Mayoral candidates respond to questions from the Alaskans for Truth

The Alaskans for Truth submited ten questions to the frontrunners in the race for Mayor of Anchorage.

The candidates were told that their answers would be posted unedited on this website so that the voters could have an opportunity to read them for themselves without comment or recommendation.

Walt Monegan's response can be found here.

Countdown to Action

A social contract exists between citizens and their elected officials; trust is the ink that binds that contract. That trust between Alaska's leaders and its people has been broken; the contract is in need of repair.

Alaskans for Truth stands on the principle that no one is above the law and when a law is violated there is a consequence. It is the duty of the legislative branch to use the powers available to them on behalf of the citizens of this state to enforce that consequence. The ethical laws that govern our state are not negotiable.

The Legislative Session begins January 20th, 2009. We have no doubt that our astute leaders have the talent, skill and staff support to craft legislation, balance the budget and to also enforce the ethics legislation already in place in order to make any forthcoming laws worthwhile. We have learned that public pressure makes a difference because it represents the collective "will of the people" and therefore gets our leaders attention. While we've reported on several who have reacted less-favorably, we also know that many of our legislators welcome that important participation and direction from their constituents. Read through this Call to Action and choose something you feel strongly about. It could be one, or more than one of the issues listed. Use it as a template when crafting your letters, emails and phone calls. Because emails can be easily deleted, we encourage you to call, write letters and send emails not only to your representatives but also to the Chair of the Senate, the House, the Judiciary Committee and the Legislative Council. Also, letters to the editor are a very powerful, important tool especially to the papers listed below that ran our ads. Each link takes you to the page of the individual legislator for easy access to all contact information.

In Alaska's 50th year of statehood, let's honor our constitution in the opening days of the session by helping our elected leaders show Alaskans that they really do care about ethics--that they really can collectively stand on the principles of justice.

We ask all Alaskans to join us in this final push for Truth.

Call to Action

We the people insist that the Alaska State Legislature by right, power and obligation respond to the findings of its own Legislative Council’s Investigation, known as “Troopergate”, as conducted by Special Counsel Stephen E. Branchflower* and take the following actions:

· Censure Governor Sarah Palin who, the Branchflower Report found to have "abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act" which provides “The legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust.

· Seek contempt charges against the Governor’s husband, Todd Palin and the state officials who willingly ignored the Legislative Council's subpoenas during the investigation.

· Hold hearings on whether Gov. Palin and her husband, committed perjury in their sworn statements to Timothy Petumenos, in his function as independent counsel to the Alaska State Personnel Board. (link to Feldman letter)

· Call for an independent investigation to determine if Alaska Attorney General Talis Colberg or others engaged in criminal witness tampering in advance of the Branchflower investigation.

Alaskans for Truth is issuing a Call to Action for all concerned citizens to contact the Alaska State Legislature and insist that their elected representatives uphold their fiduciary responsibility and take action now as they prepare for the upcoming legislative session in January.

(Contact your Legislators via the email list below).


*Link to Legislative Council Investigation Findings Titled, "Report of the Investigation of the Circumstances Surrounding the Termination of Former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan and Potential Abuses of Power and/or Improper Actions by Members of Governor Sarah Palin’s Administration, October 10, 2008."

Legislators email list:


Senator Johnny Ellis Contact Info

Senator Gene Therriault Contact Info

Senator Bettye Davis Contact Info

Senator Fred Dyson Contact Info

Senator Kim Elton Contact Info

Senator Hollis French Contact Info

Senator Lyman Hoffman Contact Info

Senator Charlie Huggins Contact Info

Senator Albert Kookesh Contact Info

Senator Lesil McGuire Contact Info

Senator Donny Olson Contact Info

Senator Bert Stedman Contact Info

Senator Gary Stevens Contact Info

Senator Joe Thomas Contact Info

Senator Thomas Wagoner Contact Info

Senator Bill Wielechowski Contact Info

Rep Bob Buch Contact Info

Rep Mike Chenault Contact Info

Rep Sharon Cissna Contact Info

Rep John Coghill Contact Info

Rep Harry Crawford Contact Info

Rep Nancy Dahlstrom Contact Info

Rep Mike Doogan Contact Info

Rep Bryce Edgmon Contact Info

Rep Anna Fairclough Contact Info

Rep Richard Foster Contact Info

Rep Les Gara Contact Info

Rep Berta Gardner Contact Info

Rep Carl Gatto Contact Info

Rep Max Gruenberg Contact Info

Rep David Guttenberg Contact Info

Rep John Harris Contact Info

Rep Mike Hawker Contact Info

Rep Lindsey Holmes Contact Info

Rep Kyle Johansen Contact Info

Rep Craig Johnson Contact Info

Rep Reggie Joule Contact Info

Rep Scott Kawasaki Contact Info

Rep Wes Keller Contact Info

Rep Mike Kelly Contact Info

Rep Beth Kerttula Contact Info

Rep Bob Lynn Contact Info

Rep Kevin Meyer Contact Info

Rep Mark Neuman Contact Info

Rep Kurt Olson Contact Info

Rep Jay Ramras Contact Info

Rep Woodie Salmon Contact Info

Rep Bill Stoltze Contact Info

Rep Bill Thomas Contact Info

Rep Peggy Wilson Contact Info

joe@joepaskvan.com,
Charisse@votemillett.com,
info@petepetersen.net,
cathym@riemunoz.com,
chris@tuckforalaska.com,
austermanforhouse@hotmail.com,
bobherron@gmail.com,


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Latest News


State Sen. John Cowdery pleaded guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to bribery and extortion(Link to article)

See additional stories in the "Articles of Interest" to the right.
Alaskans For Truth is a non-partisan, not for profit political action committee committed to "Holding Alaska’s leaders accountable for an open, honest and transparent government through education, organization and action".

Friday, October 31, 2008

CALL TO ACTION! Demand an Apology.

Former AK Speaker of House and Former AK Pres of the Senate ask McCain for apology!

Alaskans for Truth Supporters:

Two prominent Alaskan politicians have demanded an apology from the McCain Campaign for their libelous/slanderous smears of former Marine and long-time Alaska Public Safety leader, Walt Monegan.

Gail Phillips, Former Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives and Chancy Croft, Former President of the Alaska State Senate make a clear and respectful request to John McCain and his Campaign to undo the damage the misnamed "Truth Squad" did to Walt Monegan's reputation, his employability, and his emotional well-being as well as the well-being of his family and friends.

We are asking all of you to help in this endeavor.

Please email this to your lists and send respectful letters (Gail Phillips has given us all permission to copy any part of their letter we may wish) to the address below, asking for an apology for Walt Monegan:

Honorable Senator John McCain
John McCain 2008
P.O. Box 16118
Arlington, VA 22215

(CC is discussing this on her show "Cutting Edge" today (3:00 - 6:00 pm Alaska time) http://www.kudo.com/.)

The letter is below:


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

October 28, 2008

Dear Senator McCain:

We are writing because we believe an apology is owed from your campaign to Alaskans and our former Commissioner of Public Safety, Walt Monegan. As former legislative leaders of both major political parties in Alaska, we haven’t always agreed upon political issues. However, we adamantly agree that Mr. Monegan, who is well respected in Alaska by people of all party affiliations, is owed an apology. The attacks against Commissioner Monegan for his role in administering a personnel issue, now known statewide as “Troopergate”, were unwarranted and wrong. Mr. Monegan is a former U.S. Marine, a front-line police officer, was Chief of Police in Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, served as our State’s Commissioner of Public Safety and served both Republicans and Democrats with professionalism and honor.

This summer Governor Palin fired Mr. Monegan as Commissioner, which was within her purview. However, in July, the Legislature, through unanimous action by the bi-partisan Legislative Council, voted to investigate Commissioner Monegan’s termination and whether his refusal to fire Trooper Wooten played a role in his termination. The investigation had nothing to do with your campaign.

After Governor Palin was named as your running mate, your campaign stepped into the fray. In an effort to discredit and stop the bi-partisan legislative investigation into whether or not Governor Palin acted improperly in seeking the termination of her former brother-in-law, Trooper Wooten, your campaign engaged in a near-daily course of personal attacks against Mr. Monegan and members of the legislature. It’s obvious to many of us that you probably were not aware of these attacks by your campaign committee; however, since the final responsibility is yours, we feel Mr. Monegan is owed an apology from you.

In an effort to halt the bi-partisan investigation, your campaign staff tried to vilify Commissioner Monegan. Before Governor Palin was selected to your presidential ticket, she had agreed to the investigation; she publicly said it was justified and that she and her staff would cooperate with the investigation. She stated to the press that the public had a right to be concerned whether or not her administration may have placed improper pressure on the State Department of Public Safety to fire her former brother-in-law.

Following Governor Palin’s selection as your running mate, your campaign sent staff to Alaska to try to stop the investigation that Governor Palin had previously agreed to. Your campaign staff accused the legislative action as partisan in spite of the fact that the unanimous vote of the Legislative Council was bi-partisan.

Your campaign accused Mr. Monegan of being a “rogue”, of being insubordinate and other defamatory statements. To justify your involvement in this Alaskan issue and the Governor’s termination of Commissioner Monegan, your campaign continually changed the excuses for his termination. The various and changing excuses given by your campaign speaks clearly to the lack of credibility in its involvement.

Despite your campaign’s efforts to stop the investigation in court, and by public pressure, the investigation was recently completed. On October 10th the investigative report was released and the independent investigator, Steve Branchflower, concluded that the Governor had violated the State’s Executive Ethics statute by pressuring for the termination of Mr. Wooten from his position as an Alaskan State Trooper. The investigation also found that one of the probable reasons Commissioner Monegan was terminated was his refusal to fire the Governor’s former brother-in-law.

We acknowledge the authority the Governor has for terminating Commissioners; however, your campaign’s interference into this State matter and attempts to discredit Commissioner Monegan for campaign purposes is very troubling. Both the vilification of Mr. Monegan and the attempts by your campaign to stop the investigation were wrong.

We respectfully request an apology from your campaign to Mr. Monegan. He is a good man who has put his life on the line for Alaskans many times and he deserves better treatment from you and your campaign. Not only have the personal attacks from your campaign deeply affected and hurt the Monegan family, but also the people of Alaska who care and respect Mr. Monegan.

Sincerely,

Gail Phillips
Former Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives

Chancy Croft
Former President of the Alaska State Senate