Mayor Dan Sullivan — Playground Bully (by LKB)
Remember THAT kid back in grade school?
Remember coming to school and sharing the excitement of how you got the remote control car you wanted for Christmas?
THAT kid would talk about his brand new remote control F-15 jet…life-sized.
Or, you’d very proudly reveal the balsa wood car you’d carved yourself and painted red to run in the local Pinewood Derby while THAT kid would bring out the super-slick car he claimed he made himself but was secretly made by his daddy’s engineering firm.
THAT kid was the one the teachers all thought was a wonderful student when he was actually paying kids to do his homework.
THAT kid befriended the biggest, meanest guy on the playground and told him who to bully.
We all remember THAT kid from our past. Now, we’re back on the playground with Mayor Dan Sullivan!
Only one of the mayor-backed candidates beat an incumbent in the recent Municipal election — new Assembly Member Adam Trombley. This was supposed to give him five members — the mayor’s very own “Team Sully”. They are Chris Birch, Bill Starr, Adam Trombley, Jennifer Johnston and Debbie Osiander. Assembly Member Ernie Hall…endorsed by the unions last year as well as by some progressives…was supposed to be a “swing vote.”
Not any more. Ernie Hall’s opportunistic attack of Dick Traini in the newspaper set up Traini’s ouster as Assembly Chair. Ernie’s subsequent vote for the mayor’s choice for chair, Debbie Ossiander rather than the compromise candidate…ERNIE HALL (yes, he voted against himself) sits him squarely on the mayor’s team. Tuesday night simply verified it.
And Mayor Sullivan is using “Team Sully” for more than to further his agenda…he’s using them for revenge.
Tuesday it was clear that any pretense of “non-partisanship” or “working together” with the entire Assembly was now out the window. We saw that the people’s business was only going to get done if it was brought forward by the conservatives on the Assembly. Team Sully will be the only Assembly members with whom he will be working.
It’s so bad, Harriet Drummond, Dick Traini and Elvi Gray-Jackson have even been relegated to sitting on the “far left” in the new seating arrangement.
Debbie, did ya need to be so overt?
The clearest evidence of the Administration’s intent occurred during the public testimony, debate and votes on the revisions for the 2011 budget. Over the weekend, the Assembly had a working group meeting and posted their amendments on the assembly website. There were amendments from all of the members hoping to redirect some of the funds from the “budget surplus” back into areas that were cut.
During the meeting, it became clear that the fix was in. All of the members of “Team Sully” kept pulling their amendments as they came up, stating that there was an “S version” coming out with a lower amount. It happened with every single Team Sully amendment but one…Bill Starr’s $200,000+ cut to the Anchorage Police to be exchanged with federal funds that are “coming.” It was clear that group came to some agreement with the mayor over their amendments so they could avoid his veto pen and his ire. (How they could possibly do that without violating open meeting laws is a mystery.)
The only amendments left to vote on belonged to the members on the (literal) left of the dails. They clearly didn’t get the same memo as the others.
One of the amendments involved Anchorage’s Federation of Community Councils. Anchorage has about 36 community councils that are responsible for bringing much of the people’s business to the Anchorage Assembly…from potholes to building code changes and everything in between. It seems that Anchorage was selected to host the “Neighborhoods USA (NUSA)” Conference in about two weeks. It’s estimated to bring about $1.7 mil into the Anchorage economy as folks come up from the lower-48. FECC wanted $80,000 — a drop in the bucket for our budget.
However, teabagger Mr. Travis Cox was not happy about it at all:
“What gives them the right to come up here to hold a conference and have a vacation and ask us for our tax dollars that we’re barely getting by on? Now that’s what it is, we’re going to have them up here to have a vacation. They are a community organizing group and we know what community organizers do for communities. We can look at what our Community Organizer-in-Chief in the White House does for the United States. They degrade it.
And…they’re green! They’re going to do nothing but destroy this city!”
The irony is that two of the folks involved with the Federation of Community Councils who testified are from completely opposite ends of the political spectrum. One of them, Al Tamagni, is on Sarah Palin’s Personnel Board and the other, Jeffrey Mittman, is the Executive Director of the ACLU. It’s proof enough that this is TRULY a bipartisan organization looking out for the welfare of Anchorage’s citizens.
The amendment went down in flames…the six members of Team Sully vs. the five other members. Did I mention that this $80,000 was going to help bring in an estimated $1.7 mil to the City of Anchorage?
Later, it was brought up again and lowered to $40,000. It was still torpedoed.
So was the amendment providing $8,400 for a copier FOR THE NEW OMBUDSMAN SO SHE CAN DO HER JOB.
So was the $218,000 software upgrade needed by BOTH the Ombudsman’s Office AND the Municipal Clerk…who serve both the Assembly and the Mayor.
Could we reinstate the $20,000 for Anchorage Youth Court, a tried-and-true method for rehabilitating kids who make mistakes early on? No Way!
Could we get $65,000 to re-establish the bus route to Mountain View, one of the poorest sections of town? Fuggitaboutit!
The amendments to give the Municipal fees back to the Anchorage School District, something I worked hard for, went down as well:
If you watch this, you’ll see that the mayor weighed in on it himself. You’ll also notice that Chris Birch was the first to speak. Right after I got done testifying, he got up and went over to talk to the mayor. Maybe I’m just paraniod…
If you check out the last part of the video, you’ll see that seven voted against this, not six. The seventh was Patrick Flynn and I realize he wasn’t a deciding vote. Perhaps it was a coincidence that the only “non-conservative” amendments that made it through last night were his…and there were two of them.
Dick Traini had the audacity to speak the truth about the Mayor last week. Harriet Drummond and Elvi Gray-Jackson had the unmitigated gall to win their elections in spite of his truly ugly attempts to bring them down. If this is just a taste of how Sully plans to pay them back, the ripple effects of his childish vengeance will not be good for the Assembly or the City of Anchorage.
Hmmm? I guess the game is the same everywhere. Breaking news:
“SF Chronicle video prompts White House threat”
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/04/28/MNA51J994T.DTL&tsp=1
He is moving cost off the city budget onto the school budget so he can say he cut the city budget. Old trick. It usually does fool a lot of people, because they don’t understand public finance.
And they are not including specific “enterprises” in the Municipal Budget even though they are just as much a part of the Municipality as the police and fire.
So, Mr. Mayor, why don’t you include the Port of Anchorage in your budget, hmmmm?
I remember many years ago when the legislature wanted to show a budget cut so they added millions to the prior year supplemental budget.
These tricks are frustratingly common.
Salient points. Many of those who yell the loudest about government spending have no understanding of it. Having no understanding, they often believe people who claim to be conservatives, but whose spending proves otherwise.
Palin is a good example of someone who claims to be fiscally conservative, despite a record that clearly proves otherwise.
I watched the video. And it seems to me the reason the amendments were turned down was because the money was already budgeted and given to the entities. That makes sense to me. Or am I missing something?
Gimme a break.. Sullivan is doing a good job.. Just because he’s not a Democrat, some extremist writers here think he’s Satan… Extreme nuts are on both sides… It’s those that can see both sides and live mostly in the middle that any hope of our future depends upon…
He isn’t Satan, but he is hypocritical, and the only thing he has accomplished is harm employee moral and find the budget surplus that the last mayor left for him.
Sully is Satan’s brother.
a “life insurance policy” that doesn’t meet the city’s own issuing rules, paid at less than the agreed upon rates, I’d be taking a serious look at what this gentleman is doing… Having his policy payments returned would have been the correct thing to do, Charging the schools for collecting their portion of property taxes ??? and at a rate that would certianly behoove the school system in to doing it themselves… which would then remove the interest income from the city coffers…
Tell me how he’s doing a good job, Mr. Bob!
Well, for one thing, he’s doing what he can to stand up to the public service sector unions that threaten to suck this city dry… No thanks to Begich and his sweetheart deals that Sullivan is now forced to honor… Begich pushed through the union contracts before leaving office as payback to the unions for their political support in his Senate run… Nuff said???
I’ve heard that meme a lot.
Not having been in on the negotiations, what did the unions actually get that they wouldn’t have with Sully or someone else? What evidence do you have that this was payback to the unions?
And, how much comfort do you have in an administration whose numbers were a deficit, then a surplus, no wait, a deficit, no wait, a surplus? Having met both Begich’s finance person and Mayor Sullivan, I have a lot more faith in the former.
Linda, I just read the following over on Patrick Flynn’s blog:
“While I wrote an amendment to restore a $20,000 cut to the Anchorage Youth Court I never offered it. Instead, after reading my justification, the administration decided this organization’s work at redirecting young people from bad paths to good merited assistance and added it to their version of the budget.”
What’s the deal? Is Youth Court in or out? It’s a great organization.
Very very very sad….. and we have how long to go before another vote?????
Linda, I love reading your detailed reporting on local government. I wish more people (myself included) would attend meetings and keep an eye on things. Not all of us have your eye and ear for detail, though. I hope Anchorage citizens appreciate your talent and dedication.
P.S. I also enjoyed your analogies at the beginning of the piece. These guys are exactly like the stereotypical bullies and cheats you described. All bullies are cowards. All cheats are afraid of being caught. No small wonder they seem to be conducting business on the sly. I hope their little bottoms get hung in a sling of legal trouble if they are doing so.
So, when the Muni charges ASD to have a race at Kincaid, the ASD will respond by moving all the races to ASD property. Upshot: no money to Parks & Rec, no races at our premier XC ski and running venue (that belongs to us and is supported by us), and the losers are: the KIDS.
Great job, mr. mayor. Lose/ Lose.
Sorry, Linda, I can’t watch the video. I absolutely refuse to install Silverlight on my Mac. Everyone I know who has installed it has regrets. Sorry you have such an a**hole for a mayor.
We all know Mayor Sully is an a**hole. Hopefully we can get of him next time around. The guy makes me sick.
“Get rid of him,” of course, I meant. Not “take him out,” but “send him packing.”
Just curious. When is his term up?
Next spring he will run for re-election. Unless he is running against Mark Begich or Sean Parnell instead.
Thanks, John. His term has begun to seem interminable, considering all the damage he has wrought.
OMG, your last sentence just kicked in. Surely Alaskans are not so masochistic that they would consider Sullivan for Governor or Senator? If they do, then all hope is lost for the future of the state. We in the lower 48 would surely write-off the state as being as imbecilic as Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, or Kansas (oh, the list is growing).
It is painful to think this guy could not even get elected in Texas, but here he has a real chance of becoming governor…..
Maybe it’s really time to move.
Parnell and Sullivan need to both be removed from their positions. I suspect Sullivan will try to bring down Begich, but don’t think he’d be successful. Mark is doing a hell of a job back there in D.C. for us. I voted for Begich and have friends who didn’t, but now plan to next go around. Yea!!!!!
And, then there is Debbie O. Didn’t like her last time when she headed the Assembly and especially don’t trust her this go around. I feel sorry for the way our Assembly members seated ‘to the left’ are going to be treated. There will be so much frustration. People will, hopefully, realize they misplaced their votes w/the ‘right’ side section.
Wonderful how our City government works, huh? Pardon me while I barf!
That weasel’s face is very difficult to look at. gives me the creeps every time.
Linda, you are astute, as usual. An open meetings act violation seems likely. Whether done in a group meeting, or by serial meeting over the phone or by email, it’s wrong. It might be worth a records request.
someone needs to do a public records act request all their e-mails from the last two months. Any e-mail that went to or from a muni.org address plus any personal e-mail that discusses municipal business.
The old..in any species..start taking..shortcuts. They do not yet notice..that their ..focus’..has narrowed. Longish of tooth..and softer of body, lessening of .. broad scanning ability..they will, as time goes further-by..make more errors..in judgement. Look at the facial expression..on that fellow..it..has started..and all the educated people must do..is..trail..and wait. The old coyote..leaves pee spots still..the younger..will simply wait..and..catch him..further out. Smiling..is now for ..the educated, the wiser people..for the future..Will..be theirs.
Slightly off topic, but I saw Mayor Sully saying the pledge the other day. He doesn’t put his hand over his heart. He places it several inches lower. About where his descending colon would be (if my recollection of anatomy is correct). I guess if you don’t have a heart, you go for the next best thing.
That is a great observation and comment!
Yet another reason the state government should stay in Juneau.
I’ve missed so much in the past few weeks, whew, a rainy day to catch up on what’s going on. Our new “retiremnt” adventure has kept us VERY busy… check us out & join us on Facebook!
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Otter-Creek-Campground/206189446072250
Best wishes on your retirement venture. The camp looks like a fun place to visit!
As I said last week,you have the makings of a pretty fair Soap Opera. I think all three major networks are shopping around for new ones. Fortunately for the city you are the one doing this reporting. My acid-reflux and short temper would have me on someone’s lap jerking lapels until certain faces were planted in certain tables. But that’s just me. Where did I leave my Omeperazole?
Oh, Linda.
Oh , ANC.
Oh dear.
So, when do you all amend your charter to get rid of the strong-mayor form of bullying?
Oh how I wish we would do that.How DO we? Or simply require that candidates for office pass tests that demonstrate they know what key planning documents are how they can help our city economically as well as providing us with a livable city–like our Comprehensive Plan that its sub-plans like the Long Range Transportation Plan.
Better yet, how about sending them to southcentral LA for 10 days and make them write a report on how we can help Anchorage NOT become like that.
It appears that our new Assembly member does not do his own home work either, as he was heard to say at one candidate forum during the campaign–that the Anchorage 2020 Comp Plan was no longer a valid document because that is what Debbie O told him!