2010 Hanshew Middle School Band

Not many people in political circles know that I credit music with saving my life.

I started playing the piano when I was six-years-old. I often kicked and screamed about practicing, but my mother was determined and I continued through my entire school career.

In sixth grade, I discovered the snare drum and concert band. I absolutely loved playing music with a group. That was around the time that I discovered that music was an escape from the insanity of my life at home.

Unfortunately in high school, I discovered that drugs and alcohol provided a different kind of escape. I dropped out of any band activity, though I continued with piano. My grades plummeted and it became clear that with only a 2.5 GPA junior year, I wouldn’t be getting into a decent college…

…until I started auditioning as a piano major. Suddenly, I was accepted at schools we couldn’t afford, like Temple University and Berkley School of Music. I received some modest scholarships to a couple of smaller schools but ended up going back home to Ohio and The University of Dayton. It was there that I truly fell in love with their much-touted marching band and was a member all four years. My membership in that band was my lifeline at a time when I was sinking deeper into alcoholism and depression.

When I made it to Alaska and sobriety, music reclaimed me. I even made a very tiny living for several years in the Anchorage music scene. Those were some of the best years of my life.

Music has now come full circle in my family. Morrigan took piano lessons for awhile. However, when a music teacher in grade school taught the kids to play penny whistle, we discovered that my daughter had a knack for the woodwinds. She started on the clarinet in sixth grade band and after only a couple of months, auditioned and was accepted into the Honor Band.

While the idea that music enhances math skills has been long claimed, recent studies show a more direct correlation between music and algebra:

Helmrich divided the students into three groups: Those who had received formal instruction on a musical instrument during the sixth, seventh and eighth grades; those who received choral instruction during those same years; and those who received no formal musical training.

She found the students who studied music significantly outperformed their peers. “Formal instrumental instruction impacted algebra scores the most,” she reports. “Choral instruction also affected scores, but to a lesser extent.”

From our experience, my husband and I noticed that as our daughter started to learn clarinet in sixth grade, she began to struggle less with her algebra assignments. Now, she’s two-years ahead in mathematics.

The video below is of the 2010 “Sonic Boom,” the end-of-the-year mass-performance of all sixth grade bands in the Anchorage School District.

If Governor Sean Parnell and Mayor Dan Sullivan have their way, this long-time Anchorage tradition may disappear, along with the entire sixth-grade music program.

Per the Anchorage Symphony website:

We learned that last week the ASD Music Supervisor received a request for information from a school board member about the potential cost savings if 6th grade band and orchestra were to be eliminated.

The school board will have its final reading of and will be voting on the ASD budget on Thursday, Feb. 9, starting at 5:00 p.m. in the ASD Education Center Board room.

We can express our opinions regarding the importance of 6th Grade Band and Orchestra in the following ways:

1. Call or email the school board. To email the school board, send one message to SchoolBoard@asdk12.org and all seven members will receive it.
2. Testify at the Feb. 9 meeting. People can sign up to testify via the same email address or can call 742-4312. Testimony is taken in the order received.
3. Attend the meeting [5530 E Northern Lights Blvd, Anchorage] to show support for music education. Please wear concert dress or all black.

The most important message is children must start an instrument early in life; middle school is too late. Personal stories have a big impact, especially from young people. This program has been cut over the years. Students used to start instrumental music in 4th grade, then the program was cut to starting in 5th grade and several years ago the program was cut to a 6th grade start. This year, 91% of ASD 6th graders are taking band and orchestra!

Remember: in order to testify at a School Board meeting, you must sign up with the Superintendent’s Office to testify at the meeting any time before 5:30 p.m., or one hour prior to the start of the meeting, whichever is earlier.

Cutting the sixth grade music program is just the latest of the bad possibilities from a school board that is desperate to find a solution that is least hurtful to the least number of students. If there is no increase in funding, the prospects are bleak. Those of you who read The Mudflats know that we’ve been spending quite a bit of time explaining what is happening to education in Alaska. We’ve told you about the several $$ million in outrageous fees Mayor Dan Sullivan has tacked on to the Anchorage School District and how he refuses to tax to the property tax cap. We’ve shared in several posts about Governor Parnell’s severe underfunding of the Department of Education in the budget currently before the Alaska Legislature. We’ve also described the horrible cuts the Anchorage School District is facing.

It is very, very important for folks to attend the Anchorage School Board Meeting and let their voices be heard. However, that MUST be followed up by contacting Governor Sean Parnell, Mayor Dan Sullivan, the Anchorage Assembly Members and the Alaska State Senators and Legislators. They must be told how important Alaska’s public schools are on a personal level.

I’ll see you on Thursday!

**UPDATE** (NOTE: There is no official action on the table at this time to cut 6th grade band/orchestra programs. The concern of music teachers/parents/musicians across the city comes from the fact that a member of the Anchorage School Board requested information as to the cost of the programs and currently, the Board is trying to figure out what cuts to make. When you testify Thursday, realize the Anchorage School Board is not the villain. Anger and frustration over the budget situation must be directed constructively (in a civilized way) at Governor Sean Parnell, Mayor Dan Sullivan, the Anchorage Assembly Members and the Alaska State Senators and Legislators. They are the ones who hold the purse strings.)

Friday, there was a press conference at which five former mayors of Anchorage pledged their support to the One Anchorage Voter Initiative–one that will provide the same legal protections to gay and transgender folks in employment, housing, finances and business that other folks already receive.

Per the press release:

The bipartisan group consists of:

US Senator Mark Begich;
former Alaska Governor Tony Knowles;
former Mayor Rick Mystrom;
former Mayor Jack Roderick, and
former Mayor Matt Claman.

“Across the nation, you see more and more communities passing similar laws because it’s the right thing to do,” said Senator Begich. “I am proud to see Anchorage take a stand and ensure that the city’s laws protect everyone fairly and equally.”

“This initiative is about giving all Anchorage residents the same legal protections,” said Former Governor Knowles. “I believe that if someone works hard and plays by the rules, they should be given a fair shake to earn a paycheck and put a roof over their family’s head.”

“When I talk with new minority residents of Anchorage, I often hear them talk about how welcoming and tolerant our city is,” said former Mayor Rick Mystrom. “As a former Mayor of Anchorage I’m proud of that and as an owner and operator of apartment buildings in Anchorage, this amendment is consistent with my beliefs and my company’s practices.”

The issues of fair hiring practices and equal housing trancend partisan politics among most reasonable people of all political persuasions.

Unfortunately, we have a group of well-funded unreasonable folks in this city as well.

As Mudflats has previously reported, Jim Minnery and the Alaska Family Council seem to be actively fundraising based on deliberate misinformation. They are also receiving expensive help from outside Alaska in the form of Religious Right legal group the Alliance Defense Fund that is mischaracterizing the initiative as a threat to religious freedom. Non-partisan Alaska employment law experts disagree.

For the religious right in Alaska, this is only the beginning. However, we have a very exciting solution!

To commemorate the 35 years that LGBT folks in Anchorage have been trying to get equal rights, One Anchorage launched a fundraising event called the 35/35/35 project. The campaign has been asking 35 supporters to then ask 35 of their friends to give $35.00 each.

The Mudflats One Anchorage Donation Page is RIGHT HERE!

Here at Mudflats, we decided to pool our Mudflatters, our Facebook pages and our Twitter followers to take it a step further…we would like to raise the equivalent amount to 350 of you donating $35.00 each!

You can find the Mudflats/One Anchorage Donation Page HERE!

If you can’t donate $35.00, give whatever you can. Our goal is $12,250.00 and I absolutely believe that we can do it! Equal rights for all is too important!

Please donate to The Mudflats/One Anchorage Donation Page!

Thank you all for your support and encouragement and don’t forget the most important thing of all…vote for equal rights on April 3rd!

The winning gladiator, in whatever desperate shape he happens to be – steak on his eye, split lip, dragging one leg, bleeding on the carpet – has earned the right to move on to the big fight. He’ll be wildly flailing his half-functional limb at the current champion who’s had his feet up, eating grapes and watching the carnage.

During Ronald Reagan’s 1966 campaign for governor of California, he established the so-called Eleventh Commandment: “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.”

“I am, in fact, the legitimate heir to the Reagan movement, not some liberal from Massachusetts,” Gingrich proclaimed on Sunday while simultaneously giving the Gipper’s eleventh, the finger. Don’t speak ill of a fellow Republican? Screw that. Newt has tasted win. And he likes it like crack. He’ll do anything for more, man… Anything. And with his numbers falling, and now behind by double digits to Mitt Romney, that means amping up the vitriol.

Having called Romney “pro-abortion, pro-gun control, pro-tax increase” on Sunday, Gingrich added the title “pro-gay rights” on Monday, in an acidic interview with Fox News. He rewound his last few days of attacks, combining all of his insults and all his vitriol into a string of remarkable assaults on Romney.

And so, the Romney Gingrich mad elephant fight rages on, with Republicans frantically choosing sides in an epic struggle for the right to lose in November. And the Democrats just laugh.

In Palinesque style, Gingrich has also perfected the art of the shameless pander. What’s a trip to Florida without promising the space coast a new lunar colony (by the end of his second term), or without casually mentioning that his opponent, during his time as Massachusetts governor, vetoed funds to expand the provision of kosher food for retirees. Gingrich, the Lutheran-turned-Baptist-turned-Catholic, ablaze with smugness and unashamed by his own transparency, announced that “Romney cut off kosher food to elderly Jews on Medicare.”

NASA – check
Jews – check
Retirees – check
Homophopes, evangelicals, and gun nuts? Check, check, and check.

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney has countered by throwing four times as much money into his own advertising, and gazing down his nose, calling Gingrich’s desperate attacks “sad.” He has played the superiority card as only the perfectly coiffed moneyed elite can play it. (insert golf clap here)

And what would a bout of clown-on-clown violence be without a caustic screeching ring girl?

Yes, Sarah Palin has chimed in denouncing the Florida battle as “Stalinesque” and “cannibalism.” “I’m not whining about the viciousness,” she notes, but the “rewritten history.” “Enough is enough with the lies about Newt Gingrich.”

Nope, the viciousness is A-OK with Palin. Big thumbs up for that. As a matter of fact, Palin’s pseudo-endorsement of Gingrich was only, she claimed, to keep the competition going. Don’t call off the bloodbath yet! They’re both still technically standing! Palin’s rationale from the marble seat in the Coliseum where she sits is that “we need a big dog who has been sharpened and shaped through the school of hard knocks the most.”

And so they bludgeon on, with Gingrich vowing to take it all the way to the convention, and President Obama going up against the “sharpened and shaped big dog” who can stay upright and conscious the longest.

Our thoughts wander to November, and we picture the reigning champion, in gleaming Brooks Brothers gladiator-wear, fist pumping, nostrils flared, approaching the wheezing, swaying “big dog.” The champ touches his confused, sweaty opponent with an index finger to the solar plexus, and down he goes like a big oozing tree. A loser-shaped ring of dust rises around him as he lands.

But in the meantime, there is butter to melt, and salt to sprinkle, and corn to pop. We have many rounds to go before the end of this dog fight. Here’s to Florida. We don’t really care who wins, so the best we can do is hope for an entertaining night.

Last school year, I wrote a post about the proposed cuts in the Anchorage School District budget and how they would affect a family of a middle school student. It was then I became aware of the outrageous fees Mayor Dan Sullivan was charging the school district–for example: 100% of the salaries and benefits of those Anchorage Police–called Resource Officers–who only service the School District about 70% of the time. I tried to show how they were taking millions of dollars away from our kids. (Note: As of this week, these fees have not changed.)

Sadly, this week Jeanne wrote a post about this year’s cuts. They are much worse than last year and are precipitated by both Governor Parnell’s under-funding as well as Mayor Sullivan’s refusal to tax to the cap.

But it’s not just Anchorage that is suffering. Fairbanks, Juneau and many smaller and more rural schools are in deep trouble if things don’t change. The worst part: this is all orchestrated as part of a larger and more national attack on public education. Alaska is just next-in-line.

For over a year now, I’ve watched how the anti-public school drama has played out in Alaska on multiple fronts. From the Municipality of Anchorage to the Legislature to the Governor’s Office to outside organizations, the forces at work are performing a complex dance in multiple venues…a dance that is impossible to follow unless one is a complete research nerd (and then, only tenuously). I’ve wanted to write about it all in that context…I’ve started a number of posts. However, I haven’t been able to figure out how to present it. I started writing a list, like an outline…

…and realized that was the best way to start.

So here is a list of the characters in this drama and the means they are using to achieve their agenda — a summary of their activities so far. Jeanne and I will be writing multiple posts in the future on these education issues. This gives you a place to look up the various characters and refresh your memory about their place in the story.

Disclaimer: I want to emphasize that while the characters supporting these false “reforms” in Alaska seem to be Republican, the issue is not a partisan one. From what I can see, the majority of Alaska’s Republican Legislators are not yet “sold” on this bill of goods and are more than happy to receive input from their constituents.

The problem: Like every other Alaska issue, these strategies are generally pushed forward by those religious ideologues and/or those beholden to businesses/corporations who want privatization across-the-board. These businesses/corporations who are pushing this “education reform” agenda can do so with tons of money and the help of friendly politicians. We must contact our State Senators and Representatives to counter any misinformation. I hope this and future posts help you to do that.

Leading the attack:

– Governor Sean Parnell — I covered some of the issues with the Governor at the beginning and discuss his budget below. Since the election, Governor Parnell has truly shown his religious extremist leanings and tea party philosophy, which includes a strong “Christian” influence in the interpretation of law. An alarming number of his appointees also seem to reflect his beliefs.

– Representative Wes Keller — Originally appointed by Sarah Palin to fill a vacancy in the Legislature, Mr. Keller is a religious extremist and tea partier through-and-through. He is a state chairman for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) Mr. Keller is the sponsor/creator of House Bill 145 and House Joint Resolution 16 (see below) with some help from ALEC’s “model bills.”

– Senator Fred Dyson — He wasn’t appointed by Palin but “ditto” to everything else. Dyson is sponsor of the companion legislation in the Senate, SB 106 and he attended the ALEC Conference with Keller last year.

– ALEC — A slightly re-worded summary from Pro Publica — I encourage you to follow the link and read the entire post: “For decades, a discreet nonprofit called the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC has brought together state legislators and corporate representatives to produce business-friendly “model” legislation. These “model” bills form the basis of hundreds of pieces of legislation each year, and they often end up as laws.”

– The Friedman Foundation — Per the Nation: “For most of the half-century since economist Milton Friedman first advanced the idea of school vouchers, it’s been the ultimate weapon in our educational debates, always ticking just under the surface, never quite going off. But after last November’s Republican statehouse victories, the right, sometimes abetted by Democrats and liberals, has brought back vouchers and school privatization with a vengeance.”

The Foundation has been heavily involved in most of those voucher battles across the country. As I will discuss below, they have turned their sites on Alaska by conducting a poll of residents regarding school vouchers.

– Mayor Dan Sullivan — I have recapped some of the Mayor’s anti-education moves at the beginning of this post and Mudflats as a whole has covered many more. His “Education Summit” is ongoing and I discuss it below.

– Jim Minnery–Minnery’s Alaska Family Council lists “School Choice” as one of their top issues. Minnery has been a proponent of changing the AK Constitution in order to use State money for religious education since back in 2008, as this email between Gov. Sarah Palin and then Atty General Talis Coleberg shows.

– The Catholic Archdiocese of Anchorage It’s not hard to guess the motivation behind the Archdiocese’s push for school vouchers, as reflected in the “Catholic Anchor.” A story in the Chicago Tribune on what the results of Indiana’s voucher program revealed: “…Just as backers had hoped and opponents feared, a new statewide school voucher program in Indiana is draining money from public education and offering new life to struggling parochial schools.” My understanding is that the economy has taken a serious toll on the enrollment in parochial (as well as private) schools in the state. Last year, one of them had a Senior graduating class of three. These schools may be counting on our State money to keep them afloat.

– KIPP Charter Schools — I included KIPP on this list even though their only actual appearance in the state was in the form of Dr. Mike Feinberg, who taught 5th grade for three whole years with Teach For America and then founded the “Knowledge Is Power Program” (KIPP) Charter Schools. The reason I list them is because the presentation by Feinberg at the Education Summit (third video, first speaker after Superintendent Comeau) sounded like he was trying to sell a Veg-O-Matic or a set of Ginsu knives rather than inform a group about education alternatives. And it makes sense…Alaska is a rich oil state with a surplus when most other states have deficits. You could almost see the man drooling.

The Artillery:

– Governor Parnell’s Operating Budget (HB 284 — starting on page 8) — The Governor promised that his budget was a “full funding of K-12 Education”. In actuality, the budget doesn’t even cover inflation (which averaged 3.16% in 2011) and now has school districts across the state scrambling to cut much-needed programs. How much of a slap-in-the face was it to K-12 Education in Alaska? The “Teaching and Learning” line-item in the Department of Education budget makes up the bulk of the money shared by every school district in Alaska. If the budget stays as-is, Alaska schools will receive a little over $237 million this year…an increase of about $3 million from last year or about 1.3%. However, the Office of the Governor “Executive Office” line-item (which includes the Governor’s Staff) will be receiving over $13 million this year — an increase of almost $2 million or over 13%!

– House Joint Resolution (HJR) 16 — A resolution which, if passed, would place an amendment to the Constitution on the ballot, allowing for public (education) money to go for a “public purpose.” According to the text of the resolution, it still specifically does NOT allow state money to go towards private or religious institutions. However, it DOES seem geared to allow state funds for privatized education. Also, I have been told of one more possibility (which will require more research)…it could leave open the option of a for-profit business that owns a religious school receiving funds. From Wes Keller’s Sponsor Statement:

HJR 16 opens some of these doors for both public and private education by allowing the release of funds to more than just public schools. This Constitutional Amendment allows those students seeking to excel in secondary and post secondary education to attend a school that meets their needs.

Like I said…more research…

– House Bill (HB) 145 (Senate companion bill SB 106) — Titled the same as the ALEC template voucher bill, HB145 is intended to establish: “…the parental choice scholarship program to be administered by school districts for the purpose of paying the cost of attending grades kindergarten through 12 at public and private schools…” In other words, it will establish school vouchers with State of Alaska money.

At this time, it suffers from some major drawbacks:

1) It’s unconstitutional per Article 7 Section 1 a) State money cannot be used to fund private or religious education (see HJR 16) and b) We must “establish and maintain a system of public schools open to all children of the State,” — since many village parents will be unable to utilize this “choice” (voucher), it could quite possibly get decimated in the courts.

2) Because there have been amendments on top of amendments in an attempt to get it to work, it is a huge pile of gobbledy gook that most of the members of the House Education Committee don’t even completely understand, based on their Friday meeting. Those pushing the bill (Rep Keller, Rep Dick) seem to think it’s been in the Education Committee “an embarassing” amount of time and just needs to get moved along…whether it functions or not.

**There is another meeting scheduled for Wednesday Feb 1st and I intend to send my testimony to the Committee beforehand. I encourage you to do the same.**

– “Alaska K-12 School Choice Survey” — Several months ago, I was listening to a conservative show when the host started discussing a poll that proves Alaska wants to have vouchers private charter schools. It turned out to be a poll that was funded by the Friedman Foundation. The host was quoting numbers over 60% in favor of various types of alternative education…pretty impressive. When I researched the poll, I discovered the most important question:

How familiar are you with [Charter Schools/Virtual Schools/School Vouchers] in K-12 education? Not that familiar/Never heard of it — 62%

So basically, the vast majority polled had no idea what these folks were talking about. So, when these Alaskans who were quite used to receiving free money in the form of a Permanent Fund Dividend Check each year were asked a question worded like this:

“An education savings account allows parents to withdraw their child from a public district or charter school and recieve a payment into a government authorized savings account with restricted but multiple uses. Parents can then used these funds to pay for private school tuition, virtual education programs, private tutoring or saving for future college expenses. In general, do you favor or opppose this kind of savings account system?”

61% were all for it!

Note that 61% is about the same percentage of folks who had no idea what “school choice” really is. In other words, the same percentage of folks who know what all of this means said “no” to the free money.

Another note: if you look at the survey demographics, only 13% were Alaska Native. That does not match the State of Alaska demographics according to the 2010 Census, but it does match the Municipality of Anchorage demographics. In other words, while these folks were claiming that their “sample size” was Alaska, it was probably just Anchorage.

Why is that significant?

Anchorage School District already has really nice charter schools within the system (and there is no reason we can’t have more). If you ask someone from Anchorage about charter schools, especially if they don’t know about the lower-48 kind, that will completely skew their responses.

– The Education Summit — Per Municipal Code, Mayor Dan Sullivan’s roll in enacting School District changes is generally signing or vetoing what’s been passed through the School Board and the Anchorage Assembly. However, being that it’s an election year, he adopted the role of Superintendent by collecting corporate and private business money for an Education Summit. It was set up in three parts:

1) He hired Viewpoint Learning, a company of professional “handlers,” then hand-picked a mostly-conservative 100 participants. They brought up seven panelists. All but two of them were clearly pushing a privatized charter school and/or voucher agenda, four of them worked for organizations whose funding was provided directly by privatization advocates and only one had proof of an education plan with long-term success…a non-privatization pro-union strategy in Finland.

2) Now in phase 2, The Mayor’s Office is currently asking for Anchorage residents to attend the “community conversations.” This is the only time that the general public will have any input n the “scenarios” reached during the Education Summit. I’ve already signed up for one and I encourage everyone to do the same.

3) There will be a “Capstone Summit” in June where some of the Summit participants and some of the Community Dialogue participants will get together and finalize “recommendations.”

To be continued…

Last week, I listened-in on an Alaska Public Offices Commission hearing regarding an old friend of ours here at Mudflats, Mr. Bob Griffin.

You remember Bob:

– In April 2011, he ran on his status as a veteran and a pilot in order to win a seat the Anchorage School Board (he lost), in a campaign best-known for the accusations of illegal yard signs. He was also one of Mayor Sullivan’s chosen-ones in that campaign, receiving donations from the both the Mayor and his wife.

– In May 2011, Mr. Griffin showed some questionable judgement through the methods he used to conduct an unscientific study for a local conservative organization.

– In July 2011, he was appointed by Mayor Sullivan to the Budget Advisory Committee advising the Municipality and the School District on how they should budget their money.

On Griffin’s campaign website from last year, he went out of his way to make us feel good about donating to his School Board effort. He stated: “I haven’t accepted any special-interest donations for my campaign, only small individual contributions…”

However, it’s what Mr. Griffin did (or didn’t do) with the donations he received that got him in trouble.

On October 14, 2011, the Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC) Staff filed a complaint against Bob Griffin. In the complaint, they alleged that he “filed inaccurate and incomplete campaign disclosure reports for the 2011 Anchorage Election” and “failed to disburse surplus campaign funds within 90 days of the election.”

During the investigation, it got even more interesting.

The APOC Staff discovered that Mr. Griffin also:

–accepted a cash contribution “in excess of the statutory limits”;

–accepted anonymous contributions;

–converted campaign funds to personal income, and…

–did not forfeit the anonymous funds to the State of Alaska.

After hearing and reading the Staff report, we can see that the money amounts involved are small. However, that’s a point that cuts both ways. It should have been easy for Mr. Airline Pilot to rectify the problem. APOC Staff gave Mr. Griffin from July 26, 2011 to October 14, 2011 to fix the errors in the reports and rectify the financial issues…three 1/2 months. Griffin was warned in September that if he didn’t fix the problems, APOC Staff would be forced to file a complaint. However, the thing that makes me shake my head in utter disbelief is the blatantly disrespectful, disgraceful and uncaring behavior exhibited by Bob Griffin during the entire process. The fact that this is a Mayoral appointee is beyond-the-pale.

Directly from the Staff Report:

Staff acquired the full scope of Respondent‟s violations through the investigation process. After the Complaint was filed, APOC Staff repeatedly requested Mr. Griffin‟s bank records, both orally and in writing. The bank records were not provided voluntarily and Staff subpoenaed the records from Mr. Griffin. The records were not provided until the original due date of the staff report, November 14, 2011.

Respondent’s records showed a number of irregularities. While the records did show the majority of the campaign money was disbursed in a timely fashion, deposits did not match the reported contributions. Moreover, cash withdrawals were made from ATMs in various states. Mr. Griffin told Staff he transferred money from his personal checking account into the campaign account to access cash on work layovers in Hawaii and California because his personal bank cards were not working. However, due to bank fees for the withdrawals, Mr. Griffin withdrew $11.75 more than he transferred.

Staff asked for detailed bank records for the campaign account. On November 21, 2011, Mr. Griffin provided specific records to help explain the discrepancies. At that time, Respondent self-reported an undisclosed contribution of $250 during the 24 Hour reporting period and $64 dollars in undisclosed, anonymous cash contributions (one from March 3 and one from March 25). As of the date of this Staff Report, no 105 Day Report has ever been received and the public still does not have information regarding that reporting period.

That brings me to the day of the hearing, January 12, 2012. I called-in to the teleconference number at APOC, expecting a hearing like the ones I’ve attended before. However, all we heard was the Staff report because Mr. Griffin was too craven to show up and testify.

As a result, the Commission was left with only the Staff Report on which to base their ruling:

After consideration of the Staff report and evidence, the Commission adopts the Staff report in full including the recommendations that Respondent forfeit $79.61 to the State of Alaska; return $100 to Rob Timmons within 60 days; pay a civil penalty of $4000 and pay $1700 for Staff costs; and, that Respondent attend an APOC candidate training program prior to running for office again.

$4,000 is one of the highest civil penalties I’ve ever seen lodged against a candidate.

Meanwhile, we have this deplorable, corrupt individual serving as an appointee to Mayor Sullivan. (Sound like Bill Sheffield, anyone?) Currently, Griffin is shadowing School Board and Assembly Meetings and giving budget advice. Bob Griffin did not turn in one accurate finance report from his own campaign! What business does he have giving anyone advice?

After all, in Griffin’s own words…from the blog on his campaign site titled “Privilege to Serve”:

During my 20 years as an Air Force fighter pilot and Army attack helicopter pilot, I made a pretty universal observation about my coworkers: the best public servants are not very motivated by money; many of the worst ones are.

Yes, Bob, we couldn’t agree more.

Mr. Mayor, get rid of this guy.

—————————————————————–

If you want to contact Mayor Sullivan about Bob Griffin:

Use this EMAIL FORM.

Call the Mayor’s Office at (907) 343-7100

If you wish to contact the Anchorage Assembly about Bob Griffin:

Here is the email for all Assemblymembers: wwmas@muni.org

If you would rather call your individual Assembly member, here is the PHONE LIST.

by Linda Kellen Biegel

When “One Anchorage” was preparing to file their now-successful petition with the city to place their initiative on the April 3rd ballot, most supporters and those experienced with similar campaigns agreed that it would be very difficult to provide a rational argument against the initiative itself. As it states on the website:

“The One Anchorage Initiative simply provides to gay and transgender Alaskans the same legal protections that we already provide to other persons in Anchorage in employment, financial practices, housing, and restaurants, department stores and other businesses.”

In other words, to fight against the language of the initiative, you would have to somehow advocate that firing someone from a job or denying someone housing based purely on their sexual orientation or gender identity is somehow acceptable. As I have discovered in my discussions, even some of the most conservative or religiously fanatical folks are unwilling to openly advocate for that.

So, what happens when extremists discover that the truth about their stance is a losing argument? They turn to lies, half-truths and misdirection…especially those organizations desperate to hold onto their very best fundraising issue.

True to form, Jim Minnery has done just that in a recent begging email to the followers of Alaska Family Council. Featured in Shannyn Moore’s most recent opinion piece, Minnery begins his plea by describing a “recent” case in the UK where a “Christian couple” was denied a foster parent license because, according to the email, “they are unwilling to tell the children in their care that homosexuality is a morally equivalent lifestyle to heterosexuality.” The email then goes on to claim: “According to the British high court, “traditional Christian views about sexuality are harmful to children.”

Obviously, the most important thing about this email is that a ruling in the United Kingdom has absolutely nothing to do with a ballot initiative in Anchorage, Alaska. We had an entire war a few hundred years ago to make that decision.

However, I decided to do a little research to discover how far these folks were willing to stretch the truth and sow misinformation in order to generate the necessary faux-outrage on this side of the pond.

As it turns out, Minnery and his friends went pretty far:

–The email claims this ruling is “recent.” According to the press in Great Britain, the ruling was made in February of 2011, almost a year ago. I guess “recent” is in the eye of the beholder.

–The email insinuates that the Mr. and Mrs. Johns were denied foster parent status to prevent them from simply “discussing their objections” to homosexuality with those “small children” (5 to 10 yrs old) who would be in their care. In actuality, The Derby City Council (whose rejection of the Johns’s application was the basis for the case) gave a more accurate statement of the issue: “It would be inappropriate for the council to approve foster carers who cannot meet minimum standards. It would be difficult and impractical to match children with Mr and Mrs Johns if they feel that strongly.” In other words, since a child’s sexual orientation is not generally known at that young of an age, it would be impossible for the City to determine which children would eventually discover that they were LGBT and could suffer harm from such discrimination under their roof.

–Finally, as far as I can determine, the alleged quote attributed to the British High Court ruling (“traditional Christian views about sexuality are harmful to children“) is a complete fabrication. I was unable to trace it to any UK publications. No published accounts of the ruling which contain the actual language have anything which even resembles that quote. On the contrary, I found Lord Justice Munby’s written decision to be worded quite differently:

“However, it is important to realise that reliance upon religious belief, however conscientious the belief and however ancient and respectable the religion, can never of itself immunise the believer from the reach of the secular law. And invocation of religious belief does not necessarily provide a defence to what is otherwise a valid claim.

Some cultural beliefs and practices are simply treated by the law as being beyond the pale. Some manifestations of religious practice will be regulated if contrary to a child’s welfare. One example is the belief that the infliction of corporal punishment is an integral part of the teaching and education of children and is efficacious … And some aspects of mainstream religious belief may even fall foul of public policy…”

I was also unable to trace that quote to anything published in any part of the world at the time of the actual ruling. However, I did discover the same story, almost word-for-word, in a post from December 29, 2011…less than 1 month ago and a few days before the AFC email. This appeared on the blog for the Family Policy Institute of Washington (FPIW). FPIW is affiliated with James Dobson’s Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council, as is Alaska Family Council. FPIW also has a recent history of attempting to circumvent campaign disclosure law.

I took you through the analysis of that email because it’s important to see what strategy the religious extremists have at play and what a difficult job they actually have. You see, those of us who support One Anchorage have a much easier task. We don’t have to try and remember which lie we told on what day. We don’t have to memorize language to “pretty anything up” and make it sound better or different than it is. The best, most effective language to describe the ballot initiative is the initiative itself. The best, most effective arguments in favor of the initiative are the true stories of LGBT discrimination in Anchorage…all of us know at least one…and the fact that this initiative will make any future incidents illegal.

The best news of all is that the most effective person to spread this information and make these arguments is YOU!

One Anchorage needs you to be a phone bank volunteer and spread the word. Because, while our opponents’ message is full of half-truths and misinformation, they are using it to raise money and get voters out on April 3rd. If One Anchorage can get enough volunteers, we can arm folks with the truth about the initiative when they go to the polls.

Please SIGN UP NOW!

I was also told by the phone bank folks that there will be nightly contests and prizes as well as some great camaraderie!

So please, SIGN UP and help One Anchorage! You never know WHO you might meet…

[Former candidate Michele Bachmann, with her husband Marcus (in pink shirt and tie) says farewell to the race. Photo by Chris Carlson/AP]

Let’s do a quick Countdown of Crazy, and touch base with the best of the best of the Republican party and what they have to offer us in country leading potential.

6) Michele Bachmann

Rumors began last night that Michele Bachmann was going to drop out of the race for the GOP’s presidential nomination. Then she told a close group of friends she’d be staying in, and that she was the one true conservative who could take on Baraaack Obaaama.  But now, in the cold clear light of the Iowa morning sun, she has rethought her position again, and has decided to bow out of the race, after what was ostensibly a last-place finish.

But even “the best campaigner in the family” was slacking on the job yesterday. Marcus Bachmann was apparently off buying doggie sunglasses for the family dog Boomer, which the candidate revealed in a speech for no particular reason. Note Marcus Bachmann’s classic reaction to his wife’s revelation below.

She then went on to thank her children, consulting a list so she could remember them all.

This morning, our favorite crazy-eyed Sarah substitute threw in the towel.

“Last night the people of Iowa spoke with a very clear voice and so I have decided to stand aside,” she said at a press conference this morning in Des Moines. “I believe if we are going to repeal Obamacare, turn our country around and take back our country we must do so united and I believe we must rally around the person our country, our party and our people chooses to be that standard bearer.”

Although she had her brief time on top, placing first in an Iowa GOP poll last summer, the more she spoke, the lower her numbers went. With little support or money left, her time was up and the crazy train made its last stop, in Des Moines.

5) Rick Perry

“Governor Good Hair” Perry was also widely rumored to be dropping out of the race. The following was even tweeted by one of his staffers:

 @Ssmith06: 25 degrees in Aiken, South Carolina. My boss just quit his Presidential campaign and bars close in 30 minutes. Shit.

Can’t take that back, red-faced staffer.

It turns out that rumors of the candidate’s demise were exaggerated, and Perry will stay in the race – at least until South Carolina. He himself tweeted his intent, along with a picture of himself running by a lake, Palin-style,  and giving a thumbs up.

@GovernorPerry: And the next leg of the marathon is the Palmetto State…Here we come South Carolina!!!

With three exclamation points, who knows what could happen!?! Next step, The White House!!!  But first, he’ll be taking a few days to go home “back to the ranch” in Texas, as it were, to spend some time in prayer and contemplation!!!

4) Newt Gingrich

What happens when you put a Newt in the corner and poke it with a little stick? It gets angry, that’s what. And you wouldn’t like it when it’s angry… Heck, you don’t even like it when it’s not angry. Then, it’s just being a condescending, mean-spirited, blowhard, that’s completely out of touch with human beings.

That’s our #4 boy, and he doesn’t much care for Mitt Romney (spoiler alert!) the winner last night. He spent a good deal of time after the caucus praising people who weren’t mean to him, and shooting poison arrows at a certain someone who had something to do with a certain organization who ran certain negative ads.

Romney’s super PAC — like those informally affiliated with Rick Perry, Barack Obama and others — is staffed by friends and former staffers. Election rules permit these super PACs to raise unlimited amounts from the superrich and — thanks to the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United – corporations. The candidates may help raise money for these super PACs. Super PACs must reveal their donors on a monthly or quarterly basis, though they accept donations from nonprofit organizations that are not required to reveal their donors (and argue the practice is legal). The main limit on super PAC activity is that they may not coordinate their activities with the candidates or their campaigns. But this is a more formal than consequential restriction, since the super PACs are staffed by those who know well what the campaigns want.

He had called Mitt Romney a “liar” saying he knew more about the spending of the SuperPAC Restore Our Future and their negative ads than he let on.

Who’d a thunk that one of the first to feel the nasty teeth of the Citizens United ruling would be the likes of Newt Gingrich. And this is nothing compared to what we can expect in the general election. Have the Tums handy for the next ten months, and get ready for some down and dirty playground ass-kicking behind the monkey bars at 3:30.

3) Ron Paul

Scoring more than half of the vote in the 18-24 age group, and 43% of independent voters, there’s no doubt that our goofy, delusional uncle had a good night. He emerged, for Iowans as the non-religious wingnut alternative to Mitt Romney. His supporters and staff are mighty proud.

Paul’s campaign manager crowed:

“There were three tickets out of Iowa, and Ron Paul earned one of them. One of the three tickets, the one belonging to Rick Santorum, is a dead-end due to Santorum’s weak fundraising and lack of national campaign organization.

“This is now a two way race between establishment candidate Mitt Romney and the candidate for real change, Ron Paul.”

But Paul still comes in behind Newt Gingrich in national polls. Perhaps Paul’s rapid supporters, and financial assistance to those same SuperPAC ads that Romney helped to fund will take care of that.  Shhhhh… Don’t anger the newt!

2) Rick Santorum

Sex-obsessed loathsome guy came in second, only eight votes behind. How about that. It’s as though everyone who hates Mitt Romney just let someone pick the name of one of the other candidates out of a hat and everyone flocked to support them, until they learned about them, or until they said something about Libya (the continent where Republican candidates go to die). Then a new name was chosen, and the process was repeated. Bachmann, Cain, Gingrich… and now Santorum. His moment in the sun happened to come at the right time.

Either that or the country really is ready for a man who would annul all same-sex marriages, outlaw abortion, ban contraception, let insurance companies reject you for pre-existing conditions, and get rid of food stamps. What. People are obese – they don’t need food stamps! And while we’re at it, we need to do something about all those disruptive gay soldiers who shouldn’t be allowed to protect our freedom in close quarters.

And the winner is…

1) Mitt Romney

Nobody likes him. He won anyway.

Miscellaneous 

And how could we forget ol’ what’s their names?

Jon Huntsman
Being sane and all, he was all but completely ignored in Iowa. Understanding his devastating liability, he ignored them too – mutual snubbing. Next stop, New Hampshire.

Herman Cain
The Herminator got an impressive 58 votes. Yes, that’s right. Fifty-eight Iowans, knowing their guy was out of the race and why, were so committed to the world’s most infamous gropey pizza man, and so enamored by his “likability” that they left their homes in the cold to write in his name. Kind of makes you feel all warm and gooey, in a horrified, “are you kidding me” sort of way.

Other
There’s our girl! We knew she’d pop up eventually. She got lumped in with Johnson and Roemer whom nobody has ever actually seen. But, even if every single one of the 117 other votes went for you-know-who, there’s the maximum ground-shattering force of the “Palin Earthquake.” Sorry, Iowans. That was no earthquake – just a big truck full of crazy rumbling by on the street on its way to nowhere.

And what does all this mean? How important are the Iowa caucuses, really?

Just ask last year’s winner – President Huckabee.

Unlike the object of their affection, Palinbots refuse to quit.

A radio, and TV ad are appearing in Iowa this week, in advance of the Iowa caucuses, urging people to “vote rogue” and write Sarah Palin’s name on the ballot.

Behold.

The Sarah Palin Earthquake Group (so named because Palin said that nothing save a 10.3 magnitude earthquake would cause her to run) made a statement on Facebook. “MEMBERS: I am happy to announce that our group will be credited with running some radio ads in Iowa on station WHO over this week and weekend. We were asked by some independent individuals if we would work with them to get the ads put on. They are donating to having the ads run and we are lending our Iowa Earthquake’s name to the ads. They have secured a spot on the Rush Limbaugh show and Simon Conway show along with other scattered time slots. This will add to the saturation of the airwaves this last week. Thank you to our members and others who arranged this merger of all of us!”

No further information on who the “independent individuals” might be, but the die-hard Palinistas are out there trying to create an earthquake as part of their “draft Sarah Palin” movement. If Sarah wants a 10.3, then a 10.3 Sarah will have. It’s like bringing Tinkerbell back to life – if everyone would only clap (donate), and believe (write in her name), then we can bring Tink back to life! She will be saved from a life of irrelevance (punctuated only by brief moments of mockery) and conservatives will be saved from the clown car of current candidates.

The latest squabbles in the Republican field do little to reassure conservatives that they have a solid leader. Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry have failed to get on the ballot in Virginia. Newt says his situation is like Pearl Harbor. Mitt Romney said it’s more like Lucille Ball in the chocolate factory. Michele Bachmann lost her campaign co-chair in Iowa to the Ron Paul campaign. She said he’s been paid off. Few seem to have passed the benchmark of minimum basic administrative or temperamental competence needed to run the country, and those who do are loathed for not being “conservative enough.”

Which brings us back to the Mama Grizzly. Has enough time passed, and have enough people forgotten that Palin herself fails to meet that benchmark of competence? Is she like the old girlfriend that starts to look better all the time because you actually forget what she was like? Do the Palinbots believe that voters are so desperate they’ll ignore it every time she puts her naughty monkey pump in her mouth?

Conservatives4Palin states, “A win in Iowa would be a strong enough earthquake to meet the bar she has set. If we could deliver Iowa for her, it would make a huge statement for her viability and in her supporters’ sincere grassroots efforts to help get her into the race.”

You’ve got to hand it to the Palinbots. They’ve got more stick-to-it-iveness than their candidate does.

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.”

Looking for a fun and unique stocking stuffer for the progressive on your list? Here’s one to check out from the creators of Going Rouge: the Sarah Palin Coloring and Activity book, Julie Sigwart and Michael Stinson.

From their website, which includes excerpts from the book:

We rewrote the Lewis Carroll Victorian classic “Alice in Wonderland,” and recast beloved Wonderland characters to reflect the current crew of Tea Party sympathizers, media, and politicians who seem to have gone Madder than Glenn Beck, the March Hare! Curiously enough, they fit like a glove! Alice stars as an “Independent Voter” who must somehow navigate this bizarro world populated by Tea Party crazies!

[Just so our fans know, this is neither a coloring nor comic book, it's the entire Carroll classic completely rewritten, word for word!]

You can read our full release here, and we’ve also posted excerpts from the book:

Chapter II:The Pool of GOP Candidate Tears
Chapter V:Advice from BigCaterpillar.com
Poem:You Are Old, Father Media

Order your copy here today!