Tammie Wilson's trio avoid mentioning her misleading attacks on incumbents
This is one of the best chances for voters to become more informed about the candidates and what they would like to do if they are elected on Tuesday October 6.
This is an important public service by the League of Women Voters, KUAC and the Daily News-Miner. It should be an example for public radio stations elsewhere and for Alaska Public Media to follow. The two companies that own the commercial radio stations in Fairbanks fail to do anything of this sort.
I’ve written before here about “Save the State,” the group formed by assembly member Tammie Wilson, to save the state from politicians she does not like.
Assembly member Brett Rotermund, a possible future mayor candidate who votes with Wilson on the assembly, is also a major financial backer of Wilson’s save campaign.
Wilson and Rotermund are supporting three candidates for assembly that they say are a team aligned with their point of view—Josh Leaders, Miguel Ramirez and Shelly Shupe.
They oppose incumbents Scott Crass and Nick LaJiness, as well as candidate Alexis Howell.
One of the most interesting aspects of the assembly discussion Friday was that the Tammie team did not repeat any of the pointed and false allegations Wilson and Rotermund have made in their ads attacking the current assembly.
No one mentioned that the current assembly is neglecting to fix leaking school roofs. No one blamed the current assembly members for an increase in crime. No one blamed the closure of the Garden Island Party Store or the shutdown of the only local TV news operation on the assembly. No one claimed that the current assembly members want to take wood stoves away from people and that they “don’t budget like a family.” No one said that assessments are up 37 percent. And no one repeated the inaccurate cost claim for what Tammie and Brett call the $33 million “critter castle.”
It seemed to me they were trying to project a moderate tone for the KUAC audience.
Other people who listen to the Q&A may have a different point of view.
The truth about government is that it requires a conciliatory approach by elected officials who must show they can work with people who have conflicting points of view.
Over the decades we’ve often had countless effective assembly members who have kept partisanship in check while working on the major local government challenges, most of which have nothing to do with party labels.
The “Save the State” campaign by Wilson and Rotermund—aimed at boosting Leaders, Shupe and Ramirez—is exactly the opposite. It promotes a fantasy world in which the only parties are “us and them."
It’s a false image of local government, a theme of “Whatever It Is, I’m Against It.”
Unfortunately, Leaders, Shupe and Ramirez have tacitly accepted whatever it is that Wilson and Rotermund claimed on their behalf in the ads posted below.
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“Budget like a family” means absolutely nothing as there are countless differences in the ways that families use money, both responsibly and irresponsibly. It’s like “family values,” a term that depends on whether the family in question is like the Donald Trump Family, Homer Simpson family or the Kardashians.
The borough has no public safety powers. It does not have a police force. The mill rate this year is the second lowest in more than 30 years. The borough has no control over rising costs.
The borough did not close any businesses. It did not shut down KTVF news. It did change the name of the park back to Alaskaland.
The borough does not have public safety powers. It does not have a police force. The cost of the animal shelter is estimated at $21.3 million.
What actually happened was that in 2023, the assembly, led at the time by five members who regularly attacked public education, engineered a political scam to cut funding for schools in 2024 and beyond.
Aaron Lojewski, Tammie Wilson, Jimi Cash, Barbara Haney and Brett Rotermund—reduced the level of public services in 2024 by paying for education the preceding year from different accounts.
Their manipulations, opposed by conservative Mayor Bryce Ward and four assembly members, had the effect of reducing the mill rate, drawing millions from savings, and reducing the borough’s revenue cap by $20 million, guaranteeing a future reduction in services.
The vote that Crass supported in 2024 was to partially reverse the $20 million tax cap reduction from the year before.
Tax assessments did not go up by 37 percent. Borough Mayor Grier Hopkins said the average value increase was 2.7 percent across the borough. Page 166 of the borough budget lists $22,970 for assembly travel.
The borough does not have public safety powers. It does not have a police force.
The estimated cost of the animal shelter is $21.3 million.
There was not a 37 percent assessment jump.
The $10 million 2024 proposal was not an increase in the tax cap, but an attempt to reverse some sleight-of-hand a year earlier by Aaron Lojewski, Tammie Wilson, Jimi Cash, Barbara Haney and Brett Rotermund. By paying for education from different accounts, they cut the borough’s revenue cap by $20 million in 2023, guaranteeing a future reduction in services.
The cost of the animal shelter is estimated at $21.3 million.
The borough has budgeted $22, 970 for travel.
