STOP THE PRESSES! This just in – Mayor Dan Sullivan finds way to grease palm of incompetent corrupt crony! Also, sun appears poised to rise tomorrow at daybreak.

There’s an old expression – “A boat is a hole in the water into which one pours money.” Boat… port… whatever. The same definition could apply to the infamous Port of Anchorage expansion project, which until very recently was run by former almost-impeached governor Bill “I never sold my soul” Sheffield.

The 83-year-old Sheffield has been port director since 2001. He has been at the center of controversy recently because of serious construction problems and escalating costs for expansion and renovations of the port. (snip) The cost of the port expansion project, as envisioned by Sheffield, has jumped from $360 million in 2005 to about $1 billion. Sullivan has proposed a less ambitious project. The city late this year asked the Legislature for $350 million to continue port construction work. “The project has faced challenges but we have worked hard over the last two years to get the management and construction back on the correct course,” Sheffield said in a written statement.

$360 million… $1 billion… Whatever. At least Mayor Sullivan has a solution. When confronted with a much higher price tag, simply modify things to make it a “less ambitious project.” Less for more.

You do have to give Sheffield credit, though. For an 83-year old guy, his deftness and skill shoveling money into the watery hole rivals that of a much younger man. And despite all those “challenges,” at least he found a solution to getting the “management back on the correct course” – his own resignation.

Mayoral candidate Paul Honeman had called on Mayor Sullivan to relieve Sheffield of his duties before the city and state hemorrhaged more cash into the Cook Inlet whirlpool. Sullivan, of course, defended his friend and blamed the feds. But then, Sheffield announced his retirement at  a fundraiser he was hosting in his swanky Turnagain home for (you guessed it) Mayor Dan Sullivan.

Then, the mayor announced that part of Sheffield’s “retirement” would involve a no-bid, sole source $60,000/year contract as a “consultant” on the project because he’d made some good “connections” while he was being incompetent for a much higher salary. And apparently, as Sullivan and those of his ilk know, he holds one hell of a fundraiser.

A commenter on the Anchorage Daily News story summed up the crony count well:

Let’s see: $193,000 love offering to Sully for a non-existing insurance scam. $80,000 for Dan Coffey’s sweetheart contract to hijack Title 21, $60,000 to Dan Coffey’s sweetheart contract for lobbying for the disastrous Port, $60,000 to Bill Sheffield sweetheart contract to ‘advise’ on the disastrous Port. ~Half a million dollars of sweetness under Sully! That’s a lot o’ love!

Mayor Sullivan, and several members of the Anchorage Assembly did their darndest last year to quash the most profitable fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) in Anchorage. It involves those mortal enemies of the city – firefighters – who dress in their scary firefighter suits and ask passing motorists to “fill the boot” by making donations to MDA.

The funds raised, which have topped $100,000 in the past, are used to help Alaskan families touched by Muscular Dystrophy to pay for things like doctor visits, medical exams, flu shots, wheelchair repairs, leg braces, and many other critical needs associated with this debilitating disease.

The mayor actually tried to illegalize this fund drive by claiming it violated the city’s Ethics Code. It didn’t. But unbelievably, three members of the Anchorage Assembly agreed with him. Take a bow Debbie Ossiander (Eagle River), Chris Birch (South Anchorage), and Jennifer Johnston (South Anchorage). You can be proud of your vote to deny sick children and their families critical services, and Anchorage’s dedicated first responders the opportunity to volunteer their help. Way to go. As a matter of fact, I think that should be the centerpiece of your upcoming reelection campaign literature.

Fortunately for everyone, the reasonable and compassionate members of the Assembly voted to overturn Sully’s veto, and once again this year, our brave firefighters held out the boot, and Anchorage residents stepped up to help their fellow humans in need. In addition to voting the right way, several Assembly members (Dick Traini, current mayoral candidate Paul Honeman, Patrick Flynn, and Elvi Gray-Jackson) assisted local firefighters and stood on street corners, meeting the public and helping kids.

This year, the Mudmobile happily put a $20 in the boot.

One Anchorage woman, a public employee who asked not to be identified due to fear of mayoral retribution, said “I dumped what money I had in my wallet into the boot and yelled ‘to Hell with Sullivan!’ The firefighter grinned at me and replied ‘yeah, we’ve been hearing that all day.’”

~Mayor Sullivan’s “Badge of Shame”

By Linda Kellen Biegel

When I left for the Anchorage Assembly Meeting Tuesday night, there were certain things I already knew to expect:

– Mayor Sullivan wanted the ordinance that (among other things) banned sitting/reclining on the sidewalk pulled from the agenda and sent back to a committee to be “fixed” (Translation: Mayor Sullivan was getting pounded in the press and in public opinion and just wanted it to stop)

– Debbie Ossiander and/or the Mayor made it clear to the media that public testimony on the Ordinance would still be open Tuesday night, but would be continued when the Ordinance came out of whatever committee they put it in. (Another Osiander/Sullivan faux pas: Paul Honeman made it clear that statement was premature, as the Assembly as a group decides when and if that happens. Ooops…)

– There would probably be some people there who wanted to testify anyway.

Previous research also told me that it was HIGHLY likely that I would be happy with the vast majority of the testimony as it would probably support defeat of the ordinance.

What I didn’t expect:

– Every single person who testified was against the ordinance.

– Something the Mayor also didn’t expect — that Jennifer Johnston wouldn’t show up for the meeting without so much as a phone call. (I wonder if she turned off her phone after she saw how the meeting went?)

– I also had no idea that what ensued would be the equivalent, at least for me, of a spiritual experience.

Understand, it is highly unusual for me to discuss these matters in print. I have a sort-of all-encompassing spiritual philosophy…that different things work for different people and so be it. However, I’m not talking about specific views of religion or a Higher Power…I’m talking about people testifying about their life experiences from the depths of their very souls. We were listening to profound, absolute truths of the human condition. For that kind of truth, “spiritual” is the only word I can find to describe it.

Here is the video from the Assembly website. It starts with the Ordinance testimony and runs to the end of the meeting, where the Assembly (after much gnashing of teeth) voted to table it indefinitely.

I highly encourage everyone to watch the entire video for a number of reasons. The first is to see the terrific testimony. Here are some highlights:

Rebecca Shier, former homeless foster child and current foster child advocate:

“I just think if [the sidewalk issue] has never been brought up and we have such a huge homeless population here in Anchorage, why is it being brought up now?”

The best part of Ms. Shier’s testimony was her response to questions from Assemblyman Adam Trombley, who visibly seemed to be struggling with this issue throughout the meeting.

Trombley: “Thank you for coming down. You mentioned that you at one point in time were homeless?”

Shier: “Yes.”

Trombley: “What did you do, since homelessness is an issue in this town, what did you do to get yourself out of that situation? Because, I’m assuming that you are no longer homeless, correct?”

Shier: “Yes, I’m only 20. I was homeless off-and-on my whole life since I was 7 [years-old]. As you guys probably know, the average age of a homeless person here is 7-years-old. I think if it wasn’t an older male with some past criminal history it would be a different story. If I was laying out there and I was 8-years-old I think someone would try to help me. They wouldn’t come and tell me that I’m going to be arrested.” [She goes on to describe some of the places she's had to sleep.]

Trombley: “My question is, what did you do to get yourself out of this? Obviously, you sound like you’re employed, you work downtown. What did you do? Obviously, you got yourself out of the sitution, what was it? You made the decision?”

Shier: “I made the decision…I was a kid so I would just go to Covenant House or someone that could help me, my friend’s house or someone at the school or something. But it’s different when you’re a kid because everyone wants to help you. When you’re an adult nobody wants to help you because they don’t feel bad for you.”

Ivan Hodes testified to an inconsistency that had been bugging me as well:

“I just wanted to point out that, several months ago, the Mayor vetoed the ordinance banning discrimination based on sexual orientation on the grounds that there was insufficient empirical evidence that people were harmed by sexual orientation based discrimination. I would encourage all of you, when you are considering this ordinance, to ask yourselves if there is any empirical evidence whatsoever that anybody is harmed by people sitting standing or sleeping on a public city sidewalk.”

Mary Morgan, 1st time testifier, had me choking back tears while she described her experiences of being homeless with little children. One part of her testimony as to how someone can get to that place was like a punch in the gut. It reminded me of what I went through to get sober (unemployment, food stamps) and it also mirrored what my bio-sis told me about her incredible downward spiral from full-time nurse to living in a homeless shelter:

“I as a citizen am very offended by some of the statements made by you, Mayor…the statements regarding if someone is “presentable enough” to be asked to come and be in your presence. That is very, very, very offensive…”

“…People get stuck in situations all the time. But what happens is that one thing layers on another, layers on another, layers on another. Until, what you know or think or ever thought might have been your dream becomes totally covered by the mess that you are in.”

(It should be noted that during this extremely emotional and powerful testimony, Mayor Sullivan decided it was a good idea to ignore it and have a laugh with Cheryl Frasca sitting next to him. No, I didn’t get a picture because I was riveted.)

Lysa Maher:

“I have very little public speaking experience, except at funerals. But if this ordinance is allowed to pass, that experience will serve me well because this will be a slow death of the First Amendment.”

Then, this young woman stepped to the microphone and literally rocked the house:

Shay Kelley, Project 50/50:

“As I’ve travelled throughout major cities in the US, I’ve seen a lot of these types of ordinances presented…there’s a lot of movement in that direction. To me, it’s evident that this is an effort to ignore or hide or kind of push away a problem.”

“There are going to be people who choose not to participate in the system we have established as a society. I think that hiding that is not a solution and that these ordinances are ultimately effecting freedom of speech in a protest situation but also freedom of choice. Individuals should have the option to sit down on the sidewalk if they choose to do that. It’s a public sidewalk. So, obviously my perception of this ordinance is that it shouldn’t be passed because it’s a violation of basic civil freedoms. But, it also goes much deeper than that. There is a systematic approach to oppression that step-by-step, one-by-one-by-one violates people’s individual freedoms. And this is one of many steps in that direction.”

“The ordinance itself was taken from Seattle’s Municipal Code. If you look at Seattle’s Municipal Code, you should also look at the overall picture of poverty in Seattle and the choices they made in dealing with things — everything from sidewalk issues to campsites. So, I definitely urge everyone to take a look at Seattle’s overall picture, particularly Nicklesville, which is still in operation in Seattle, now. I’ve been there and it’s really cool how things like that will work out.”

However, it was her response to questions from Assemblywoman Harriet Drummond that were the most powerful. She explained to everyone who she was and where Project 50/50 came from. Then when Ms. Drummond asked her to apply her experience to Anchorage, her response was dead-on to what has been happening here for the last several years. While she knew absolutely nothing specific about what the Mayor has been doing within the Municipality since his election, Ms. Kelley managed to not only disarm him with her words, but score repeated direct hits.

“One of the most discouraging things is that as I’ve been to every city and state, there is nothing that is “working.” You’ll never find a community where homelessness does not exist. That’s not happening. I think as we look at that it’s because our approach is that we’re waiting for someone else to solve the problem. We are the solution.—every single one of us. Poverty is everywhere; the difference is in how the community responds to it. Which is why Anchorage is so fascinating to me right now–it’s about how the community responds. In my personal experiences I’ve seen a couple of different systems in place. Sometimes the community responds by criminalizing it, so people are punished legally for being poor. Through tickets for panhandling and then tickets for people who give to panhandlers, tickets for sitting on sidewalks, tickets for illegal camping—this is all part of a criminalization of poverty. Obviously, that doesn’t work because poverty doesn’t go away when you ticket it. Another response is to ignore it. This is when we see cities with high rates of visible poverty because rather than criminalizing it, people just pretend that it doesn’t exist. So, that’s when you see a lot of desensitization. You see situations like Skid Row in Los Angeles where you have 5,000 homeless people in 20 city blocks. You have a lot of people on the street and visible…that comes from ignoring it, trying to hide it. Then you have to me the ideal response, which I’ve never found community-wide but I’ve found it in small groups of remarkable people who love unconditionally. That’s the love response…the response of the community to include rather than exclude. So, instead of saying that, “I’m not going to talk to you because you look dirty and you smell bad.” Or, “I’m not going to include you in our government system or our social system.” To rather say, “We are a family, we are a community family. So, if you’re hungry than you’re my hungry brother. We’re going to eat together as a family and we’re going to make sure that everyone is warm together as a family.” That inclusive, love response to poverty is what is ultimately, always the most successful.

“…Can we say “look at this city and let’s just do that?” No—but I think that’s why you have such a remarkable opportunity. The world is watching you right now. You can change everything. Everyone in the country can look at Anchorage and say “Look what they did!” “Look at how they empowered all of these people!” “Let’s be like that!” Not you guys try to be everybody else. We tell our high schoolers not to try to fit in. Do something different and set a new stage.”

It was amazing to hear someone share in the Anchorage Assembly chamber that the only real solution to homelessness and poverty involved “loving” and “empowering” people. It was also amazing to watch a certain contingent of our Municipal government, the contingent that prides themselves on their “family values,” squirm and look very uncomfortable while she spoke.

That brings me to the second reason to watch the video. Perhaps I wasn’t the only one who felt the unusual energy in the room, but it definitely affected Mayor Sullivan in a different way. Maybe it was the fact that the Mayor knew he was losing, but he was in rare form Tuesday night. His behavior was the same as I remember during the public testimony on the ordinance banning smoking in the workplace (another big loss for him) when he was Assembly Chair. He specifically tried to go after young, female testifiers who were nervous and speaking about their life experiences…in other words, they were scoring major points. He would ask “questions” after their testimony that had nothing to do with gaining information. They seemed to be meant more to intimidate than anything else. Also, when the Assembly tried several times until they were successful to table the ordinance indefinitely, the Mayor broke in inappropriately several times to try and sway the outcome. After he lost, he was seen, redfaced, complaining to those around him at his section of the dias.

And, of course, the Mayor didn’t learn a thing:

Sullivan said he will ask the city’s Public Safety Advisory Commission to review the proposed law that was before the Assembly and variations of it. That’s what he had intended to do anyway.

The commission members are appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the Assembly.

He’d like them to look into expanding sidewalk-sitting restrictions to other parts of town like Eagle River and Midtown, as some Assembly members have suggested, Sullivan said.

He also wants to explore tying sidewalk restrictions to certain zoning districts, as Seattle does, Sullivan said.

Stay tuned…we’ll stay on top of this!

By Jeanne Devon

And the King shall answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these my brothers, you have done it to me.
Matthew 25:40

If that old Biblical saying holds true, it’s safe to say that Mayor Dan Sullivan would have created a law just for Jesus that would have banned him from protesting Jerusalem’s treatment of the poor and downtrodden. And it would have arrested Jesus, those downtrodden in the image above, or anyone else who dared to sit on the sidewalk.

Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan is irritated that a man named John Martin has decided to sit outside City Hall to protest the City’s treatment of the homeless, particularly the way in which the Mayor has dealt with the various illegal homeless camps in the city and the destruction of the personal property of those who live there.

Peeved by his inability to stop a homeless man’s sit-down protest downtown, Mayor Dan Sullivan wants a law that would punish anyone who sat or reclined on a downtown sidewalk.

The proposal is up for public hearing before the Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday.

The idea of a new law came up, said city attorney Dennis Wheeler, because the administration wanted to remove John Martin.

That’s right. The thin skin of the Mayor cannot bear one homeless man’s peaceful protest without seeking to create a new law for all of us.

Dan Sullivan has a long history of antagonism and throwing his weight around with the homeless, and panhandlers. And don’t be confused about the Mayor’s feelings. He’s no compassionate conservative who’s just stuck between his compassion and his commitment to the city, making the tough choices and doing his best. His definition of “panhandling” even extended to the Anchorage Fire Department whose annual “Fill the Boot” campaign traditionally collects thousands of dollars for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. He wanted it stopped, but the Anchorage Assembly voted to override his veto, and kids in need once again got some much-needed help from the AFD and the generous people of Anchorage, with no help from Dan Sullivan.

Last year, when a homeless man crawled into a mall dumpster on a cold Alaska night to keep warm between layers of cardboard, he was inadvertently crushed to death when an unsuspecting mall worker compacted the trash. The Mayor’s statement on this tragedy?

“It’s not something that has an instant cure, unfortunately. There’s always going to be people that choose a certain lifestyle that results in tragic deaths like this.”

“Choose a certain lifestyle?” Yes, the pearls of wisdom from the Mayor’s mouth fall at our feet. If you don’t want to have a tragic death “like this” then don’t choose to be homeless. How many Americans are one catastrophic illness, or one job loss, or one foreclosure away from being homeless? The mayor is here to say that you need to choose not to lose your job, or allow your child to get ill. Don’t choose to become mentally incapacitated. If you’re a returning veteran, don’t choose to have PTSD. Don’t choose to be poor. Don’t choose to be desperate.

If that man had chosen to sleep in a comfortable bed in his comfortable house, why then, this tragedy would never have happened. Instead, he chose the dumpster, and well… what do you expect? Let that be a lesson to you kids – next Career Day, don’t pursue the homeless option.

Make no mistake about it, there is a homeless problem in Anchorage, but the mayor’s solution is becoming more draconian, and less compassionate by the day. Now he seeks to curb (pardon the pun) the rights of those who want to protest his decisions.

Anchorage has been in existence since the 1940s and never until this moment did there seem to be the need for a law telling free people they were not allowed to peacefully sit on the sidewalk. Hey Republicans and Libertarians – How’s that for big government telling you what you can do? Can we expect the Alaska Tea Party Patriots to get their knickers in a twist when King Dan presumes to legislate and regulate where they may and may not sit? We’ll see.

My guess is that since people sitting on sidewalks hasn’t come up in the last six decades, that sitting on sidewalks isn’t really the issue at all. The issue is that Dan Sullivan wants to make it illegal for John Martin or anyone else to embarrass him. And if he has to get all “big government” to do it, then so be it. Creating and enforcing a new law, and making municipal government bigger, is a small price to pay. And he doesn’t have to pay it, we do. A free society, and the first amendment, and the ability of the citizenry to peacefully protest their government will just have to be collateral damage.

Well, before criticizing the Mayor becomes illegal, and they fine me or take me away in cuffs, let me say it. Dan Sullivan is a jackass, and any red-blooded Alaskan with an ounce of fair play and compassion, and a dislike of tyrannical slimebaggery must pledge to support and work hard for his opponent in the upcoming mayoral election. And that doesn’t mean just Anchorage residents either. Sullivan has big dreams for statewide politics, and it’s in the best interest of all Alaskans to nip those dreams in the bud by generously supporting whoever runs against Sullivan. Legitimate political differences aside, neither party wants to elect anyone for whom self-interest, hypocrisy and the protection of an enormous and delicate ego trumps public interest.

Last week, a friend Patti Greene emailed me an article that she had written. She wanted to submit it in to the Anchorage Daily News as a “Compass” editorial piece and was asking for my opinion first.

As you can see, it was an excellent article about the public inebriate problem in Fairview.

In our conversation, I was extremely curious as to what finally set Patti off enough to go so public with the issue.  As it turns out, Patti and many other residents of Fairview are noticing a recent spike in “activity” from the local inebriates not explaned by the return of warm weather alone.   Doing their own research, they were able to find out a contributing factor–the retirement of a dedicated police officer, Sgt. Dennis Allen (on the far left in the picture below).

Sgt Allen headed what was supposed to be a special “task force” that focused on public service issues.  When I spoke to Public Affairs Supervisor Lt. Dave Parker, he acknowledged that the newly-retired Sgt. Allen was in charge of the “Community Action Policing Team”  whose job, among others, is to address street inebriates and illegal camping.   When I asked if (as I’d heard) there were only 6 members of this team when initially there were supposed to be 23, Lt Parker could not speak to that and suggested I call City Hall, who would have that information.  What he did know was that they used to have a dedicated Lieutenant (Gilliam) on the team, who is no longer responsible for that team alone. He is also in charge of traffic.

While there are still have team members operating, Sgt Allen has not been replaced.  This demonstrates visibly the impact that ONE officer can have in a city like Anchorage…and the negative repercussions that mount until that officer is replaced.

When I called Cheif Mew’s office, his assistant stated that “with attrition and with the cutbacks in service” she “wasn’t sure if Allen’s position was going to be posted anytime soon.”  The folks in the Administration that have more information seem to be on leave until June.

To summarize:

Dan Sullivan campaigned on public safety–per the Mayor’s own blog in his own words:

An integral part of my campaign for mayor focused on public safety and its importance to our community.

(From the Alaska Peace Officers Memorial Service)

1)  One of the most up-front public safety issues right now are issues with public inebriates and homeless camps across Anchorage. Yet, everyone I’ve spoken to at the police department so far is unsure if they will replace the Sergeant of the Team responsible for policing public inebriates and homeless camps.

2)  Mayor Sullivan views the 90 officers added to the Anchorage Police under Mayor Begich as an “expansion” and he believes it may have been too much.  In actuality, it was to bring Anchorage closer to the West Coast average of officers-per-population (2.7).  The “boost” brought us from 1 officer per 1,000 to 1.37 officers per 1,000 (as of early 2009).  Anchorage is still dismally low and is actually lower than the state average (1.84).

3)  The Mayor and his appointee, Police Chief Mark Mew, seem to be the only ones who think that attrition isn’t a problem for this year…though Mew’s explanation sounds more like someone who doesn’t want to lose his job:

“I just don’t feel I’m in a position to advocate for more — I think I need to do my part, and I think I can get us through this year with what I’ve been given,” Mew said at the meeting.

“I think I can get us through…”  On that testimony alone, Assemblyman Ernie Hall is willing to base his “no” vote to overturn the Mayor’s veto of funds for a “police academy” this year.  He and the other “no-voters” know it would still be several years before the graduates were ready for full-time-duty status.

Here is the contact information for the Anchorage Assembly.  Assemblyman Hall’s information is here:

Ernie Hall
144 East Potter Drive
Anchorage, AK 99518
343-4115 (voicemail)
562-2088
561-6018 (fax)
halle@muni.org

The Assembly votes tomorrow whether or not to overturn the veto.  Help them remind Mayor Sullivan what he promised during the campaign.

Whew!  Tuesday Night at the Fights (aka the Anchorage Assembly Meeting) was quite the event. It may not have seemed so to the casual observer, but as we all know, you dear Mudflatters are certainly not casual observers.

You know that tonight there were two resolutions on the floor dealing with Mayor Dan Sullivan’s failure to disclose key facts regarding the “life insurance policy” of his father, the former Mayor that got paid by the City to the trustee.  The whopping sum of $193,000 was paid out to this mystery trustee who later turned out to be Mayor Dan Sullivan his very own self.  The only thing is, Mayor Dan decided not to share that little fact with the Assembly.  Was it perhaps because he knew that the Assembly would have a big fat problem with this?  We can only speculate.  So, the day of the meeting, the Ethics Board that Mayor Dan hired to investigate the issue found him guilty of unethical behavior.  Not a good day for the Mayor.

But wait, there’s more.

So the first resolution we had our eyes on was from Harriet Drummond, who asked for an independent investigator to check in to the legalities of this random and magical “life insurance policy” from the City of Anchorage, and all the questions surrounding it.  That resolution was poo-pooed by Sullivan’s henchpeople – the usual suspects: Birch, Johnston, Coffey, Starr, and Ossiander.  They wanted to “postpone it indefinitely” which basically means, take it out back and shoot it.  I mean come on… do we really still have to talk about this?  That was their argument.  To which the other six  (Drummond, Selkregg, Flynn, Gutierrez, Gray-Jackson and Claman) said yes, in fact we DO.  So the issue will be brought up again at the next meeting on April 13.

The second resolution came from Matt Claman who wanted to bring the whole thing to the Ethics Commission, but since that was already dealt with in a certain aspect, it was voted down by the majority.

And that’s really where we expected to be.  But then something interesting happened.  There was an appearance request,and a member of the public said the following:

Cutting the budget has been a major issue for sometime now.Last night’s news indicates we have a budget surplus that will go towards increasing the fund balance for emergencies, rather than restoring jobs and services. So I will assume that there is still a need to look for ways to save money. In that regard I have a few suggestions and questions.

Before cutting the Fire Department’s wilderness rescue team, why didn’t’ the city start billing the Troopers instead? Rescues outside city limits are the Trooper’s responsibility and they must give the OK each time the city is called to respond. So why aren’t we getting reimbursed? That is my first question.

When these special teams were being cut, I heard the union offered to reduce the extra base pay that the team members get. Why wasn’t this offer accepted? It could have saved more than the requested $150,000. That’s my second question.

During the transition, I asked the soon-to-be Fire Chief, Mr. Hall, why no one was suggesting cutting the three extra Battalion Chief positions, who are actually medics. These are non-union positions that do not contribute to the outcome of an ‘event.’ Medics are hard to find and could be of more use other places. I was told these positions would likely be eliminated. This could have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars. They have not been cut or re-assigned. That is my third question—why not?

If we aren’t paying attention to save these amounts of money, especially when doing so would not cut services, then what is left? Only nickels and dimes? That is my fourth question—why are we paying for event planners when the past administration seemed to do that in-house?

Four legitimate questions for the Assembly to ponder.  But one of these questions seemed to be of particular interest to Assemblyman Dan Coffey.  Not the cutting of the fire department’s wilderness rescue.  Not billing the state troopers for rescue services outside city limits.  Not why the city hasn’t accepted the offers of unions to reduce their base pay.  Not cutting Batallion Chief positions.  Nope.  Mr. Coffey seemed inordinately interested in those “event planners” that were paid by the Sullivan administration when the former Mayor, Mark Begich had these events planned by in-house staff.  Strange that this would be the one that jumped out at him, but … OK. Party planners it is.

Here’s a video of that whole exchange.  Interestingly, Mr. Coffey said he had heard “something like this” might be coming, and he was armed with a giant list of every sole source contractor that the previous administration had hired – speech writers, pollsters, the whole enchilada.  Then he tallied up the entire amount that the LAST administration paid out to all these wildly different positions.  The research paperwork went on and on.  And on.  It was pretty impressive. The Muni video looks like one of those things you show a Psychology class to demonstrate someone who’s juuuust a little stressed out.  Head scratching, hair stroking, paper manipulation….  It’s all there.  Meanwhile, Dan Sullivan was doing his color-change routine, and swiveling his chair back and forth rhythmically.  I think they call it “self soothing behavior.” The whole display was very curious, when it seems like we didn’t even need a response at all.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK TO THE VIDEO OF THE ASSEMBLY MEETINGon 3/23/10.   You’ll find the public appearance at 01:01:30, and you can enjoy the responses of Dan Coffey, Sheila Selkregg, and Dan Coffey a second time.

Then Mike Guttierez pointed out that we were all real impressed that the Sullivan administration had spent less in 8 months than the Begich administration did in five and a half years.  That was the only laugh line of the night.

So what caused the twisted knickers about the party planner?  Why so obsessed, Other Dan?  Let’s dig a little.

First, here are the two documents that were given to the Assembly for the work done and paid for by aforementioned party planner.  From these documents we know that the contractor’s name is Bernadette Wilson.

MOA PO 290978 [1]

What we learn from this is that this particular events coordinator earned $6,100 for planning several events such as Anchorage’s “Unity Dinner”.

And why does that name sound so familiar?  That’s right!   Bernadette Wilson has been co-hosting the Dan Fagan Radio Show lately.  And she recently wrote an article for Mr. Fagan’s blog “The Alaska Standard,” in which she implores young 20-something “Republi-hotties” to “be willing to take off the cocktail dress and put your brains before beauty.”  The article had mysteriously vanished from The Alaska Standard right after the Assembly meeting but fortunately, I got a screen shot of it before it was vanished. It’s good to listen to hunches.  [UPDATE: The mysteriously vanishing post has equally mysteriously reappeared!  We'll call it 'Bloggadoon".]

Before her brief but glorious stint at The Alaska Standard she coordinated and was even the emcee at the Mayor’s own inauguration ceremony, welcoming former mayors, governors, and foreign dignitaries!  That’s pretty impressive for someone who describes herself in the article above as being “the tender age of 25.”

And before THAT, she worked on Sullivan’s mayoral campaign.  During the inauguration, she said that “Dan hasn’t given me a title yet.”  It’s uncertain if she ever got an official one.  While emceeing, she also told a great story about the Mayor’s sense of fiscal responsibility.

“So Dan, I have one last thing before I let you swear in.  You know, during the campaign people would come to fundraisers down to the campaign headquarters or whatever event Dan was at that day, and inevitably the question would come up – Why do you think Dan would be a good mayor?  And among several reasons, there’s one incident that stuck out in my mind very clearly.  And on this particular day, I was in the office with Tim and Dan and we were doing thank you notes.  So, Dan would write his thank you note, Tim would pull the address for me and I would address it, put a stamp on it, and into the mail it would go.  Well, we had a thank you card that got stuck in the wrong envelope, and it had already been stamped.  So Dan ripped open the envelope and handed it back to me.  And I looked at him and I said, “Well, Dan… What do you want me to do with this?”  He said, “Well, pull that stamp off.  We’re going to use it.” (applause)  I said, “Dan, I’m not pulling this stamp off.   It’s forty two cents!”  And he looks at me and he says, “Yeah.  You can’t waste forty two cents!” (applause)  You know they say if you watch your pennies, your dollars will take care of themselves.  Ladies and Gentlemen, we have elected the right man for the job.”

Goodess, no!  We can’t waste even 42 cents.  I agree.  And that’s why this is so darn puzzling.  The Mayor took care of the pennies, but some of those dollars that were supposed to take care of themselves ended up in Bernadette Wilson’s checking account. I don’t get it.

At that very same inauguration, the brand spanking new Mayor Sullivan made his city this pledge.  He told us that his administration would focus on:

“Development of a responsible budget which is conservative in its revenue estimates, and controls spending.  Our recent revenue projections show that this year’s budget despite the good work by Mayor Matt and the recent Ass reductions may still be short by several million dollars .  We’re going to take immediate action to control city spending, We’re going to be implementing an immediate hiring freeze. We’re curtailing all travel.  We’re going to manage all of our time more strictly.  And we’re going to eliminate all unneccessary expenses and positions because we have to do it. (applause) You know, when citizens give up their hard earned money to government they have the right to expect that that money be spent wisely and effectively, and we’re going to do just that.”

We need to understand it was nothing personal when he handed out all those pink slips right before Christmas.  It was just business.  We cut positions that were unnecessary…..because we had to.  And the people of Anchorage applauded the newly elected Mayor at his inauguration.

Let’s celebrate and toast to the elimination of all those unnecessary positions we got rid of.    >CLINK<  That was nice. Good thing we have a party planner.

Mayor Sullivan and Bernadette Wilson, Photo from AlaskaWTF

So, that brings us back to the puzzling question of why, oh why would this young woman be offered repeated payments from this administration?  Sources even say that she had a desk with a phone inside City Hall, a couple doors down from the City Manager – an office with a desk and a phone and everything!  What gives?  She doesn’t seem to have been an event coordinator before…  I mean, I’m sure she does a fine job, but…   I puzzle and puzzle and I just can’t figure it out.

I sat in the Assembly meeting this evening, watching the Mayor turn various shades of color from pink, to crimson, to flaming eggplant.  Coffey, known as “Other Dan” wasn’t the Mayor’s defense attorney, but he sure played one on TV.  He was like a goalie the entire evening, trying to rebuff resolutions designed to hold the Mayor accountable for the “life insurace debacle,” and defending to the point of hypertension the odd rationale of how the last administration paid people, so we had to have a party planner. The Great Unethical One had quite a defender of his questionable conduct.

As a matter of fact, the Mayor’s conduct and sense of judgement seem to have been sorely lacking in several areas.

~~Mayor/Trustee Dan Sullivan gets to sign the Municipal check paying his own family.~~

~~Mayor Dan Sullivan and a bevy of young "Republi-Hotties"~~

I took this one on the night of a Dan Sullivan fundraiser last February when Palin said “nothing would make [her] happier” than to see Dan Sullivan elected mayor of Anchorage.  Remember, Anchorage… you get what you vote for. Nuff said.

Sometimes, what it takes to know that you’re being effective is a bit of push back from the opposition. Just ask any Alaska blogger. We’ve all been there at one time or another. It isn’t often, though, that the opposition who is giving you the push back manages to embarrass themselves and display alarming ignorance at the same time. It’s like seeing a rainbow. We need to stop whatever we’re doing and enjoy them when they happen. More on that in a moment.

Chris is an intern for the Democratic Party and he decided to start a new Facebook page, “Hold Mayor Dan Sullivan Accountable.” It was mentioned on Mudflats the other night, and many of you went and checked it out, and signed up. I know I did. It was a great idea, and it was done very well. Obviously others thought so too, because lots of people signed up, and KTVA even did a story on Chris that aired on the news.

The project got noticed not only by people opposed to Dan Sullivan, but also those who support him. As a matter of fact Jason Cline, a Republican house candidate for district 22 (Sharon Cissna territory) decided that he’d file a complaint with the Alaska Public Offices Commission against Chris and the Democratic Party. “An APOC complaint,” you ask? “Why, Dan Sullivan isn’t even a candidate. How can this guy even file a complaint with APOC?” Good question.

It took all of about 24 hours for Mr. Cline to receive a response. We can’t actually hear APOC giggling because the response is in writing. Here is the actual letter to Mr. Cline rejecting his complaint. —> 091208 Cline letter[1] I guess you could say he was “De-Clined.” (I apologize)

The whole thing made me laugh myself silly, but my favorite part is where it says

“Dan Sullivan is not a candidate at this time. A candidate is an individual who has filed for election to a particular office and not the holder of a particular office.”

(dabbing my eyes with a hanky) Way to go Republican Party. Nice to have candidates who don’t actually understand the definition of the word “candidate.” Sharon Cissna may wonder to herself what that little “thunk” noise was as she rolls down the highway to another term.

It looks like Cline sprang to the aide of the mayor by filing… dare I say it… a “frivolous ethics complaint!”

And The Alaska Standard, eager to join the un-researched pile-on has posted an article titled “Alaska Democrats Violate APOC Laws,” when in fact, they did absolutely no such thing according to APOC itslef. I guess waiting to find out if the laws had actually been broken before writing the story just never occurred to the author. There has yet to be a retraction to the article which claims, “Last Tuesday, Anchorage Democrats decided to bring in the month of December by violating Alaska election law.” Now that we know what a “candidate” is, perhaps it’s time to look up “fact checking.”

Cline sheepishly noted on his website blog before he got the rejection letter:

I went to APOC and talked with their people, and the complaint will most likely be rejected on the fact that because it doesn’t influence a particular election, they are allowed to do this. This will ultimately serve as a reminder for the democrats that party communications should be labeled as such.

Perhaps the rejection should instead “ultimately serve as a reminder” to the Republicans that it would behoove them to … I dunno … read the law beFORE they file a complaint. Or perhaps it will “ultimately serve as a reminder” to conservative media to find out if someone has broken a law before they write an article stating that someone has broken a law. These are only humbly offered suggestions, of course.

While our Republican friends are deciding whether, (after filing a frivolous complaint because a high school kid created a Facebook page to demand a better city government), they’d like their crow broiled or Kentucky fried, let’s focus on the positive.

Kudos to Chris Jenkins and all the other young people who are using their tech skills, their energy and their busy brains to work toward a better future for Anchorage. Look at moments like this and use them like rocket fuel. You are making a difference. My father-in-law used to say that if you stand on the dock and push on a boat, no matter how big that boat is, and no matter how much it feels like it’s not moving, at some point it will. Constant pressure moves boats, makes diamonds and creates a better world. Keep it up!

If you haven’t joined Chirs’ “Hold Mayor Dan Sullivan Accountable” Facebook page, click HERE and help him push the boat! It’s got 311 members at this writing, and it deserves many more.

OK, everybody who lives in the Anchorage area, raise your hand.

Everybody who did NOT vote in the mayoral run-off election, keep your hand up.   Be honest…come on.

OK, would that 80% of you line up please, because I’m about to go down the row and bonk you on the head. It won’t hurt. I’ll use a plastic soda bottle or something.  I just want it to be loud, and make a point.  (I go down the row, bonking a very long line of people who are gazing at the floor, not remembering why they actually didn’t get out to vote)

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s talk about the Assembly meeting this Tuesday.

We all know that a big issue these days is the budget.  We’re a bit short on money and Mayor Sullivan has plans to cut the budget to the bone. Cut, cut, cut.  Now, some of this may be necessary, but on Tuesday the budget that was unveiled not only virtually eliminated funding for the arts, but it cut more than $10 million below the tax cap than is necessary.

I know what you’re thinking. “Huh?” That’s what I was thinking. And that’s also what Assemblywoman Sheila Selkregg was thinking about the whole budget in general. She wondered aloud whether we ought to be looking at the budget in terms of (scary organ music) it’s “social effects.” That’s right, she used the “S” word.  Social.  Society.  People.   “Social,” of course, is the secret voice command that wakes up the wingnut robots, and sure enough Assemblyman Bill “Butt Dial” Starr from Eagle River sprang to life.  “Communist!”  That’s not me embellishing or using exaggeration as a story-telling device. He really said it. He compared Selkregg’s proposed budget to the Communist Manifesto. Yes, he did. And he stood by it afterwards. Perhaps next time, he’ll ask her to name names, and see how many Assembly members he can have blacklisted.

But hey, he’s only one guy. We somehow, through a miracle that I do not fully understand, were graced with an Assembly that actually has a left-leaning majority. And so, when a vote was taken, the split was 6-5 in favor of the resolution that thinks about people and the social effects of slash and burn budgeting.

Now we come to the part that will explain why I bonked 80% of Anchorage on the head with a soda bottle at the beginning of this post. Mayor Sullivan VETOED it, right then and there. I believe the exact words were, “I hereby veto Dr. Selkregg’s amendments as amended.”  And that was that.

So what’s the real agenda behind all this? This from Kevin Harun, Communications Director for the Alaska Democratic Party:

Most people do not know the real story of what’s going on at City Hall. Sullivan is using bogus deficit information to cut basic services that we have all come to love about Anchorage — our good schools, parks, libraries, flowers, snow removal — you name it. This $10 million cut below the tax cap is something our city has never done. And it is totally unnecessary.

The administration’s goal is to help the Wal-Marts and other large commercial interests cut their property taxes by reducing public services. Their goal is to pressure the public to choose a sales tax to further relieve their commercial special interest friends. Assembly members Dan Coffey (who has large commercial interests himself) and Bill Starr are carrying Sullivan’s water. Their goal is to paint progressive Assembly members as extreme — when, in fact, these budget cuts are extreme.

Name-calling, wingnuttery, and vetoing the majority because of his own personal agenda and to puff up his already bloated sense of self worth. Yup, that’s about what we can expect from the rest of Dan Sullivan’s term as Mayor. Know how long that is? THREE YEARS.

So, if you’re feeling maybe a little twinge of guilt….a little “why oh why didn’t I get out and vote for Eric Croft?” there is something you can do. There’s even something you can do if you DID get off the couch and vote in that run-off election.

Write a letter to the editor. Call or email your Assembly member, or the entire Assembly. Tell your friends and anyone who will listen, every time Sullivan and his band of minions pulls stuff like this. Get a plastic soda bottle and start waking people up!

And if you live in Eagle River, the land of Bill Starr, the land of Debbie Ossiander, the land of Fred Dyson and Anna Fairclough. Pleeeease, for the love of all that is holy, I’m begging you… Find a strong progressive candidate and support them with everything you’ve got.

POP!

Gubernatorial candidate Bob Poe wrote an excellent compass piece for the Anchorage Daily News that begins like this:

I support equal rights for all people. And I support banning discrimination in Anchorage due solely to someone’s sexual orientation. I support a comprehensive equal rights ordinance because it’s the right thing to do, period.

Sh. sh. shhh.  Listen.  Do you hear those faint little noises, like Pop Rocks?  Remember all those people in red shirts who testified at the Anchorage Assembly meetings about men in dresses in the ladies room, and how the ho-mo-sexuals are going to ruin society by “recruiting” our kids?  That’s their tiny little heads exploding.

Alaska Personnel Board Meets September 9 and Ethics Complaints are on the Agenda

Linda Kellen Biegel has an update on the goings on at the three-ring Board of Personnel.  The next meeting is on September 9, and it’s going to be interesting for a number of reasons.

1)  There are a couple of newer, open ethics complaints out there with serious teeth.  One (Zane Henning) is in regards to the per diem Sarah Palincharged the State of Alaska to live in her own home.  Another (Andree McLeod) is in regards to the gifts Palin has received that have gone unreported.

2) (The main subject of this post) We have heard NOTHING regarding Kim Chatman’s complaint over the Alaska Fund Trust since a report unfavorable to Palin from Investigator Tom Daniel was revealed.  (Of course, it barely covered an iota of the violations revealed by other lawyersin the Fund Trust).  While a number of Palinbots claim that there was no violation here, the report very clearly stated that Palin would be in violation of the Ethics Act if she did not accept his remedy.

3)  I was notified through certified letter that the Personnel Board would be dealing with my comments in response to the Arctic Cat dismissal and I would havea chance to speak in Executive session.

You can read the rest of the details HERE.

Finally, a Hat in the Ring!

Finally someone has tossed his hat in the ring to run against Alaska’s lone congressman, Republican Don Young (fondly known on the Mudflats as Yon Dung).  Last time, everyone counted Young out.  Spending millions on defense lawyers over a pending indictment is generally not the way to win an election.  But somehow he pulled it off with the reminder that he held all those plum committee assignments and that Alaskans needed his clout.  Well, he promptly got asked to step down from those, and we got stuck with him anyway – all the headaches and none of the perks.

So, welcome Representative Harry Crawford.  He’s a Democrat, an iron worker, a down to Earth guy with a great work ethic, and he makes one hell of a gumbo.  He proved this at a fundraiser he hosted to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.  And I don’t know how many pairs of shoes he’s worn out knocking on doors in his district, but he has no fear of hitting the pavement and meeting with constituents eye-to-eye.  I think he’ll run a good race, and he just may be the kind of guy that can knock the Don off his perch.  And he’ll do it with a smile on his face.  Go get ‘im, Harry!

(And if the FBI is reading this….come on!  Pleeeeeeeeze?  Just one little indictment.  I’vebeen SO patient.  Don’t I deserve just one??)

The Wizard of Ooze…

That would be President of the AFL-CIO Vince Beltrami’snew nickname for Conservative radio host and columnist Dan Fagan.  Fagan was eerily on target with his vilification of former governor Sarah Palin, and then strangely compelling with his “I apologize to anyone I ever said anything mean about” confessional post in the Anchorage Daily News last month.  But apparently those days are gone.  Whatever planetary conjunction we were living under has now been pulled asunder, and Vince Beltrami takes Fagan to the wood shed for spinning history and blaming former Mayor Begich for every ill in the city, while giving Current Mayor Dan Sullivan a pass.

In your August 1st column of enlightenment you said: “The Bible teaches scripture must back up everything,” and “if my profession calls for tearing down others to be successful, then I’ll just have to find another career.”

In your latest column, just four weeks from your mea culpa column, you’ve already broken at least two promises. Or maybe three, because I doubt after reading this week’s entry you’ve reached out and apologized to our hard-working junior Senator.

~~Thom Hartmann~~

Thom Hartmann is in town! He’s the guest of honor at a dinner tonight in Anchorage, and is broadcasting live from KUDO 1080am this morning.

I just listened to him in the car on the way to work. He spoke with both Acting Mayor Matt Claman, and Mayor Elect Dan Sullivan.

The latter was an interesting exchange.

Hartmann asked how Sullivan thought Sarah Palin was doing. Sullivan said she had become “distracted” by the VP nomination, and that “If I had to give her a grade, I wouldn’t give her one.” Then he said he was glad she was back so she can focus on her job.

Then Hartmann brought up the fact that Alaska has been called America’s only socialist state. Sullivan laughed and explained that it’s written in to the state’s charter that the resources of the state belong to the residents and must be shared with them, and that he thought it worked well. Hartmann suggested that perhaps the whole nation could work like that, and Sullivan agreed, as long as there was a Democratic system in place to ensure the benefits “were distributed fairly.”

Hartmann said it was good to hear a Republican mayor endorse socialism. Sullivan laughed and said, “You betcha! And welcome to Alaska!”

That was truly a classic in Alaskan broadcast journalism.