The exception is downtown Anchorage residents, who have just one assemblyman, Chair Patrick Flynn. (Voters in Flynn’s district will see a sparse ballot; the only other issues up for a vote are a dull assortment of bond propositions for roads and capital improvements, as well as a bond to purchase and operate an ambulance in the Sand Lake area).
Nonetheless, in the other five districts there’s a unique field of youngsters, political rookies, and actual nonpartisans, plus one race that’s brought together some odd allegiances. After April 6, the assembly’s makeup will either shift slightly to the center or take a hard-right turn. Either way, the current six-to-five progressive majority on the assembly will be tempered.
|
|
In South Anchorage, incumbent Jennifer Johnston, considered part of the conservative block, is running for her second term. Her opponent is Keli Booher, a 19-year-old Dimond High School graduate, who’s been the president of Alaska Young Democrats and volunteered for Democratic campaigns.
“I’m very pleased to see that she filed,” Johnston says. “I’m glad to see any kind of involvement in local politics. I’m very proud of her for doing it. This isn’t a job for me; this is public service, and if somebody wants to replace me, that’s fine.”
Booher says she’s running to make South Anchorage residents aware they deserve better from their local government. “A lot of people don’t care where you’re at on the political spectrum at this point,” she says. “They just want someone who’s going to listen to them, who’ll pick up the phone when they’re calling, and understands how these issues affect them.”
Booher says her father is in law enforcement, and she objects to the city’s cuts to public safety, and the lack of police and fire academies this year. She also criticizes the lack of civility on the assembly. “Governance is about finding a solution that works for everybody, and this tit-for-tat that’s going on isn’t helping anybody.”
“I am one of the folks that’s been cutting the budget,” Johnston says, “which isn’t a fun thing to do—I wish I could be all things to all people.” Johnston says she initially ran in 2007 to be part of the discussion and work on a long-term sustainable budget. “We now have a six-year fiscal plan, whether you agree with it or not. We’re rolling into some uncertain times, and that’s an ongoing project, my main project.”
In East Anchorage, incumbent Sheila Selkregg decided not to run for a second term, and as a result two political rookies and one familiar face are vying for her seat. Former Anchorage Police Department Lieutenant Paul Honeman ran in the crowded mayoral election last year, and is now gunning for the assembly after his loss. Honeman claims absolute nonpartisanship, but has the support of the progressive members of the assembly, as well as the police, fire, and teachers unions.
Honeman thinks people are fatigued by the finger pointing on the assembly, particularly the nonstop criticism of the Begich administration regarding the city’s financial situation. “Most people are wanting an assembly that will look forward, stay within the budget, live within our means, and watch out for the ever-rising property taxes. People are wanting to make sure their services are maintained at an operable level. You’ve got to tighten your belts, but you don’t want to cut off bus routes, shutter up the library, things like that.”
Adam Trombley, a conservative in his early thirties, is also running for the seat, and says his ballooning property taxes are what spurred him to enter the race. “Ultimately what Anchorage doesn’t need is more money. Anchorage needs wiser use of their money. For me, my goal is to shrink the size of government. Our current spending is unsustainable.”
Trombley is on the mayor’s Budget Advisory Commission and has the support of Mayor Sullivan. As one of several young conservatives running for office this year, Trombley’s also hoping to see more involvement on the part of his generation.
There’s also a lesser-known candidate hoping to serve East Anchorage on the assembly—Thomas Purcell, the brother of KTUU meteorologist Jackie Purcell. “Jackie told me to put up or shut up,” he says. “I think I surprised her by running for the assembly seat. I think she wanted me to attend my [community] council meetings, but that’s not enough for me.”
An accountant and teacher at Charter College, Purcell wants to eliminate property taxes completely and replace that source of income with a sales tax and user fees. He thinks it’s immoral that a homeowner can lose their home they’ve spent years paying off for not paying property taxes. “The day has come for Anchorage to move to a sales tax. If you lose your job, you can cut back your spending and sales tax; you can stay at home and read a book.”
Chugiak/Eagle River’s incumbent, conservative Debbie Ossiander, is running for her third term against two candidates, both in their twenties. Ossiander’s far-flung district has been hurt by bus route closures, and in many ways has issues of its own separate from the rest of the Anchorage bowl. “I spend a lot of time trying to integrate needs out here with what I hear in the bowl,” she says. “I also spend a lot of time making jokes when they show maps of Anchorage that only show the bowl, which happens regularly. There’s a fair amount of, yes, I’m a member [of the assembly], but I’m kind of a cousin.”
The area is never part of road bonds, it has a separate long-range transportation district, a separate park district, and Ossiander says she spends much of her time focusing on Chugiak/Eagle River’s unique issues.
23-year-old Joelle Brown, a barista at Starbucks, is running as a progressive against Ossiander. She’s critical of the cuts to the bus routes, and says the current leadership doesn’t seem to recognize that poor people live in Eagle River. “There’s 246 people that were using the bus system; now they do this ride-share program which costs $85 a month. I’m on food stamps, and I’m lucky enough to have a vehicle and afford gas, but if I missed a few days of work I’d be hung out to dry. That’s what I look at as far as a livable city goes; I don’t think Eagle River can sustain itself with only people like Debbie Ossiander living out here. I work at Starbucks, and my coworkers need services too.”
Also challenging Ossiander is 28-year-old Josh Roberts, a captain in the Air National Guard who flies search and rescue missions. Roberts says his platform is fiscal solvency. “I feel debt is a form of modern slavery and I would like to see Alaska become an example of financial independence from the federal government.” His vision of fiscal solvency is to pay as we go—“make the issues as local as possible, so people take ownership. It’s time for a new class of politicians.”
Matt Claman, who served as acting mayor in the interim between former Mayor Mark Begich’s ascension to the U.S. Senate and Dan Sullivan’s inauguration, is hoping to hold on to his West Anchorage seat. Claman, a progressive, sees the top issues in the next three years as being the same ones the city has faced for some time now—public safety and managing the city’s finances. “I was very disappointed that Mayor Sullivan did not support police and fire academies for 2010, because I think we’ve done great work to improve public safety in this community, and the unwillingness to support those academies is going to have long term negative consequences.”
Claman also cites his accomplishments as acting mayor. “Another high priority has been fiscal responsibility; I’m very proud of the fact that when I became mayor we finally had enough information in early January to realize the impacts of the financial deal, so I took the steps to cut the budget and keep it balanced.”
When financial disclosures for campaigns were due in February, Claman touted his fundraising figures in a press release—nearly $43,000 raised, compared to the $22,000 Ernie Hall, one of his opponents, had raised.
Hall, president of the board of directors for Fur Rondy, once ran as a Democrat for lieutenant governor, but now says he’s nonpartisan. This has gained him support from the ideological right, including the mayor. “There’s a lot of concern about the partisanship and polarization [on the assembly],” Hall says. “They’d like to see us work together to make this community what it has the potential to be.”
Hall touts his 35 years of business experience as an asset for representing West Anchorage, saying the ability to take the temperature of the economy equates to analyzing the city’s financial state.
“Everybody’s concerned that we don’t denigrate the community,” Hall says. “I’m very concerned about holding the budget; nobody is crazy about tax increases, but they want to make sure we can maintain what we’ve got, make sure we’ve got good police and fire, and maintain the quality of life we’ve got in this community.”
Also in the race is Bill Sigler, who describes himself as a libertarian “with a small l.” His platform is three-tiered: a moratorium on bonds; a hiring freeze; and “looking into who’s got their fingers in the pie at City Hall.” He’s critical of the lack of transparency in city government, and wants to examine possible sweetheart deals by the Begich administration, as well as the recent $193,000 life insurance payout to the mayor’s father’s trust.
In Midtown, two-term assemblyman Dan Coffey has decided not to run for a third term, and former Midtown assembly member Dick Traini has thrown his hat back in the ring. In 2008, Traini’s eligibility to run for reelection was questioned since he’d initially been appointed to a partial term. First, a superior court judge ruled that he was term-limited out; then, days before the election, a supreme court judge overruled that decision and declared him eligible. But the damage had been done, and Elvi Gray-Jackson won the election.
Although in 2008 Gray-Jackson had the support of the liberals and Traini was painted as a conservative, this time around the progressives are rallying around Traini—even Gray-Jackson. A recent fundraiser flyer listed the names of a slew of prominent local liberals, including four assembly members, as well as pollster Ivan Moore.
Asked about the left’s show of support for Traini, Moore says, “that’s always been Dick’s strength, hasn’t it? He sits in the middle and blows with the wind. Traini leans whichever way is politically expedient to lean. That’s not a bad thing. Frankly speaking, the world could do with a lot more people like Dick Traini, people who are willing to work with either side, and that’s what he’s always been good at.”
As for Traini, he says voters “don’t have to wonder how I’ll vote on an issue; it’s out there.”
Challenging Traini is 32-year-old conservative Andy Clary, who says voters are telling him they’re tired of career politicians. “They’re ready for somebody new, somebody fresh, somebody different, that doesn’t have a typical political history.” Like his conservative allies, Clary wants to see property taxes reduced with spending ratcheted down. “We need to spend every dollar as wisely as we can,” Clary says. “I’m just a normal, everyday guy who saw a need and is concerned about the community and wants to step in and do something about it.”
bjk@anchoragepress.com
Comments