Is the Alaska Redistricting Board Hiding?

[UPDATE April 4, 2011:  The staff was still nice to me after this post and they've corrected just about everything I've pointed out.  They've just been really busy and only needed someone to say something and they got right on it.]

How would a member of the public find out that there was an Alaska Redistricting Board meeting Monday, April 4, at 10am at their office at 411 Fourth Avenue Suite 302?

You could look on their website.  Here's what I found on Sunday, April 3, 2011 at 10pm.  On their home page, labeled News and Updates:

double click to enlarge and make clear

The last update was March 18 and it's about the public hearings they held around the state March 20-30.  It does not include the March 31 teleconferenced hearing from Anchorage.


Let's check press releases:

double click to enlarge and make clear

Last press release is dated March 8, 2011.

How about public notices?

The most recent one is March 18, 2011 which takes you to the State of Alaska Public Notice Page notice of the Statewide hearings March 20-31. (Yes, this one includes the March 31 meeting.)  But nothing about the Monday meeting.

 How about the Calendar page?

Nothing is scheduled except the draft report being due on April 14.

The Photo page says, "coming soon."  The Frequently Asked Questions page is coming soon too.  If you are in the Calendar page (and only in the Calendar page) and you click on Media - the drop down window shows  Social Media as the fifth option. (It doesn't show from any other window besides the Calendar window.)  It looks like this:

 

But you do have an option to link to their Facebook page.  (And you can see from some of the other screenshots, you can get to Facebook from those too.)  If you go to the Facebook page, you get this:

Nothing here either.  Their FB Info page has the Board's address, Constitutional requirements for the Board,  and list of Board members.

Their Future Events page looks like this:

Their past events page lists all the various meetings they had around the state.

So, given the absence of anything on their website to tell the public that there is a meeting tomorrow, how could a member of the public know?

You could be subscribed to their email service as I am, but I haven't received an email about the Monday event.

If you were in the room when it was announced at the beginning and end of a seven hour meeting on Thursday, March 31, you could know.

Or if you asked the Chair as I did on video on March 20, you would know that announcements are on the State of Alaska Public Notice website.  But even if you know that, you have to find it.

I knew about the site and I knew about the meeting and I'm relatively google savvy, but it still took a few tries.

The first one is for Workplace Alaska, so I skipped it. (It turned out to be the best link.)  I skipped the court one for the same reason. (It turned out to be only for the Court system just as I thought Workplace Alaska would only be for Workplace Alaska.)  If the Governor's page had it, I didn't find it.  The Home, State of Alaska has a tab on top for notices.  If you click on that, and fill in the search window right, you get this:

And if you click on the dim Alaska Redistricting Board Meetings April 4-10, 2011 below the second yellow line you finally get this information:

Alaska Redistricting Board Meetings April 4-10, 2011

Category: Agency Meetings	Department: Redistricting Board
Publish Date: 03/31/2011 Event/Deadline Date:	Location: Statewide Coastal District: N/A

Body of Notice:

Public Notice
Alaska Redistricting Board
Board Meetings
April 4-10, 2011

Alaska Redistricting Board Offices
411 West 4th Avenue
Suite 302
Anchorage, Alaska 99501


The Alaska Redistricting Board announces it will hold Board meetings daily during the period April 4-10, 2011 in the Board Offices at 411 West 4th Avenue, Suite 302, Anchorage, Alaska 99501 to provide progress reports on the Board’s efforts in drawing legislative district boundaries following the 2010 U.S. census. The start times for each daily meeting appear below. All times are ADT.

The Board may also consider administrative and legal matters at the daily Board meetings. Discussions of legal matters may require executive sessions.

The Board meetings are public meetings and anyone needing special accommodations is requested to call (907) 269-7402.

Date Time

April 4, 2011 10:00 AM
April 5, 2011 2:00 PM
April 6, 2011 2:00 PM
April 7, 2011 2:00 PM
April 8, 2011 2:00 PM
April 9, 2011 2:00 PM
April 10, 2011 2:00 PM

Revision History:
03/31/2011 01:14:11 PM by schaight/01/State/Alaska/US
03/31/2011 01:16:27 PM by schaight/01/State/Alaska/US
$$WebClient [Anon]

Could It Be More Difficult?

I'm not sure that they could make it more difficult to find out that this meeting is happening and still be in compliance with the Public Notice Law.

If you simply go to the Alaska Redistricting Board's website there is no notice.

Worse, the website suggests there is no meeting.  The Calendar for April is blank.  The public notice page only takes you to a notice for last Thursday's meeting.  The Facebook future events page says "You have no upcoming events."

The last Board email I got (you can subscribe to get email notices from the Board) was dated March 31 and announced the March 31 meeting in Anchorage.

The board spent eleven days in a row - with one day off - traveling around the state holding seven hour meetings each day.  That means on some days, they had to get up at 4am to be at the airport in time to catch planes that got them to their hearings and then they caught planes back after the end of their meetings (7pm).  They've had a busy schedule.  I don't think they are trying to hide.  Furthermore, this is a very new, temporary organization that has to figure out how to do everything and then close shop in 90 days.

The staff members have been more than nice to me, getting me handouts, answering questions, etc.

But whatever the reason, if there is only the most obscure notice of meetings, the idea of public meetings is a sham.

Given the very political nature of this activity - that the outcome will affect who gets elected to the State Legislature for the next ten years, it behooves the board to make sure the public knows when it's meeting.  Yes, those groups that have a vested interest and a budget will find out when the Board is meeting.  And there's no assurance that public members would show up at any meetings even if there was an ad in the Anchorage Daily News each day.  But as it stands, the website gives every indication there are no meetings scheduled. 

When all this is done, I hope that someone assesses the things that fell through the cracks because of their high pressure schedule and in ten years when this is repeated, that the next group gets some advice on how to avoid falling into the same traps.  A key purpose of this post - and the others on the Board - is to help keep track so the next team has a record of what happened - not just from the Board's perspective, but from an outsider perspective.

How about a stove that let's you know something is burning?

I had plenty of time to think while cleaning out the burnt beans in this pot.

How about a stove that let's you know something is burning?  Or better yet, shuts off the burner if something is burning?  If that's too hard, how about a stove that shuts off burners after say, ten minutes, or 15, or whatever you set it for?  If you need it to cook for a long time you could set it for however long you wanted.  We have irons that automatically shut off, why not stoves?

Not only would that have prevented this burnt pot, but it would mean we wouldn't have to return home when someone says, "I don't remember if I turned off the stove?"

Maybe I was thinking about inventions because I'd read a blog post at cracked.com about seemingly absurd inventions:

• Dry water
• A pedal-powered wheel chair
• An ejection seat for helicopters
• A solar flashlight
• An inflatable anchor
• Goggles for dogs (doggles)

You can see why the author decided these were not gag gifts.  Of course, I always like situations where the ridiculous turns out to make sense.  They remind us we always need to keep open minds and not close off possibilities. 


Before posting this, I decided to check to see if such a stove exists.  I didn't find a stove, but I found a gadget you can connect to an electric stove (we have gas).  Apparently this product is aimed at  "those with dementia who still have good stove skills and judgment."  I think their marketing is way too limited, and stove manufacturers should offer this sort of feature.  Here's how it works:

Electric Stove

• works normally when person is in cooking area
• Automatic timer begins countdown when person leaves cooking area [it has a motion sensor]
• Stove turns off when preset time has elapsed
• Stove turns on again when sensor detects person or when dial is manually turned, depending on the model
• Assess person's cooking skills for safe usage

This is from Thecaringhome.org.

Lady Gaga Goes To Google

Let's say that I am aware of Lady Gaga, but I wouldn't recognize her singing on the radio was hers.  I know that she has more Facebook fans than Sarah Palin, and there were posters for her concert when we were in Berlin last year.  And there was some vague understanding that behind the look, she actually has a musical talent and lots of drive.  And that in Malaysia they've dubbed 'gay' out of her video. I didn't know much.

And so when a Lady Gaga at Google video came to my attention at YouTube, I decided to watch it.  She was there to be interviewed on stage before Google employees before her Oakland concert about two weeks ago.

I suspect some of my readers might be similarly culturally deprived, so here's the

link to the YouTube video.

At the end is her "Born this way" video.


What I got out of watching this 70 minute video was a person with a lot of talent who was something of a freak in her school environment, but worked really hard to make her creative visions come to life - the music, the lyrics, the clothing, the event.  But, as with all famous people blown up into superhuman proportion, she's just a person trying to figure out how to be herself in this world that wants us to fit the mold.

The show was kind of hokey, in a good way, as Gaga answered questions from the moderator - a Google employee - from fans via email and YouTube video, and from  Google employees, some dressed up in Gaga inspired costumes.  For all the glam, it was really very sweet.    But some of the comments [posted on YouTube about the video] were pretty mean spirited and a fair number were flagged as spam or as simply removed.

But they should have gotten her another chair.  She was constantly pulling down her hem.

Lead On! Empowering Youth to Make Changes in their Alaksa Communities

I did a short post about the Pathways (formerly DELTA) steering committee I went to (as a member first, blogger second) in Juneau last month, but I didn't get to follow up with more detail.

One of the things most of the people there noted - most have work connected with domestic violence programs - was being surprised at how much good work is going on around the state.  We hear about the levels of domestic violence, but not about all the people quietly (outside the media's eye) working to make things better.  Events like the Respect March the other day get media coverage, but not the day-to-day work small organizations around the state do.

This is all a preface to this video made from video of the Lead On! Conference head last October.  I promise it will make you feel good. Teens excited about being empowered to make a difference.

Lead On! is a committed group of youth and adults from across Alaska that are interested in positively impacting their communities. Lead On! youth and adults work on projects in their communities to promote non-violence and equality in communities.

Three of the people in the video - Lori Greengrass, Timi Tullis, and Linda Chamberlain are on the Pathways steering committee.  And Ati Nasiah attended the meeting as well.

From the LeadOn! site, here are four of the eleven projects the participants did over the year:

Shishmaref- Youth hunting and survival skills trip

Fourteen youth participated in a three day trip to promote the subsistence lifestyle of their people and share their local traditional hunting, harvesting, and safety practices.  This trip helped encourage youth to understand and appreciate and continue the subsistence way of life that is vital to the tradition and culture of Shishmaref.

Sitka- Respect Campaign 

Fifteen students from Mt. Edgecumbe and Sitka High Schools worked collaboratively to create the Sitka Youth Leadership Committee with the goal of promoting respect and building bridges amongst youth.  Students gave trainings on bullying prevention, held forums to discuss healthy relationships and created PSA’s and posters about respect.

Venetie- Traditional Dance Group

Thirty youth have come together with parents and Elder’s to bring back the traditional dances used to bring the Caribou to their people, which has been out of practice in Venetie for over 14 years.  This project helped unite the community of Venetie and the youth will perform their traditional dance at the gathering in Fort Yukon on July 18-20.

Anchorage-  Sexual Assault Awareness

.  .  .   The second project was working with Standing together Against Rape (STAR) and helping them revise their middle school sexual assault awareness presentation.  They helped create a presentation that was more youth friendly and interactive.

And an excerpt from what one participant says:

For me, LeadON! has been this incredible opportunity to actually gain the confidence I need to make positive changes. I’ve met people and made connections that have broadened my mind and pushed my life forward. I participated in workshops during the conference that were very, very far out of my comfort zone, and found myself actually enjoying being out of my “box”. I got to listen to speakers who were so powerful their messages still stick with me. I heard my peers tell stories about the rough parts of their own life, which made me brave enough to do the same.  Yes, it’s a lot for only a few days!    .  .   .

-          Meryl, Tenakee Springs

"those nights when you can't sleep,it might be because you're awake in someone else's dream film" - More Google Search Terms

It's been a while. Here are some more interesting search terms people used to get here.

samsui women - Google really screws up here.  I posted about a movie called Samsui Women - who had been brought to Singapore to do manual labor.  This searcher was in Singapore.  But Google took the searcher to a post on Ukrainian women.

"my year in germany "  -  How did this one (from Karlsruhe, Germany) get to "How To Pronounce Kalenchoe?" I checked. The comments on this post got into correct and incorrect pronunciation and grammar in general. And in my response, I wrote, "My year in Germany taught me things like why it's "I" or "me" in different cases. But years of teaching also taught me that the actual content is more important than fussing over minor typos. . ."

number of people that had a watch in 1910 - interesting question that wasn't answered here.  Searcher got to famous people born in 1910. 

how move on from ipv "intimate partner violence" and meet new guy - I hope she got some help from the post on a ipv prevention meeting.  Good luck!

how much pfd fund a month i'll get in alaska  - this came from someone in New Haven, Connecticut.  Was the person thinking the oil money dividend we all get each year was worth moving to Alaska for?  He got a page from last year at application time on the Fund . Remember, we all live in igloos, use dog sleds, it's dark all winter, and the one day of summer each year, we get devoured by giant mosquitoes.

those nights when you can't sleep,it might be bacause you're awake in someone else's dream film  -  Wow, that's an interesting thought!  Google guided this Russian image browser to this shot from a post on the movie Inception.  Which is relevant to being in other people's dreams.



how do they get the wires across mountains - This searcher got to a post entitled Man on Wire Raises Interesting Questions - about the movie on the man who walked from one of the World Trade Center towers to the other on a wire.  They got the wire across to the other building with a bow and arrow, but I don't think  they get them across mountains that way.


set up educatoin inside of ten states of south sudanese, then foreigners countries you could think off,or forget it. - A lot of Google searches sound a lot like classroom assignments. This one was a Yahoo search from Kansas City, MO and I like how he added on a bit of what he thought about this assignment.   It didn't say what page he got to here.


how to japanese gift wrap a football - There was nothing about footballs in the post on Japanese cloth gift wrapping, furoshiki.


does idaho exist - I do have a post on this and the importance of studying philosophy, but what struck me about this search is where it came from:

ISP         State of Nebraska / Office of the CIO

did sarah palin and frank prewitt ever work together?  - This got to the review on Prewitt's The Last Bridge to Nowhere.  I don't recall any stories of them working together. 



will my boyfriend in jail know i am corresponding with other inmates on corrlinks - I don't think corrlinks will tell him, but the other inmates might, especially when they want to push his buttons.  My post on email for federal prisoners didn't answer this question.

I think one could write a book of short stories just by creating a back story of google search terms.


oh my god he killed kenny g pat metheny -  I get a fair number of hits on variations of "Pat Metheny on Kenny G" but this is the most extreme to find the posts on this topic.


what famous people were born from illegal parents in american - I'm considering just what 'illegal parents' might mean. They stole the baby? They broke the mommy and daddy laws? Probably the searcher merely meant the parents were criminals. He got famous people born in 1909.

foot bones side
bones of the foot
foot bones  - Suddenly, one day (March 14) I was getting hits with these terms (about a dozen) and going to a post with an xray of my wife's heal fracture. The post has been up almost a year and only today have I noticed people getting there. I googled to see if it had just moved up on google. I went through about ten pages and then switched to google images and still nothing. Then I noticed it didn't say "google." It said "google.ie." That turns out to be google on internet explorer, but when I checked back, I was getting people from google.com as well. But I also found a post at PC world discussing a flaw in google.ie that allows 'politically motivated attacks." It wasn't clear what that meant, but I don't use ie so I'm not worried. Oh, yes, google takes them to "Life's Little Surprises." 
After more hits and more exploring, a picture of foot bones I borrowed for that post - and gave credit for - is high on the google image searches.  (The first person I noticed had clicked on a picture of  my wife's foot xray which I did take myself.)

Mental paradise -  I like those two words together.  I need to stop and think more about the concept.  The searcher found a picture of birds of paradise in the Singapore Bird Park and a page of Singapore posts.  But it must have been ok cause she spent 23 minutes here.

syllables in meandering - Never thought about it, but if you read this word, it would be logical to assume it is  "méan-der-ing" not what we actually say "me-án-der-ing."  Such a good word!  This searcher from India got to a page about Charles Dickens praising meandering at the beginning of David Copperfield. 

    if i give the fbi information does that make me guilty - Some searchers ask questions that make me wish I could call them up and talk to them.  There's obviously an interesting story here from this east coast query.  I don't think the person got the answer they were searching for in the post about the FBI 'whistle-blower' complaint.


things to hate about rafael nadal - There may be some perfectly good explanation for this search, but on the face of it, I find it troubling. Does one have to go looking for things to hate?   The search got to a story on Nadal's coach/uncle.

i know a little bit of this and that blog alaska - I love how the human mind sort of mushes things together and gets close.  If we assume that this blogger actually was trying to get here and was trying to remember the name of the blog, then she would have been conflating the title - What Do I Know? - with the tag line in the heading - this and that as things come up.  Or maybe that person was looking for something else altogether and google delivered her here.

my aunt's husband died we are estranged what to do - Oh Google, how could you do this?  This is where humans beat computer algorithms.  First, there's a talent to writing good search terms and this googler is asking a really open ended question. But evil google saw the words "estranged" and "husband" and took this person to a post entitled Woman Bites Off Estranged Husband's Penis. The aunt's husband is dead google, this isn't the answer.

Julie Kitka: "In democracies, respecting rights isn't a choice leaders make day by day, it's the reason why they govern." (Video)

Thursday afternoon, Julie Kitka, President of the Alaska Federation of Natives, testified before the Alaska Redistricting Board meeting in Anchorage.  Here's a video of her testimony.  She talked about the importance of Alaska Natives getting fair representation in the legislature. 



Sitting next to Kitka is Natalie Landreth, staff attorney Native American Rights Fund.

Afterward, there were questions. Board attorney Michael White asked her, about an issue that came up in Kotzebue:  whether each specific identity - such as Aleut, Yupik, Athabascan, etc. - needs its own separate representation or whether grouping 'Alaska Natives' would be acceptable in order to get large enough districts.


[I loaded this in YouTube because the Viddler connection kept breaking.]

April Fools: Chenault, Costello, Dick, Fairclough, Feige, Foster, Gatto, Hawker, Johansen, Johnson, Keller, Lynn, Millett, Munoz, Olson, Pruitt, Saddler, Stoltze, Thomas, Thompson, P. Wilson, T. Wilson

These are the Alaska House members who voted yesterday to give some of the largest corporations in the world about $2 billion a year in hopes the oil companies will invest more in Alaska oil production. The companies in turn had to guarantee. . .


nothing whatsover. They even said out loud they wouldn't promise anything.



As regular readers know, I rarely take a strong stand on an issue because generally I can see more than one side. Sometimes there are only two sides - the right one and the wrong one. It's hard to find any 'right' in the arguments for passage of HB 110. They are all literally incredible. Those who argue they don't want to lose their jobs or their children's future jobs (many who testified) failed to show the connection between giving these breaks to the oil companies and increased oil production in Alaska. Others worship at the Church of Capitalist Fundamentalism which preaches government is Satan and the market is the miracle cure for everything. They have forgotten (or never knew) that even gods of capitalism, like Milton Friedman, warned of capitalism's

Soon to be on endangered species list in Alaska

failures. Some have forgotten the Bill Allen story, or maybe they think that the reversal of fortune for the FBI and the Federal prosecutors means they have a free period to make deals with oil companies. This last group may be more crooks than fools. I'm sure there are other forms of delusion I'm overlooking.

I heard a rumor that an unnamed legislator slipped language into HB 110 that makes the rabbit's foot the state talisman.  Every Alaskan will be required to carry at least one at all times.

But let's also salute those who voted no (including two Republicans):

Austerman, Doogan, Edgmon, Gara, Gardner, Gruenberg, Guttenberg, Herron, Holmes, Joule, Kawasaki, Kerttula, Miller, Petersen, Seaton, Tuck.

Doing right is its own long-term reward. Thank you!

Should the Senate go along with this (reports are that they won't) the oil companies could possibly make some gesture that looks like the vote caused them to reinvest in Alaska. But they really don't have to and are arrogant enough not to. And if they do, just count the dollar benefit to Alaska against the dollars we would have given away. It won't be close. And will the yea votes and their supporters realize they were taken? Don't count on it. They'll find reasons to explain why 'conditions' changed and they weren't wrong.

Closing Few Folks Testify Before 7pm Adjournment

Bruce Schulte - District 28 (he was here last week)  The map on the wall works for me.  That's all.

Torgerson:  Thank you. 

Communities on tele
Fairbanks, Anchorage, Sitka, Haines, Cordova, Wasilla, Delta Junction, Valdez, Dillingham, Juneau,  Thank LIO offices around the state for hanging in to 7pm.  We'll recess we have 15 minutes.


6:53: Cordova Mayor

Thank you.  Jim Kallander., we want to remain in District 5 with other SE communities.  We understand that Valdez wants us to join them and we have no interest.  Don't want to be part of the pipeline communities.  We're happy where we are. 

White:  If Cordova can't be with SE, what would be your second choice?

Jim Kallander:  I'm not sure yet.  We've taken this stand.  This is my first time going through redistricting.  POlitically it seems pretty nasty to me.  People all over the state, feel like some illegitimate child being tossed around.  Give me some choices so I can talk to council and the community.  Thanks for all the work that you're doing. 

Torgerson:  We'll stand in recess.

7pm Adjourn.  Next meeting Monday at 10am - at Redistricting office.

Bill Noll and Lois Epstein Testify in Anchorage

6:01

Bill Noll, East Anchorage, Republican District chair.  Thanks.  Support of the design put together by plan presented this afternoon.  Solution for District 20 and 21 was very good.  Elegant solution, neighborhood with common background.  Further north in 19 also elegant since much of that population is military, part military, retired military.  That's all I want to testify this afternoon.  Thank you.

Lois Epstein - Thanks for opportunity.  Anchorage engineer, District 26, ten year resident.  Want to support apolitical redistricting.  Came from DC, I've been paying attention to how states have been doing redistricting.  Iowa has a complete apolitical redistricting.  Here we support trusted goernment.  This is an area where the public can be more supportive.  I live near New Sagaya downtown.  We have three districts.  That supports Democrats.  I'm a Democrat.  That's crazy that we live close together have three districts.

Break


Liz Medicine-Crow
Here to speak to you as a member of the largest racial minority in the state.  Rep of myself, my clan, my community.  Couldn't let this time go pass

David Cruz in Fairbanks -   Looking at map from Alaskans for Fair and Equitable Redistricting.   As it comes down S. Cushman, everything to the South is District 9, before it was jumbled up.  It shifts Dis 10 to the east and North Pole.  Center is Ft. Wainright, little bit of N Pole, of Fairbanks, etc.  rolls it a little east.   I think its very fair and equitable.  Affect maybe 10% of our population and makes it contiguous.   6:20pm

More Redistricting Board - Cordova, Sitka, Juneau

There are people signed up at some of the LIO sites so they are reconvening.

Cordova, Supt. of Schools.

Jim Nygaard - Supt. of Schools.  North of District 5 - Beneifts of existing district - keeping coastal communities together is good for education, airlines, freight.  Likesize coastal communities keeps our interest being heard.  If grouped with others, our interests could be lost altogether.  Cordova is tied to SE Alaska.  Please consider bringing additional communities to our district when you redraw.  Appreciate your time, thanks. 

Torgerson:  Cordova is on our list.

School Board member - Nice to keep smaller coastal community together, similar needs, economies - fisheries.  Current representation.  Nice to not be overshadowed by larger cities.

Haines back on?  He hung up.  Sorry.  That's all for this segment.  Recess.  5:06.
Juneau LIO, we have someone. 
We don't have the name, please introduce

Connie McKenzie, in Juneau.  Testify in favor of Alaskans for Equitable Redistricting.  With the change here, I like how these four drawn.  Keeps Juneau 4 pretty much intact.  A bit from District 3.  And keeps a Native influence district, small and native communities.  32.5% native rep in that district.  Also 3 and 4 splits Sitka in half. part in with 3 and part with 1 (Ketchikan).  Then Sitka would have two senators and two representatives even though split. 

Sitka:
Gerry Hope:  Pres of Sitka Chamber of Commerce.  Looking for opportunity for more detailed presentation and testimony.  No real chance to look at the options. 

Torgerson:  That's fair.  We'll post them on the web as soon as we can.  AKredistricting.org.  Anyone else?  Hearing none, we will break 5:09 and come back when there are other people.