<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;"><DIV>I think politicians should be removed from office for appointing friends and donors over more qualified people for the job. The taxpayer deserves the person best able to do the job. </DIV>
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<DIV>Best Regards,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Donovan<BR><BR>--- On <B>Fri, 10/24/08, Sunil <SPAN>Ramalingam</SPAN> <I><sunilramalingam@hotmail.com></I></B> wrote:<BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid">From: Sunil Ramalingam <sunilramalingam@hotmail.com><BR>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Palin Appointed Friends and Donors to Key Posts inAlaska<BR>To: vision2020@moscow.com<BR>Date: Friday, October 24, 2008, 11:51 AM<BR><BR>
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Kai,<BR><BR>I think the difference is that she and McCain proclaim her as a reformer who won't do business as usual.<BR><BR>Sunil<BR><BR>> From: editor@lataheagle.com<BR>> To: vision2020@moscow.com; thansen@moscow.com<BR>> Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:03:52 -0700<BR>> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Palin Appointed Friends and Donors to Key Posts inAlaska<BR>> <BR>> Don't all politicians appoint friends, family and donors? For some reason I <BR>> highly doubt that it is endemic to one party or person....<BR>> <BR>> --------------------------------------------------<BR>> From: "Tom Hansen" <thansen@moscow.com><BR>> Sent: Friday, October 24, 2008 9:25 AM<BR>> To: <vision2020@moscow.com><BR>> Subject: [Vision2020] Palin Appointed Friends and Donors to Key Posts <BR>> inAlaska<BR>> <BR>> >>From the Los Angeles Times at:<BR>> ><BR>> > http://tinyurl.com/5ns4e3<BR>> ><BR>> >
--------------------------------------------------<BR>> ><BR>> > Palin appointed friends and donors to key posts in Alaska, records show<BR>> > 100-plus jobs went to campaign donors or their relatives, sometimes<BR>> > without apparent regard to qualifications. Several donors got state-<BR>> > subsidized loans for business ventures of dubious public value.<BR>> > By Charles Piller<BR>> ><BR>> > October 24, 2008<BR>> ><BR>> > Reporting from Anchorage - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, plucked from relative<BR>> > obscurity in part for her reform credentials, has been eager to tout them<BR>> > in her vice presidential campaign.<BR>> ><BR>> > "I took on the old politics as usual in Juneau when I stood up to the<BR>> > special interests and the lobbyists and the big oil companies and the good<BR>> > old boys," Palin told the Republican National Convention in her
acceptance<BR>> > speech. She said that as a new governor she "shook things up, and in short<BR>> > order we put the government of our state back on the side of the people."<BR>> ><BR>> > By midway through her first term, she had signed an ethics reform bill,<BR>> > increased oil profit taxes and tweaked Big Oil again by awarding a gas<BR>> > pipeline contract to a Canadian company.<BR>> ><BR>> > In some other respects, a Los Angeles Times examination of state records<BR>> > shows, her approach to government was business as usual. Take, for<BR>> > example, the tradition of patronage. Some of Palin's most controversial<BR>> > appointments involved donors, records show.<BR>> ><BR>> > Among The Times' findings:<BR>> ><BR>> > * More than 100 appointments to state posts -- nearly 1 in 4 -- went to<BR>> > campaign contributors or their relatives, sometimes without
apparent<BR>> > regard to qualifications.<BR>> ><BR>> > * Palin filled 16 state offices with appointees from families that donated<BR>> > $2,000 to $5,600 and were among her top political patrons.<BR>> ><BR>> > * Several of Palin's leading campaign donors received state-subsidized<BR>> > industrial development loans of up to $3.6 million for business ventures<BR>> > of questionable public value.<BR>> ><BR>> > * Palin picked a donor to replace the public safety commissioner she<BR>> > fired. But the new top cop had to resign days later under an ethics cloud.<BR>> > And Palin drew a formal ethics complaint still pending against her and<BR>> > several aides for allegedly helping another donor and fundraiser land a<BR>> > state job.<BR>> ><BR>> > Most new governors install friends and supporters in state jobs. But<BR>> > Alaska historians say some of
Palin's appointees were less qualified than<BR>> > those of her Republican and Democratic predecessors.<BR>> ><BR>> > University of Alaska historian Steve Haycox said Palin has been a<BR>> > reformer. But he said she has a penchant for placing supporters, many of<BR>> > them ill-prepared, in high posts. He called it "cronyism" far beyond what<BR>> > previous governors have done and a contradiction of her high-minded<BR>> > philosophy.<BR>> ><BR>> > Terrence Cole, an Alaska political historian, said Palin had in some cases<BR>> > shown "a disrespect for experience."<BR>> ><BR>> > Administration officials disputed such criticism. They said campaign<BR>> > contributions were not a factor in state appointments. Frank Bailey, the<BR>> > state's directorof boards and commissions, in speaking for Palin, who was<BR>> > not available to answer inquiries from The Times,
said, "We are always<BR>> > seeking the best-qualified folks."<BR>> ><BR>> > In a little-noted sequel to Palin's controversial dismissal of her public<BR>> > safety commissioner, the governor replaced Walt Monegan with former small-<BR>> > town Police Chief Charles Kopp of Kenai. The appointment unraveled almost<BR>> > immediately in what Cole called a vetting catastrophe.<BR>> ><BR>> > A previous sexual harassment complaint came to light and Kopp had to<BR>> > resign two weeks after taking over. Alaska paid him $10,000 in severance.<BR>> ><BR>> > After another of Palin's campaign donors and fundraisers landed a civil<BR>> > service job with the state department of transportation, GOP activist<BR>> > Andree McLeod filed an ethics complaint against the governor and several<BR>> > aides, alleging that improper pressure was used to help Tom Lamal.<BR>> ><BR>> >
Lamal, a public school teacher in Fairbanks until he retired in 2006, was<BR>> > hired as a right-of-way agent despite reports of internal conflicts over<BR>> > whether he was qualified under state law.<BR>> ><BR>> > E-mail messages between Palin aides, obtained by McLeod under the state<BR>> > public records act, indicate that the hiring was pushed "through the<BR>> > roadblocks" by a deputy to one of Palin's appointees. And Palin aide<BR>> > Bailey sent Lamal a congratulatory note saying, in part, "Well now your<BR>> > foot's back in the door and maybe we can tap you for other things."<BR>> ><BR>> > Lamal declined to be interviewed for this article.<BR>> ><BR>> > Palin spokesman William McAllister declined to comment because of an<BR>> > ongoing state personnel board inquiry.<BR>> ><BR>> > Palin told the Anchorage Daily News in August that her office
merely<BR>> > worked to fix a "glitch" that prevented Lamal's hiring because of outdated<BR>> > job requirements, and that no favors were given.<BR>> ><BR>> > In other state appointments, records show that all five Palin selections<BR>> > for the powerful Natural Gas Development Authority, which oversees a<BR>> > proposed gas pipeline project, were donors. They included Kathryn Lamal,<BR>> > wife of Tom Lamal.<BR>> ><BR>> > She appointed Kristan Cole, a school friend and a campaign donor, to the<BR>> > Board of Agriculture and Conservation, a farm regulatory position that by<BR>> > state law must go to people with strong business experience. Cole is a<BR>> > real estate agent.<BR>> ><BR>> > All three appointees to the Board of Public Accountancy, which oversees<BR>> > the accounting industry, gave to her campaign for governor, as did all<BR>> > three
appointees to the Local Boundary Commission, which regulates<BR>> > contentious land annexations by local governments.<BR>> ><BR>> > Palin reappointed donor Steve Frank to the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp.,<BR>> > which manages Alaska's $29-billion oil revenue nest egg. Frank, a former<BR>> > Republican legislator, is married to another leading donor, Linda<BR>> > Anderson, a lobbyist for power and tourism companies, among others.<BR>> ><BR>> > The Permanent Fund position earns a $400-a-day honorarium. Most other<BR>> > board and commission appointees receive per diem and travel expenses.<BR>> > Regardless of compensation, experts said, such appointments are coveted<BR>> > for their power and prestige, or as a political stepping stone.<BR>> ><BR>> > Palin spokesman McAllister said that most Cabinet-level officials she<BR>> > appointed were not donors. In every state, he
added, people who "apply to<BR>> > serve in a voluntary role are typically supporters of the governor."<BR>> ><BR>> > Records show that Palin donors obtained state-subsidized business loans<BR>> > from the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, or AIDEA,<BR>> > whose mission is to encourage "economic growth and diversification of the<BR>> > state, including expansion of small businesses."<BR>> ><BR>> > In one case, Jae G. Lee, a former Los Angeles businessman who is the<BR>> > proprietor of Party Time, a rundown grocery store and bottle shop in<BR>> > Anchorage, sought a $2.7-million state loan to buy an aging strip mall in<BR>> > midtown Anchorage. It was on the market because of a glut of similar malls<BR>> > in the area, all of them losing customers to big-box stores.<BR>> ><BR>> > Lee and his wife, who had contributed $3,000 worth of office space
to<BR>> > Palin's 2006 campaign, won the low-interest, state-backed mortgage<BR>> > although it was unclear how the old mall would add jobs. Lee said he did<BR>> > nothing to improve his acquisition, but with the cheap loan his profits<BR>> > have been robust.<BR>> ><BR>> > Lee said he did not seek Palin's help to obtain the loan.<BR>> ><BR>> > Two other state-backed loans with favorable terms and questionable<BR>> > development benefits went to Palin contributor and local dentist Scott<BR>> > Laudon and his partners. The investors got $1.2 million to refinance debt<BR>> > on Northern Lights Village -- a gritty collection of shops including<BR>> > massage and tattoo parlors, a secondhand-clothing store and a video<BR>> > arcade. Its neighbors along a 1 1/2 -mile stretch of Northern Lights<BR>> > Boulevard in midtown Anchorage include a dozen strip malls.<BR>>
><BR>> > Laudon and other partners also received $3.6 million to buy two automated<BR>> > car washes in Anchorage. The benefit to Alaska, according to the approval<BR>> > documents, was the retention of five jobs -- which would have remained<BR>> > without the subsidy. Laudon declined to comment.<BR>> ><BR>> > The Times requested documentation on the Lee and Laudon loans, including<BR>> > interest rates, from AIDEA on Sept. 25, but the agency has not released<BR>> > the materials and has declined to discuss details.<BR>> ><BR>> > The agency "probably looked at it this way: 'This is a good loan that will<BR>> > be paid back,' " said Bob Poe, former AIDEA chief. "That helps them<BR>> > produce income to make other loans, much like a bank." As economic<BR>> > development, however, both loans sound questionable, he said.<BR>> ><BR>> > Three Palin appointees to the
AIDEA board also gave to her campaign for<BR>> > governor. This year the board picked Palin donor Ted Leonard as chief<BR>> > executive of the $1.2-billion agency. His principal credential was having<BR>> > been financial manager of tiny Wasilla, Alaska. Palin appointed him to the<BR>> > city post when she was mayor.<BR>> ><BR>> > Agency spokesman Karsten Rodvik said that Palin was not directly involved<BR>> > in the selection and that Leonard was the top applicant because of his<BR>> > long and diverse experience in finance and economic development. He also<BR>> > said that AIDEA managers were "not aware" of any influence by Palin or her<BR>> > aides on any loans.<BR>> ><BR>> > Some of Palin's other appointments have been controversial.<BR>> ><BR>> > Franci Havemeister, one of several of Palin's childhood friends tapped for<BR>> > leadership jobs, heads the state
agriculture division. A former real<BR>> > estate agent, she was ridiculed in Alaska after it was reported that she<BR>> > had cited among her qualifications for the job a childhood love of cows.<BR>> ><BR>> > And Palin's choice for attorney general, Talis Colberg, stirred<BR>> > considerable puzzlement: He was virtually unknown beyond her circle near<BR>> > Wasilla. Colberg, who had a solo law practice and little management<BR>> > experience, now oversees 500 professionals.<BR>> ><BR>> > Colberg was criticized by both Republican and Democratic legislators for<BR>> > his handling of the recent investigation of Palin's actions in a<BR>> > controversy involving her ex-brother-in-law -- a state trooper -- and<BR>> > Monegan. A Superior Court judge overruled Colberg's move to quash<BR>> > investigative subpoenas in the case.<BR>> ><BR>> >
--------------------------------------------------<BR>> ><BR>> > Seeya round at Farmers' Market and the Homecoming Parade, Moscow.<BR>> ><BR>> > Tom Hansen<BR>> > Moscow, Idaho<BR>> > UI '96<BR>> ><BR>> > "We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students. The college<BR>> > students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."<BR>> ><BR>> > - Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007)<BR>> ><BR>> ><BR>> > ---------------------------------------------<BR>> > This message was sent by First Step Internet.<BR>> > http://www.fsr.com/<BR>> ><BR>> ><BR>> ><BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> > =======================================================<BR>> > List services made available by First Step Internet,<BR>> > serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.<BR>> > http://www.fsr.net<BR>> >
mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<BR>> > =======================================================<BR>> Kai Eiselein<BR>> Editor, Latah Eagle <BR>> <BR>> =======================================================<BR>> List services made available by First Step Internet, <BR>> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <BR>> http://www.fsr.net <BR>> mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<BR>> =======================================================<BR></DIV><PRE>=======================================================
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