During the time I grew up in Anchorage, centrist and liberal elected officials weren’t considered to have made their bones until they’d been excoriated at least three times on the opinion page of the Anchorage Times. While the venerable paper I delivered as a youth is no more, a faint echo of its spirit remains at the Anchorage Daily Planet and the occasional musings offered by Paul Jenkins.
Seeing my name in Mr. Jenkins’ column Sunday got me rather excited, was I finally on my way? Sadly, no. My only thought after finishing was, “Is that all?”
Aside from, shall we say, a loose recitation of the facts, Mr. Jenkins implies the Assembly should employ its subpoena power. Let’s indulge that fantasy for a moment and assume the Assembly did issue subpoenas and asked questions of various former Begich administration officials. Let’s further assume some sort of skullduggery had occurred and said officials explained how they conspired to deceive the Assembly and the public (like I said, we’re indulging a fantasy here). Aside from providing more fodder for yet another anti-Begich screed authored by Mr. Jenkins the Assembly can’t do a darn thing, we write laws but aren’t empowered to enforce them. Hence – and here’s a fact Mr. Jenkins came close to stating accurately – my suggestion that a prosecuting authority pick up where the investigation I voted to request left off.
Mr. Jenkins also comments that someone is rebuffing the mayor’s efforts to address this issue. That may be so, but his honor has never broached the topic with me.
Meanwhile the Assembly continues its work to implement changes to Anchorage’s municipal code suggested by the Wheeler report. Heck, we may even have one of those work sessions Mr. Jenkins seems to value so highly. As for me, I guess I’ll have to wait a little longer to make my bones. And maybe Mr. Jenkins will even deign to talk to me prior to writing about me again. Meh, that’s probably just more fantasy.
Regards,
Patrick
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Aside from providing more fodder for yet another anti-Begich screed authored by Mr. Jenkins the Assembly can’t do a darn thing, we write laws but aren’t empowered to enforce them. This concerns me greatly. If you can’t enforce the laws you write, what vaule are they? Where is the Scofflaw? This is alarming!
Personally, I believe there were some very bad things going on in the city when all of this happened. However, who knows who is guilty and who is not. There should be an investigation but by a separate body to find out. There is so much corruption in this city and this state, I feel like we are back in the 20’s!
Comment: Del Baldwin – 11. January 2010 @ 9:21 am
Interesting, humorous, but needs a little humility. Remember the rule: don’t argue with those who buy ink by the barrel. On the other hand, the Times is dead.
Comment: Anonymous – 12. January 2010 @ 5:09 pm
I, too, carried newspapers in Anchorage as a youth–the entire length of Merrill Field from Alaska Sales and Service to Airport Heights Road–but it was the lowly Daily News that I was often ridiculed for selling in a number of businesses along that route. It appears, however, that mine was not nearly so heavy a burden then as having once carried the Times is now for Patrick!
The most important question, according to Paul Jenkins in his ADN column on 01-10-10, “is whether Begich intentionally misled his Assembly pals on the city’s finances so they would, or could approve the contracts?” Another way to say that is: If that question isn’t important to the majority of assembly members, is it because THEY were in collusion to misrepresent the Muni’s financial status to the public for The Dear Leader (who has since become the 60th Senate vote for a convoluted Nationalized Health Care bill of unbelievable financial proportions)?
Jenkins says “A reasonable person must wonder why members of the Anchorage Assembly majority are not in a lather to discover whether former Mayor Mark Begich played a shell game with city finances right before they voted in 2008 on $150 million in labor contracts.”
Mayor Sullivan says: “Every citizen has a right to know what happened. If the Assembly takes no action on the 19th, we will pursue it.”
A lot of homeowners who vote in Anchorage have watched the Muni budget grow from $289.2 million in 2003 to $431 million in 2008, as documented by Jenkins’ column. Those voters are one of the primary reasons Dan Sullivan is now mayor, and they aren’t responding to concerns about Assembly spending by saying “is that all?”
Comment: DonnListon – 12. January 2010 @ 9:20 pm
Please put my e mail address back on the listserv for your blog. Thanks !
Comment: Karen Cameron – 14. January 2010 @ 4:00 pm
Pat
If there is a crime in this report. Why can’t the state AG pursue the case? Does it have to be brought to him? Can a citizen bring it to him to investigate? Did Mr. Wheeler conclude that no crime was committed? Wat is the difference between a charter violation and a code violation?
Comment: curious – 15. January 2010 @ 1:29 pm
Ha Ha Ha. Hilarious comments. Everyone wants to blame someone. Nice smear campaign. Danny did not get my vote. Wish he weren’t in. I have to wait till next time to vote against him, but I will.
Comment: djh – 17. January 2010 @ 12:23 am
Ha Ha Ha. The joke is on you, djh. If you voted against Dan Sullivan last time and he won, who cares if you vote against him next time?
Sorry if you don’t like him as our mayor but you obviously have a minority opinion! Be sure and vote for Begich again next time, too, because he is going to lose after one term.
Comment: DonnListon – 17. January 2010 @ 2:12 am