Weekend Odds & Ends - "Bullying People Who Lodge Complaints"

I. "The administration has been bullying people who lodge complaints. That's a completely unacceptable use of the government's power."

That's a quote from 2010 Alaska Governor's race candidate, Ethan Berkowitz, in a riveting article by Geoffrey Dunn, published Saturday in The Huffington Post. The article centers around indefatigable Alaska muckraker Andree McLeod, but Berkowitz could have been talking about Linda Kellen or Shannyn Moore, or The Immoral Minority's Gryph. They've all been bullied, either by the administration, the ex-governor's attorney, by anonymous harassers, or all three.

Dunn's article about McLeod's latest episode with the State of Alaska Personnel Board, may be the best overall look at the farce this personnel board remains under the Parnell administration. It cites as a primary source regarding last week's hearing, Sean Cockerham's Anchorage Daily News political blog entry, but relies heavily, and authoritatively, on a recording of the meeting made available to Dunn. And we also have, regarding the same meeting, the most recent example of the continuing work done by Linda Kellen at Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis.

I especially like Dunn's synopsis of some of what became apparent by the end of last week's hearing:

That's how the sausage gets made at the Personnel Board in the State of Alaska. Protocols are disregarded. Reports leaked. Complainants vilified and threatened by staff and members of the board. The process oozes with open bias and partisan politics. It's apparent the board's intent is not to root out ethics violators, in particular Palin, but to protect the status quo.

"We are still reeling from the damage caused by Palin's actions as these findings set precedence," McLeod said in an interview. "The bar has greatly been lowered and the standards for a more honest and ethical government have shifted away from the public's best interests towards protecting and defending the interests of public officials."

II. The upcoming Mat-Su Valley Mayoral, Assembly and school board elections will be covered more by Progressive Alaska in the coming weeks. This coming Friday, at 6:00 p.m, at our Egan Dinner, the Mat-Su Democrats are inviting as many of the candidates for assembly and school board to come, speak and answer questions, as are willing and able to make it. It will be at the Glacier Canyon Grill, on the Parks Highway in Wasilla.

The public is invited to attend.

I was at a fundraiser today in Meadow Lakes for some of the candidates, hosted by Abby and Andre Kellner-Rode. We all learned from the candidates, and had fun too. Here are three photos.

Iditarod musher Vern Halter, who is running for Assembly District Seven's seat:
Potato farmer Adam Boyd, who is running for the school board:
Giving a hug to my fellow musician, Anne Kilkenny: