accident happened. The Damage was done.
One neighbor will for some time have to walk around with a little Limp…as a result of the Accident.
——————————————-
AKM can write a much more creative ‘ Political Parable’… But I think you understand the story. The Neighborhood Has changed…. and not for the better. We see that… do You ? If You see someone driving drunk again… will You speak up ..?
The damage could be even worse… Next time.
I agree with NYHawk who wrote:
I don’t think the majority of people who are aware of what Doogan did and wrote about it here were merely “bothered,” as you suggest, Mr. Gara. Please don’t insult our collective intelligence. And don’t try and trivialize what Doogan did to AMK by characterizing it as something that merely “bothered” AKM and this blogging community. Seriously: Did you read any of the comments here in the past several days?
I’m not exactly sure how many laws or torts Mike Doogan broke, but certainly what he did to AKM was well beyond “bothering” her. That he did so using the state of Alaska’s resources, during work time, and in his official capacity as a state representative, is clear. It’s up to AKM how this will be pursued.
Open Letter to Rep. Les Gara
Mr. Gara, you are an elected official. You work for the state, for the people of Alaska, and you are, in fact, accountable to the Governor, the head of state. You have made statements suggesting a lack of confidence in this Governor. You have stated that what Mike Doogan did to AKM is wrong in your opinion. So, besides speaking your piece on the Mudflats forum, is there anything you plan to do in your capacity as a state representative of Alaska, to put your words to action regarding what Mike Doogan did to AKM? And since you voiced a disagreement with Alaska’s governor about several issues, what have you done, or are doing, or planning to do, to bring about holding this governor accountable for her negligence?
While I admire(respect?) Mr. Gara for taking the time (risk?) to write to us here, I seriously would repeat those above who ask….if you disagree with what Mr. Doo-doo head (DOOGAN) did….grow some balls and DO slmething about it! The very reason for being here…you/we /us/them is that we DISAGREE with what has gone on and what continues to go on! Many of us are here on Mudflats because we were astounded at the POLITICS of Alaska that let one woman become a VP candidate. Many of us still remain astounded that you let Alaska be “governed” by these, (trying to be nice here ), NINCOMPOOPS!!!!
Mr. Gara, I respectfully request that you GROW some balls and FIGHT this sort of nincompoopish BS!!!
Hi All,
There seems to be speculation, and I’d like to clarify a few things. I have had 5 or 6 guest bloggers here at the Mudflats over the past few months. Mostly, I’ve asked for the post. Sometimes it has been offered. I do not necessarily agree with everything written by a guest blogger. I post things, written by others AND myself, to hear what you have to say. This is the most thoughtful and insightful online community I know, and I always learn from you.
I would like to think that the guest blogger (in this case, Rep. Gara) is also interested in hearing what you have to say, whether you agree or disagree. It’s a good opportunity to provide feedback, and express how you feel about what he had to say.
I’ve done a fair amount of writing on how I feel about the situation so far, so I trust you have a good idea about that. But I would like to thank Rep. Gara for sharing his thoughts and being open to the responses, both positive and negative.
AKM
Midnight in AK and past my bed time here, but I had to drop by to see what’s up in the Mudflats. I suppose I should be glad folks are still working through their reactions to AKM’s outing and that support is still coming in from all over including from those who could do something about it.
I must admit that I’m a bit disappointed in you, Representive Les as I’d have thought from your past actions that you would be taking a more proactive leadership role. You have always seemed to know what was needed and shown no fear of standing up when called upon to do the right thing. I realize you have a lot on your plate right now and not much time to get seemingly an impossible job done. Being a leader in these amazing times can’t be easy, so many weighty decisions and so many people counting on you. Some of whom will never even be able to vote for you, but will for sure be willing to bite your head off if you make an unpopular statement. And no matter what you do or don’t do there will always be those in the GOP that you tic off big time. My main hope is that you will follow your own conscious, consider what those who voted for you are asking you to do and then do the best you can.
As I live in ID, I can’t vote for you, so you don’t have to pay much attention to me, but I do so care about AKM, this blog and the rights of anon bloggers everywhere. What happens in AK does make a difference as it sets the bar on bloggers in every state. Please keep supporting the rights of free speech and anon writing. Thank you.
After reading Mr Gara’s letter, I just have to say… my initial response was ” I wish this guy was a rep from my state and said these words. Thank you Les Gara for being 1. A politician who wants to communicate with the mudflats community. 2. A person who stepped out of the norm.. and took a chance on the new. 3. A man, as in the sense of dealing with a situation that might be foreign, oh so foreign to some, and dealing with it like a sane person.
Politicians come and go. There are so many reasons that we as citizens, will remember them for their goodness or for their bad actions or decisions. I do not know Mr. Gara, I have never looked into his eyes….But, who else has stood up and tried to make contact with after this whole ordeal? Who else has welcomed Mudflats back? AKM should be a major lesson. WE have a voice now…more than ever. The voice is getting louder, it is more intense. It means whatit is saying and will not back down. It is of good people. Thank you Mudflats! And just like Les Gara said, “glad to see you’re back”.
I can’t believe I waited all week for this, Mr Gara.
Are not the plebs who work government offices held accountable for THEIR behavior when representing the State? Do you mean to say that lawmakers are held to lower standards of behavior than the lowliest government employee? Or do you mean to say that lawmakers hold THEMSELVES to lower standards of behavior? Which is it?
I know there are State employees who read here every day. I wonder if they can tell us what would happen if they took it into their heads to use their work email to send out scores of rude and abusive emails ….. for a start. Would their bosses shrug and say, “I’m disturbed by it – but we don’t require each other to march in line.”
Rep. Gara, you’re correct. Writing a blog in mid-defenestration would be nigh unto impossible. But your nimbleness in “explaining” Rep Doogan’s disregard of Constitutional Law and the very foundations upon which this country *including the State of Alaska* rests is Cirque de Soliel noteworthy. No one here, or anywhere across the blogsphere has demanded that the AK Dems whip Doogan behind the wood shed for his bad boy behavior. I don’t believe that anyone who comes to Mudflats ever wants to see politicians walking in jackstep – if that were the case, we’d voted in SP as our VP in November. What we are requesting – and at this time, quite politely, is the you and your fellow reps (Dem and Repub) acknowledge the precedent sent by the Ist Amendment, The Right of Freedom of Speech, acknowledge that Rep Doogan’s actions (and written words themselves) have violated and sought to impinged that very right of a private citizen and a constituent; that Rep Doogan has violated the precedents set forth in numerous right to privacy cases; that Rep Doogan did act with malice aforethought with the intent to harm a private citizen; that in the execution of his actions, did use state funds, state property, and state communications as the means and ways to carry out a personal vendetta; and that Rep Doogan violated, at the very least, the public trust endowed in holding public office. These, Rep Gara, are the basic items which outline our anger – and which, it is my hope, that the AK Dems and hopefully the enitre Legislature, will specifically address. To “aw shucks” this episode of bully boy behavior is, in my opinion and my opinion only, tantamount to condoning the stalking and harrassment of a private citizen by a public official. And since I am not a resident of AK, I realize that this opinion carries no weight in AK. But I remind you sir, the Constitution of the United States does – and I respectfully suggest that you act in accordance with that document.
I like Les and what he says, but I’m disappointed with it. What Doogan did was not only unethical. I think it was illegal. And he (and the rest of AK dems) should be examining that.
It’s bad enough that Stevens got a free Out of Jail card this week.
Greytdog – All I can say is -YUP !!
Snorkish….thanks for your comments…and your fantastic support of this blog and AKM!!! Your passion is greatly appreciated.
Hey Greytdog-you have expressed well some of what I had in mind. I commend you for mentioning the “aw shucks” attitude. I was struck as well by Gara’s repetition in different forms of the idea that elected democrats do not “supervise” their fellows; teamwork is an important value,a compliment, that is mentioned.The responsability of one player to another and for keeping the well- being of the people in mind is limited it seems, according to Gara.
AKM does a wonderful and worthwhile job keeping us aware or calling our attention to behaviors ,issues,etc. We,the People, supervise by being in the know. Being in the know and speaking up about it is a tool to keep politicians in office in line!The cost might be a vengeful attack.NOT A LOT OF IMPULSE CONTROL.Further, Gara seems to feel, that if one spoke up this way as one elected official to another you could be thrown off a cliff! Yikes!
When I read this, a saying I often hear at work came to mind, “It’s not My puppy.”
Everyone has a different parable for the origination of this phrase but my favorite is the community dog.
One day a stray dog wandered into a small town. It was cute and friendly and seemed perfectly harmless. Being caring folks the local merchants made a nice warm safe home for the little guy from a crate in one of the alleys. They fed him, gave him water, and stroked and petted him. He had a tendency to bark at shadows and sometimes growl at the good town folk for no reason, but dogs will be dogs, right?
One day he takes a dump in the middle of the sidewalk. As each one of the caring, concerned citizens stops and sees the dirty deed, wrinkles up their nose and says, “How disgusting, how deplorable, but,” walking around and away from the smelly heap of do do, “ it’s not My puppy.”
Les Gara says “Sniping at those who are trying to foster a community discussion about how to move Alaska forward isn’t helpful.”
A perfect characterization of Rep. doogan EXCEPT you left out that doogan was acting as a elected official in his official capacity as a state legislator that attempted to use his constituents to inflict as much harm as possible on his, er, snipee.
The enews from doogan remains on akdemocrats.org along with your own info. You appear to think akdemocrats.org can not be expected to supervise one another but they can certainly comment on the contents of the website they share.
http://www.akdemocrats.org/doogan/032709_2_doogan_in_juneau.htm
Great of him to take time to respond.
Sounds like a pretty standard response, though. I wouldn’t expect any different from any politician speaking on the record…
But is there a message in this line?:
“In the end, we aren’t the bosses of each other. Our constituents are our bosses. I don’t get to tell my colleagues what do, but you do get to tell us.”
Sounds like a green light for Alaskans to hold Doogan accountable, IMO. Maybe off the record you’ll get that support…
AKM, you have the grace of a saint.
Mr Gara, I, like other mudpups, do appreciate your comments and support for Mudflats. However, I also agree with the folks who say that the live and let live attitude about your colleague doesn’t help ethics-challenged Alaska. If none of you are going to at least tell Doogan that what he did was slimy, not to mention unethical and possibly illegal, then perhaps the legislature could do Alaska a big favor and start devoting some serious time to tightening up your ethics laws AND their enforcement. No loopholes for legislative immunity. No running everything through an appointed personnel board that owes its job to one petty politician. I am not an Alaska resident anymore, but still have lots of family up there. I have to tell you that just shrugging at Doogan is not playing any better outside Alaska than it is in your state. Your state is basically a big embarrassment right now, mostly the butt of jokes. It will stay that way until your “team” cleans up its act and grows some spine and balls. The fact that Doogan used his constituent newsletter to act in a petty, intimidating, and malicious manner to an Alaska resident DOES seem to be something the “team” should talk to him about.
I consider you one of the good guys up there in my “second” state. Please don’t make me reconsider that.
dear les gara:
your dismissal of what mike doogan has done is unfortunate, to say the least. i would have hoped for better. up to now you had come across as a rational person.
but your words here strike me as weasel-ish. they are offensive in their minimization of the events.
i haven’t read other people’s comments yet. but i can’t imagine i am alone in thinking you would have been far better off remaining silent.
bob poe condemned doogan’s actions while providing some background about doogan’s anger issues. you don’t even do that. you seem to think that doogan’s boorishness is acceptable within the framework of politics.
it might be acceptable to republicans but we’re talking about democrats here.
i expect elected democrats to at least have a basic understanding of the united states constitution.
unfortunately, neither you nor mr. doogan seem to.
perhaps you think a bad democrat representing the 25th district is better than a republican in that seat. i disagree.
by your standards, grussendorf should be an acceptable replacement for kim elton. after all, his tag currently says “democrat” on it. it doesn’t matter what the behavior is, as long as the tag is correct, right?
but thanks for showing your true colors. it’s very helpful.
Les Gara – AKM has a bigger and stronger backbone than you do. AKM was stalked and spied on for 4 months, threaten by email by Doogan and then outed by a public elected official using the state’s resources that had no regard or respect for her rights as a private citizen, the very rights that are protected under the law. It’s nice you can come forward and write about all the other problems facing the state. Lots of big problems much larger than this”little” one, but this “little” one is basic – Doogan was wrong. Out him in the public forum demanding an apology, out his spy in publc, out his sloppy disregard for responding by emails to all those people making their email addresses public, hold him accountable IN PUBLIC. He made AKM’s name public or are you going to tell me that his rights are “protected” and the other respresentatives are going to speak to him in private? Is his spy’s name now private? Wow, that’s just plain pathetic. Don’t you understand that? Just take a minute, take a breath, think it through and understand that – please.
AKM has decided to continue what she has been doing best and we all are much better for her efforts. Protect her rights and you would do for yourself.
dear les gara:
i just saw your comment in the thread.
my advice?
just shut up now. because you are not doing yourself any favors.
in fact, you further reinforced the bad impression created by the your words in the main post.
it’s a good thing i am not an alaskan because based on your comments here alone i would make it my hobby to closely follow and report on your every activity and, more importantly, your failures to act.
someone else in the thread pointed out your weak-tea protestations at palin’s ethical problems and her inappropriate manner of governing. it’s starting to look like a pattern.
i hope that you are able to maintain your popularity with your fellow legislators. keep it up. they may soon be the only people you are popular with.
Mr. Gara
Thank you for your well considered comments.
Please do not take my comments as a personal criticism, as what I see about you in Mudflats indicates that you are a responsible and caring man and Public Servant.
Even though I am one of those out of state females, I as a citizen of this country am concerned that a Public Servant has twice publically exposed information about private citizens without their permission.
I can have some sympathy with a Public Servant wanting to know the identification of a vocal critic, so that that they can watch what they say, should they ever meet that critic face to face. But, that is a far cry from the act of a Public Servant publicizing the identification of a private citizen simply because that citizen has had occasion to be critical of them.
Prior to the public outing of AMK, Mr. Doogan broad cast an entire email listing without the permission of the email owners.
Is that not a dereliction of the duty of any Public Servant, who has access to, and is entrusted with, private information about private citizens? Does not a Public Servant not have a legal and ethical duty to protect the right of private citizens’ privacy?
Why would that first instance not have been subject to a censure by an ethics committee? And having not censured such an act, did not the legislature set a precedent, already used a second time by Mr. Doogan, of using his position as a Public Servant, to expose private information to the public and to act in a way that is obviously intended to cause personal harm and intimidate pubic discourse?
As well, of course, that there are women and others who need anonymity for their physical safety, and many other reasons for private citizens’ information to remain private, and for private citizens to need to be able to trust Public Servants to honor that need for privacy.
Law officers and officers and employees of the legal system may not reveal private information about others just because they might be angry about something said. The medical professions may not do so. And any number of other professions and groups honor the privacy of their “constituents” and would be held legally responsible for release of such information.
Why do elected Public Servants excuse themselves from the harm they do? This is not an Alaska problem it is an American problem that creates resentment and distrust and disrespect of elected Public Servants who act as though they are above the laws and above the professional responsibilities and ethics expected and often legally and procedurally required of the rest of the citizens of this country?
I think a complaint needs to be filed before the House can act on this. Until that happens their hands are tied other than speaking up and saying ‘ I don’t like this either’.
So thank you to Rep. Gara for at least addressing the situation.
Les Gara’s post was not mean spirited yet it seems there is a lot of anger directed at him. He isn’t Doogan nor does he like what Doogan did. I wish everyone here could discuss this in a respectful manner )o:
Rep. Gara, you said, “I don’t get to tell my colleagues what do, but you do get to tell us.”
Ideally, yes. It is your job to listen to and sift and synthesize the concerns of private citizens and then, bearing that message in your one voice, to deliver it in the halls of the legislature and to a wider audience.
If I say or publish something, it is just my opinion. If you say or publish something, we regard it as far more than just your opinion. What you say or publish represents the collective will of many voices, combined with your knowledge and experience as a government official. Your words carry with them the weight and authority of the oath you took on entering office.
If you are listening now, I think you can hear people saying they want you to take some action beyond letting Rep. Doogan know you disapprove of what he did vis a vis AKM.
In my first comment on your post, I asked you what actions you thought could be taken, and by whom. If you replied, my apologies because I missed it. Several others here have since made excellent suggestions about actions you might consider taking. I would appreciate hearing from you once more, stating without equivocation, what actions, if any, you plan to take in this matter.
Thanks.
Birds of a feather…
From librarygrape.com
I just received a response from a member of the Alaska legislature’s Select Committee on Legislative Ethics, Rep. Berta Gardner:
Thank you for your letter. I’m not happy with Doogan right now and think his action was unnecessary and destructive. I don’t believe, however, that it is a violation of legislative ethics as described here:
http://www.touchngo.com/lglcntr/akstats/Statutes/Title24/Chapter60.htm
Surely someone has or will file an ethics complaint and the committee will investigate and make a determination.
Berta
I thank Rep. Gardner for her thoughtful reply. Although I’m not familiar with Alaska ethics law, I wonder how a state legislator violating the First Amendment rights of a state citizen wouldn’t be actionable under the state ethics law. I will do some research and report back.
While I can certainly understand your disappointment in Rep. Gara’s response at least he gave one which is more that I can say about some of your elected officials:)
What I can’t understand is what are you Alaskan’s supposed to do when your elected officials are as rude/juvenile as Doogan? Before he even outed Mudflats his responses to the e-mails he receives are just beyond nothing I have ever seen. They are rude and childish at best. You would think a grown man would know that these are not the correct way to address the general public regardless of whether he agrees with them or not.
While we have only seen a few of his e-mail exchanges posted here & elsewhere these can only be a handful of all his e-mail exchanges. Can you somehow get the word out & compile them together so that they can be posted or sent to someone in charge? Is there anyone who would be responsible for his rude & childish behaviour?
Outing Mudflats is on the same juvenile level so I really don’t even think he ever considered the risk he put her & her family in. I don’t think he has the IQ to figure this out. It does NOT mean that he shouldn’t be held accountable. I know for sure that just the e-mail exchanges alone would have lost him his job in any field other than that of an elected official.
Sarah Palin alone has given Alaska such an awful name. Now that she put Alaska on the radar Ted & Doogan aren’t helping either. However, Brian & Brenda (along with the citizens who LOVE their state) have helped me view Alaska as a very beautiful place.
If Mudflats chooses to do something about Doogan count me in for contributing a very substancial donation.
Politicians (whether left/right/R/D) respond to political pressure. A politician is only as good as the fire under his/her rear end. So, if folks from Alaska want Mr. Doogan to to bear the consequences of his unethical retribution against AKM , then they will have to take some action beyond internet outrage. Although it would be wonderful if other legislators would take the lead in this fight, it is not surprising that they don’t.
Ultimately, the power does rest with the people, if they own it– if they use that power in righteous and creative ways. (I have been amazed at the brilliant and funny signs at the last few demos in Alaska–you guys are great!!) By expecting the other legislators to take the lead in this, we underestimate our own power. Actually, Mr. Doogan acted from a position of powerlessness and fear– that’s why his actions were so STUPID!! A clear indication of this– apparently when Shannyn Moore tried to confront him yesterday in Juneau, he hid in the bathroom !! What kind of a leader is that ?? So I would spend less time on Gara and more time on what the people of Alaska need now– (support for rural communities, Demand that SP keeps all Stim$ and oppose the appointment of WAR, protect the environment etc..)
Rep. Gara-
I understand the “I’m not my brother’s keeper” attitude, and- to the best of my understanding- you do have Alaska’s best interests at heart. However, Doogan posted his “outing” of AKM on the Alaska Democrats web site, which infers all of you Democrats approve of his actions. If he had posted this on his own blog, or wrote as an individual from his personal computer, so be it. But he did not- he did it as an elected representative of the state government.
To not do anything- at least a formal censure by your fellow Democrats- is unconscionable and cowardly. Yes, your state has many serious issues to address, but you and other legislators are ignoring the violation of an individual’s rights by a government official in a governmental capacity.
This looks like the relevant statute to base an ethics complaint against Doogan:
Alaska Statutes, Title 24.
Legislature, Chapter 60. Standards of Conduct
Section 30. Prohibitions Related to Conflicts of Interest and Unethical Conduct.
AS 24.60.030(a)(2), states that “A legislator . . . may not . . . use public . . . facilities, equipment, services, or another government asset or resource for a nonlegislative purpose . . . .”
http://www.touchngo.com/lglcntr/akstats/Statutes/Title24/Chapter60/Section030.htm
124Jane in Miami Says:
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:35 AM
———–
I’ve posted some info in the forum, under action alerts, here:
http://www.themudflats.net/forum/index.php/topic,6817.0.html
I’ve read the comments and I think it boils down to this: Okay, Les, thanks for the kind and thoughtful words, but what will you do about it?
If Les is going to do nothing to hold Doogan accountable, I’d rather he had said nothing. I get cynical about politicians that make an effort to talk one way and behave another.
Actions speak louder than words. You can bet there are lots of us paying attention to this.
Jane in Miami Says:
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:35 AM
Thanks for sharing the reply. I’m with you; I read the statute, and I feel Doogan violated several clauses, about the personal use of state equipment, sending correspondence for personal gain… I hope a mudpup lawyer can explain.
@ honestyinGov #101 very good analogy and well written….Bingo!
Although I appreciate Les Gara responding to AKM’s blog, I am NOT a fan of passive aggressive behavior or just a passive response in this matter. In my view, what Douche Bag Doogan did is totally unacceptable, unprofessional, cowardly and I don’t care if he was and is in a continuel state of drunken stupor. He is a representative of your Democratic Party, he represents his District and the people who voted him in with confidence. His actions are a reflection of what’s going on in his life and can very well cost him his seat in the next election. But worse, his actions can possibly cause harm to AKM and/or her family. He does need to be held accountable for that! Pettyness regardless of gender, is a very UGLY trait. He can thank his lucky starts that he is not a House Rep. from Southeast Alaska. We are not known for being passive aggressive, quite frankly, it’s the opposit.
Women Who Run With The Wolves called Doogan “Douche Bag Doogan.”
Well, according to the “Sarah Palin Baby Name Generator”
“Douche Bag Doogan, if you were born to Sarah Palin, your name would be: Fire Patriot Palin”
The bottom line is that by doing nothing Doogan’s actions reflect on all Democrats. Especially when the headline is on a Democratic web site sanctioned by the Alaskan Democratic Party. This action of Doogans needs to be renounced by his peers now !!!
I agree and can’t fathom why what offending garbage still remains up on the site that supposedly represents the views of AK democratic legislators. It reflects very badly on them…
I had an employee once (gov/union) that was a real asshat. When I confronted him he said it was his right to be an asshat and so I had to accept that fact. I told him not when it constituted behaviour that violated workplace or ethics rules and infringed on the rights of others. He could act as he wanted at home but not at work. He counted on the fact that the rules were very difficult to discipline or terminate someone, and I was busy with more important things. So I could have done the easy thing, try to ignore, or maybe give him all the crappy jobs to do. Instead I realized it was my job to go through the tough job of getting rid of him no matter how busy I was.
The legislature needs to do the same.
Well at least he took the time to write a post even though it basically/bottom line said “oops DooDoo did a DooDoo” and “it’s not my problem”.
The fact that the man probably violated AKM’s rights using State Resources seems to be just a little something to be glossed over. And he kicks the ball to AKM’s court by saying “I can’t do anything but AKM can” (or the constituents can. So what is the point of having an Ethics law or even a 1st Amendment if elected officials alibi each other?
It appears that no one is even going to take the responsibility to tell Doogan that he’s a horse’s ass and may very well be receiving a Federal knock at his door from the Justice Department.
His post is passive aggressive in my humble opinion. BadBadDoogan…sorry I can’t help you guys out…but I DO disagree with what he did so you can still like me.
Raspberry time for him for having only ONE ball!
Or at least a moose nugget
Les Gara says “We have a lot of work to do in this state.”
It’s very true. And you, lucky resident, can and SHOULD participate in the discussion of political issues. Because rep. doogan will most certainly MENACE your livelihood and personal safety (and your family’s). You SHOULD expose your dear ones to doogan’s wrath. Because, hey, when doogan’s done with you, a lot of politicans will say that it bothers them. Feel better? Good!
33Moose Pucky Says:
April 1st, 2009 at 8:42 PM
No April Fools this one. SC Governor Sanford has pulled a Palin.
Ruling from White House is state legislators can’t accept money without concurrence of Governor. Deadline Friday.
One source among many:
http://www.thesunnews.com/155/story/844388.html
——-
Why don’t these people see it is political suicide to play with the futures of our children, and their children. (Note I don’t have any) He will only accept the funds, if he can pay off state debt with it? What about funding education? School busses? Books? School electricity bills? Teacher salaries? School renovations? Educational programs designed to improve the quality of education in some area’s who have less?
How about a program, that I see in some states here on the west coast.. That gets children in less fortunate houses, laptops to do homework and learn on?
If you’re going to deny the funds, how about something obama can stomach, instead of paying off your debt. How about requesting the money be funneled into child health care? Infrastructure repair? If you are so will to toss the education of children into the trash bin, how about something more worthwhile than covering up non responsible spending which earned you debt?
Grow a pair Sanford, Just grow a pair.
Wow. Okay, time to step back and think about this rationally. First — and most importantly — Les is, as far as I know, the only sitting legislator who has spoken up about the Mudflats outing, and his comments are perfectly rational and reasonable. It’s tough for an elected representative to speak out against a member of his own caucus, but Les is clearly saying here that he disagrees with what Rep. Doogan did, and he’s supportive of Mudflats.
We’re down to a ninety-day session in this state, and we have an absentee governor telecommuting via BlackBerry. It’s a tall order for our legislators to get through the routine business of the state (and handle the brush fires, like throwing down the gauntlet with the governor on her Senate pick) without the added responsibility of having to police one another’s actions. That Les took the time to speak up about this issue at all shows that he recognizes the import of the situation.
Remember that just because Les isn’t publicly calling for Rep. Doogan to take any action doesn’t mean he isn’t speaking out TO Rep. Doogan. I’ve had it from a couple of reliable sources in Juneau that Les has, in fact, called Doogan on the carpet about this. You can imagine how responsive our friend Rep. Doogan was to this. I hear things are a little prickly in the Democratic caucus at the moment, and the Mudflats outing has a lot to do with that. Believe me, if there’s one thing of which Les Gara is incapable, it’s keeping his mouth shut when he sees something wrong going on. Don’t assume he’s not taking action just because he’s not advertising it in his newsletter. (Not every legislator feels the need to use his constituent e-news to be an asshole.)
Les’s primary job during the session is to represent his district — MY district — in the Legislature, and he’s really good at it. So far this session he’s sponsored legislation to reduce class size in Alaska schools, divest Permanent Fund investments in companies that do business in Darfur, establish an energy efficiency grant fund for AHFC, and promote early childhood education, and improve foster care. Unlike certain other representatives, Les is interested in improving the lives of ALL Alaskans — not just those who voted for him or live in his district — and his priorities are right on track.
Alaska’s progressives have no better friend in the Legislature than Les. He has proven time after time that he is a fighter. Have you already forgotten that Les is the legislator who called out Meg Stapleton outside the Troopergate hearing? Who demanded that she apologize to Walt Monegan? Furthermore, Mudflats has no greater defender than Les, and to light into him for failing to act in an unprofessional manner is monumentally unfair.
Most importantly:
LES GARA IS A MEMBER OF THE JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATIVE ETHICS.
Consequently, he cannot call for an ethics investigation into another legislator because he is a member of the committee that would hear and evaluate such a complaint. If you really want Rep. Doogan brought up on an ethics complaint and you actually want it to stick, the last thing in the world you want is for Les Gara to be issuing press releases demanding it.
http://ethics.legis.state.ak.us/ethics_complaint.php
I’m amazed at how anger at Doogan has spilled over onto Les. Les is my Representative in the legislature here and is my neighbor. My guess is that Mudflats wouldn’t have posted Les’s note if they didn’t think he was doing everything he can inside the legislature.
I know Les has done what folks are asking – but he can’t say so publicly. That’s not how smart legislators work. That’s not how effective legislators work. Les is doing what he can, quietly, without criticizing Mike in public, to get this resolved. Les doesn’t stand for BS.
Ethics complains are for the public to file. While many Legislators sit on the ethics committee that decides ethics complaints, they act as judges on the committee. It’s unreasonable to ask that they act as prosecutors in cases they have to judge. They aren’t allowed to do that. Would you want the person who decides your case to make comments in public about you before a case is decided?
I’m confident Les is doing everything he can. I’m not going to hit him for having the discretion to not tear Mike apart in public as much as that would make me feel better.
Mr. Gara…I have enjoyed reading your posts here and elsewhere, though I am not always in agreement.
Some of the comments above seem to suggest ‘cowardice’ as a motivation for the tone of your comment. I would strenuously disagree based on your history. I think in fact that you have repeatedly shown the courage of your convictions.
So I guess that just means that I respectfully, and strongly disagree with you.
I do think it is incumbent on us all to loudly and publically call it out when a citizen is harassed by the government, specifically for the reason of defending the governor and a claim that free speech only applies to people who identify themselves. From the history of the situation, we can infer that there is also personal vindictiveness involved – though only a deeper investigation will prove that.
I hope you will reconsider and take whatever steps are necessary to insure that Doogan’s actions are reviewed and investigated by the appropriate authorities.
@DL Laundry….I respect that post you just made, and even though I only know Mr. Gara through mudflats and the posts I have read…he seems a standup guy. I have watched the you tube video of him with Meg Stapelton many times…just to have a chuckle.
I too, believe he is doing all that he can, and it would not behoove him to denigrate Doogan on a public forum. Yes…it would make me and many others feel good….but it would be wrong, and unprofessional. I leave that territory to likes of Doogan.
Les, so you can’t tell him what to do, but the Alaska Democrats COULD have some class and take down his post from the akdemocrats.org web site! And how about answering some of the emails I’ve sent to Democratic leaders about this? Not one reply. I’ve been doing my level best as an independent voter to support Alaska Democrats, but I am so disgusted over this I might turn into one of the dreaded Third Party Voters. Being responsible and RESPONSIVE to your constituents is important. I’m sure that you, as one of the few (only?) responsive Democrats, can influence your fellow party members to do the right thing or at least respond to inquiries.
What I don’t understand is why no Alaskan citizen has filed an ethics complaint against Doogan for what he did. Does anyone know why this is?
@ akmuckraker Says:
April 2nd, 2009 at 12:31 AM
I’ve done a fair amount of writing on how I feel about the situation so far, so I trust you have a good idea about that. But I would like to thank Rep. Gara for sharing his thoughts and being open to the responses, both positive and negative.
”””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””
I could not agree more….and AKM, I trust that you’re fairing well. Thank you again for providing us an open venue by which to share our thoughts and ideas…in order that we bring about the much-needed changes in our nation.
Our work here is not yet done.
When I wrote that it’s not useful for us to tear each other apart – I wasn’t telling anyone to stop expressing your opinions on this, or, as Angler worries – for anyone to “stop e-mailing” my colleague. Quite to the contrary. I felt my colleague’s conduct was divisive, not your responses or e-mails. So – speak your minds. Best, Les
Well Mr. Gara, if you felt your colleague’s action was divisive and wrong, then why aren’t you and your fellow Democrats holding his feet to the fire. That Mr. Doogan did was unethical at best. So, someone needs to file an ethics complaint against him. If the Democrats in the AK legislature don’t hold Doogan accountable for what they did, they and you are tacitly giving him a “get out of jail free” card. Is that what you want to do? How is that going to discourage anyone from doing something similar in the future?
I’m suprised. All this time I thought Alaska had ethics rules and orderly proceedures established in the legislature for addressing abuse issues.
Now I learn from Rep. Gara that there are no such rules, that the only option in dealing with abuse of power by legislators is throwing them over a cliff or out of a high window?
No wonder Rep. Gara’s hands are tied, he’s a modern, civilized man who through no fault of his own, finds himself living in acient Sparta.
How terrible for you, Les. I hope your situation improves soon. It is certainly true that very few of your constituents would ask you to take the law into your own hands and throw an abuser of the power invested in the government by the people through the constitution, out of a seven story window, or even down the stairs.
Best of luck to you in a very difficult situation.
Martha Unalaska Yard Sign Says:
April 1st, 2009 at 10:21 PM
This is what we have in the wild wild west! Alaska is still very rough around the edges, and it shows. The politicians here have been “in the dark” for too long, with only their own ethic sense to guide them. If they have it, great! If they don’t, and without a real governor at the helm, this is what we end up with. We do NOT have any leadership in Alaska, and the lawmakers are not leaders, they are lawmakers (when so willing). We are completely off course with a constituency who is NOT paying attention (Alaskans are famous for ignoring what doesn’t affect them in the short term), and w/o a governor who is worth a damn.
I am an Alaskan, hanging my head in shame for the shambles we are making of our beautiful state and our people. We were NOT ready for the limelight by any stretch of the imagination! WE didn’t even know we were this dysfunctional until August 29, 2008. It was then that Pandora flew out in all of her wicked selfishness and chaos, and showed us her box, her prison – which was named Alaska.
##################################
Just had to bring this up again. So eloquent, you know when it comes from the heart!
Yes JaneE, Martha put it very well, I also hold my head in shame at the divisiveness this Moose Pucky Administration has brought into the State of Alaska. There are so many real problems to be addressing and we’ve got a circus going on. POPCORN, PEANUTS, CANDY APPLES! (smile…)
I had a friend that was FIRED from the State of Alaska for using a State computer for personal business. Enough said!
I’m going to say this again:
LES GARA IS A MEMBER OF THE JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATIVE ETHICS.
Consequently, he CANNOT publicly call for an ethics investigation into another legislator because he is a member of the committee that would hear and evaluate such a complaint. If an ethics complaint has been filed, he can’t talk about it because it’s confidential.
Anyone who truly wants to see Rep. Doogan brought up on ethics charges should file an ethics complaint. Here’s how to do it:
http://ethics.legis.state.ak.us/ethics_complaint.php
That might be a more productive use of your time than excoriating the only sitting legislator to speak out publicly in support of Mudflats.
AKM….Douche Bag Doogan has engaged in this type of vigilante behavior in the past. His distaste for people that call him on his actions and out him as a hack, causes him to react in the manner which we saw last week. Just to let everyone know….he’s done this in the past. This is not a first time deal with him going after someone that has written something unflattering about him not fully understanding the issue at hand.
Maia from own the sidewalk,thanks for bringing some facts , structure, and reason into our comments. It is hard not to be suspicious and critical or searching out hidden agendas in this political climate.
If what I read about him is true I hope of the Alaskan native bush people he is not.Something to remember Palin has her board she appointed to say she is innocent of anything.They tried that and in the end it did not matter,she was found guilty of abusing her position but the board over ruled and said no so you have two different rulings.Me thinks the board should go be for you have something worse than Blago
Very nice Message, Rep. Gara!
Maia from Own the Sidewalk – Well said.
Here are some thoughts: couldn’t the constituents that received the nasty email last December file a complaint? And constituents that received the Newsletter outing AKM? And what about citizens that disagree with Doogan having that up on the Dem. Website? I think that is one of the best ways to handle this PLUS support AKM with more than words.
Seems to me he has racked up quite a few ethics violations that need to be filed by the public. Then Les Gara and others can do something about him.
@ #152 Maia from Own The Sidewalk:
When I first read this message from Les, there were less than a full page of comments, not all of which were understanding of his position. My initial reaction was also somewhat negative (something along the lines of, “Yeah…AND….?“)
Yet something made me hesitate to add my two cents.
Now that I’ve read your response, I realize my hesitation was my own cognitive dissonance at work. From what I’ve read and seen of Les, he is as you remarked earlier (see Maia’s post on page 3). Thank you for telling us about his position on the ethics committee, and how it ties his hands until such time as proper procedures are adhered to.
So: Yeah… AND….:
Les, thank you for openly supporting our AKM, and for all you do and have done to support your constituents and your state!
I think our Alaskan Mudpuppies hesitate to ‘force’ AKM to choose a course of action before AKM is ready and willing to do so. Until we know AKM wants to pursue legal action, and which direction such action would take, we have to be content with being ready, willing and able to do whatever it takes to help!
Just sayin’….
@secret talker & Michigander
Thanks.
I know it’s frustrating to feel like no one’s doing anything, but Les is doing his job, and everyone I know in District 23 feels well-represented. You can’t fight bad behavior with more bad behavior; that’s not good for anyone. I very much doubt Les and the rest of the caucus are going to just let this drop. From what I hear, things in Juneau are somewhere between tense and explosive, depending on the day.
Rep Gara, this is what I would say to you. There’s no point in beating an empty drum for your own glory. When the ethics complaint is filed – and there is sure to be one – do your job and punish Mike Doogan severely. Let me add that I have probably been a Democrat longer than you – my first campaign was in 1968 – so I say this with no regard to party affiliation. Make him pay. It’s not a witch hunt – it’s justice.
Doc, that’s not one whole ball, that’s about a quarter of one ball in my estimation.
I wish my own party’s legislators would grow some balls. Seriously.
Regarding Comment #44 VidOmnia Says:
April 1st, 2009 at 9:21 PM
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Hey, Mr. Vid (“We see everything”) Omnia…….You somehow missed seeing that big log in your own all-seeing eye….. Tsk Tsk. Epistles. Apostles. Apostates.
I don’t usually do this (post to Mudflats) but I feel like we need more Alaskans to step up and share our thoughts. This comment thread is like an angry mob walking around town trying to find the villain but unable they start attacking innocent people. I applaud Les for even posting on this topic, he has to work with Doogan on a daily basis and by speaking his mind on Mudflats Les has surely made his day-to-day work that much more stressful. All of us think we are doing our part by emailing/calling Doogan’s staff to complain. Les, from what I understand, has been actually confronting Doogan and doing everything he can as a legislator (my legislator) that is within the law and within a professional code of conduct. What this angry mob needs is a well-thought out plan to address the problem. Otherwise we all risk angering legislators who are speaking up on our side. Les is not the problem – let’s stay focused on dealing with all of the legislators who are not stepping forward to speak up against Doogan. And most important, let’s remain focused on the one who started all of this.
Rep. Les Gara,
What he said.
I have not read all the comments yet, but the comment below sums up everything I have been thinking, and more, and deserves to be posted twice. Thank you Maia!
The “All I Ever Needed to Know About Life I Learned on the Basketball Court” Governor must have had a really crappy coach because she was taught no teamwork skills what-so-ever. None. So, now all of the legislators have to deal with huge issues (i.e. the Stimulus funds, Elton’s replacement, the AG appointment) in precious few days with GINO crying foul on every play.
In all due respect, what Doogan did to AKM was horrible, but it is small potatoes to what those guys and gals in the leg. must be dealing with right now. I commend Rep. Gara and Bob Poe for their input and their political savvy in supporting the flats. Despite our outrage here, nothing happens overnight and politicians are politicians….
Please, everyone, take a deep breath and have patience and allow the process to work. And it will. Doogan will never be re-elected again and neither will Sarah Palin. The more people, such as AKM, who open up an honest and intelligent forum to discuss issues, the better off we will all be.
Thank you AKM! This site is priceless.
140Maia from Own The Sidewalk Says:
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:03 AM
Wow. Okay, time to step back and think about this rationally. First — and most importantly — Les is, as far as I know, the only sitting legislator who has spoken up about the Mudflats outing, and his comments are perfectly rational and reasonable. It’s tough for an elected representative to speak out against a member of his own caucus, but Les is clearly saying here that he disagrees with what Rep. Doogan did, and he’s supportive of Mudflats.
We’re down to a ninety-day session in this state, and we have an absentee governor telecommuting via BlackBerry. It’s a tall order for our legislators to get through the routine business of the state (and handle the brush fires, like throwing down the gauntlet with the governor on her Senate pick) without the added responsibility of having to police one another’s actions. That Les took the time to speak up about this issue at all shows that he recognizes the import of the situation.
Remember that just because Les isn’t publicly calling for Rep. Doogan to take any action doesn’t mean he isn’t speaking out TO Rep. Doogan. I’ve had it from a couple of reliable sources in Juneau that Les has, in fact, called Doogan on the carpet about this. You can imagine how responsive our friend Rep. Doogan was to this. I hear things are a little prickly in the Democratic caucus at the moment, and the Mudflats outing has a lot to do with that. Believe me, if there’s one thing of which Les Gara is incapable, it’s keeping his mouth shut when he sees something wrong going on. Don’t assume he’s not taking action just because he’s not advertising it in his newsletter. (Not every legislator feels the need to use his constituent e-news to be an asshole.)
Les’s primary job during the session is to represent his district — MY district — in the Legislature, and he’s really good at it. So far this session he’s sponsored legislation to reduce class size in Alaska schools, divest Permanent Fund investments in companies that do business in Darfur, establish an energy efficiency grant fund for AHFC, and promote early childhood education, and improve foster care. Unlike certain other representatives, Les is interested in improving the lives of ALL Alaskans — not just those who voted for him or live in his district — and his priorities are right on track.
Alaska’s progressives have no better friend in the Legislature than Les. He has proven time after time that he is a fighter. Have you already forgotten that Les is the legislator who called out Meg Stapleton outside the Troopergate hearing? Who demanded that she apologize to Walt Monegan? Furthermore, Mudflats has no greater defender than Les, and to light into him for failing to act in an unprofessional manner is monumentally unfair.
Most importantly:
LES GARA IS A MEMBER OF THE JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATIVE ETHICS.
Consequently, he cannot call for an ethics investigation into another legislator because he is a member of the committee that would hear and evaluate such a complaint. If you really want Rep. Doogan brought up on an ethics complaint and you actually want it to stick, the last thing in the world you want is for Les Gara to be issuing press releases demanding it.
http://ethics.legis.state.ak.us/ethics_complaint.php
Also, we are intelligent people here so can we PLEASE stop referring to Doogan in potty terms? It’s just giving the other side food to fodder. And not that I haven’t laughed my arse off, I’m just sayin’?
in re to the Community Dog parable: the rule of “thumb” among the dog-loving community is that you pick up poop because poop is bad for the community. Doesn’t matter what dog produced the poop, what matters is that it is cleaned up. As the sign at the dog park says “When they poop, you scoop”. I think that should be a rule for all legislatures – when a member of the legislature poops on the community, the legislature as an elected body had better scoop.
Regarding: 163 Alaskan Dad :
April 2nd, 2009 at 3:46 PM
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Excellent post, Alaskan Dad.
I especially applaud your first sentence…”I don’t usually do this (post to Mudflats) but I feel like we need more Alaskans to step up and share our thoughts.” That’s the whole purpose of a blog like The Mudflats: Getting more people involved in the political discussion regarding the governance of their own state and nation. The more public involvement and awareness, the more the government will reflect the needs of the people.
The only thing I take exception with is your description of the posters as “an angry mob.” No doubt there are many angry posters on this particular issue but this doesn’t constitute a “mob” in any sense. No pitchforks. No shattering of windows. No overturned burning cars. Just people who feel passionately involved with the political process and who are expressing their anger and thoughts in a blog. Actually, very civilized. Not the least mob-like.
Why do you suppose the angry voices have outweighed other voices, like yours, for example??
Go back and read the first sentence of your post. Therein lies the answer.
So Les Gara states, that if he witnesses a legislator breaking a law, he’ll look the other way, because the legislators don’t police each other… in short.
Thank You,
Maia from Own The Sidewalk
Les Gara omitted mentioning this… not everyone reading mudflats is from Alaska.
This is not about sniping, though.
Aside from so many issues on your plate, this was an egregious breach of a citizens Rights, wrought by a legislator who doesn’t comprehend what those rights are and not only should he be upholdiing them, he should also know better and familiarize himself with them. This is a dangerous person and he needs to be turfed. And sued to the maximum allowable by law. Loogan would fit in with Putin nicely, but not in the US.
You haven’t addressed the issue of how Loogan’s action affects AKM personally. Exposing one’s family to the unbalanced whom are Not in the legislature firstly.
This isn’t a ‘disagreement’, you understand. This is an outright breach of a contractual obligation between every citizen in Alaska and a legislator, when he impinged on their Rights. It’s criminal.
I trust AKM will pursue financial retribution as well as being back.
I’ve read back over the thread after a good sleep and some coffee. Again, the following is me expressing my own opinion.
I think some are mistaking “people expressing their opinion passionately” with “people being angry”.
In a time of uncertainty, when we were all confused and wondering who was this Alaskan Governor, during an insane time, when people were uncertain about the outcome of the election and uncertain about the future of the country, we all found The Mudflats. Here we found like minded people. They suddenly felt like hey, I’m not alone, I’m not the only one feeling like this. Other people understand.
So Doogan has not just attacked AKMuckraker with his actions, he has attacked all of us by extension. Of course we are going to be vocal expressing our opinions. It may come across as angry, sure. But remember that some of that might be our own interpretation.
I have read a lot of comments that disagree with Les’s opinion that it is not his place to tell Doogan what to do. That is what is known as freedom of speech. And Les Gara is old enough and handsome enough to handle our difference of opinion. He’s not going to lose his faculties and start sending rude and inappropriate emails to everyone, nor is he going to become obsessed with anyone here in the comments section and spend months trying to find out who they are. Because he is better than that.
My biggest concern at the moment is the fact that Doogan’s newsletter still appears on the AK Democrats site.
This drags all the Democrats into it by extension. Les, I would ask that you do something about this as soon as you can – to leave it there makes it look like you (and the other Democrats) support his actions.
I also would ask that the Democrats consider whether Doogan should have access to an email account with the domain name akdemocrats.org when he seems to have a huge amount of trouble responding to emails in an appropriate way.
Ok. I am late to weigh-in because I wanted to muse over Les Gara’s comments and to skim the comment section.
My first reaction to Les’s post was the same one I had to Bob Poe’s post. I agreed with some of it; I appreciated him taking time to explain his position and what he thought of it; I ultimately was disappointed.
However, now that I have read other people’s comments about Les’s position on the ethics complaint board, his post makes more sense. I wish he would have included that in the post.
I think part of the problem with both Les’s post and Bob’s post is that both of them are writing from the government perspective–as they should. They are in Alaskan politics and that should be the focus. However, with that perspective comes a watering-down of words. They are carefully stating their positions in ways that aren’t very emotionally satisfying. Plus, there is a tinge of condescension to the posts.
I like Les Gara. I like what I’ve seen of Bob Poe. I know they have bigger fish to fry (believe me, I do), but what neither of them understands is how personally affronted I have been by this attack. I have blogged about it extensively, but the bottom line is, AKM makes a difference. By extension, she helped us band together to make a difference. Mike Doogan didn’t give a shit about that, and he took away her anonymity.
We ‘flatters have worked hard to protect AKM’s anonymity, and it didn’t matter whether she called herself AKM or Zelda Tucker. I knew her, the person, and I knew her facts were credible because I would fact-check. It deeply offends me that a legislator would use state time, equipment, and taxpayers’ money to stalk AKM and expose her. After eight years of intimidation tactics by Bush and his cronies, the last thing I expected was to see a Democratic representative do a bit of intimidating on his own, to a constituent of his state. I am frustrated because I, personally, can do nothing about it. I, personally, could do nothing about Bush.
AKM is a little bit like Obama in that she demanded the best of us, and she convinced us that we could do our part to change our country. Mike Doogan didn’t care about any of that. Just like McCain and his ilk–including Sarah Palin. I had a visceral reaction to the news that AKM had been outed, and it bothered me more than I thought it ever could. Mike Doogan took away something precious that day, and even though AKM will go on and so will the ‘flats, I don’t think we can forget the damage that has been done.
So, to end this epic epistle, thank you, Les, for taking time to communicate with us on the issue of AKM’s outing. I appreciate that you are in a difficult situation. I just really want Mike Doogan to be held accountable for what he has done, and I am afraid he won’t be.
As the debate on my House colleague’s recent e-newsletter about Mudflats intensified this week, I was happy to see so many people come to her defense. Alaska’s most popular political blogger’s earned a loyal following with hard work and good writing.
@move to hawaii : Yes. Yes, she did. (And thank you for your support!
)