Friday in the Sun! (March 11)

;

The Response — Yesterday the Alaska Republican Party (ARP) posted a blog on their website with a rather ridiculous response to the article I published about the party’s inappropriate characterizations of legislators and staff in their Must Read Alaska newsletter of February 29th. Most notable was the claim that I was ordered to take down my piece addressing their actions.

I was not.

It was passed along to me that the people smeared in the ARP newsletter had concerns about my piece becoming part of the Internet that would follow them through life. I thought about that.

The story had high traffic for two days and the response I received indicated the people who needed to see it had read it. I have also been assured the person due many apologies has received them, not from ARP folks who attacked her, but from good-hearted elected Republican leaders who realized their party had crossed the line and have taken responsibility for it. I have further been told by multiple sources the folks at party HQ have been directed to change their tone.

Since our article went up the tone of the ARP’s communications, notwithstanding their attack on me, has changed as you can see here and here. It would appear they have also removed the offensive posting from their website where I originally read it.

I feel the piece has achieved its point so taking it down and not having the ARP authored smears it references out there on the web forever is the right thing to do. That may be a futile effort, but it is at least the right gesture to make. I stand by it.

I commend Alaska’s Republican leaders for taking the appropriate behind-the-scenes steps to be a better party.

Favorite Faces In New Places — One of our favorite Republican divas has a new gig. Kim Kovol is the new deputy director at Bean’s Cafe. We are sure she’ll do great thing for those in need. Congrats, Kim.

Why Did She Go — Plenty of speculation has been offered as to the real reasons for the abrupt firing of former radio host Bernadette Wilson at the end of December. When pressed on the issue during his radio show this week Dave Stieren let his thoughts be known. They aren’t very nice:

;

;

Nothing To See Here — Earlier this week I heard grumblings from eagle eyed readers that a campaign sign for Assembly candidate Terre Gales was sitting on a piece of property on Debarr Road owned by Anchorage Baptist Temple (ABT). With all the hubbub made over tax breaks given to ABT properties the idea of conducting political activities on ancillary, tax-free properties owned by the church would surely get a rise out of many.

I looked into it and sure enough there is a sign sitting right there and the property is indeed owned by ABT. Buuuuut, further research shows the church pays almost $20,000 a year on the land.

Hey, if they own it and pay taxes on it, do whatever the hell you want with it, I say.

Croft Fundraiser — The political event of the week was clearly the “final” fundraiser for assembly candidate Eric Croft held at the wooded estate of Mayor Ethan Berkowitz. It was a big one. Anyone who was anyone in Dem politics was there including Assembly members Elvi Grey-Jackson, Paul Honeman, Pete Peterson, Chris Constant, Hizzoner and wife Mara Kimmel, Sen. Hollis French, and many many more.

The event was apparently so big even one of Croft’s opponents showed up. I don’t know if I’ve heard of that happening, but sure enough candidate for the anti-fluoridated water crowd, Dustin Darden made an appearance.

Word is Croft raked in $14K yesterday from 100 individual donors and 1 PAC, that is pretty darn good for an assembly candidate.

Calm Down Dude — The legislature continues to work diligently on the budget. All that hard work and long hours can cause tempers to flare a bit. Word out of the Capitol is it all became a little too much for Rep. Lance Pruitt  last week. The rumor goes that after finding out budget amendments he was trying to scuttle would be heard by the house Finance Committee Pruitt stormed into the stairwell and obliterated his binder. Who knew he had that much of a temper in him?

Ira!!! — West Anchorage Assembly candidate Ira! Perman has actually done a decent job of fundraising for not being a GOP or Dem backed candidate. He has brought in $55,000 so far. That is apparently enough money that Perman felt comfortable spending a bit on polling with Alaska Survey Research to see how he is doing. Word from the campaign trail is the numbers showed Perman trailing Croft. There is still a month left,Ira!, finish up strong.

Hiring? — Are you thinking of running for office? Do you need a campaign manager? he latest Alaska Public Offices Commission reports give us an indication of how much some of the talent will cost you. If you are a center left candidate willing to pay top dollar you can enlist a campaign manager from Ship Creek Group (John Weddleton, Eric Croft, and Forrest Dunbar) to the tune of $4,000 a month. If you want more of a cutting edge social media and online video vibe to your campaign you can call Cale Green (Mark Schimscheimer) for $3,000 a month. If you are a conservative on a conservative budget, as all conservatives should be, you can call Bernadette Wilson (Amy Demboski) for $2,500.