Drive Up Recall Dunleavy Station

Gathering petitions during a pandemic isn't easy.  Without the pandemic, the Recall Dunleavy folks would have turned in their petitions by now and we'd either be having a special election, or it would be going on the August primary ballots.

But as I went to pick the groceries I'd ordered online, I passed the IBEW and other union offices and there was a drive up petition signing space - with everyone masked.  They have stations in Fairbanks and Sitka too.

But when I pulled into the curbside pickup space at Carr's (Safeway), I notice another signature gatherer.

I asked the person who was bringing out my groceries if she knew what he was gathering signatures for.  She didn't, but said she'd check.

She said it was term limits.  I looked that up, but couldn't find anything local, but there is a national term limit petition.

Anyway, he was NOT wearing a mask and approaching everyone coming out the door.  He is standing outside, so I guess even the Mayor's new mask policy that goes into effect Monday doesn't affect him.

In Passing - Dunleavy Recall Shifts Gears, Alaska Airlines Extends Elite Status To December 2021

Recall Dunleavy campaign adjusts to Corona virus

The recall campaign was set to get its 70,000 plus signatures pretty fast this year.  Then the virus and its social distancing requirements slowed things down greatly.
I have to acknowledge that Gov. Dunleavy has done reasonably well on the regular briefings on the Corona Virus.  He knows things.  He doesn't ramble too often.  And most importantly, he lets his superstar medical director Dr. Anne Zink explain things in her clear yet in-depth and dispassionate manner without interrupting her.  Or maybe he just looks good in comparison to someone else.
But off camera he continues to act in ways that remind us why so many people want him recalled - such as the $500,000 no bid, surprise contract for distance ed to a Florida organization.  And his recent vetoes of so much of the budget.

The recall campaign is now mailing petitions to people's homes.  Below are links to get your petition:

Thank you for working with us to save Alaska. 🌟

SIGN @ HOME

DONATE TO RECALL

RECALL UPDATES

Alaska Airlines extends people's elite status until December 2021.

Alaska Airlines sent us a congratulatory letter letting us know we had reached elite status back when we were flying to LA once a month when my mom, in her 90s, was not doing well.  We even got to MVP Gold two years.  With grandkids in San Francisco and Seattle, it's not hard getting our 20,000 miles for MVP each year now.  (Along with donations to organizations fighting climate change as a form of carbon offset.)

MVP offers us a few perks worth having:

• early and better selection of seats when booking (though this has deteriorated a bit)
• occasional upgrades to premium seats or first class
• frequent designation as pre-check to get us through security with less hassle
• early boarding flights
• a phone number that gets us to an operator without any wait when we need to call

So with flying questionable this year for many people, getting MVP this year didn't seem likely.  Until Alaska Airlines emailed yesterday to say it would be extended through next year.  Thanks.

Today's email was that food service was pretty much ended on flights for the time being on flights under 350 miles and a water bottle for longer flights.  But that merely limits unnecessary closer than 6 foot contact.  

I'd note that I'm not comfortable with the term 'elite status.'  I guess in part because Conservatives throw around the word 'elite' to indicate anyone with an education and because it is something of a class distinction in our supposedly classless society.  But I don't see any Republicans refusing to take advantage of the perks that come with MVP.  Nor do I see egalitarian Democrats refusing their upgrades either.  

Uber Ends Guaranteed Prices In California (And Alaska Gov Recall Gets Another Judicial Approval)

I got this email Wednesday from Uber:

"Changes to Uber in California
Due to a new state law, we are making some changes to help ensure that Uber remains a dependable source of flexible work for California drivers.
These changes may take some getting used to, but our goal is to keep Uber available

to as many qualified drivers as possible, without restricting the number of drivers who can work at a given time.
We want your Uber experience to be excellent, and fewer drivers on the road would mean a more expensive and less reliable service for you.


What’s changing?
 
From upfront price to estimated price range
You will now see a price range rather than a set price before you request any non-Pool ride, which is our best estimate of what the trip will cost you. The final price will be calculated at the end of your trip, based on the actual time and distance traveled. You can see the final price on your receipt or in the app.

Schedule rides with your favorite drivers
After you give a driver a 5-star rating, you can now add them as a Favorite Driver. Next time you request a scheduled ride, your favorite drivers will have the opportunity to accept your reservation. If you give a driver a 1-star rating, you won’t be matched on future rides.

 
Changes to Uber Rewards benefits
We unfortunately have to discontinue some Uber Rewards benefits, like price protection on a route and flexible cancellations, for trips in California. To learn more, see the Rewards hub in your Uber app. We’re actively working on new benefits for California riders, so stay tuned for future announcements."

Uber's map system has given our drivers from LAX to my mom's house, much longer routes than necessary.  The driver tells us it's faster.  One time we let him go with it and it added 5-7 miles to the trip.  He drove fast while on the freeway, but much further.  This last time we insisted going our way and got there in the same time that Uber predicted for the long way.

When the price was guaranteed, that doesn't matter - except they use more fuel if they aren't all electric.  But now, the extra miles will add to the bill.  That was an advantage over taxis.  When I drove a cab out of LAX, one driver said he could add a mile going downtown, just by switching lanes regularly.

The new California law addresses contract workers, not just Uber.  But it affects them a lot. Uber and Lyft have a referendum that challenges that law.  I would guess this is part of the campaign to get their users to vote for their ballot measure.  A part that will probably evade campaign finance laws.

No such email from Lyft yet.

Meanwhile, it appears that  Judge Aarseth, the judge on the Graham v. MOA case, found the Governor Recall petition to be valid.  It will go to the Alaska Supreme Court now.  Libby Bakalar, one of the attorneys fired by Dunleavy, an attorney whose opinions on recall petitions were still on the AG's page last time I looked, and who helped write the recall petition tweeted that very recently.  I assume she know what's she's talking about here.  Didn't find it yet on Google.

Judge Aarseth is ruling from the bench that the recall of @GovDunleavy is legally sound & can go forward. The State & intervenors Stand Tall With Mike will now appeal to SCOAK. I’m proud of the small parts I played in this process over the years as an AAG & along the way here.

— One Hot Mess AK (@libbybakalar) January 10, 2020

Sept 5, 2019: Warm And Sunny; Recall Dunleavy Delivers 49K signatures; 329,574,686 People Did NOT Die In USA Today

Today began with a vain attempt to see the Northern Lights that @AuroraNotify was reporting on Twitter.  It was cloudy in Anchorage.  But they were cool clouds.

It was so nice that after completing my errands, I headed for the Campbell Creek trail heading south.  I wish, when people ask me how I can live in Alaska, that I could get them on this or any of the other greenbelt trails in Anchorage.  Right through the middle of urban neighborhoods these bike trails are like going through a magic door into the woods.  Here's a bit of beginning fall foliage as I cross a bridge just past Minnesota.

On the way back I stopped to watch some ducks at Taku Lake.

Meanwhile, the Recall Dunleavy campaign had delivered 49,006 signatures to the Division of Elections.  They needed 28,000 or so to qualify for verification of 28,000 valid signatures and then review by the Lt. Governor's office (Lt. Gov is in charge of elections), to be sure it meets the grounds for a recall petition.  Given the various lawyers who scrutinized the language - including the person who has written the Department of Law posted opinions on what you need to qualify for a recall petition (and who was fired by Dunleavy in the first day or two he was in office), I'm confident it meets the letter of the law.  Not all that confident the Lt. Governor's office will see it that way, but if it doesn't, I still trust the Alaska Supreme Court to rule based on the law.

Once the recall petition is approved a new petition will need some 70,000 plus signatures to get it on the ballot.  A record warm and dry summer made it pretty easy to get signatures the first time round.  Doing the same will take a little more grit when (someone suggested 'if') the weather gets more bracing.  But 49,000 signatures in just over a month was way more and way faster than has ever been done in Alaska.  All those folks need to sign again for the next petition and then another 30,000 or 40,000 (to insure enough valid signatures) and it's ready for the ballot.

Unlike Wisconsin and Kansas where the Koch brothers (someone suggested Koch brothers is like a brand that doesn't need to be adjusted to reflect David's passing) have installed their puppets to destroy those state governments, most of Alaska's Republican legislators did NOT go along with the attempted cuts.  And those attempted, and the less drastic, but still nasty cuts affected so many people that everyone has a reason to get rid of Dunleavy.  There will be an expensive Outside Koch funded campaign to keep the governor.  The Republican Governor's Association made this totally perfunctory and bullshit (sorry, I can't sugar coat this) statement:

"WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Republican Governors Association released the following statement from Executive Director Dave Rexrode in response to the recall effort launched against Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy:
'Since taking office, Governor Dunleavy has served as the People’s Governor, fighting for a better future for all Alaskans and taking on the special interests. Under his leadership unemployment is at its lowest level in years and he continues to work to attract jobs and economic development to the state. The RGA stands behind Governor Dunleavy against this recall effort by partisan special interests seeking to halt Alaska’s tremendous progress.'”

This is all generalities which can't be backed up by facts.  Expect more of this and others' propaganda to get much better focused on pushing Alaskan buttons once it's clear the recall will be on the ballot.  Here's a look at some of their media buys.  $58 million to Target Enterprises.  And we know that Alaskans for Prosperity, Koch's Alaska chapter of the Americans for Prosperity, will pander hard.

But Alaska is small enough and  enough people have seen behind the curtain of the Wizard of Wasilla, that I think the recall will prevail.  This is a bi-partisan effort.  Hey Trump, you want another Alaskan governor from Wasilla to replace Pence?  He should be available by late Spring 2020.

Sorry Alaskans, you know all this already.  It's for people Outside.

I didn't realize I was going to write so much, so I'd planned one more item about today.

329,574,686 People Did NOT Die In USA Today  

Of course I can't know precisely.  I used the Current US Population which monitors the US population second by second, and The United States Death Clock which does the same with deaths and says 7,453 people, on average die each day.  So those are averages.  But it's good enough to come up with a reasonably close number to remind everyone that most people in the US did NOT die today.  Despite the headlines we see and hear everyday in the media, a tiny, tiny fraction of 1% of the US population dies in a day.

Yes, let's try to lower the number of unnecessary deaths like:

• gun deaths per year (36,383)
• homeless deaths (921 last year in LA County alone)
• unintentional injury deaths (169,963)

But let's also remember that death is part of life.  Don't let the media's focus on the unusual distort your sense of how safe or unsafe you are.  I believe that every story about death in the news should include the number of people who did NOT die, to help people keep things in perspective.

And to close this off - when you bike, you see things drivers miss, like this poster.

I didn't even know there were 905 channels (maybe not all have programming) in Anchorage.  The best I could find on this was not quite a year ago in the ADN.

Who Signed Petitions To Recall Dunleavy? Here Are Some Folks Who Did Today In Anchorage

I got there a little before 5pm.  There were lots of folks already.

Vic Fischer, one of the writers of the Alaska Constitution and one of the sponsors of the recall petition being interviewed.








And below are some of the people who signed this evening.  Mostly I left out faces.  For those whose faces are in here and want them out, my email is in the upper right.  Let me know.  I've also blurred signatures that I thought might be legible on petitions.