State Government

The Alaska Public Offices Commission has refused to consider a complaint over campaign ads against the group “Vote No on 2” on an expedited basis.

The commission decided instead to handle the matter on a regular schedule after an attorney for the group said the ads had been fixed to comply with state law.

The group behind Ballot Measure 2, the Alaska Sea Party, filed a complaint alleging that “Vote No on 2” TV ads didn’t properly include the names of its top three contributors in the audio narration.

The group wanted the commission to address the issue immediately but Tom Amodio, an attorney for “Vote No on 2,” says the ads were pulled when the group realized there was a problem and new ads will audibly name top donors.

The groups sparring over a ballot measure to restore the Alaska Coastal Management Program traded barbs today (Friday), accusing each other of campaign disclosure violations.

KTOO’s Casey Kelly has more.

The Alaska Sea Party filed a complaint with the Alaska Public Offices Commission, arguing Vote No on 2’s television and online video ads violate state campaign disclosure rules.

The law requires groups to cite on screen in writing, and through an audible disclaimer, their top three financial backers.

At the time the ads were produced No on 2’s top three contributors were the Alaska Miners Association, Shell Oil Company, and the Alaska Oil and Gas Association. Since then, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips have displaced Shell and AOGA on the group’s website, but not in the ads.

“The ads should stop,” says Sea Party Policy Director Lisa Weissler. The group is sponsoring Ballot Measure 2.

“It’s a very clear violation of the law, and so it should stop or they should do it right. And they should have penalties assessed,” says Weissler.

No on 2 Spokesman Willis Lyford argues the group did nothing wrong. But he says the ads have now been updated to include Exxon and Conoco in the top three, as well as a verbal disclaimer.

“On the advice of our lawyer we’ve already changed the ads up. The new advertising will have the audio portion that they’re suggesting is needed,” Lyford says. “Our view on that is, well, you’re better to have belt and suspenders. We want to make that change and then let the process play out and see what actually is the case.”

Lyford calls the Sea Party hypocrites. He notes the group’s website features YouTube videos, and no audio disclaimer about its top contributors. He says the rules should apply to all campaign videos.

“Doesn’t matter whether it’s paid advertising or not,” he says. “It is advertising, and if in fact their submission is correct, then they’re guilty of the same violation.”

The Sea Party touts itself as a grassroots organization. Its top three contributors are the North Slope Borough, the Bristol Bay Native Corporation, and the Alaska Conference of Mayors.

Weissler says the group is pulling the YouTube videos from its website until they can be updated to include a disclaimer. But she says there’s a difference between videos posted online at no cost, and expensive television commercials.

“This is the reason for the law is that there’s money that comes in from outside, unlimited donations can come in from outside and people need to know whose voices are being represented in these sorts of ads,” says Weissler.

State Senator Hollis French (D-Anchorage) sponsored the 2010 state law that required groups to disclose their top contributors. He says the audio disclosure should apply to all campaign videos, but it’s especially important for television ads.

“It’s crucial that people who are perceiving these commercials, whether you’re watching a TV ad or even listening to it in the background, it’s crucial that those people know who has donated to the entity behind that ad,” French says.

Alaska Public Offices Commission Executive Director Paul Dauphinais says the commission will take up the Sea Party’s complaint on Monday.

The two sides also have filed complaints challenging the other’s name, citing a state law requiring a group’s moniker reflect an issue or goal, and not simply express opposition or support of a particular measure. Dauphinais says those complaints won’t be heard until next month.

Measure 2 on the August 28th primary ballot would reestablish the Alaska Coastal Management Program. The federal Coastal Zone Management Act allows states that adopt an approved coastal management program to have greater input into development decisions along their coastlines. It also streamlines the regulatory process of various local, state, and federal agencies.

Alaska had a program for more than 30 years. But in 2011, the legislature and Parnell administration failed to reach a deal to reauthorize it.

The group behind a ballot measure to restore Alaska’s Coastal Management Program says initiative opponents are violating state campaign disclosure law.

The Alaska Sea Party points to the “Vote No on 2” campaign’s TV ads, which feature outdated information about the group’s top three contributors, and don’t audibly name those donors as required by the law.

At the time the ads were produced No on 2’s top three financial backers were the Alaska Miners Association, Shell Oil Company, and the Alaska Oil and Gas Association. Since then, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips have displaced Shell and AOGA on the group’s website, but not in the ads.

Sea Party Policy Director Lisa Weissler want the ads changed or taken off the air.

“The ads should stop. It’s a very clear violation of the law, and so it should stop or they should do it right. And they should have penalties assessed,” Weissler says.

She says the Sea Party filed a complaint about the ads with the Alaska Public Offices Commission Friday.

It’s the second APOC complaint the Sea Party has filed against the anti-Measure 2 group. In July, the Sea Party took issue with the “Vote No on 2” moniker, saying it violates a state requirement that a group’s name reflect an issue or the goal, and not simply express opposition or support of a particular measure.

The Sea Party touts itself as a grassroots organization. Its top three contributors are the North Slope Borough, Bristol Bay Native Corporation, and the Alaska Conference of Mayors.

No on 2 spokesman Willis Lyford could not be reached for immediate comment.

The federal Coastal Zone Management Act allows states that adopt an approved coastal management program to have greater input into development decisions along their coastlines. It also streamlines the regulatory process of various local, state, and federal agencies.

Alaska had a program for more than 30 years. But the legislature and Parnell administration failed to reach a deal to reauthorize it in 2011.

Measure 2 will be on the August 28th primary ballot.

The state of Alaska next month will ask the federal government to approve new education standards to replace the so-called No Child Left Behind program.

The state has requested a waiver from the federal law, which has vexed educators for a decade. State education officials are now in the process of adopting new assessments to replace Adequate Yearly Progress.

Alaska’s Adequate Yearly Progress report for the 2011–12 school year came out earlier this week. Once the waiver is approved, Alaska will no longer have to meet AYP as defined by federal law, says Eric Fry, spokesman for the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development.

“If we’re granted the waiver, this upcoming school year would be the last year which we follow the AYP system. That would go away and we’d have our system, which would have to be approved by the federal government,” Fry says.

Under federal law, a school fails to meet Adequate Yearly Progress if it falls short in just one category. Schools also are not recognized for annual improvements. Fry says the accountability program Alaska is designing would treat each school individually.

“One of the things people didn’t like about the law is that it seemed a draconian way of dealing with schools that might be doing rather well, but are falling short in one or two areas,” Fry says. “In the draft proposal that we’ve put together, all of that would go away and instead we would ask schools to aim toward reducing their non-proficient students by half over a six-year period so each school would have its own target based on where it’s starting now.”

Schools would be ranked on a scale of one to five, with five being the highest. Fry says each level would be marked by a star.

“And so the public would see very quickly how their school is doing. And if schools are stars 3, 4, or 5, they’re doing rather well, so we would ask them to look at their students and see if they have achievement gaps: Are there subgroups of kids who are not doing as well as other groups, such as low-income students, or students with disabilities? Then the districts would have to work with their schools on improvement plans,” he says.

The lowest achieving schools in Alaska number about 60, Fry says. The state education department would step in to work with the districts to raise the achievement levels in each poorly performing school.

“At any given time the state might be actively working with the districts on maybe the 50 to 60 lowest-performing schools,” he says. “Meanwhile the districts wouldn’t be off the hook for helping non-proficient students, but you wouldn’t have this draconian system of consequences that are triggered by any little thing, and you wouldn’t have the same consequences no matter what the real situation is on the ground. So we think of it as a more realistic system of accountability.”

Before the U.S. Education Department will waive No Child Left Behind requirements, the state has to show that Alaska standards for reading, language arts and mathematics will prepare students for college and a career. The state Board of Education recently adopted such standards. Fry says the board believes federal education officials will approve Alaska’s standards.

The state has issued a permit allowing for archaeological work at the site of a sunken Gold Rush-era ship in southeast Alaska.

This comes months after a federal judge approved a recovery plan for the SS Islander by Kent, Wash.-based Ocean Mar Inc.

The permit application was filed earlier this month by an archaeologist under contract with Ocean Mar. It lists August as the start of the proposed work and the Alaska State Museum as the proposed repository of collected items.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the application and project proposal through a public records request.

State Archaeologist Dave McMahan says he’s not aware of any other permits that might be needed for work to commence. An attorney for Ocean Mar did not return a message.

Former Alaska State Senator and well-known Native leader Al Adams has died at the age of 70 from cancer.

Adams served the Northwest Arctic, North Slope, and Bering Strait region in both the Alaska House and Senate for 20 years, including several as the powerful chairman of the House Finance Committee. In the Senate, he also served on the Finance Committee as well as Community and Regional Affairs; and Education, Health and Social Services committees.

His sister Sarah Scanlon says he was a lifelong advocate for rural and Alaska Native interests, working for subsistence rights, and funding for education, social services, and infrastructure.

“He wanted to make sure that foremost there was equity in state funding for the rural communities for the basics: water and sewer, health clinics, roads, transportation, those kinds of programs I think in urban Alaska we sometimes take for granted,” Scanlon says. “He wanted to make sure rural Alaskans got their fair share.”

Adams, a Democrat, was known as a tenacious lawmaker, says former Juneau Sen. Jim Duncan, who served with him during his entire legislative career.

“He understood the process very well, was tenacious, knew what he wanted to get done and was very successful at getting it done,” Duncan said. “He knew how to build the coalitions and the relationships that allowed him to do that. And he got himself into a power position in the legislature and was able to maintain that. I think during his period of time on the finance committee he was looked at as one of the more powerful, if not the most powerful, member of the legislature.”

Scanlon says one of his major legislative achievements was the establishment of the Power Cost Equalization program for rural Alaska.

An Inupiaq Eskimo, Adams was from Kotzebue. He graduated from Mt. Edgecumbe boarding school in Sitka, then attended the University of Alaska Fairbanks and RCA Technical Institute.

Upon his retirement from the legislature, he worked as an adviser to the Northwest Arctic and North Slope boroughs, then as a lobbyist primarily representing rural and Alaska Native interests.

He held leadership roles in many other organizations, including Kikiktagruk Inupiat Corporation, NANA Regional Corporation, Alaska Airlines, Arctic Power and Mt. Edgecumbe High School.

A few weeks ago, Adams asked his lifelong friend Pete Schaeffer, of Kotzebue, to build his coffin, something the two of them had done together many times before for family members. Schaeffer says he thinks Adams would want to be remembered for his kindness.

“He was a great guy, a lot of fun to be with, and never lacked to do anything for you,” Schaeffer says. “I mean he bent over backwards to accommodate whatever it is you wanted, everything from snow machine parts to political favors in the later years and that kind of thing.”

Memorial services for Al Adams are scheduled for Wednesday at 11 a.m. at Anchorage ChangePoint Church, and on Friday at Kotzebue High School.