[Vision2020] Palin Appointed Friends and Donors to Key Posts inAlaska

[No Weatherman]

And by appointing persons who so-called experts deemed unfit she did
not do business as usual and it looks to me like some people want
business as usual.



On Fri, Oct 24, 2008 at 2:51 PM, Sunil Ramalingam
<sunilramalingam at hotmail.com> wrote:
> Kai,
>
> I think the difference is that she and McCain proclaim her as a reformer who
> won't do business as usual.
>
> Sunil
>
>> From: editor at lataheagle.com
>> To: vision2020 at moscow.com; thansen at moscow.com
>> Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:03:52 -0700
>> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Palin Appointed Friends and Donors to Key Posts
>> inAlaska
>>
>> Don't all politicians appoint friends, family and donors? For some reason
>> I
>> highly doubt that it is endemic to one party or person....
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------
>> From: "Tom Hansen" <thansen at moscow.com>
>> Sent: Friday, October 24, 2008 9:25 AM
>> To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
>> Subject: [Vision2020] Palin Appointed Friends and Donors to Key Posts
>> inAlaska
>>
>> >>From the Los Angeles Times at:
>> >
>> > http://tinyurl.com/5ns4e3
>> >
>> > --------------------------------------------------
>> >
>> > Palin appointed friends and donors to key posts in Alaska, records show
>> > 100-plus jobs went to campaign donors or their relatives, sometimes
>> > without apparent regard to qualifications. Several donors got state-
>> > subsidized loans for business ventures of dubious public value.
>> > By Charles Piller
>> >
>> > October 24, 2008
>> >
>> > Reporting from Anchorage - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, plucked from
>> > relative
>> > obscurity in part for her reform credentials, has been eager to tout
>> > them
>> > in her vice presidential campaign.
>> >
>> > "I took on the old politics as usual in Juneau when I stood up to the
>> > special interests and the lobbyists and the big oil companies and the
>> > good
>> > old boys," Palin told the Republican National Convention in her
>> > acceptance
>> > speech. She said that as a new governor she "shook things up, and in
>> > short
>> > order we put the government of our state back on the side of the
>> > people."
>> >
>> > By midway through her first term, she had signed an ethics reform bill,
>> > increased oil profit taxes and tweaked Big Oil again by awarding a gas
>> > pipeline contract to a Canadian company.
>> >
>> > In some other respects, a Los Angeles Times examination of state records
>> > shows, her approach to government was business as usual. Take, for
>> > example, the tradition of patronage. Some of Palin's most controversial
>> > appointments involved donors, records show.
>> >
>> > Among The Times' findings:
>> >
>> > * More than 100 appointments to state posts -- nearly 1 in 4 -- went to
>> > campaign contributors or their relatives, sometimes without apparent
>> > regard to qualifications.
>> >
>> > * Palin filled 16 state offices with appointees from families that
>> > donated
>> > $2,000 to $5,600 and were among her top political patrons.
>> >
>> > * Several of Palin's leading campaign donors received state-subsidized
>> > industrial development loans of up to $3.6 million for business ventures
>> > of questionable public value.
>> >
>> > * Palin picked a donor to replace the public safety commissioner she
>> > fired. But the new top cop had to resign days later under an ethics
>> > cloud.
>> > And Palin drew a formal ethics complaint still pending against her and
>> > several aides for allegedly helping another donor and fundraiser land a
>> > state job.
>> >
>> > Most new governors install friends and supporters in state jobs. But
>> > Alaska historians say some of Palin's appointees were less qualified
>> > than
>> > those of her Republican and Democratic predecessors.
>> >
>> > University of Alaska historian Steve Haycox said Palin has been a
>> > reformer. But he said she has a penchant for placing supporters, many of
>> > them ill-prepared, in high posts. He called it "cronyism" far beyond
>> > what
>> > previous governors have done and a contradiction of her high-minded
>> > philosophy.
>> >
>> > Terrence Cole, an Alaska political historian, said Palin had in some
>> > cases
>> > shown "a disrespect for experience."
>> >
>> > Administration officials disputed such criticism. They said campaign
>> > contributions were not a factor in state appointments. Frank Bailey, the
>> > state's directorof boards and commissions, in speaking for Palin, who
>> > was
>> > not available to answer inquiries from The Times, said, "We are always
>> > seeking the best-qualified folks."
>> >
>> > In a little-noted sequel to Palin's controversial dismissal of her
>> > public
>> > safety commissioner, the governor replaced Walt Monegan with former
>> > small-
>> > town Police Chief Charles Kopp of Kenai. The appointment unraveled
>> > almost
>> > immediately in what Cole called a vetting catastrophe.
>> >
>> > A previous sexual harassment complaint came to light and Kopp had to
>> > resign two weeks after taking over. Alaska paid him $10,000 in
>> > severance.
>> >
>> > After another of Palin's campaign donors and fundraisers landed a civil
>> > service job with the state department of transportation, GOP activist
>> > Andree McLeod filed an ethics complaint against the governor and several
>> > aides, alleging that improper pressure was used to help Tom Lamal.
>> >
>> > Lamal, a public school teacher in Fairbanks until he retired in 2006,
>> > was
>> > hired as a right-of-way agent despite reports of internal conflicts over
>> > whether he was qualified under state law.
>> >
>> > E-mail messages between Palin aides, obtained by McLeod under the state
>> > public records act, indicate that the hiring was pushed "through the
>> > roadblocks" by a deputy to one of Palin's appointees. And Palin aide
>> > Bailey sent Lamal a congratulatory note saying, in part, "Well now your
>> > foot's back in the door and maybe we can tap you for other things."
>> >
>> > Lamal declined to be interviewed for this article.
>> >
>> > Palin spokesman William McAllister declined to comment because of an
>> > ongoing state personnel board inquiry.
>> >
>> > Palin told the Anchorage Daily News in August that her office merely
>> > worked to fix a "glitch" that prevented Lamal's hiring because of
>> > outdated
>> > job requirements, and that no favors were given.
>> >
>> > In other state appointments, records show that all five Palin selections
>> > for the powerful Natural Gas Development Authority, which oversees a
>> > proposed gas pipeline project, were donors. They included Kathryn Lamal,
>> > wife of Tom Lamal.
>> >
>> > She appointed Kristan Cole, a school friend and a campaign donor, to the
>> > Board of Agriculture and Conservation, a farm regulatory position that
>> > by
>> > state law must go to people with strong business experience. Cole is a
>> > real estate agent.
>> >
>> > All three appointees to the Board of Public Accountancy, which oversees
>> > the accounting industry, gave to her campaign for governor, as did all
>> > three appointees to the Local Boundary Commission, which regulates
>> > contentious land annexations by local governments.
>> >
>> > Palin reappointed donor Steve Frank to the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp.,
>> > which manages Alaska's $29-billion oil revenue nest egg. Frank, a former
>> > Republican legislator, is married to another leading donor, Linda
>> > Anderson, a lobbyist for power and tourism companies, among others.
>> >
>> > The Permanent Fund position earns a $400-a-day honorarium. Most other
>> > board and commission appointees receive per diem and travel expenses.
>> > Regardless of compensation, experts said, such appointments are coveted
>> > for their power and prestige, or as a political stepping stone.
>> >
>> > Palin spokesman McAllister said that most Cabinet-level officials she
>> > appointed were not donors. In every state, he added, people who "apply
>> > to
>> > serve in a voluntary role are typically supporters of the governor."
>> >
>> > Records show that Palin donors obtained state-subsidized business loans
>> > from the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, or AIDEA,
>> > whose mission is to encourage "economic growth and diversification of
>> > the
>> > state, including expansion of small businesses."
>> >
>> > In one case, Jae G. Lee, a former Los Angeles businessman who is the
>> > proprietor of Party Time, a rundown grocery store and bottle shop in
>> > Anchorage, sought a $2.7-million state loan to buy an aging strip mall
>> > in
>> > midtown Anchorage. It was on the market because of a glut of similar
>> > malls
>> > in the area, all of them losing customers to big-box stores.
>> >
>> > Lee and his wife, who had contributed $3,000 worth of office space to
>> > Palin's 2006 campaign, won the low-interest, state-backed mortgage
>> > although it was unclear how the old mall would add jobs. Lee said he did
>> > nothing to improve his acquisition, but with the cheap loan his profits
>> > have been robust.
>> >
>> > Lee said he did not seek Palin's help to obtain the loan.
>> >
>> > Two other state-backed loans with favorable terms and questionable
>> > development benefits went to Palin contributor and local dentist Scott
>> > Laudon and his partners. The investors got $1.2 million to refinance
>> > debt
>> > on Northern Lights Village -- a gritty collection of shops including
>> > massage and tattoo parlors, a secondhand-clothing store and a video
>> > arcade. Its neighbors along a 1 1/2 -mile stretch of Northern Lights
>> > Boulevard in midtown Anchorage include a dozen strip malls.
>> >
>> > Laudon and other partners also received $3.6 million to buy two
>> > automated
>> > car washes in Anchorage. The benefit to Alaska, according to the
>> > approval
>> > documents, was the retention of five jobs -- which would have remained
>> > without the subsidy. Laudon declined to comment.
>> >
>> > The Times requested documentation on the Lee and Laudon loans, including
>> > interest rates, from AIDEA on Sept. 25, but the agency has not released
>> > the materials and has declined to discuss details.
>> >
>> > The agency "probably looked at it this way: 'This is a good loan that
>> > will
>> > be paid back,' " said Bob Poe, former AIDEA chief. "That helps them
>> > produce income to make other loans, much like a bank." As economic
>> > development, however, both loans sound questionable, he said.
>> >
>> > Three Palin appointees to the AIDEA board also gave to her campaign for
>> > governor. This year the board picked Palin donor Ted Leonard as chief
>> > executive of the $1.2-billion agency. His principal credential was
>> > having
>> > been financial manager of tiny Wasilla, Alaska. Palin appointed him to
>> > the
>> > city post when she was mayor.
>> >
>> > Agency spokesman Karsten Rodvik said that Palin was not directly
>> > involved
>> > in the selection and that Leonard was the top applicant because of his
>> > long and diverse experience in finance and economic development. He also
>> > said that AIDEA managers were "not aware" of any influence by Palin or
>> > her
>> > aides on any loans.
>> >
>> > Some of Palin's other appointments have been controversial.
>> >
>> > Franci Havemeister, one of several of Palin's childhood friends tapped
>> > for
>> > leadership jobs, heads the state agriculture division. A former real
>> > estate agent, she was ridiculed in Alaska after it was reported that she
>> > had cited among her qualifications for the job a childhood love of cows.
>> >
>> > And Palin's choice for attorney general, Talis Colberg, stirred
>> > considerable puzzlement: He was virtually unknown beyond her circle near
>> > Wasilla. Colberg, who had a solo law practice and little management
>> > experience, now oversees 500 professionals.
>> >
>> > Colberg was criticized by both Republican and Democratic legislators for
>> > his handling of the recent investigation of Palin's actions in a
>> > controversy involving her ex-brother-in-law -- a state trooper -- and
>> > Monegan. A Superior Court judge overruled Colberg's move to quash
>> > investigative subpoenas in the case.
>> >
>> > --------------------------------------------------
>> >
>> > Seeya round at Farmers' Market and the Homecoming Parade, Moscow.
>> >
>> > Tom Hansen
>> > Moscow, Idaho
>> > UI '96
>> >
>> > "We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students. The college
>> > students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."
>> >
>> > - Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007)
>> >
>> >
>> > ---------------------------------------------
>> > This message was sent by First Step Internet.
>> > http://www.fsr.com/
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> > =======================================================
>> > List services made available by First Step Internet,
>> > serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>> > http://www.fsr.net
>> > mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
>> > =======================================================
>> Kai Eiselein
>> Editor, Latah Eagle
>>
>> =======================================================
>> List services made available by First Step Internet,
>> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>> http://www.fsr.net
>> mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
>> =======================================================
>
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