Category Archives: news

Parnell’s BOF choice gets sunk

Monday saw a bit of dramatic theater on the House floor in the capitol building when a re-nomination to the Board of Fisheries went down in a squeaker. The vote against Vince Webster pitted big monied commercial fisherman against powerful sports fisherman, urban and rural politicians, and Gov. Sean Parnell against the chairman of one of the most powerful legislative committee.

The vote tally was 29 to 30.

Webster was first picked by former Gov. Sarah Palin to sit on the board in 2007. He lives in King Salmon and is a commercial fisherman and is said to favor that user group over sports fishermen.

On the floor on Monday, House Finance Chairman Rep. Bill Stoltze, who took the lead in the legislature to capsize the confirmation, said that Webster was a “very clever and effective spokesman” for the commercial fisheries and to that end, he “does things legally but not always right,” to help commercial fisherman.

He also mentioned Webster’s association with Palin. “He was Todd Palin’s guy,” Stoltze said. He hasn’t been “Alaska’s guy,” he said.

Parnell had spent at least some political capital fighting for Webster, though the governor himself appeared to be absent on the debate, as he has been for many debates on important issues. On the night before the vote, an email did emerge from the governor’s office urging support, but it was sent by Parnell’s chief of staff Mike Nizich instead of the governor himself, a small signal that likely ended up mattering.

It also likely didn’t help that the Nizich’s email appeared to be directed at claims against Webster brought by the politically active Kenai River Sportsman Association. Among other charges, KRSA said that Webster “directly participated in precariously and unnecessarily lowering the escapement goal of Kenai River king salmon during a time of record low abundance and uncertain future production.” He did this, the group said, to benefit commercial salmon setnetters at the expense of sports and personal use fish interests.

Nizich called such claims against Webster “misleading, “incomplete,” and “inaccurate.”

KRSA obviously represents sportsman’s interests, as does Stoltze, who has nearly every bill that Parnell has taken interest in in his committee.

In other words, this is not a good time to take on Stoltze. Counting votes, others obviously felt the same. But you wouldn’t know if you were an audience member watching the floor during the debate, where a handful of legislators spoke on Websters behalf, urging fellow members to disregard the attacks against Webster. Indeed, a group of college students from across the state, who were in the gallery, said that they were sure Webster would make it.

Only one other legislator, Rep. Les Gara, spoke against Webster.

At times during testimony in House Finance, the tension between Stoltze and Rep. Les Gara, who sits on that committee, has been knife cutting. They made nice today, however. We’ll see how long the love-fest lasts.

Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com

GOP Chair attempts to bar the door

The Alaska Republican Party State Executive Committee is to meet Monday evening at party headquarters in Midtown Anchorage to discuss dysfunctional party issues and what to do about the current chair, Debbie Brown. Brown’s been a continual thorn in the party’s side since she took over for ousted Russ Millette in February, who was the whole branch of thorns.

Recently, Brown has tried to fire nearly every unpaid party functionary, even the ones who were elected. Among those “fired,” are powerful party activist Paulette Simpson, Rev. Jerry Prevo’s right-hand-man Glenn Clary, and Tom Wright, chief of staff to House Speaker Mike Chenualt. (See Wright’s response below).

There is a little glitch, however. Brown supposedly is out of town. Before she left, she changed the locks on the door to the headquarters. Perhaps knowing that they could always channel G. Gordon Liddy to help with those locks, she sent out an email on Monday morning warning against those who might be tempted.

“No one is to enter the premises without permission from the State Chairman,” Brown wrote. “Any unauthorized attempt to enter the premises will be met by the authorities.”

Here’s Wright’s response to being fired by Brown:

Thank you for your email and attached letter in regards to my termination as the District V finance chair. Your letter and email are saving me the trouble from having to resign this position. I no longer wish to be associated with any duties related to the party under your leadership. I hope the termination is effective immediately.

There’s another chair waiting in the wings. Peter Goldberg is currently vice-chair and thought to be sane and sensible. We’ll see if that lasts.

Board of Fisheries confirmation expected to be whale of a fight

There are plenty of contentious issues to get through before the Legislature is expected to gavel out April 15. Oil taxes, for one. A bill that would facilitate building a bullet line to run gas from the North Slope to Southcentral Alaska. A plan to begin the work to truck natural gas from the North Slope to Fairbanks. There’s Medicaid and abortion. There’s school choice and guns.

And then there’s the whale of politics: fish politics. On Monday beginning at 10:30 a.m., such politics will come to a head in a joint session, where both bodies will vote on Gov. Parnell’s choice to re-nominate Board of Fisheries members Vince Webster. The fight, which will pit the politically active sports fishermen against the big monied commercial guys, is expected to be brutal.

The powerful Kenai River Sportfishing Association (KRSA) put out an alert to urge members to contact their reps to vote against the nomination. Read the full letter here. In short, the association accuses Webster of favoring commercial interest at the expense of the sports fisheries.

Parnell’s prepping for a fight. His chief of staff, Mike Nizich, sent an email out to legislators (printed in full below) urging legislators to vote for Webster and questioning the veracity of KRSA’s claims.

It’s a risky move and Parnell is not one to take risks. We’ll see if it pays off.

Here’s the email Nizich sent to legislators:

I am aware of efforts to unfairly characterize Vince Webster’s actions as a Board of Fisheries member, including the following claims:

he is supposedly singlehandedly responsible for the new late-run Kenai River Chinook salmon escapement goal;
he allegedly reframed the Board’s late-run Kenai River Chinook salmon management plan agenda item to benefit setnetters at the expense of all other user groups and escapement;
he allegedly drives a personal agenda through unseemly means, including allegations related to specific fisheries.

These are misleading, incomplete, and in some cases, inaccurate statements about Vince Webster’s work on the Board. Indeed, the Governor never would have re-appointed him had if he believed such allegations were true. These claims are now being made by some in the eleventh hour to influence your vote.

Before voting “no” to Vince Webster’s reconfirmation, we ask you provide Vince the courtesy of a phone call to hear his response to recent allegations. Vince will make himself available to legislators to discuss his 6-year record on the Board. Although Vince is traveling out-of-state with his son, he is available to talk with you at (redacted).

Vince’s broad understanding of fisheries issues statewide, experience with Board process, and respect for public input are assets to the Board. Vince has been confirmed twice to serve two 3-year terms on the Board; this is a third appointment. Members are appointed with a view to providing diversity of interest and points of view in the membership (AS 16.05.221). His confirmation should not be blocked due to misinformation.

Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com

Hell hath no fury like a GOP chair scorned

If you thought that ousting her predecessor was going to put any fear in the pure Republican heart of Debbie Brown, think again. The new chair of the Alaska Republican Party is holding her ground, sticking with her principles, shining a light into the dark crony-capitalism infested corners of the GOP.

“Dear Fellow Republican,” the email she sent this week begins. “Today, I took a major step toward changing our course. The Regional Finance Chair positions for each region have been vacated to allow for applicants to be considered from all qualified Republicans, and elections are being arranged for many of the Regional Representative positions which serve on the Executive Committee.”

In other words, she fired all of the regional finance committee directors. On that list are such big names as Tom Wright, chief-of-staff to House Speaker Mike Chenault, and party faithful Paulette Simpson. In the Capitol building, Wright’s known as the 41st member of the Alaska House, and is thought to be more powerful than many of the 40 others. And everyone knows you don’t mess with Simpson.

This latest salvo came after she had already fired nearly everyone on other committees, even the ones who were elected.

As GOP watchers know, the party has been in nuclear meltdown mode since the Ron Paulers met the Joe Millers and knew that it was much more than a hunch, that this group should somehow form a fomenting family that reviled things like the Law of the Sea Treaty, the gold standard, the federal reserve, the media, abortion, ObamaCare, Lisa Murkowski, the World Bank, Agenda 21, etc, etc. But the real animus—one to which even the United Nations is second–is reserved for the “old” guard Alaska GOP, including in it nearly everyone who toiled on their own time to raise money for the party.

So, ~~they got rid of the old chair~~ when the former chair Randy Ruedrich retired, they mustered strength to put in Russ Millette, who was ousted after it became clear that he couldn’t raise the necessary funds that it takes to support candidates.

Brown, formerly vice chair, is now the head. Those who ousted Millette thought that it would be a matter of time before Brown decided that she couldn’t handle the pressure and leave her position in the charge of what they consider the old-guard vice chair ~~Paul~~ Peter Goldberg. (Though there’s some dispute about whether or not he is “old guard.” According to Ruedrich, he first met him at the meeting where Goldberg was elected. But from all accounts, he’s smart and sensible and that’s good enough in some circles to put him in that camp.)

But Brown doesn’t appear to be leaving her position anytime soon. Sources say that she did leave the state to avoid another, upcoming, Republican Party meeting, which was likely not going to be kind to her.

Or she might have just gone on a vacation, Or she might be holed up with her brethren in some bunker, aiming darts at cutouts of Randy Ruedrich, Glenn Clary, Frank McQueary, Susan Rice, et al.

In any case, and just in case people though she was less than serious, she changed the locks on the doors of the Republican Party headquarters in Midtown Anchorage before she left.

Contact Amanda Coyne at Amandamcoyne@yahoo.com

War on war on drugs finds unlikely ally in Sen. Fred Dyson

As anti-oil tax protesters protested outside of the Capitol building in Juneau; as they waved enlarged $5 billion checks from the state to ConocoPhillips, BP, and Exxon; as the chants “it’s our oil,” were chanted. As Democratic politicians took to the microphone proclaiming that they were here for the people, for the least of us, another bill, SB 56, was being debated in the Capitol building.

It’s a bill that takes a stab at undoing what many consider the egregious harm caused by the war on drugs. This is Democrat territory. But it wasn’t sponsored by the politicians who were chanting outside the Capitol building. It was sponsored by Republican Sen. Fred Dyson, a staunch, dyed-in-the-wool Republican if there ever was one.

It passed the Senate 17 to 2. Two of those most vocal Dems in Alaska, two who were shouting the loudest about taking care of the people, Sens. Bill Wielechowski and Hollis French, voted against it after French offered two failing amendments that would weaken the bill.

Here’s what the bill does: As of now, if you’re in possession of small quantities schedule I and II substances, like heroin, cocaine, and oxycodone, you can be slapped with a felony. There doesn’t need to be proof that you’ve ingested the drug. The drug might not even be yours. You still could be faced with a felony for your first offense. It’ll be on your record forever. You’ll not be able to join the military or vote. You won’t be able to carry a gun. You won’t be able to get a federal student loan. You won’t even be able to be a janitor in a public school.

If enacted, this bill would join 14 other states to make such simple possession a Class A misdemeanor, which still can carry with it up to a year in prison and a $10,000 fine. It’s supported by the ACLU, the Department of Corrections and a bevy of defense lawyers who have long been bemoaning the havoc our drug laws has wrought.

It’s also a bill that will save the state millions. The exact amount is unclear, but a preliminary fiscal note puts the savings at as much as $14 million a year.

Each prisoner costs the state $50,000 a year, and most of them are in for nonviolent offenses. The budget for the Alaska Department of Corrections is over $323 million a year, up from $167 million a year in 2005. Incarceration for both misdemeanor and felony drug offenses has increased by 63 percent since 2002. For felony drug offenses alone there’s been an 81 percent increase.

Dyson is trying to save the state money, but he’s also trying to undo some of the real damage done to people by those on his side of the aisle since 1982, when Alaska’s current drug laws were enacted.

“I suspect it was those on my end of the political spectrum who wanted to posture and beat our chests and say we’re going to be tough on crime at a time when lots of these drugs were getting a lot of publicity,” Dyson said on the Senate floor.

“We shouldn’t put you in jail as a felon if you’re doing something unwise,” Dyson said. “Almost all of you at some time in your life have made some mistakes,” he said.

The bill now goes to the House.

Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com