News from Patrick Flynn

Alright insiders, with the election over at long last I’m happy to present the results of our latest edition of Assembly insider baseball.  And kudos to the participant who correctly answered 10 of the 12 questions (11 of 13, if you include the two-parter)!  Here goes:

1. Perhaps it’s her love of gourmet cooking (she does a lot of it), but I’m told Elvi Gray-Jackson doesn’t care for pizza.
2. When nominated for a seat on the Budget Advisory Commission, the mayor’s preferred path for grooming future Assembly candidates, Dave Bronson’s resume consisted primarily of his past efforts at preventing equal rights for gay & lesbian residents of Anchorage.  Bronson didn’t even come close to confirmation, which may explain why the mayor desperately tried to find another candidate to challenge Elvi.
3. Whomever was selling Susitna-side lots sent me a solicitation as well, but Mike Gutierrez actually purchased a plot.
4. Jennifer Johnston’s daughter Merrick is in the oil industry, and the oil industry is big in Norway (and my apologies if I misspelled her name).
5. I’ve glanced at Maui County’s tax rolls and still can’t confirm this, but a good friend tells me Ernie Hall owns a beachfront condo in Wailea.
6. Liz Vasquez & I attended APU at the same time, and shared a class or two.
7. Bill Starr’s been working on this office-building project for a while, and he occasionally appears at Assembly-related meetings in jeans and boots after a day at the job site.
8. Chris Birch allegedly sent the beach photo; Dick Trani reacted with an ordinance that would restrict telephonic participation by Assembly members to circumstances, “due to sickness, accident, or other unforeseen emergency, or who is outside of the municipality on official municipal travel/business.”
9. Railroaders sometimes say their business runs on rumors and coffee.  Debbie Ossiander, whose husband works unloading Horizon Lines’ ships, might say the same of the steamship business.
10. I won’t say that Harriet Drummond has a sweet tooth, but she does seem to be a big Sugarspoon fan!
11. Some of the folks who invested in Snow City Cafe are interested in establishing a South Anchorage version.  Given the popularity of the downtown establishment, I’m contemplating getting involved.
12. Perhaps his training as APD spokesman led to this gig, but Paul Honeman is apparently doing traffic updates somewhere on the airwaves.

Thanks to all who took their best shot, and we’ll see you next time…

Regards,

Patrick