ACLU: Assembly Cannot End Testimony
Jeffrey Mittman, Executive Director of the ACLU of Alaska Foundation submitted a letter to Ernie Hall, Chairman of the Anchorage Assembly on Friday. Mittman cites the Municipal Charter, Assembly Practice, and the rights inherent in public fora to state that any Anchorage citizens still waiting to testify on Ordinance 37 at the end of Monday’s meeting, must have the right to do so, and the Assembly must schedule another meeting for further public testimony. Hall had stated that testimony would be cut off at 11:00pm on Monday, regardless of whether citizens remained in line wishing to testify. Earlier in the…
AO37 Testimony Still Going Strong
After 15 combined hours of testimony, the line of people waiting to address Assembly members stretched to the back of the room, and the auditorium was more than half full. It was 11:00 at night on a Wednesday. There is no doubt that the issue of Ordinance 37, which would radically alter the collective bargaining rights, and benefits of city workers, has hit Alaskans close to home. Longevity and performance bonuses, the right to strike, binding arbitration, and who exactly will decide the outcome of contract negotiations all hang in the balance. For the last week and a half, the…
I love my city, and I love my job
“It’s starting to feel like a rock concert.” I agreed with the anonymous voice drifting over the mass of people, packed like sardines into the lobby of the Assembly chambers. Bright lights were on, TV cameras set up, and people were fanning themselves with folders, and papers. Everyone was here to testify on Ordinance 37, the mayor’s attempt to take advantage of the current makeup of the Assembly to push through a law that would restrict workers’ rights, and curtail collective bargaining for public unions. The turnout was impressive. I wasn’t sure if anyone had shown up to testify in…
Socialists? Marxists? No – Republicans!
I want to be a Republican and I want a time machine. Oh, I’m not going all Lindsey Holmes on you; I need a time machine to find the Grand Old Party. I have to thank Mayor Dan Sullivan for starting me on this quest. A few weeks ago, at five minutes until closing time, the mayor announced a plan to roll back more than four decades of labor policy in Anchorage. It wasn’t the first shot in his war on working men and women in our town — but this was the nuclear option. I take it as a…
Tuesday Testimony for Ordinance 37?
Despite confusion from the Administration, Public Testimony on Anti-Worker Ordinance 37 is officially scheduled to start TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26TH sometime after 6:00 pm. This ordinance would freeze Muni employee pay and benefits forever, gut collective bargaining rights, and sets up “managed competition,” in which city employees would bid against private contractors for work. There has been conflicting information circulating about when public testimony is supposed to begin. Assembly Chair, Ernie Hall announced to a Working Group held last Friday between the Assembly and the unions that the testimony would begin on Wednesday, February 27th. Mayor Sullivan repeated that same announcement…
Rally at Tonight’s Assembly Meeting
At some point, Anchorage residents are going to believe Mayor Dan Sullivan when he tells them who he is. At five minutes before quitting time on Friday afternoon, Mr. Mayor decided he’d tell municipal employees that the very next Tuesday, the Anchorage Assembly was going to be taking a vote to freeze their pay and benefits. Forever. Yes, forever. Not only that, they’d be deciding whether to gut their collective bargaining rights. And guess when these employees who were notified at 4:55pm on Friday were told they could meet to learn all about these huge changes to their jobs? 8am…
GOP Kills Violence Against Women Act
I sent a letter to House Majority Eric Cantor to bring to the floor a chance to pass the Violence Against Women Act that holds a provision giving Tribes the ability to go after offenders that have literally been getting a free pass to abuse and exploit American Indian / Alaska Natives for hundreds of years. The remoteness of reservations and rural villages makes us easy pickings and proving grounds for predators. The State and many staff with our federal delegation get so uneasy giving Tribes any sort of authority even though it is impossible for them, or fail to…
Dancer Steals Xmas Mail?
Wait. What? Someone stole Christmas mail? On Christmas DAY? And they didn’t just grab stuff out of people’s roadside mailboxes, they stole the whole big giant blue mailbox itself… right in front of the post office? And they stole FOUR of them? A brazen culprit indeed. This Christmas caper would be bad enough, if the prime suspect wasn’t … Dancer! Hold on Dasher, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and Blitzen. Before you get your antlers in a twist, it’s not THAT Dancer. The lack of opposable thumbs should have been a dead giveaway. Authorities are seeking information about THIS Dancer,…
The Choices of Monsters
Born and raised in Alaska, Glen Klinkhart is a retired Anchorage Police Department Detective, a State Certified Police Officer, and Chief Executive Officer for DigitalSecurus, the largest Computer Security Firm in Alaska. He is also a father, lecturer, and author of A CyberCop’s Guide to Internet Child Safety, and the upcoming Finding Bethany. After the mall shooting in Oregon last week, my best friend asked me a question which weighed heavily on her mind, “Why? Why does someone do something horrible like this?” Needless to say, her question is now being asked by people all over the country,…
Back to the Sidewalk – Again!
The high drama of last summer’s sidewalk sitting may be back again in September. Mayor Dan Sullivan didn’t like that a homeless man protesting his draconian attitudes and policies toward the homeless was sitting outside City Hall on the sidewalk. He glowered out of his window in the tall tower, gazing to the sidewalk below and decided to bring the long arm of the law down upon the lowly “protester.” And then, to the mayor’s horror, he realized that there was actually no law prohibiting Anchorage residents from sitting on the sidewalk. It really hadn’t been an issue during the…