Nick Moe Takes On Ernie Hall

Candidate Nick Moe has launched an aggressive last-minute campaign against Anchorage Assemblyman Ernie Hall, whom many feel has betrayed his constituents, the city’s workforce including police and firefighters, and hundreds of Anchorage residents he cut off from testifying on the Mayor’s latest Ordinance.

Anchorage Assembly Chair, Ernie Hall

The minute the deadline to be on the ballot had passed, and Ernie Hall found out he was running without opposition in the April election for Anchorage Assembly he and Jennifer Johnston (also running unopposed) sponsored the anti-labor Ordinance 37. The Ordinance was designed to gut the collective bargaining rights of city workers, and introduce “managed competition.”

Firefighters, law enforcement officers, city workers, and friends of labor were outraged and lined up by the hundreds to have their three minutes before the Assembly. But hundreds more were left out, after Chair Ernie Hall, who was elected with the support of the labor community, ignored protestations from citizens and the ACLU, and declared that he’d heard enough. He allowed the majority anti-labor Assembly to end the testimony. Take that, City Charter.

Hall now has an opponent.

Nick Moe has launched a write-in campaign, looking to oust Hall from his seat on the Assembly. Moe has been an outspoken activist and community organizer in recent years. And “Moe” is a lot easier to spell than “Murkowski.”

The Anchorage Daily News covered Moe’s campaign Sunday, noting:

Hall said he intends to talk next week to ACLU director Jeff Mittman about protocol for public testimony. “We’re going to talk about how we don’t ever end up in a situation like this again.”

Mittman sent a letter to Hall on March 8, before the final public hearing March 11, saying that it would not be legal under the municipal charter for the Assembly to cut off public testimony if people were still waiting to speak.

So basically, Chairman Hall, it would seem that if you don’t want to end up in a situation like this again, don’t put yourself in this situation.  Any time you need more advice, I’m available for a large fee.

Moe commented about the article and Hall’s comments on the Nick Moe for Assembly Facebook page.

Some of Ernie Hall’s comments are remarkable. He tries to shift blame to other Assembly members for cutting off testimony. He is the one who allowed the motion and voted to silence our neighbors.

Hall also made a dismissive, snarky comment about Moe’s age. Moe is 26.

And his last comment:

“He’s a young man. I’m sure that at some time in the future he will be a player in this community,” Hall said.

I may be young but I know when a politician is out of touch. I will work hard to listen and represent West Anchorage on the Assembly much better than he has done during his first term.

Back when Moe was 19 years old, he ran against Mark Begich for Mayor of Anchorage. He lost, but Begich hired him to handle projects, including recycling. Moe is now the SouthCentral organizer for the Alaska Center for the Environment. Now Begich, a U.S. Senator,  is supporting Moe’s campaign. Begich left a comment under Moe’s link to the article.

There are those who weathered last April’s Municipal election debacle, and the new specter of Ordinance 37 who would disagree with Begich’s assessment of Hall being a “good public servant.”

But, to answer the Senators question, you can mail donations to:

Nick Moe for Assembly, 542 W. 19th Ave., Anchorage, AK 99503

Moe and Hall will be running for the West Anchorage Assembly seat covering the following area:

If you live within the red line, and you want better representation on the Anchorage Assembly, instead of a rubber stamp for Dan Sullivan, just make your ballot look like this:

And if you’re not in the district, share this post with your friends and family who are.

Volunteer by emailing [email protected]

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