AIDEA releases 'independent' and 'unbiased' analysis, revised by contractor to please AIDEA
AIDEA has refused to release the $250,000 “independent” and “unbiased” report that Northern Economics completed two years ago.
But AIDEA has just released a version of the report that does not mention it was revised from the original or what parts of the original “independent” report the Dunleavy administration found so objectionable that it was buried in 2024.
Legislators should demand to see the original report.
When it hired Northern Economics three years ago, AIDEA said it would be independent and unbiased in this project. Marcus Hartley, the president of Northern Economics, promised he would provide a “third-party unbiased economic analysis of AIDEA as quickly and thoroughly as possible.”
Hartley’s company calls itself “Alaska’s Trusted Economic Expert” and that is performs “meaningful and unbiased analyses throughout Alaska and around the world.”
AIDEA has claimed the report Hartley’s company finished in early 2024 was a draft and has refused to to release it to the public.
Hartley, who wants to keep doing business with the Dunleavy administration, has declined to reply to many inquiries about this issue.
We have never seen the alleged “third party unbiased economic analysis of AIDEA” that Marcus Hartley’s company delivered to AIDEA in early 2024. The company was paid in full two years ago, but AIDEA claimed Hartley’s company did not finish the report. AIDEA has made additional payments to Northern Economics since then.