Tammie Wilson, Brett Rotermund claim they want to 'Save the State' with their team
Josh Leaders, who is running for the borough assembly against incumbent Scott Crass, posted a video on social media in July in which he said he decided to run because of an incident that he said he witnessed five months earlier in the borough offices.
Leaders said he was waiting in line at the assessing office in early February and that he heard an employee of the assessing department treating a person in line ahead of him in a way that was totally unprofessional.
On his July 20 video, he said:
"Finally make it to the front of the line, there was a tax assessor in the tax assessment window who was just absolutely chastising this elderly lady, who had very simple questions, which I could have answered as a real estate licensee in the state of Alaska. I could have answered those questions for her. He was just laying into her, giving her the business. You could see the look of dejection on her face when this was all happening.”
“I had a massive problem with this. Our government employees should be treating our stakeholders, our taxpayers with the utmost respect, not with contempt, which is what I saw that day, because he was being questioned about how he calculated something."
Leaders has made a serious charge against a borough employee in an important position, a person he has refused to identify. I think this deserves an examination, review and a public discussion.
The assessing counter is in a wide-open public space and an exchange like the one described by Leaders would have been heard by other people.
Assessing department managers said they do not remember anything like this happening. The borough assessor says that had a conversation like that one been overheard, she has no doubt that other borough staff members would have intervened.
When I emailed Leaders about this, he replied that I should look for evidence that it happened. “Are you suggesting that the incident did not happen as I described it?”
“If your objective is to determine whether my account is accurate, I would encourage you to investigate it. Are there CCTV cameras covering the assessing lobby and counter? If footage from that period still exists and is subject to disclosure, that would seem like a reasonable avenue for a reporter to pursue,” he said.
I said his failure to file a formal or informal complaint and the failure of anyone else to file a complaint made me doubt his interpretation of what happened. I said his failure to do anything about this matter except to use it as a campaign event made me doubt his interpretation.
“Your failure to identify the individual makes me doubt it as well. You say you don’t want to humiliate anyone by providing a name, but your statement humiliates every assessor in the department. That makes me doubt your account,” I wrote.
My complete exchange with him is posted below, along with his video.
He said he rejected the “characterization that I claimed borough employees generally treat the public with contempt. I described one specific interaction that I personally witnessed. There are many borough employees who serve this community professionally and respectfully.”
But it wouldn’t have made a good campaign event for the potential voters he is aiming at—those opposed to the current assembly and mayor—to say that this incident was an aberration that didn’t reflect a broader truth and “there are many borough employees who servce this community professionally and respectfully.”
He didn’t say anything like that. He chose not to.
I can only speak of my experience in dealing with borough officials during the past 50 years. I have no reason to believe that borough employees treat the public with contempt and refuse to answer simple questions.
On another issue, Leaders complains that I falsely named him as part of a “team” that is running for three seats on the assembly, backed by a so-called “independent expenditure” group led by assembly members Tammie Wilson and Brett Rotermund.
Leaders said he is not part of the “supposed political team” of Leaders, Shupe and Ramirez, the three candidates who Tammie and Brett are boosting against Crass, Nick LaJiness and Alexis Howell.
Wilson, who has a “family advocate” job created for her by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, and Rotermund, the owner of Bulletproof Trailers, have made this team business explicit.
They want to overhaul the political balance of the assembly, blaming the incumbents for every problem in Alaska from crime to the end of the Garden Island Party Store.
Wilson, the treasurer and Rotermund, each gave $1,500 to save the state effort June 25. Barbara Tyndall, appointed by Dunleavy to the state school board, gave $500.
In 2025, there were small contributions from Josh Leaders’ family, as well as from Shupe to Save the State, the group that says it is not coordinating its efforts with any candidate.
Wilson has mentioned on Facebook that she has campaigned door-to-door with Ramirez, which raises questions about the “not authorized by or coordinated with, any candidate” claim on her ads for the trio.
Leaders said there is no “supposed political team.”
“So let me clear that up. My name is Josh Leaders. I am on Team Fairbanks and North Pole residents and taxpayers,” he said.
The ads from “Save the State,” however, show that Wilson and Rotermund see him as part of the three-person team they want on the assembly.
“Leaders for Assembly” is a creation of the group backed by Tammie Wilson and Brett RotermundI’m to elect three people they consider good leaders, one of whom is Josh Leaders. Leaders says he is not part of any team.
There are many other ads promoting Leaders as a team member as well. Wilson, Rotermund and the three team members share the same opinions on such issues as the animal shelter, which. they now call the “critter castle,” and the resurrection of the name Alaskaland.
“Vote out the current politicians and vote in real Leaders. Vote Leaders, Shupe and Ramirez.”
Here is the email I sent to Leaders on August 20.
Here is his reply on August 24.
His supporters responded with a variety of informative comments.
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