Anchorage Muni Voter Guide
The editors of The Mudflats don’t always agree, but this time we’re unanimous. What we agree upon most of all is that everyone must get out to vote tomorrow, Tuesday, April 1. Local elections are the most important, and least well attended. This one is particularly critical, so no excuses. Here’s your down and dirty voter guide. Anchorage Assembly Races East Side Adam Trombley vs. Pete Petersen vs. Mao Tosi Trombley has rallied the troops at the Anchorage Tea Party “Day of Resistance,” spent most of his time trying to distance himself from an increasingly unpopular Mayor who hand-selected him…
DC Dan’s Embryonic Memory
US Senate hopeful Dan Sullivan (R-OH–>DC–>AK) has decided to boost his nonexistent Alaska cred by campaign-branding the most traumatic event in Anchorage history. In addition to slapping his logo on the Good Friday Quake, Dan pours on the “we remember.” Given that the quake hit our city roughly 8 months before Sullivan’s birth in Ohio, his precocious, in-utero grasp of geological phenomena like the shifting of tectonic plates must have been impressive. The actual Alaskan in the Senate race shows our visitor from Ohio/DC how it’s done: Translation: “There’s no need to explicitly remind you I was born and raised here….
Racist Rant & School Board Voter Guide!
Anchorage School Board Seat D Before we horrify you senseless, we’ll start off with the good news. This one is going to be really easy for you when you stand in the voting booth. The things you read below might even GET you to the voting booth if you were thinking about sitting out the Municipal election on April 1. We give you incumbent Kameron Perez-Verdia vs. Don Smith. Kameron Perez-Verdia has an extensive resume of working in education, especially with high-risk children. He was appointed in a contentious process last year that was documented on The Mudflats. His pragmatism….
Blast from 2013: Why Don Smith Lost
This post originally appeared on Mudflats April 2, 2013 just before last year’s Municipal election that gave us our current, improved Anchorage School Board…one that does not include Don Smith and DOES include Kameron Perez-Verdia. It came about as the result of a tainted appointment process (to replace a Board member who resigned). The man they originally chose was known personally by members of the Board, who did not reveal their conflict. He was also a former VECO executive who personally paid bribes to the “Corrupt Bastards” group. Some quotes: . — “In his application for consideration for the empty…
Ma’o Tosi: Pattern of Poor Judgment
******UPDATE FEB 20th 11:55 PM****** Yesterday, Ma’o Tosi appeared on Dave Stieren’s KFQD radio show. During the course of the interview, Stieren asked him about his tax issues. Tosi assured him everything was fine: “…Our CPA has filed the extensions for our taxes within the non-profit so those aren’t issues as far as filing…” Really? When LKB spoke to Mrs. Somebody at the IRS (after being on hold seemingly forever) she was very thorough in questioning her about “extensions” and the rules involving 990s. According to the IRS: A) A non-profit’s 990 is due the 15th day of the 5th…
No Means No, Mr. Sullivan
Republican US Senate candidate Dan Sullivan has an interesting way of showing “respect” for women. For the past two weeks, Anchorage Assembly member and stalwart women’s advocate Elvi Gray-Jackson has been getting concerned phone calls from constituents about the use of a photograph captured at a “Choose Respect” rally—intended to highlight the issues of domestic violence and sexual assault that plague the state in record numbers. The event had nothing to do with the upcoming election. So what is Elvi Gray-Jackson doing with a Republican behind a giant banner advertising his senate candidacy? That is exactly what Assemblywoman Jackson and many others have been wondering. Dan Sullivan likely…
Parnell’s War on Education
Our governor gave his State of the Colony speech this week. In it, he tied “school reform” (by which he apparently means amending the Alaska Constitution to allow spending public money on private and religious schools) to raising the state’s contribution to each student’s education. I guess taking hostages is now Standard Operating Procedure for Republican elected officials. And even if those of us who like our constitution just the way it is were to acquiesce, Gov. Sean Parnell’s proposed “increase” in education funding wouldn’t come close to replacing what schools have lost to inflation in just the last three…
Quotes of the Week – A Sixpack
Oh no they di’int! It’s been quite a week for the gum-flappers, the yammerers, and the makers of opinion – some good, some bad, and some that make you just want to slam you head on the desk until they go away. Let’s dig in. Sarah Palin on Race What better way to start the week in which we celebrate civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. than with a little race baiting from our ex-half governor? Not sure if judging someone by the content of their character is really where she wants to go. Rush Limbaugh on Chris Christie…
Mudflats’ Top 13 of 2013
Since it’s two millennia plus a baker’s dozen on the calendar, we thought that it seemed appropriate to give a nod to the top 13 Mudflats stories of 2013. We noticed that six of the top 13 posts are about a certain former half governor who used to steer Alaska’s ship of state. We’re not quite sure what to make of this. We’re not ones to pat ourselves on the back, but that option is less horrifying to us than thinking that Sarah Palin is still all that important. We prefer instead to believe that she has simply morphed, devolved…
Mayor Sullivan’s Christmas Carol
Dan Sullivan, especially during his tenure as Mayor of Anchorage, could arguably qualify as “Dickensian.” In the past, Sullivan has funneled funds to his “friend” the “Party Planner,” made sure he got paid before he started the job, and signed a Municipal check for his family trust through a fake “insurance policy.” And that was just the first year! Scrooge would be so proud! Since then, he’s helped gut the schools by slashing the budget, lowering the tax cap and charging exorbitant fees; and caused Municipal employees to abandon city service like passengers on the Titanic, through the anti-union and…