~And they would’ve got away with it too… if it weren’t for that pesky Constitution!

The question is “school choice.” That’s what they call it, anyway. Anchorage is fortunate in that there is already a great network of 27 charter schools available for those who want a public school alternative. And America is fortunate that for our kids, attending school is a privilege to which everyone is entitled. Yes, education is an “entitlement program,” (oh, the horror) and we ought to be proud of that. It’s one of those instances when “American exceptionalism” really means something.

Republicans in the Alaska State House, like Republicans across the land, have put the institution of public education squarely in their cross-hairs, and the House Education Committee is attempting to usher through a bill known as HB145.

One of those leading the charge is Rep. Wes Keller of Wasilla. Keller was one of the five lawmakers who filed the suit to stop the legislative investigation of the Troopergate scandal, and is also an elder in Palin’s church whom she appointed to his seat.

My wrist hurts.

Really, more that it probably should. This is not good. I’m a writer, a photographer, I like to shake people’s hands. I need my wrist functioning.

And I haven’t even been arrested yet.

It’s 12 o’ clock, and there’s maybe 100 people here including the press. #D17 is not looking to be all it was cracked up to be, like an ‘N Sync reunion when Justin doesn’t show up. It was intended to be a celebration of the 3 month anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement and its encampment at Zuccotti Park, and was supposed to be marked by a reoccupation in New York at the nearby Duarte Square, a vacant plot of land owned by Trinity Wall Street, a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of NYC.

It’s freezing. Well, maybe it’s not that bad, but I’m underdressed for the occasion, wearing a light jacket and no gloves or hat. An hour and a half into standing around at Duarte Park in Lower Manhattan, I thought I’d be running after occupiers and dodging kettling nets.

I get the standard shots – the wide above the head shot (for crowd count), the protesters children (cute sells!), the old school occupiers (Who knows? AARP might run a piece on OWS), the funny signs (always good for internet reach), and then the pretty portraits (30mm f1.4 Sigma, wide open, manual focus – shallow depth of field).

Now it’s 1:30 pm. Our sources inside the OWS movement tell us that since the organizers were pre-arrested** – one of which is some guy named Zach – they’re not sure anything is actually going down during the day, maybe not until 7 PM.

CS (still photographer), Andrew (still photographer), Brian (still photographer), Rosie (Village Voice writer) and I huddle in a group, trying to decide what to do. I hate to admit it, I’m the first one to say, “Screw it, let’s go home, warm up and recharge for the night.”

Brian says he’s staying. He has to, and recommends that we all stay. Even if he didn’t have to, we all know he would anyway. He’s done Egypt and Greece already, so we kind of look to him for guidance. He’s known within his agency to be the one that will go for days without sleep just to get the shot. During the cleansing of Zuccotti he went for about 2 days without sleep, going from assignment to assignment carrying other people’s shifts. Our motley crew decide to take Brian’s advice and stick around until 3:30, and if nothing happened run home and file.

3:30pm EST.

CS and I are chatting, talking about brunch, warm coffee, French toast…suddenly Brian runs by.  We immediately follow blindly.

The crowd suddenly starts to move. Where? We haven’t a clue, but like the lemmings that photojournalists are, we follow (well, actually we run to the front of the crowd and walk briskly backwards while taking photos).

Immediately, I get that something else is going on. The crowd isn’t going anywhere in particular and the turns it’s taking seem to be just to throw off the police who are on scooters.

Then I go around a corner to get a wide shot of the march.

Like a ADD kid that hasn’t had his Ritalin, I very quickly get impatient, and see a scuffle with a cop and a protester, and run off chasing the pretty pictures, and I lose what will very quickly become the whole point of this charade.

I follow the protestors back toward Duarte Square. I know I screwed up, but maybe I didn’t waste the whole day.

Slowly we turn the corner to Grand Street and to my surprise (and quiet anger) I see several hundred protestors already there – some setting up a step ladder against the fence that surrounds the other half of Duarte Square. A purple flash of cloth, a Bishop, begins to ascend the wooden ladder that the protestors have propped against the fence, as if playing out some medieval storming of the castle. Except the castle is a park and the battlements are a standard wire fence.

The Bishop doesn’t wait for the other half of the stepladder – he runs to the top and then lets himself down the other side slowly. People quickly follow behind him, nearly falling on top of him. I’m stuck in the crowd about 20 feet away from the ladder.  I look to the fence and judge correctly that there’s no way in hell I can scale it myself, and then push toward the ladder. A path opens up and suddenly, as I tell OWS organizers that I’m going over, they’re all smiles and hands helping me and my gear over. Climbing over and taking blind shots from the top, I suddenly realize what a bad idea this is – I’m over and now officially in “criminal trespass” territory.

About 75 people are over, including CS and about 5 other journos that I can point out as pros. The occupiers start pulling at the fence bringing it upward so that the rest of the crowd can rush in – there are very few takers. This very clearly worries the people on my side of the fence, and worries me. Any moment now the police will be here, and numbers are the only thing protecting us from batons, plastic cuffs and a night in the clink. I give up on waiting for the shot of the protestors going all Steve McQueen under the fence and start grabbing every possible angle of the scene I can think of. Through the fence, the wide shot, the closeup…Then suddenly there’s a very large officer from the NYPD in my face yelling “GET THE F*CK OUT, NOW!”

Photojournalists understand that as “YOU HAVE ONLY FIVE MORE SHOTS TO TAKE AND YOU NEED TO START MOVING TOWARDS THE EXIT.”

CS flies by me yelling at me, “TIME TO GO, NOW!” For once he’s being the careful one.

I begin to comply and start moving towards the stepladder, the only “exit” I know of from this fenced in park. I, of course, continue taking shots though, moving towards my non-arrest, then I make it to the place where the stepladder used to be.

It’s not there.

Well, to be exact it’s on the other side.

Also, on the other side of the fence, where just moments before the protestors and other journos were pushing forward, now the police are pushing them back. I looked around and couldn’t place CS, Brian or any of the rest of my crew. I also noted, with growing dread, that I was the only person that wasn’t a member of the New York Police Department who wasn’t handcuffed face down in the gravel.

“SIT DOWN, NOW”

Shit.

“I’m press! I’m a freelance photojournalist.”

“DO YOU HAVE CREDENTIALS?”

By this, he doesn’t mean from my agency or from my paper, he means the officialNew York City Press Credentials issued by the New York City Police Department.

Yes, the NYPD, the boys in blue that are currently in the process of arresting me are the ones that decide whether I am a recognized member of the media. They will not of course take in account my years of work for The Guardian, the dozen or so pieces I’ve produced for BBC-TV, or any number of other works of journalism that I have done.

I don’t have NYC NYPD Press credentials.

So, I sat down. The officers went on to deal with other people, so I continued to take photos from my seated position. Once I had taken everything I could from this angle I called my boss (day job) Greg Palast.

Me: “Greg, I think I’m arrested, they told me to sit down, but they haven’t cuffed me yet. I won’t be making it into work later today.”

Greg: [Chuckles] “Ok Zach, we’ll get the word out. Keep me updated.

Realizing that this whole arrest and day would be for naught if something happened to my memory cards – I (slyly as I could) removed the card from my camera and shoved it into my wrist brace.

Blanking on anything else that could be done I just sit there for a moment somewhat dazed as an old Phil Och’s song starts to run through my head…

There’s nothing as cold as the freeze in your soul
At the moment when you are arrested.
There’s nothing as real as the iron and steel
On the handcuffs when you protested.

The zip cuffs weren’t that cold, and certainly weren’t made of out steel, just heavy duty plastic that would need to be cut using utility shears. The officer that put on my cuffs was nice enough to ask about my wrist brace and put them somewhat loosely around that wrist, but made up for it on the other. I got off easy. The kid sitting next to me didn’t; very quickly his cuffs started cutting off the circulation to his hands and the cold didn’t help much either. After being helped up from the ground by the police he begged for his hat and sunglasses that had been knocked off in his takedown by the officer. Sunglasses and snowcap pulled over his head he looked like a reject from a Cheech and Chong audition. His banner and prop mannequin arm were to be left behind (I didn’t ask).

Lining us up by the exit of the park, we were taken off in threes to our respective wagons. I was with Cheech and a bearded protestor from Canada who had a sad looking guitar case. He later confided with me that it wasn’t a guitar, but an axe (again, I didn’t ask).

It was now our turn to make the perp walk from the gated confines of the park to the paddy wagon.

Surrounded by about 40 police officers holding back protestors and photographers on both sides of us, we quickly walked to the awaiting wagon. I heard my name being yelled from both sides, on one Brian, and on the other CS. Trying to give them both good shots, I turned to one held a look for the moment and then to the other doing the same. I tried to look serious, but not angry – honestly I was just dazed and somewhat confused – still convinced at some point the police would wise up and release me, allowing me to get back to my job as a photographer.

That didn’t happen, of course.

Have I ever told you the one where the Bishop, the pastor and the photographer get into a paddy wagon together?

Yeah, I think not.

Bishop Packard is a tall man, dressed in purple robes he commands attention just by his presence. Sitting aside him is a pastor, across him, luckily enough,is someone who worked out of her cuffs. Which is why we have this video. In it the Bishop breaks down why the Occupiers decided to take Duarte Square.

Even churches have a 1% and a 99%. The good Bishop is in the 99% – Trinity Church…well, I think you got it.

The ride to One Police Plaza is a long one, and seemingly the bumpiest ride in all of Manhattan. But we’ve got the time – based on John Knefel’s reporting we have a long night ahead of us. The only problem is with each bump all of our cuffs get tighter and tighter. Cheech sitting next to me is in excruciating pain – the Bishop tries to see what we can do, but none of us can reach his cuffs to try to help.

When we finally make it to “The Yard,” as the police call it, it takes them another 40 mins to process us and remove the cuffs. Paul Bunyan, the guy with the axe and beard, seems to have it the worst – the officers can’t find a place to get the scissors between the cuffs and his skin.

Moving from the yard, finally inside I realize that they never took my cell phone – so I quickly tweet out a couple of photos before they notice.

Inside the cell I noticed that I’m one of the first in my wagon to be processed – though there is a priest, a minister of some kind, and about 12 other occupiers.

I decide to make an entrance by announcing loudly, “My goodness is that a Priest on the Group W bench!?!?!” (doing my best Arlo Guthrie voice). Everyone over 30 in the holding cell starts laughing. Then one of the younger priests starts…

“And I, I walked over to the, to the bench there, and there is, Group W’s where they put you if you may not be moral enough to join the army after committing your special crime, and there was all kinds of mean nasty ugly looking people on the bench there.”

Then with gusto – anyone who got the original joke starts singing…

You can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant,
You can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant,
Walk right in it’s around the back,
Just a half a mile from the railroad track,
You can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant.

I think Arlo would be proud. We went on to have a good old time swapping war stories. The Bishop joined us 20 mins later, and we all cheered. About a dozen other guys followed over the next couple of hours as we learned about the night’s continued actions. We held stack, talked about the future of the movement – I held a small working group trying to explain how to get better media coverage, and prep people for questions and so on.

I wouldn’t say the time flew by, but it moved. My arresting officer processed me out in about 8 hours – no iris scan – just fingerprints. I was lucky – some of the protestors coming in had some battle wounds. One 19-year old kid had a shiner from what he said was getting punched in the face by a cop. Another, a main OWS organizer of #D17, was talking to us, reporting on the night’s activities and blood started streaming from under his winter hat. He calmly patted it with toilet paper and continued his report.

It’s surreal – 11 years I’ve been doing this. Years of anti-war protests, hanging with black bloc, shooting in Wasilla, Bed Stuy, and the reservations of the Southwest – and jumping over a ladder is the thing that gets me busted.

As I stepped out into the cold, a free man, the dry cheese sandwiches that they gave us to eat still festering in my stomach – I thought back to something that the Bishop had said. “There’s a reason we’re all here in this cell together. This is a moment, and we need to keep is going.” I agree.

This is beginning to sound like some odd redemption story, but there’s no magical black man who can “acquire things” for me, and I’m not standing in the rain, finally free…There’s just the realization that none of us are safe – press, protestor or priest.

Welcome to Bloomberg’s New York.

**Yes, pre-arrested – we’re talking Minority Report stuff here. The police arrested an #OWS organizer for crimes that they assumed that he was going to commit later in the day.

Yesterday, I stopped downtown to visit those protesting Mayor Sullivan’s new sidewalk ordinance. When I arrived in the noon hour, there were about two dozen protesters sitting, drinking coffee, and holding signs. Sidewalkers were joined by Occupiers from down the block.

For background on the sidewalk ordinance, you can read HERE, and HERE.

Sitting or reclining on the sidewalk without permission or a medical emergency became illegal at 6am that day, which is when the first protesters showed up.

Signs represented a variety of causes and concerns.

Strangely, the Tea Party which is supposedly all about personal liberties, and opposed to government overreach impinging on those liberties, was absent. I’m still waiting for the Tea Party and the Occupy Movement to come together on the issues they both believe in – like the Constitution, and the amendments contained therein.

Conspicuously NOT absent were the Lindas – The Mudflats’ own Linda Kellen Biegel, and photojournalist extraordinaire Linda Scates. They made themselves illegally comfortable in the shadow of City Hall.

Although there was a police presence (one officer), no arrests were made.

The department’s not ready to enforce it,” said Lt. Anthony Henry. “There’s not a mechanism for (officers) to do that yet. When the law’s passed, you still have administrative things that need to take place.” Police and the court system need to iron out details such as bail schedules and court codes and classifications, Henry said. Henry said he did not know when officers might start enforcing the law. [snip] Officers can write offenders a ticket for up to $100, but Police Chief Mark Mew has said police have discretion in using the law and will likely only issue citations as a last resort. [snip] “They’re going to have a lot more flexibility if they’re doing a sit-in,” Henry said. “We cherish and hold in high regard the constitutional rights that citizens have.”

Happy Solstice to all! It’s that wonderful time (especially in the far north) when the Earth decides to tip back into the summer direction, and the amount of darkeness gets less, and the light gets longer. It will only be a second or two a day at first, but as the weeks roll on, it will turn to minutes at a time in its frenzied journey to long summer days.

I love the Solstice, and try to make time to appreciate it in some way. It’s almost a shame it comes surrounded by all the rest of the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. It can tend to get lost in there. This year it was decorating the tree, listening to beautiful music, drinking yummy drinks, and feeling grateful to have made it through a difficult year. A new tipping of the axis has come, with new possibilities, new hopes, and new strength. This is one of those holidays that exists objectively, whether we want it or not. Every culture marked it, and every human has noticed it since the beginning of time. And nobody will change it to Monday so we get a long weekend, or combine it with another event and call it “Celestial Day.” It is what it is – simple, scientific, magical and beautiful.

The Sun, which has been conspicuously absent the last week or so, rose (literally) to the occasion today with a beautiful sunrise, and equally lovely sunset. A grand entrance and finale, worthy of celebration in itself.

But if noting the turning of the seasons, and basking in their resplendent symbolic glory isn’t enough for you… and if you’d rather mark this most notable of days by celebrating your Constitutional rights, and challenging the grinchy government interventionist mayor, who says that he can tell you when you can and cannot sit on the sidewalk, then have I got the thing for you.

Join the group of protesters who are ready to do the unthinkable, the untenable… They shall defy big gubmint, and those who have grown too large for their mayoral britches, and they shall SIT. That’s right. They’re going to sit – right in front of City Hall. They shall dare to park their backsides on the cement surrounding the Ivory Tower.  They are a mighty lot. To join this noble crowd, dress warmly, bring a thermos, and prepare to sit for liberty.

Where: Right in front of City Hall on 6th and G Streets

When: Lunchtime, any time 11am-1pm  [Note that there will be some hearty souls there at 6am when sitting officially becomes illegal]

08:16 – All is quiet in duarte park

11:26 – Blocked traffic to Holland tunnel for a bit…

11:27 – Things being thrown at crowd from apt buildings on varick and grand

11:39 – On the other side of the fence arrest very likely

11:41 – being arrested

1:50 -

1:51 – in processing

You can see Zach’s outstanding photography of Occupy Wall Street, and his other contributions to The Mudflats by clicking HERE.

This is a developing story and will be updated when more information becomes available.

Update: We’re happy to report that phone message was received by Zach this evening. He is out of jail, and is fine. He’ll have a criminal trespass charge on his record, he says, and will also have stories to tell and more photos coming soon. He thanks everyone for their love and support.

Remember when Ordinance 64 came before the Assembly? It stated that the LGBT community should have basic equal rights when it comes to housing, education, employment and use of public facilities. Pretty basic stuff, right? Well, after almost 24 hours of public testimony (including testimony from people who didn’t even live in Anchorage, yet were bussed in from evangelical Wasilla churches), the Anchorage Assembly voted yes on the ordinance.

And after weeks of debate, during what has been dubbed “The Summer of Hate”, Mayor Dan Sullivan had the hubris to circumvent the public process, and the vote of the Assembly. He vetoed the ordinance, keeping Anchorage in the Dark Ages, and saying it was OK for employers to fire people, or landlords to evict people, simply for their sexual orientation. The Anchorage LGBT community and its supporters reeled. But they have risen again, and this time they are putting it to a vote of the people. An initiative will appear on the April 3, 2012 Municipal ballot asking the citizens of the city what they want, and what they think is fair.  The question is:

Shall the current Municipal Code sections providing legal protections against discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, marital status, age, physical disability, and mental disability be amended to include protections on the basis of sexual orientation or transgender identity?

The full petition application is HERE.

A press conference was held today by One Anchorage, the organizers of the initiative. The media and representatives of the campaign met in the lobby of City Hall right before more than 13,500 signatures were submitted – more than twice the 5,871 needed to put the initiative on the ballot. Present to speak to the media were former Democratic Governor Tony Knowles, former Republican State Senator Arliss Sturgelewski, and One Anchorage’s Trevor Storrs.

“This initiative is about providing all Anchorage residents equal protections under the law, plain and simple,” said Trevor Storrs, chair of One Anchorage. “No matter what religious or political background you have, we can all agree that treating people equally is an absolute must for our community. Everyone deserves equal and fair housing and employment opportunities.”

A few hours later, across town, another group met to voice their support for One Anchorage.  The group Christians for Equality, representing a number of religious and faith-based organizations in Anchorage also stood up for the initiative.

Photo courtesy of Amy Coffman

“Equality is a core value of our Christian faith,” said Rev. Michael Burke, pastor of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, and convener of Christians for Equality. “That’s why we firmly support the One Anchorage initiative, because it calls for equal treatment of one another and protects those in our community who have no legal rights against discrimination today. We are speaking out so that the full voice of the Christian community is heard on the issue of equality,” said Burke.

The group’s members also include: Rev. Peter Perry of St. John’s United Methodist Church; Rev. Martin Eldred of Joy Lutheran Church; Rev. Susan Knight of Immanuel Presbyterian Church; Rev. Dan Bollerud of Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church; Rev. George Blair of First Congregationsl Church; Rev. Sara Gavit of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church; Rev. Beatrice Hitchcock of the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship; Rev. Ron Myers of First United Methodist Church; Rev. Glenn Petersen of Central Lutheran Church; Rev. Paul Boling and Rev. David Boling of First Christian Church, Rev. Julia Seymour of Lutheran Church of Hope; Rev. Drew Pheonix of The United Methodist Church; Rev. Johnathan Jones of Church Life AK; Rev. Gayle Nauska of Nauska Counseling, and Rev. Susan Halvor, Chaplain.

“The biblical message is an ethic of love,” said Rev. Peter Perry, senior pastor of St. John United Methodist Church. “When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus responded, ‘Love the Lord God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.’ We affirm that we are all made in the image of God and are therefore called to honor the dignity and equality of all persons. Discrimination and unfair treatment are never loving.”

The One Anchorage campaign filed an application this morning with the Anchorage Municipal Clerk’s Office to place an initiative on the April 2012 ballot asking voters to include lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Alaskans in the same legal protections already provided to women and minorities in employment, housing, and public businesses.

Arliss Sturgulewski, a former state senator and Republican gubernatorial candidate is the Initiative Sponsor and Co-Chair of the One Anchorage Campaign. Former Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles is the Alternate Sponsor and campaign Co-Chair. Other Sponsors include Alaska Constitutional Convention delegate Vic Fischer, former First Alaskans Institute President & CEO Janie Leask, the Rev. Michael Burke of Anchorage’s St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, and leaders of Alaska’s LGBT community.

After the Municipality accepted the application, One Anchorage had 90 days to collect thousands of signatures. Today (Saturday) is the last day that those signatures will be collected before they are turned in to the Municipality next week.

Don’t you want to be a part of history?

There will be volunteers all over the city today gathering signatures. However, the Campaign has made it VERY easy for those busy folks who would like to sign from the comfort of their own car.

DRIVE-THRU SIGNATURE GATHERING

Do you still want to sign the One Anchorage equal rights petition?

Do you have friends that want to sign but you have not been able to connect with them?

This Saturday from 10am to 3pm, we will provide drive thru service to anyone who wants to sign the petition.

Please help us spread the word.

Pull up to the front door and someone will come out to you to collect the signature.
We are days away from having to turn in the petitions. Help us put this initiative on the ballot.

Saturday, December 3rd

10am – 3pm

1057 W. Fireweed Ln

People across Alaska and the entire country are watching. Let’s do this in style!

One controversy that’s been brewing since last summer has involved an ordinance that Mayor Sullivan has ushered through the Assembly. This particular ordinance is aimed at a man named Johnathan Martin who has decided to protest the Mayor’s egregious attitude toward the homeless by camping out in front of City Hall. Sullivan was not pleased by the fact that sitting on the sidewalk was, in fact, legal.  Later Sullivan said he might consider meeting with Martin if he cleaned up and made himself presentable for an audience with His Excellency – The Mayor.

The new law would make it illegal to sit or recline on sidewalks in downtown Anchorage from 6 a.m. to midnight on weekdays, and until 2:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday nights, with exceptions for medical emergencies, and events like parades that have a permit. Violators could be fined up to $100.

When the sidewalk ordinance came before the Anchorage Assembly, there was more than one Assembly member on the fence. Was it right to create an ordinance which was basically the Mayor’s way of dealing with one man whom he considered a nuisance? Did it infringe on first amendment rights? How would this affect the Occupy Anchorage protesters who were in Town Square Park right down the street from City Hall? Law enforcement didn’t seem to think the ordinance was necessary at all.  What about the cost of enforcement of the ordinance, and what did that say about the Mayor’s supposed desire to shrink city government? And then, of course, there was always the possibility that the ordinance would not stand up to a legal challenge. That would mean bad PR, embarrassment, and big legal fees. Nobody wants that.

These were all valid points to consider, and the Assembly had been thinking about them since the first draft of the ordinance came their way during the summer.

As last Tuesday’s Assembly meeting, there was public testimony (all of it negative) regarding the ordinance and a discussion before the vote. During this debate, Assemblyman Dick Traini and the City Attorney Dennis Wheeler had the following exchange (3:59:30):

[Emphasis added]

Traini: Dennis, since this will end up probably in the court system if it’s approved, if the ACLU takes it to court, is it defensible from your point of view?

Wheeler: This ordinance was run by the ACLU.

Traini: They haven’t had any problems with it?

Wheeler: They do not have any problems with it and, uh, that’s primarily because we crafted it after a law that was already challenged in court and upheld.

Traini: Because I’m wondering why ACLU’s not here. Normally when something like this comes forward if they have a problem they’re here testifying so I appreciate that information. Thank you.

Well. If the ACLU, legal champions of the Constitution and civil liberties, had looked over the ordinance and found it to be sound, and had no objections to it, then surely it stood on firm legal ground. There really is no greater litmus test than that. The seal of approval from the ACLU means a lot, and the Assembly took it to heart. There were still four Assembly members who objected to the ordinance, but it passed in a 7-4 vote, including the two members who were most unsure – Dick Traini, and Jennifer Johnston.

So, there it was. Locked up, air-tight, buttoned down, and done. Nothing more to discuss. The ordinance would go into effect on December 22 with little objection, and the Mayor would count it as a victory.

Only one problem.

Mr. Wheeler never “ran the ordinance by the ACLU” at all. The ACLU never gave an opinion on it. And the Assembly voted on the ordinance using false information because they actually assumed that the City Attorney had been telling the truth. Surprise!

(photo of Dennis Wheeler by henkimaa)

What followed the Assembly meeting, days later, was a surreal and entertaining confession of sorts. Behold the inept glory of Dennis Wheeler trying to weasel out of this one in a mea culpa email  sent on Tuesday to the members of the Assembly, and others.

Assembly members – at the last Assembly meeting, in an exchange with Assembly member Traini, I said the safe sidewalk ordinance had been “run by” the ACLU and the ACLU had no objections. This was a poor choice of words. I knew the ACLU had been reviewing the original ordinance since its introduction in July. I believed the ACLU was also aware of the revised version. I also thought at least one assembly member had told me they had shared the ordinance with the ACLU.

In any event, my office did not directly send a copy of the ordinance to the ACLU. My poor choice of words would certainly give the impression that my office had sent the ordinance directly to the ACLU.

It is true the ACLU did not send us any comments, as they have in the past on other ordinances. It is also appears the ACLU did not speak to either version of the ordinance during the public hearings.

I understand from recent news stories that the ACLU is concerned about the ordinance. It has been suggested the concern has to do with the hours specified in the ordinance, but I do not know the specifics.

That’s right folks. Dennis Wheeler said something that was patently untrue, which (in Mayor Sullivan’s kingdom) becomes “a poor choice of words.” He just could have sworn that somebody on the Assembly told him he/she had shared the ordinance with the ACLU at some point… Who was that again?  Oh… the name escapes him.  That poor choice of words surely might have led some people to think that he meant the exact opposite of the actual truth.  And that was really his bad.  But keep in mind that the ACLU didn’t actually technically have an objection to the ordinance that he thought they might have seen, but actually didn’t.  And… um… he guesses now they may have some kind of problem with it after all, but hasn’t really availed himself of the specifics of what their specific objections are.

Perhaps Mr. Wheeler is waiting for some unnamed Assembly Member(s) to mention to him in passing (he thinks) something about what the ACLU might dislike. But, hey. We don’t really know for sure.

Fortunately for us, the attorneys at the ACLU seem to be a little bit more on the ball than Mr. Wheeler.  They apparently got wind of their supposed tacit endorsement of the ordinance, and had a couple questions via email.

Mr. Wheeler ­

I was reviewing the commentary from the most recent Assembly session. Among
your testimony was a statement that the ACLU had said they had no problems
with the sidewalk sitting and panhandling ordinance. Can you clarify the
basis for that comment? I do not recall making such a statement and do not
find any record in my correspondence of Mr. Mittman or myself making such a
comment, nor do I believe that such a statement would be accurate.

Thank you,
Thomas Stenson
Attorney
ACLU of Alaska Foundation

Wow. Look who’s all fancy and keeps “records of correspondence” and stuff, instead of relying on vague and distant memories that they just could have sworn had actually happened. (We give a low whistle indicating we are impressed with the ACLU’s clerical acumen).

After another email, gently prodding Mr. Wheeler, this was the response from the hapless, sweaty Municipal Attorney. Ready?  The bold passages were highlighted by me, just because I like them and they make me laugh.

Tom ­ I’ve reviewed what I can here. It appears my words were poorly chosen.
While I understood the ACLU had said to the media that it was reviewing the
original ordinance, I should not have said the ordinance was “run by” the ACLU
as this office had not specifically sent the AO to the ACLU. In the past, we
have received comments from the ACLU and the ACLU has attended the public
hearings, without prompting from us. In at least one instance, it was my
understanding the ACLU did not have a “facial” objection, but might have an
“as applied” objection, depending on how the Municipality enforced the
ordinance. Somehow, I came to think that was in reference to this issue,
but I cannot confirm such is the case or what the source of that information
might have been; it may have arisen from the previous version from July or
with the taxicab ordinance. With respect to this ordinance, I don’t think the
ACLU offered written or verbal comments to the Municipality; at least not with
this office. In total, it would have been more accurate to say that I
understood the ACLU is aware of the ordinance and that, to the best of my
knowledge, the ACLU has not commented to the Municipality. I’ve clarified
this with the Mayor and the Assembly.

Here’s where I like to imagine Tom Stenson sitting at his computer, reading and rereading this email. His mouth hangs open slightly. Perhaps he blinks a few times before reading it again. He takes his glasses off and rubs his eyes with the heels of his hands. He’s not sure whether to laugh, and then decides that yes, he will. Maybe he even calls over another attorney, or someone working in the office and says something like, “Hey… Get a load of this.”

He manages, though, to keep it together and asks the straight question:

Could you please forward to me any communications you had with the Mayor and the Assembly? Thank you.

Wheeler responds breathlessly:

You want me to forward to you any attorney-client privileged communications?

Stenson, after a monumental coffee-spit, pens the best response ever. (Parenthetical comment is mine)

You said you’ve clarified it with the Mayor and the Assembly. I would like to
see how the matter has been clarified and make my own determination.
Respectfully, when a government agent takes it upon himself to declare in
testimony at a public meeting what this organization does and does not
support, I take a serious interest in making sure that the record is perfectly
clear.

I don’t understand how your communication would be privileged. I can’t imagine
how a statement indicating your own error to the Assembly would constitute
“legal advice.” The simple fact that you are an attorney does not make your
every statement privileged. (<—— The Money Line)

If you choose not to relay the correspondence, I will be compelled to correct
the record myself.

Tom

And the final response from Wheeler. Let the backpedaling begin!

Tom- typically records requests are scoped so we know how to respond. Your
request is generally over-broad (“any communication”). That was the point of
my question – to get you to scope your request. It doesn’t appear that you
understood the question. In any event, I can forward to you the email I sent
to the Clerk’s Office. My understanding from the Municipal Clerk is that she
did forward it to Assembly members. If your request is for more than the
single email, you’ll need to let me know. The email should appear on your
screen shortly.

I hope you have appreciated this exchange as much as I did. At its best, it is bumbling ineptitude. At its worst, it is blatant manipulation of the public process for political gain, followed by skullduggery and coverup. But whichever it is, there still remains this fact: Members of the Anchorage Assembly placed their votes on this controversial and highly publicized issue, and gave an ostensible victory to the Mayor based upon blatantly false information that was revealed to be false after the fact. So, now what? Let’s hope that one of the distinguished members of the Assembly who is not in the pocket of the Mayor will step forward and demand that this vote be rescinded.

In the meantime, a demonstration is planned on December 22, the day the new law goes into effect. “Our idea is to sit on the sidewalk during the solstice,” says Bryan DeHusson of Occupy Anchorage. “So that at midnight, when the law goes into effect, we have as many people as we can sitting outside of City Hall, in single file, so we’re not actually blocking pedestrian traffic.”

UPDATE:  Linda Kellen Biegel spoke with Assemblyman Dick Traini this afternoon. When asked what his response was to Wheeler’s emails he responded that he had already drafted a repeal of the ordinance, which should be introduced at the Assembly meeting this coming Tuesday at 5pm at the Loussac Library.  Co-sponsors of the repeal are Assembly members Elvi Gray-Jackson, and Paul Honeman who will be opposing Mayor Sullivan when he is up for re-election this spring.

The spirit was more festive on Thanksgiving, where thousands of free turkey dinners were distributed to hungry protesters and anyone who wanted one. The People’s Library was back in business after thousands of books were thrown into dumpsters by police last week.

One man who was hired as a private security guard to keep protesters from reestablishing their tent camp in Zuccotti Park after the eviction, was sympathetic to the protesters.

“I didn’t know anything about them and I’ve learned a lot. I’m also poor,” the guard, who asked not to be identified, said. “In some ways, thanks to them I got my job here, too.”

[All photos below by Zach Roberts.  See if you can "Spot the Mudflatter" in the yellow boots!]

(Homeless Anchorage protestor John Martin and his faithful friend)

On the same day that the world is outraged by the pepper-spraying of peaceful UC Davis protestors, Newt Gingrich still manages to capture the attention of the media. Friday, his announcement of “extraordinarily radical proposals to fundamentally change the culture of poverty in America” which turn out to include a repeal of child labor laws. Then, as if trying to outdo himself, Newt decides to moralize at the country-wide Occupy Wall Street participants (the same ones who shout him down at his speeches) by telling them to “get a job, after you take a bath.”

Yes, this is the same Newt Gingrich who last year in front of the same type of Christian fundamentalist crowd claimed that his marital infidelities were “partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate.”

Yes, this is the same Newt who claims to be a “historian,” as reflected in his comments in the video: “Captain John Smith said in 1607 in the first English speaking permanent colony to the aristocrats who paid their way and didn’t want to work, ‘If you don’t work, you won’t eat.’”

Of course, there is much irony there. Captain Smith’a words were directed at members of the monied “gentlemen” class who had made the trip to the New World. They felt that blue-collar work was “beneath them.” Captain Smith, the blue-collar guy, was letting the aristocrats know that he wasn’t going to put up with their behavior anymore.

So it was a good example for the Occupy Wall Street folks after all, just not the way Gingrich intended.

His history facts are about as accurate as his comments regarding Occupy Wall Street. Much of the movement is comprised of hard-working middle/working class folks who have jobs, thank you very much. It is also comprised of hard-working recent college grads who have been looking for jobs without success. Statistically, reports of youth unemployment (under 25) are as high as 54%. According to one study, 85% of college graduates are moving back in with their parents due to lack of jobs and a mountain of crushing debt from college loans.

And of course, no one could be less hard-working than Newt himself…a reportedly lazy campaigner. Gingrich’s staff left him enmasse in June because the candidate and his wife decided that a two-week cruise in Greece and selling his books were more important than the hard work of a campaign. (Not to mention it was during this “vacation” that Gingrich’s $500,000.00 jewelry credit line at Tiffany’s was revealed.) Just last week, after telling the initial “historian” lie regarding the origin of money paid to him by mortgage lender Freddie Mac, it was revealed that Gingrich was hired to “build bridges to Capitol Hill Republicans and develop an argument on behalf of the company’s public-private structure that would resonate with conservatives seeking to dismantle it” and he was paid between $1.6 and $1.8 million to do so. Mr. Gingrich is the one who has been on the “public dole” most of his career as a politician. Here Gingrich demonstrates what has already been known…that he has cast his lots with the aristocratic 1% to the detriment of people who once made up the majority of his constituents.

While I never would have considered that former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and our own Mayor Dan Sullivan as being in any way related, Gingrich’s video reminded me of another one — an interview with the Mayor where he repeated the similar answer he gave at a press conference regarding a homeless protestor who wanted to meet with him:

“Sullivan said the man would have to “clean up and make himself presentable as a good self-worthy human being would do,” as well as filling out a form in the mayor’s office if he wants to have a legitimate meeting.”

The similar phrase was during a “View from City Hall” interview last summer conducted by KTVA’s Grace Jang: (Comments start at about 7:20)

Besides that similar issue of entitlement arrogance, our Mayor has also had his share of ethical problems, starting before the Mayor’s race was even a twinkle in his eye.

– As one of the owners of McGinley’s Pub, he was “Dan the boss” who kept pouring booze for a waitress after hours, then sent her out when she was over the limit at 4:00 am so she could cause a head-on collision.

– Mayor Sullivan received $193,000.00 on behalf of a trust for his now departed father, former Mayor George Sullivan. This was always reported as “insurance” but as it turned out, there was no such policy.

– He hired Bernadette Wilson to contract as a “party planner” for about $6,000.00 of Muni pay…something that had never been before. There were also…allegedly…some extenuating circumstances that were cause for concern.

– Sullivan, who ran on a “public safety” platform, slashed police and fire to the bone — to the point of putting many in our city at risk and exacerbating the problems he vowed to fix. Luckily, FEMA saved the day with some money to add back those public safety employees who had been cut.

– He even squashed the firefighter’s ability to maintain the tradition of “filling the boot” for Muscular Dystrophy while on the clock.

– The Mayor inserted himself in this year’s supposedly non-partisan Municipal election (including appearing on a number of radio programs during working hours) in order to get a majority of supporters on the Assembly. He got the one he needed. Now, “Team Sully” does the bidding of Mayor Sullivan, the City of Anchorage be damned.

– While he’s recently attempting to change his education image, in reality Sullivan has levied unfair fees against the Anchorage School District, taking money out of the classroom to make his Municipal budget look better.

I would not presume to insinuate that Mayor Sullivan has risen (or sunk) to the level of Newt Gingrich, the only House Speaker ever penalized for ethics violations. However, like Gingrich, Sullivan is definitely trying to establish himself as a friend to all corporations and the 1%. It is rumored that many things Sullivan is doing now is to impress the National Republican Senatorial Committee so they’ll support him against Mark Begich in 2014. Of course, these are only rumors…

Sullivan’s above-mentioned comments regarding John Martin, the homeless protestor, upset those of us at Mudflats as well as quite a few other people, including a number within the religious community.

The Mayor’s anger and revulsion at that protestor led to an Ordinance attempting to ban folks from sitting and/or lying on the sidewalks in downtown Anchorage. The outcry was such that the Mayor requested that his own Ordinance be postponed. While some people showed up and gave some moving and extremely powerful testimony anyway, the Ordinance was postponed indefinitely.

Well, now it’s baaaaaack…

Mayor Dan Sullivan’s proposed law to restrict sitting and lying down on sidewalks is back — and it’s very similar to the version that the Anchorage Assembly postponed indefinitely in July, with several Assembly members opposing it.

“We’ve just adjusted the hours a little bit,” Sullivan said during a press briefing last week.

The Mayor is like a dog with a bone, he wants this victory. I wonder why?

While the Mayor claims it will not affect the “Occupy Anchorage” folks in the park, it does basically force anyone who wants to stage a protest on the street to get a permit…something that costs money.

Public testimony is tonight:

Anchorage Assembly Meeting
Loussac Library
Assembly Chambers
3600 Denali, Room 108
Anchorage, Ak 99503

The testimony will be after 6:00 pm. C’MON DOWN!

If you can’t make it, PLEASE email your Assembly folks and let them know how you feel. Here is the email to hit them all: wwmas@muni.org and HERE IS THE PAGE for the individual emails. (Hint: Anyone living in Jennifer Johnston’s District (South Anchorage) should DEFINITELY let her know how you feel about this Ordinance.)