Alaska News

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has a new proposal for defining handicrafts made out of sea otter pelts. The agency sets rules for hunting of sea otters and other protected marine mammals.

Its rules allow coastal Natives to hunt otters for traditional and subsistence use. And it permits pelts to be sold to non-Natives after they’re significantly altered.

But part of the rules are hard to decipher. And different interpretations have led to citations, fines and other legal action.

Sealaska Heritage Institute President Rosita Worl is part of a region-wide effort to expand the otter business.

“Our desire is to move away from the vague language that we’ve had that has resulted in some consternation with the hunters and with the craftspeople in not knowing what’s legally acceptable,” she says.

The Fish & Wildlife Service has released new wording and is taking comments through May 17th.

It defines “substantially altered” as weaving, carving, sewing, lacing, beading, drawing, painting and some other methods.

Fish and Wildlife’s Bruce Woods says artisans can make mittens, hats, gloves, purses and scarves. But it prohibits some larger items.

“If someone simply drew a picture on the back of a tanned sea otter hide and attempted to sell that as significantly altered, someone who was running a souvenir factory conceivably could buy those hides and turn them into a whole series of little otter dolls and sell them in competition (with) people who are doing the work as a handicraft,” Woods says.

Woods says Native craftspeople could work in cooperatives or other groups. But they could not use extensive mechanization or divide tasks in anything like an assembly line.

He says the new rules include input from hunters and other groups.

“So the service has been meeting with some handicrafter groups and other interested parties in an attempt to refine that definition and sort of take some of the angst out of the community of crafters who may not be certain that what they’re manufacturing is legal,” he says.

Some craftspeople are not happy with the proposed rules.

Worl says crafters worked with the Indigenous People’s Council for Marine Mammals and other organizations to come up with their own, more flexible proposal. But that’s not the Fish and Wildlife Service draft.

“All of us are busy studying it right now, but there’s a lot of unhappiness that it came out of the blue. So it’s like we’re back to the drawing board,” Worl says. (Hear a report from the last round of otter handicraft proposals.)

The heritage institute is training tribal members to sew otter pelts to help build a cottage industry, especially in economically depressed villages.

Worl says the workshops have waiting lists and more are planned.

The effort comes as hunters, lawmakers and scientists debate the impacts of rapid otter population growth in Southeast and some other parts of the state. Bills in the House and Senatewould subsidize hunting with a $100-per-pelt bounty.

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A fish processing vessel went aground near the Ouzinkie on Friday. The 169-foot “Pacific Producer,” out of Seattle, hit bottom between Kodiak and Spruce Island with sixteen aboard. Ten were rescued and taken to Kodiak, while the rest hope to re-float the vessel at high tide.

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Preparations are officially underway for the Kulluk drill rig’s trip to Asia.

Early Tuesday morning, three tugboats maneuvered the Shell rig out of its berth in Unalaska and onto the deck of the Xiang Rui Kou heavy lift vessel. More than a dozen residents headed down to the beach along Captains Bay Road to watch the operation.

Before crews got started, marine pilot Carter Whalen said they would have a hard time moving the Kulluk because of its domed shape.

“With three different tugs pulling on it with lines, it has a tendency to spin one way or the other. And once it starts spinning, it’s hard to stop it from spinning,” Whalen says. “It slides transversely through the water. It’s kind of a balancing act, rather than having to use a lot of power. It’s kind of a finesse.”

When reached this afternoon aboard the Kulluk, Whalen said the tow was going smoothly. Engineers fit the Kulluk into place on the deck of the Xiang Rui Kou, without the help of divers or remotely operated underwater vehicles. Once the Kulluk was properly positioned, the lift vessel emptied its ballast tanks and rose up from the water, taking the oil rig with it.

“Then there will be a four or five day process, once she’s floated, where they will secure and weld and reinforce the Kulluk into position before they cross the Pacific,” Whalen says.

The vessels are expected to leave Unalaska toward the end of the week. They’re bound for Asia, where the Kulluk will undergo repairs on damage sustained when the rig ran aground near Kodiak in January.

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An orphaned three-month old polar bear cub found near Point Lay is getting a temporary home at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage.

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Northern Dynasty Minerals has responded to the allegations made earlier this week by U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell that the company was misleading federal officials. In a written statement issued Tuesday Northern Dynasty Minerals President and CEO claimed that Senator Cantwell’s concerns have no basis in fact.

Cantwell claims that Northern Dynasty Minerals has made contradictory statements to the EPA, the Securities and Exchange Commission and investors about the EPA’s draft Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment and a potential mine plan. Ron Thiessen admits that the EPA may have used some of the information presented in the companies “Preliminary Economic Assessment” to create their mining scenario. But he says it’s the EPA alone that is responsible for designing and then assessing the effects of the hypothetical mine in the draft Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment”. Thiessen goes onto says that to suggest that Northern Dynasty is responsible for the EPA’s hypothetical project, which was evaluated in the draft watershed document, when the company had not involvement with the report is wrong.

In the news release Northern Dynasty Minerals noted that the companies Preliminary Economic Assessment presented a potential mine development scenario at Pebble but it did not include all the mine design information and mitigating measures that Northern Dynasty claims would have allowed the EPA to do a detailed assessment. The company claims the Preliminary Economic Assessment was intended to broadly evaluate the economics of a Pebble Mine project but did not included detailed engineering and other data. Thiessen asserts that Northern Dynasty’s filings with the SEC are legal and meet all of the required standards for those filing.

In the hours after the Cantwell letter to the SEC chairman was released several organizations involved with the Pebble Mine issued released statements. The Bristol Bay Native Corporation issued a statement expressing appreciation for Senator Cantwell’s attention to the proposed Pebble Mine. BBNC has take a position in opposition to the Pebble Mine and is calling for the EPA to step in and prevent the mine from moving forward to development. Northern Dynasty Minerals is based in Vancouver and its principal asset is the 50-percent stake in the Pebble Limited Partnership. That partnership is looking at developing a large gold and copper mine just north of Iliamna Lake.

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The U.S. House Ethics Committee has unanimously voted to create a subcommittee investigating whether Congressman Don Young violated official code of conduct.

The Committee was conducting its own investigation of Congressman Young, based on previous work from the 111th and 112th Congresses, when it received a referral from the Department of Justice.

DOJ conducted its own investigation into Congressman Young before.

The subcommittee will examine Congressman Young’s travel expenses and costs.

The Ethics Committee is not releasing anymore public information yet, and does not have a time frame for the investigation.

A spokesman from Representative Young’s office responded to emailed questions with “no comment.”

The U.S. House Ethics Committee has unanimously voted to create a subcommittee investigating
whether Congressman Don Young violated official code of conduct.

APRN’s Peter Granitz reports.

XXXX

The Committee was conducting its own investigation of Congressman Young … based on previous work
from the 111th and 112th Congresses, when it received a referral from the Department of Justice.

DOJ conducted its own investigation into Congressman Young before.

The subcommittee will examine Congressman Young’s travel expenses and costs.

The Ethics Committee is not releasing anymore public information yet, and does not have a timeframe
for the investigation.

A spokesman from Representative Young’s office responded to emailed questions with “no comment.”

The Anchorage School Board said good bye to Jim Browder and swore in a new Superintendent at their meeting Monday night. KSKA’s Daysha Eaton was there and has this story.

Ed Graff was officially made Superintendent of the Anchorage School District at the March 18th meeting of the School Board. Photo from ASD.

The Anchorage School Board voted unanimously to amend Jim Browder’s contract for serving as Superintendent, allowing him to leave the district in June. Browder said he regretted having to ask the board to let him go early and he said a thank you.
“I want to especially thank the staff, the teachers, the principals in the community for the support and the understanding as I’ve been going through this. This is a really good district. And it’s poised to continue that as we move forward. I’m proud of our numerous accomplishments and I’m proud that the staff has supported and helped us push forward the things that are important to students achievement.”

In February, Browder told the board that he might need to leave the district to be closer to his daughter and grandson who he says are experiencing medical issues. Earlier this month, he was one of three finalists for a job in Des Moines, Iowa, but he didn’t get the job. Last week ASD announced he would retire from the district, just 8 months into his 3-year contract. The board released him from his original contract which would have required 120 days rather than 90 days notice. Browder’s will get his salary and benefits until his end date. In addition he will not have repay his moving expenses of up to $10,000. He will not receive a severance package. He will not be evaluated because of his early departure. Chief Academic Officer Ed Graff was sworn in to take Browder’s place. Graff was named as the new superintendent on March 14th, the same day that it was announced that Browder would retire. He acknowledged the magnitude of his new job and said he hoped to bring balance to the district.

“The roll that I will play and believe that I have an obligation to do is to insure that we focus on all of our students collectively and still meet their needs of everyone individually. And I think that’s a balance that’s challenging but I think that it’s one that we deserve to give to our students and to our community members and to our parents.”

Jim Browder served as Superintendent of the Anchorage School District for less than one year. Screenshot from DMPStv.

Graff has been with the district for more than 20 years, working as substitute teacher, an elementary school classroom teacher, and as a principal. Browder and Graff will work alongside each other during the three-month transition. Browder’s last day with the district is scheduled to be June 14th. If he needs to leave earlier, due to family medical needs, a ‘Emergency Termination’ clause in his new contract allows him to do so without penalty.

Amended Contract for Jim Browder (PDF)

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Governor Sean Parnell’s oil tax overhaul is poised for debate Tuesday on the Senate floor. For weeks committees have been reviewing the bill and making changes to it and this is the first time it will appear before the full Senate.

The Governor has made it a priority to overhaul the tax structure by getting rid of a measure that raises the state’s share when the price per barrel is high. Critics say the legislation could cost the state billions, but Parnell says it’s necessary to get more oil flowing through the pipeline.

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U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced on Friday, a buildup at the missile-defense base at Fort Greely in response to threats by North Korea. The announcement has generated cautious enthusiasm about an economic boost in the Delta Junction area.

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A member of the U.S. Senate is urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate one of the companies looking at developing a massive gold and copper mine in the Bristol Bay region.

Northern Dynasty Minerals is one half of the Pebble Limited Partnership along with the giant mining company Anglo-American. The Partnership is looking at developing the massive Pebble Mine that would be located just north of Iliamna Lake. On Monday U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell from Washington sent a letter to the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission asking for an investigation into what the Senator claims is contradictory information provided by Northern Dynasty Minerals to federal officials regarding building the Pebble Mine.

At issue is a document called the “Wardrop Report” that Northern Dynasty Minerals submitted to the SEC in February of 2011. That same report was also used by the EPA to prepare the draft “Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment”. In her letter, Senator Cantwell claims that Northern Dynasty Minerals informed both the SEC and investors that the proposed Pebble Mine design and specifications are feasible and permittable in a press release issued in 2011. Cantwell claims that more recently, in August of last year, Northern Dynasty Minerals referred to the “Wardrop Report” as a “fantasy proposal” in the company’s public testimony to the EPA. In her letter Cantwell claims that the contradictory use of the “Wardrop Report” is extremely concerning as it is unclear whether Northern Dynasty Minerals is misleading investors by attracting investment for a fantasy proposal or it is intentionally providing fraudulent testimony to the EPA.

Senator Cantwell is paying attention to the issue because the salmon resource in Bristol Bay supports a massive commercial fishery that is closely tied to Washington State. That’s because many of the major seafood processors that operate in Bristol Bay are based in Washington including Peter Pan, Ocean Beauty, AGS, Icicle, and North Pacific Seafood’s. Additionally nearly 1-thousand Washington State residents hold commercial fishing permits in Bristol Bay. Senator Cantwell wrapped up her letter by urging the SEC to launch an investigation. Northern Dynasty acquired the mining claims that encompass the Pebble Deposit back in 2001 and they entered into a 50-50 partnership with mining giant Anglo-American in 2007. The deposit is thought to contain over 50-billion pounds of copper and around 67-million ounces of gold.     However, some estimates greatly increase those numbers. No matter what estimate you use the Pebble Deposit is considered one of the largest deposits of its type on earth and any development of that deposit would have a positive impact on the economy of the Iliamna region. However, many Native, fishing, and environmental groups believe a mine of the size needed to develop the deposit would pose risks to the surrounding natural environment and could be especially harmful to the Bristol Bay region’s world famous and one of a kind salmon resource.

Efforts to get a comment from the Pebble Limited Partnership about the Cantwell letter and the call for a SEC investigation have so far been unsuccessful.

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Shell’s Kulluk drill rig is almost ready to leave Alaska waters.

The heavy lift vessel that will take the damaged oil rig to Asia for repairs arrived in Unalaska on Sunday afternoon. The Xiang Rui Kou was escorted to its anchorage in Captains Bay by three tugs.

The Kulluk has been in Unalaska for about two weeks, waiting for the 700-foot heavy lift ship to sail in from China. Marine pilot Carter Whalen says it will take about seven hours to load the Kulluk onto the Xiang Rui Kou this Tuesday. The lift vessel will fill its ballast tanks and sink below the Kulluk so cranes can lift the rig onto the Xiang Rui Kou’s deck.

After that, Whalen says work crews will spend a few days securing the Kulluk. The vessels are expected to leave Unalaska toward the end of the week.

Shell spokesman Curtis Smith says the company doesn’t have any comment on the operation at this time.

Congressman Don Young has passed two milestones this month. Saturday he surpassed the late Senator Ted Stevens for amount of years in federal elected office.

And earlier this month, he marked his 40th year since being first elected, in a special election in 1973.

In the November 1972 election, Representative Young lost to incumbent Nick Begich, who had died in a plane crash. Begich’s son Mark is now U.S. Senator.

APRN’s Washington correspondent Peter Granitz caught up with Representative Young this morning. They started by discussing what’s changed in Washington during his four decades in federal office.

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As part of our on-going series about Alaska’s cultural connections, we’ve been bringing you stories about how Alaskans, both urban and rural, define and live their lives.  No matter where young people live, learning about sex is a big part of growing up, whether it happens in a healthy way, or a way you’d rather forget. Many young Alaskans feel their first lessons were a little too little and a little too late.

Anne Hillman spoke with youth from both rural and urban Alaska about their experiences with sex ed.

Last summer, Travis Chunak from New Stuyahawk made a short informative film.

 “…Youth are harassing other youth. I know in my village youth are harassing other youth by touching private parts unexpectedly…”

The video was created during a workshop in Anchorage led by RurAL CAP focused on sexual health. During the session, a group of young adults talked about how a lack of knowledge about their bodies and relationships impacted them when they were younger. Anecia Romie from Ekwok says she experienced sexual harassment during middle school but couldn’t identify it at the time.

“I never talked to anyone about it.” “How come?” “Because I didn’t know it at the time. I was in middle school and we didn’t even have a health class until we reached freshman year or something,” Romie said.

Both she and Chunak say*they wished they had learned about puberty, sex, and relationships sooner, so they knew what to expect. They said they didn’t learn as much as they needed in school and they didn’t have any one to talk to.

“You didn’t talk to your friends either?” “No.” “How come?” “Cause it’s like a joke to them, so they can’t really sit down and talk. They think it’s a joke so they just laugh and stuff like that,” Romie said.

Twenty-one-year-old Daniel Andrew III from Kasigluk says when growing up in a Yupik speaking house, he couldn’t talk to his family about it.

“It’s kinda harder cause in our language there’s hardly any words for STDs and HIV and all those other stuff,” Andrew said.

And in the village of 575 people, Andrew didn’t feel comfortable getting more information at the clinic either.

“Some of us are kind of like too scared to go and ask because we’re like related,” Andrew said.

He says the lack of information about sex made building a relationship difficult.

Students at East High in Anchorage, like senior Synclair Butler, say similar things.

“I don’t think middle school and elementary school do a good job of preparing you for it because it’s such a one-sided view of abstinence,” Butler said.

Butler says she learned about the biology of sex and reproduction but never about what relationships are. To remedy that, she enrolled in a new course at East High called Sexuality and Healthy Relationships taught by Gary Snyder.

“In Mr. Snyder’s class he’s not saying yeah, go have sex, here’s what you need. He’s more like I’m not that adult who tells you how to live your life but if you do decide to make those decisions, here’s the precautions you need,” Butler said.

Senior Leah Droege is taking the class along side her boyfriend because they want to be comfortable talking about their relationship together.

“I think it’s important to do in school because even though you can talk to your parents and stuff it’s kind of weird. I mean you’re not going to talk to your parents about you know. And it’s nice to have someone who has experience and has knowledge about it and you can be in a situation where you don’t have to personally ask a question but you can learn about it,” Droege said.

Their teacher, Gary Snyder, says getting his students to talk is key.

“There’s an undercurrent in my lessons of trying to get the students to talk to each other. That’s my goal. Learning to be comfortable talking about these issues. Because if they can talk about them then they are more likely to make good decisions one day with a partner,” Snyder said.

Students requested the course and it was developed over two years with input from a diversity of community viewpoints. It covers everything from the media’s affects on body image to biology to sexual identity. One of the main focuses is on building a healthy relationship.

“What is a healthy relationship. Many students have never seen that modeled and what makes relationships work or not work. It’s always a real eye opener for them to see there’s been some real research into this,” Snyder said.

He says he’s seen his students change during the class and hopes it will be expanded to other schools.

“I’ve taught a lot of math and science, which I love, but in this course – I’ve never had a stronger sense of ‘I’m having an impact on kids lives’ than with this course,” Snyder said.

And his students, including Butler, agree.

“If they want to look for more required classes for people to graduate, this should be one of them. I think it kind of helps students familiarize themselves with themselves and with other students and prepares them for life outside of high school,” Butler said.

Currently the class is only taught at East High in Anchorage and at some of the district’s alternative schools.

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It was big weekend for dogsled and ski racing in Fairbanks.

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A resolution opposing genetically engineered salmon is likely to pass the Alaska Legislature this week.

The so-called “Frankenfish” resolution cleared the Senate Resources Committee on Friday, its last stop before a vote on the Senate floor. The resolution unanimously passed the House about a month ago.

Seward High School sophomore Griffin Plush was in Juneau last week with Alaska Youth for Environmental Action. He says a genetically modified fish could escape its holding pen and cause harm to the environment and Alaska fisheries.

“It would be devastating to fishing communities like Seward, who rely on the salmon population and a healthy salmon population for tourism and the fishing industry,” Plush said.

He had hoped to testify on the anti-Frankenfish measure, but had to leave town before Friday’s hearing.

Masachusetts-based AquaBounty has spent more than $70 million to develop the genetically modified fish, which is an Atlantic salmon with genes from a king salmon and an eel-like fish to make it grow faster.

The company is seeking US Food and Drug Administration approval for the product. A preliminary FDA report says the fish would have no significant impact on the environment.

But Representative Geran Tarr, the Anchorage Democrat who sponsored House Joint Resolution 5, says the FDA doesn’t have enough evidence to back up that finding. If the agency approves AquaBounty’s petition, Tarr says it would be the first time a genetically modified animal product is approved for human consumption.

“This resolution, should we be successful in passing it, will be sent along with a letter and submitted as public comments on behalf of the legislature,” Tarr said. “And I like to say it’s a great opportunity for Alaskans to speak out in one unified voice, because the Congressional delegation has already spoken out in opposition, the governor has spoken out. So, the legislature kind of fills in that last bit of representation.”

Senator Peter Micciche, a Kenai Republican, is a co-sponsor of the measure on the Senate side. At Friday’s Resources Committee hearing, Micciche said resolution enjoys broad public support.

“I have never, since this came to us several years back, have I ever heard a single statement of support for genetically engineered salmon,” Micciche said.

The FDA is taking public comment on AquaBounty’s petition through April 26th.

An Anchorage Walmart manager was undergoing surgery Saturday night after being shot by a customer apparently upset about being told his service dog need to be on a leash. Jason Mahi was allegedly shot by Daniel Pirtle, 45, a double amputee, who now faces assault and misconduct involving weapons.

Snowboarder Callan Chythlook-Sifsof of Girdwood claimed a bronze medal yesterday in the team snowboard cross in a World Cup event in Switzerland. Chythlook-Sifsof was teamed with Faye Gulini of Salt Lake City. In individual events, she has medaled in 2007 and 2011.

The United States is increasing the amount of interceptor missiles it stockpiles from thirty to forty four. The 14 additional missiles will be based at Fort Greely, near Fairbanks.

Pentagon officials say they’re confident the new missiles will be capable of shooting incoming long-range missiles out of the sky. They say the biggest threat is from North Korea, which recently conducted its third nuclear test.

Previous missile defense tests, like one in 2008, failed to shoot incoming dummy weapons out of the sky.

The upgrade to the program will cost taxpayers about one billion dollars – this despite mandated cuts to future spending at the Pentagon. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says the program should be up and running by 2017.

There’s no indication yet whether this means reactivating the mothballed missile field at Fort Greeley, or whether there will be new construction.

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Alaska State Employees Association members rally for fair contracts at the State Office Building in late February. ASEA and the Alaska Public Employees Association, which collectively represent about 12,500 state workers, reached tentative agreements for new three-year contracts this week. Photo by Casey Kelly, KTOO-Juneau.

The Parnell administration and two public employee unions have reached tentative agreement for a new three-year contract to begin in July.

The Alaska Public Employees Association settled earlier this week; the Alaska State Employees Association finished late Thursday afternoon.  Both say they will recommend members ratify the proposal, which increases salaries slightly, while health benefits remain essentially unchanged from the current contract.

Negotiators from both unions say they fell short of their ambitions.

“Had to recognize that the stars were simply not aligned in our favor,” says Pete Ford, APEA Southeast Regional Manager.

“The Legislature’s been pretty specific and clear about the manners in which they want to restrain advances in employee compensation and bring about some restrictions, and the administration has similar concerns,” he says.

State law requires that financial terms of the agreements be presented to lawmakers by Friday, March 15, the 60th day of the legislative session.

In a mid-February letter to Gov.  Sean Parnell, Senate President Charlie Huggins, House Speaker Mike Chenault and chairmen of both finance committees urged the administration to “hold the monetary terms of the contracts at zero.”

Negotiations were well underway.

Unions bargain with the administration, not the legislature. Still, Ford says, it was clear the letter had a chilling effect on state negotiators.

“Areas where we thought there might be movement tended to close down and the administration recognized what the legislature was saying and it certainly impacted or appeared to impact their flexibility at the table,” Ford says.

 APEA represents about 2,200 members of the Supervisory Unit and 210 Confidential Employees Association members; ASEA  represents about 8,000 workers in the General Government Unit.  The proposal calls for salary increases of 1 percent in each of the first and second years of the contract, and 2.5 percent   in the third year.

Deputy Administration Commissioner Curtis Thayer was at the negotiating table.  He says the letter from legislative leaders made the path clear for state negotiators.

“That’s one of the reasons I think we were successful in getting the one /one (percent raise) in the first two years of the contract,” he says. “Quite frankly, the unions came in quite a bit higher, but I think it set the tone for continuing negotiations knowing what the fiscal outlook is for production and the price of oil.  It had an effect.  It did.”

ASEA business manager Jim Duncan says the atmosphere surrounding bargaining this year was difficult. He calls it a modest contract.

“We’re going to recommend that members ratify it because it’s the best we could do under this atmosphere.  It’s got gains in it for the membership but not clearly to the level we would like to have had,” he says.

One gain comes for long term employees.  Those who have worked for 15 years or more will get an additional day of annual leave deposited to their account.

But Thayer says state employees hired after July 1, 2013 will earn fewer hours of annual leave for days worked.

He says a cap will also be put on annual leave.

“People that have over a thousand hours, they’re grandfathered in, but for new employees, there will be a cap of no more than a thousand hours,” he says.

According to Thayer,  the state’s total leave liability is more than $164 million and the leave reduction and cap are an important part of the proposed contracts.

“The whole idea around leave is to take it. Take time off, recharge your batteries. come back with a fresh perspective,” he says.

The proposed contract also will require state employees take  at least two weeks a year of personal leave, he says.

The unions will begin a series of meetings at works sites around the state to explain the tentative agreement, then ask members to vote in favor.

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Since the introduction of the ordinance, signs expressing support for unions have popped up in Anchorage

Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan has rejected an offer to freeze wages of city workers for one year in exchange for tabling a controversial ordinance that would limit unions. KSKA’s Daysha Eaton has the story.

In the past, Mayor Dan Sullivan has said the changes his ordinance would make are needed to keep costs down, and the ordinance must be rushed because of upcoming union negotiations. But now he says there are bigger goals. In a 2-page letter sent to union leaders via email Wednesday, Mayor Dan Sullivan said he couldn’t take the offer made by 5 of the 8 unions, because, for him, it’s about more than money.

“It’s about revising the way that we negotiate contracts in the future to make sure that they’re standardized, that they’re easier to both understand and to implement and that they’re fair to the employees and as importantly, to the citizens who pay for public services.”

Union supporters rally in protest of AO37 outside an Assembly meeting in February.

Sullivan says he wants his administration and future administrations to have more control over workers. He proposed the ordinance February 8th. It would limit longevity and performance pay, benefits, and eliminate binding arbitration along with strikes. It would also allow some municipal jobs to be contracted out. Last Friday, unions leaders representing about 22-hundred municipal employees offered to delay the expiration of contracts in exchange for tabling of the ordinance. Monday, despite warnings from the ACLU of Alaska, the Assembly ended public testimony on the issue after 285 people had testified against the ordinance over four evenings. Sullivan says he supports the assembly’s decision and he did not accept the union’s offer because:

“I didn’t see any real reason to go with that. We’re more than willing to negotiate the contracts that are coming up on the current time schedule and we want to do so under the rules that are being considered by the assembly. I’m not sure what it would have accomplished. We think the ordinance is ready to go, there will be some miner amendments going forward, we didn’t see any reason to delay for a year.”

Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan

Union supporters have compared the changes that Sullivan’s ordinance would make to to labor reform that took place in Wisconsin. Sullivan says his proposal is different because it does not eliminate collective bargaining. He says workers can still negotiate things like how much they get for education enhancements, clothing allowances and tool allowances. Jillanne Inglis is Vice President of the Anchorage Municipal Employees Association. She represents city government workers from clerks to engineers. She has worked for city for municipality for 17 years. She says she’s disappointed with the Mayor’s response and She says it shows that he does not want to work with unions.

“I’m feeling that the Mayor does not want to have a good piece of legislation, really. It takes time. And we offered to take the time and to sit down at the table with him. This has been our experience for the last four years. We try to make an offer and work with him and he rejects it or he’s not interested in it. For him, it’s philosophical. He does not like unions.”

Sullivan denies that he doesn’t like unions and says he just wants to narrow the parameters of negotiation. Sergeant Gerard Asselin with the Anchorage Police Department Employee Association says the ordinance narrows the parameters so much that it leaves little to be negotiated. And he says it’s being fast-tracked for a reason.

“The stars have aligned for the administration. He’s pretty confident, as he has said from the beginning, he has the votes.”

Asselin says It’s no coincidence that Attorney’s started crafting the ordinance in secret last summer, but waited to make it public until February. Asselin says he believes that the majority of people who live in Anchorage do not support the Mayor’s proposal.

“So, what recourse are we left with other than to try to engage the community and if that comes in the form of the polls on April 2nd, then I’d say, that’s what we need to do.”

A work session on the ordinance is scheduled for Friday, March 22nd at City hall.
The Assembly is scheduled to take action on the ordinance Tuesday, March 26th.

March 8th Letter from Unions to Mayor Sullivan (PDF)

March 13th Letter from Mayor Sullivan to Unions (PDF)

Version of AO37 as of March 15th (PDF)

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