Dunleavy takes political shot at Berkowitz, opposing Anchorage mask mandate

Ever since the recall movement began to threaten his political survival, Gov. Mike Dunleavy has been Gov. Noncommittal.

The latest example of his political distancing strategy is the Friday statement by the Dunleavy administration opposing the Anchorage mask mandate implemented by Mayor Ethan Berkowitz to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The memo is a political shot at Berkowitz, in line with the right-wing paranoia created by President Trump and the Republican Party. The right wing has succeeded in making the wearing of masks a political issue, when it is really all about public health.

The Dunleavy administration says it opposes applying the mandate on state property within the municipality. This is a policy call allegedly made by Attorney General Kevin Clarkson.

Clarkson writes that the Anchorage mandate will not apply to state facilities in Anchorage, but that Dunleavy “supports State of Alaska employees that want to voluntarily wear face masks or face coverings to assist in the mitigation of COVID-19.”

Translated, Dunleavy opposes a mask mandate.

Dunleavy passed along the memo to all state employees without comment, playing the part of Gov. Noncommittal. But that’s not how this works. This is a Dunleavy decision, not a Clarkson decision. The governor should take responsibility instead of treating this as a ruling by his consigliere.

Dunleavy should have repeated the advice on the state’s own website, “We highly recommend that all Alaskans wear a cloth face covering in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.”

Instead, he said, “Thank you for your service, and have a great weekend.”

While the governor declined to take responsibility for the decision, Clarkson took to Twitter Saturday evening to confirm that the decision was indeed made by the governor and not by the AG.

Clarkson said a mask mandate can be enacted by a local government. “Here the governor chose to preempt the mayor’s mandate, but only for state buildings/facilities.”

Clarkson had given contradictory messages on the topic.

On Thursday, a day before the Clarkson anti-mask edict, Clarkson said that it is entirely legal, in his view, for local governments to issue mask mandates, saying this ‘thoughtful’ statement by the South Carolina attorney general applies to Alaska.

The Anchorage mandate makes sense on state property, as well as federal property and private property. Dr. Anne Zink, who has done a great deal to help Dunleavy’s image in recent months, is probably in favor of it.

I suspect she is banned by Dunleavy from expressing an opinion that contradicts his, however.

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