State officials won't say who ordered $441,000 contract with grandson of Dunleavy donor

The stonewalling on the Clark Penney no-bid contract from the Dunleavy administration continues. Legislators are asking the right questions, however.

Dermot ColeJanuary 31, 2020 Comments

Tammie Wilson's new state job and the bureaucratic shell game

Tammie Wilson’s new job, created by revising an existing opening, will be part of a proposed new unit that doesn’t exist yet, raising constitutional questions about the ban on ex-legislators moving immediately into the executive branch.

Dermot ColeJanuary 30, 2020 Comments

Alaska Supreme Court has power to act quickly on Dunleavy recall

The recall appeal to the Alaska Supreme Court doesn’t have to be a drawn-out process, though the attorney general and the Dunleavy support group will try to make it so.

Dermot ColeJanuary 29, 2020 Comments

Alaska needs a governor, not a General or a Wizard

Gov. Mike Dunleavy did not say how much the new Alaska General would cost or why the lieutenants of the Dunleavy administration are not already identifying careless and fraudulent spending. No-bid contracts with relatives of donors come to mind.

Dermot ColeJanuary 28, 2020 Comments

Dunleavy's suggestion for a lottery shows he's not serious about a fiscal plan

If the state pays the dividend Gov. Mike Dunleavy wants, we’ll see a deficit of close to $2 billion. Something has to give. And Dunleavy is happy to be a bystander. That was the message from his State of the State speech.

Dermot ColeJanuary 27, 2020 Comments

Dunleavy's focus on Alaska unemployment percentages creates misleading picture

Gov. Mike Dunleavy should read the state reports that show why no one should assume that a decrease in the Alaska unemployment percentage is a positive sign. The drop in the size of the labor force makes the jobless percentage misleading.

Dermot ColeJanuary 27, 2020Comment

'Ineligibility clause' provides clear guidance on Tammie Wilson's ineligibility

The debate about creation stories and state jobs for legislators should have been settled a decade ago when Rep. Nancy Dahlstrom quit the Legislature to take an executive branch job, only to trigger constitutional questions that led to her resignation.

Dermot ColeJanuary 26, 2020 Comments

Tammie Wilson's new job conflicts with Alaska Constitution's 'ineligibility clause'

Tammie Wilson’s new job was created while Wilson is serving as a legislator. The Alaska Constitution prohibits legislators from accepting a job created under these conditions for at least a year.

Dermot ColeJanuary 25, 2020 Comments

Dunleavy legislative wing parrots bogus $500 million claim

The Dunleavy wing of the Legislature, a minority group, got some bad information about Alaska school districts and ran with it. The wing members didn’t hesitate to repeat a false claim that schools have $500 million in extra cash.

Dermot ColeJanuary 24, 2020 Comments

State officials lied about Dunleavy's decision to run from his own press conference

Rather than tell the truth, the leaders of the executive branch chose to lie about the “I’m going to run right now” press conference in December. Now there is proof that Gov. Mike Dunleavy did not split to attend an urgent meeting.

Dermot ColeJanuary 23, 2020 Comments