The “Non-Partisan” Scam at the Fairbanks North Star Borough

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Heard a lot lately of the line “non-partisan” or “bi-partisan” in political advertising? Have you seen who is usually pushing that line? The “bi-partisan” coalition in our Senate this last year was “bi-partisan” as long as the bill was pushing the progressive, liberal line of thought. For example, the House had true bi-partisan support with Coastal Zone management and passed it 40-0, but then the Senate bowed to the environmentalists and refused to craft anything but a hard-core environmentalist document. We then ended up having to defeat a bad Coastal Zone management initiative at the polls. The “bi-partisan” Senate would not let any social issues be touched, since the Democrats in control wouldn’t allow anything that conflicted with their platform.

Running for office in the Fairbanks North Star Borough, there are a few candidates who like to spout the “non-partisan” line. Kathryn Dodge says on her website that Kathryn will “Keep local government non-partisan.” Similarly, Cliff Russell has stated at forums that he wants to keep things non-partisan. Of course, anyone who has spent any time observing the actions of the Fairbanks North Star Borough government knows it is anything but nonpartisan!

In addition to this warning about candidates who disingenuously advocate the “non-partisan” line, here is some additional guidance conservatives may use for the Fairbanks election next week:

Borough Assembly Seat G

Lance Roberts – A solid conservative who wants to ease subdivision and land use restrictions. He also wants reforms that will allow road service area commissioners to do their job without Borough interference. Mr. Roberts is seeking to cut the budget and mill rate to give people more money in their pockets, which will create more economic development. He also believes that private companies should be used for any gas distribution system and the state money it will take to build it.

Cliff Russell – IBEW Electrician with little apparent knowledge or experience with the Assembly. He has attended a few of the forums but has failed to offer much specificity with respect to his positions. Mr. Russell does not seem to have any signs or literature. On Facebook, he states that, “I have a strong connection with the community of Fairbanks and hope to serve you and the rest of the borough if elected. Although being new to the scene I know that my belief in local hire, drive to assist in affordable energy, and keep local issues local, will only help this great community. ”

Borough Assembly Seat F

Rocky MacDonald – Rocky MacDonald is another solid candidate with a history of conservative activism. From his campaign literature, Mr. MacDonald’s primary positions include making local government “responsible to the taxpayers”; working “to stop the loss of people from the borough due to high-energy costs”; and using Borough government resources wisely, “with an eye to lessening the burden on citizens’ lives.”

Kathryn Dodge – Kathryn Dodge is a former Fairbanks North Star Borough employee who says on her web page that she has “moderate, non-partisan views, willingness to challenge the status quo when it is in the community’s best interest, and partnering skills are what our community needs to develop our energy solutions and economy.” Her long-term association with liberal Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Jim Whitaker suggests that she is unlikely to pursue any policies that restrict government growth or citizen accountability over the FNSB. Her apparent positions put her squarely in the pro-union, anti-wood stove, and pro-big government camp.

Bill Stodden – Although Bill Stodden is likely a well-intentioned candidate who undoubtedly would make a better Assembly member than Ms. Dodge, he does not appear to be running a serious campaign. He has no apparent website, Facebook page, or campaign signage. His presence in the race will likely only serve to pull votes from Mr. MacDonald.

Borough Assembly Seat A

Joe Blanchard – Joe Blanchard has three years experience with the Assembly, last year as its Presiding Officer. He’s getting more conservative as he matures, but does not have a consistent conservative history. His “Vision” statement on his blog states that he “support[s] a reasonable gas pipeline project regardless of diameter to bring much needed energy options to Fairbanks, with a corresponding distribution system”; works to “ensure our education department has the money and flexibility to succeed”; and want to keep “the Borough government out of the wood stove banning business.”

Van Lawrence – Van Lawrence is a local attorney who ran a close race against Assembly member Michael Dukes last year. His Facebook fanpage has not been updated to include the current race against Joe Blanchard. The Interior Democrats have referred to Mr. Lawrence as “our long time friend” and he reputedly has held party positions within the Alaska Democratic Party. Like Kathryn Dodge, he seems to be pro-union, anti-wood stove, and pro-big government.

As in past municipal elections, the turn out in the Fairbanks North Star Borough is likely to be very low. Every vote will undoubtedly count. Please ensure that you call all of your conservative family, friends, and neighbors to get out and vote. Many local elections have been determined only by a handful of votes; this one may be no different.

Alaska Republican Party Resolution to Censure Senator Lisa Murkowski

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At the Alaska Republican Party State Convention earlier this year, a Resolution to Censure Senator Lisa Murkowski was proposed but not voted on because the outgoing ARP Chairman Randy Ruedrich adjourned the convention early. Later, the same Chairman discouraged delegates from attending the reconvened state convention so that a quorum would not be reached. Again, the censure resolution was not considered. Finally, at the most recent SCC Meeting in Fairbanks on September 22, 2012, the meeting was again adjourned prematurely leaving the censure resolution without a vote.


Here is the language of the controversial censure resolution:

Resolution To Censure Senator Lisa Murkowski

WHEREAS Lisa Murkowski has showed especial contempt for the Alaska Republican Party Electorate by expressly promising and subsequently breaking her word to support the winner of the 2010 Alaska Republican Primary Election for US Senate; and

WHEREAS she sought re-election in 2010 as an independent write-in candidate after losing the Republican primary; and

WHEREAS she actively campaigned against, and maliciously attacked, the Republican Nominee; and

WHEREAS she has aligned herself with the AFL-CIO, NEA, Planned Parenthood, Public Employee Unions, and other Democrat special interest groups; and

WHEREAS support of these left-wing special interest groups cannot be reconciled with the ideals and values of the Alaska Republican Party, nor with the best interests of the people of Alaska; and

WHEREAS during the 2010 general election Lisa Murkowski demonstrated a dishonesty and duplicity not in keeping with Republican Party values; and

WHEREAS these actions exhibit an extraordinary disloyalty to the Alaska Republican Party and Electorate without which her career as an elected official would never have been possible; and

WHEREAS Senator Murkowski was the only “Republican” to vote for every major piece of President Barack Obama’s 2010 “lame duck” agenda; and

WHEREAS she has subsequently obstructed Republican attempts at reform, and supported numerous policy positions opposed to the Alaska Republican Party Platform;

Therefore, be it hereby resolved, that we, the delegates of the 2012 Alaska Republican State Convention publicly censure and repudiate the words and actions of Senator Lisa Murkowski, and revoke her Republican privileges until she publicly apologizes and pledges to never campaign against the Republican nominee again and to cease and desist supporting parts of President Obama’s agenda that are in opposition to our Republican values and Platform.

Former AFN Chair: Alaska Federation of Natives No Longer Represents the People

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Several days ago, a good friend and leader in the native community sent me an email from the former chair of the Alaska Federation of Natives. This email, publicized throughout the Alaska native community, was written by Nels Anderson, Jr. His email made a number of excellent points about how the regional native corporations were perpetuating the problems in the villages and were improperly interfering with native voting in Alaska. Many of Mr. Anderson’s points were nearly identical to what my campaign advocated in 2010.

After receiving a copy of Mr. Anderson’s email, I contacted Mr. Anderson and asked for his permission to publish the email on our Restoring Liberty site, under the Alaska News section. He graciously agreed.

Mr. Anderson’s article was posted at Restoring Liberty the evening of September 24. It ran for almost two days before I was contacted by Mr. Anderson again. Without explanation, he retracted his permission for the article to be posted. Although under no legal obligation to do so, we have as a courtesy to Mr. Anderson removed his article from this page. Additionally, as requested by Mr. Anderson, we have posted his retraction of permission HERE.

We have requested additional dialog with Mr. Anderson to determine what was behind his retraction, but he has declined.

Video: Alaska Republican Party Dysfunction on Display in Fairbanks

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The Alaskan Republican Party central committee meeting in Fairbanks on Saturday, September 22, 2012, adjourned after only an hour, proving that the dysfunction of the state party is only growing worse.

Apparently, a dispute arose over a member of the ARP SCC who was recording the meeting. After a motion to remove the member who was recording passed, the meeting was recessed so he could leave. Later, when many of the members of the SCC were apparently no longer in the room, the out-going ARP Chair, Randy Ruedrich, adjourned the meeting without conducting additional business.

The below video is lengthy. You may want to skip forward to the discussion about recording the SCC at about 50 minutes. Ruedrich’s adjournment then occurs at about 1:06.

Stay tuned for a column from a district chair who attended this SCC meeting.

Restoring Liberty Now Second Most-Read Alaskan News Site

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This past weekend, the Restoring Liberty news site passed another milestone. As of Friday, it now exceeds the liberal Fairbanks News Miner in Internet traffic ranking, leaving only the Anchorage Daily News with more US web users.

This is an exciting development. As reported earlier this month, Restoring Liberty surpassed the traffic of the Alaska Dispatch blog. The Dispatch blog, founded and funded by Alice Rogoff, wife of billionaire and former Carter-adviser David Rubenstein, seems to have a single purpose: tearing down any efforts to reform the corrupt political establishment in Alaska (Ms. Rogoff has not responded to Restoring Liberty’s written request for an investigative interview). Profit seems to be no objective as it reputedly sucks in millions of dollars per year and is quite staff-heavy. Advertising revenue is likely a mere fraction of expenses.

Similarly, the News-Miner has significant funding behind it. The paper, the oldest in the State of Alaska with the second-highest circulation, is controlled by the family trusts of Dean Singleton and Richard Scudder, the founders of the MediaNews Group. This entity also owns 56 other newspapers throughout the United States as well as KTVA in Anchorage, the television station that was caught attempting to fabricate a story about my campaign and child molesters in 2010.

Although rarely reported by either biased outlet, both the News-Miner and the Alaska Dispatch filed lawsuits connected with my campaign. The Alaska Dispatch remains embroiled in litigation in an attempt to secure legal fees against me related to the Fairbanks North Star Borough case.

As many computer-savvy readers already know, Internet rankings are not entirely static. But at the time of the writing of this column, the national ranking for JoeMiller.us stands at 12,038, Fairbanks News-Miner – 12,303, Alaska Dispatch – 13,167, KTUU – 15,644, the Juneau Empire – 29,324, KTVA – 70,022, Alaska Public Radio – 105,178, and the Mat-Su Frontiersman – 223,982. [Current statistics for each site are available from Alexa.com]

The fact that Alaskans are turning away from our corrupted media to solid conservative sources is incredibly encouraging. Please support our efforts by advertising at Restoring Liberty. And let your favorite businesses know about Restoring Liberty as well. Advertising revenue will allow us to hire staff reporters so that we can fully displace the biased press from the State of Alaska. You can also contribute by sending us tips ([email protected]) and by providing original content on liberty-oriented topics.

Kathleen and I thank you for your readership, prayers, and other support. May God Bless our efforts together to Restore Liberty!

Common Sense and a breath of fresh air for the Mat-Su

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A tiny ray of common sense is peeking out of the court system. The court threw out a lawsuit from Friends of Mat-Su against Usibelli Coal mine. The plaintiffs are miffed and say the problem is all about “constant blasting, coal dust,” “trucking of coal through our community” and “health and safety of thousands of families living near the mine and the transportation route throughout the Mat-Su Valley,” but the real reason for the suit was to shut down coal development. Alaska is one of the richest states in natural resources.

Cook Inlet Keepers have sued to reverse the federal government permit granted the Mat-Su Borough for a rail extension to Point MacKenzie because it “would harm the environment” and is “not needed because Alaska already has three tidewater ports.”

What do these two organizations, Friend of Mat-Su and Cook Inlet Keepers have in common? Mark Masteller.

Mark Masteller is the former chair of the MSB Planning Commission and currently serves as the Alaska Director for Cascadia Green Building Council. He is also a board member of Friends of Mat-Su.

Masteller is now challenging Larry DeVilbiss, our current Mat-Su Borough Mayor for the seat Larry has been doing a fine job at.

While on the Planning Commission, Masteller’s idea of conservative management was to slap heavy regulations on all natural resource development including the timber industry, coal bed methane gas exploration, and local power generation. It seems Masteller has a one track mind: green projects, energy efficient buildings and multiple smaller energy projects. Does anybody remember Solyndra? Masteller’s slogan is “A bright future for the Mat-Su,” but if he imposes more taxes, codes and regulations, the Valley will be one dark cold place.

In January 2011, Larry DeVilbiss, brought a breath of conservative fresh air to the Valley when he won the Mat-Su Borough Mayor seat. Larry brought his extensive experience and common sense as a farmer, School Board member, MEA Board of Directors, Borough Assemblyman, and long time Valley resident to his job as mayor.

Larry wants to develop resources responsibly, knowing that we can use our God-given natural resources wisely and beneficially for businesses and Valley families. Larry opposes government overreach, and California style regulation. Larry’s concern for opportunity for the people of our valley is what drove him to run for mayor just one year ago. Already we are seeing a huge increase in business and job creation with over 750 new business licenses this year alone. And, in the environment of a national recession, with Larry as mayor, over 800 new jobs have been generated in the Borough.

As a businessman, Larry understands the importance of an economy that is local as opposed to remaining a bedroom community. Larry doesn’t rubber stamp big government either. Larry worked to cut the budget, redundant or unnecessary positions and wasteful spending. He also uses integrity and thought about levying the least burdensome taxes for property owners, as well as pushing tasks needed by the Borough out to professionals in the private sector, thereby limiting government and expanding private sector jobs and still providing the services needed for Valley residents, families and businesses.

Mayor Larry DeVilbiss stays connected to the public by giving highlights of Assembly meetings in his podcast, the Mayor’s Minute. Many weighty subjects are addressed and it’s not just a gab session—Important things get accomplished in his interaction with the Borough Assembly. Here are just a few of the ones this last week:

• Approved wided supported Gas LID
• Approved a long-stalled road project in South Big Lake. This project has been desparately needed and in the works for sometime, but was stalled at the State level. Now with the Borough taking over it, by the summer of 2013, Big Lake residents from Jade Lake to Burma Road will enjoy improvements of a straighter, wider road.
• Discussed buyers for Susitna Ferry along with a debate on insurance costs for the M/V Susitna
• The issuance of $13.6 million in the voter-adopted, legislature-blessed road bond projects, just the beginning of the $64 million package. The issuance of bond money is sold in parts, matched by the state for roads, infrastructure and such for Borough wide needs, lessens the impact on the tax rate and also sets a completion date for the projects.
• $23.5 million in legislative grants for the ongoing construction of the Port MacKenzie Rail Extension

Larry’s humor, honesty, thoughtful moral character, and hard work ethic have been a huge asset to not only the Mat-Su Borough, but the entire state. Larry issued the first Mat-Su Borough proclamation in support of the National Day of Prayer. Larry is unequivocally pro-life and is always willing to speak up for the Right to Life. Alaska Right to Life PAC has fully endorsed Larry.

With the help of true conservatives like Mayor DeVilbiss, and newly elected Representative Shelly Hughes and Senator Elect Mike Dunleavy, we will back up government overreach and regulation while creating private sector jobs, opportunities and businesses that will ensure the best future of Valley families.

With Alaska’s Higher Costs, Dividends Won’t Go Far

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This is the day Alaskans crow about to their brethren in the Lower 48, trying to make them jealous that the government gives them money to just live here.

Alaskans got the word Tuesday that this year’s Permanent Fund Dividend will be $878. Almost all Alaskans — nearly 647,000 people — will receive a dividend, their yearly share of the state’s oil wealth.

But what your Alaskan friends may not tell you is that the yearly bounty barely makes a dent in the higher cost to live in the nation’s northernmost state — and this year’s checks won’t go far.

Living in Alaska costs more since most everything has to be shipped in. In fact, 90 percent of all goods sold in the state pass through the Port of Anchorage.

There’s no such thing as a dollar menu at a fast-food restaurant in Alaska — it’s more like a $1.50 or $2 menu. And there’s a reason why many TV commercials advertising prices have a line in small print at the bottom saying prices may be higher in Alaska and Hawaii: It’s because they are.

Read more from this story HERE.

Shell’s Safety System Problems Plague Arctic Plans

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Photo credit: Daquella manera

Safety equipment that Shell Oil volunteered to put into place for drilling off the coast of Alaska is complicating the company’s quest to reach oil-bearing rock during the short open-water drilling season this year.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC announced Monday that a containment dome being tested off the coast of Bellingham, Wash., was damaged Saturday night in its final test. Time needed to repair the damage, on top of delays from ice and waiting for the Alaska Natives’ whaling season to end, figured into a decision to cancel plans to complete exploratory wells this year in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas.

“We can see that we’re better off optimizing this year around top holes and next year drilling into hydrocarbons,” Shell Oil President Marvin Odum told The Associated Press. “That’s the way we get the best out of a multiyear approach.”

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar last month cited Shell’s failure to obtain certification for the Arctic Challenger, the oil spill response barge that will carry the containment dome, as the prime reason the company has not been able to drill into hydrocarbon zones this year.

Shell Alaska spokesman Curtis Smith said Monday the dome is one of several precautions against a major spill.

Read more from this story HERE.

Commerce secretary declares Alaska salmon disaster

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Photo credit: Peber the Swede

King salmon fisheries in major Alaska watersheds have been declared failures by the U.S. Department of Commerce, making commercial fishermen eligible for disaster relief.

Acting U.S. Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank announced the disaster declaration Thursday for the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers, which flow into the Bering Sea, and for Cook Inlet region south of Anchorage, which includes the Kenai River.

“Some Cook Inlet salmon fisheries have experienced revenue losses of up to 90 percent of their historical average during the 2012 season, seriously hurting local economies that are dependent on fishing,” Blank said in her announcement.

The Yukon River is North America’s third-longest. Villages along the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers depend on chinook salmon for both commercial sales and subsistence needs, Blank said.

King salmon are the largest of the five Pacific salmon that thrive in Alaska waters. They hatch in freshwater streams, live a year in rivers and spend three to four years in ocean water before returning to streams to breed and die. Some spawning Yukon River kings swim more than 2,000 miles over two months across the width of Alaska to reach headwaters in Canada, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Read more from this story HERE.

Electoral College Members May Vote Against GOP Nominee

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At least three Republican electors say they may not support their party’s presidential ticket when the Electoral College meets in December to formally elect the new president, escalating tensions within the GOP and adding a fresh layer of intrigue to the final weeks of the White House race.

The electors — all are supporters of former GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul — told The Associated Press they are exploring options should Mitt Romney win their states. They expressed frustration at how Republican leaders have worked to suppress Paul’s conservative movement and his legion of loyal supporters.

“They’ve never given Ron Paul a fair shot, and I’m disgusted with that. I’d like to show them how disgusted I am,” said Melinda Wadsley, an Iowa mother of three who was selected a Republican elector earlier this year. She said she believes Paul is the better choice and noted that the Electoral College was founded with the idea that electors wouldn’t just mimic the popular vote.

The defection of multiple electors would be unprecedented in the last 116 years of U.S. politics. And it would raise the remote possibility that the country could even end up with a president and vice president from different parties.

If Romney prevailed in an extremely close presidential election, for example, defections could deprive him of the Electoral College majority needed to secure the presidency. That would throw the presidential election into the U.S. House for the first time in nearly two centuries. The Senate would elect the vice president if neither running mate got a majority of the electoral votes. If Republicans retained control of the House, and with the each state delegation getting a single vote, Romney probably would prevail. But if the Senate remained in Democratic hands, Vice President Joe Biden would be the favorite.

Read more from this story HERE.