It's Hard To See The Handwriting On The Wall When The Wall Once Made You Rich

The decline of Alaska's oil wealth has been predicted for a long time. It's why the Alaska Permanent Fund was established.  Knowing it was a finite resource and believing that one generation wasn't entitled to use it all up, the Fund was set up to help fund government forever.  Note:  help fund, not pay all the bills.   Even before climate change became a household word Alaskans were being told to diversify.  Even before the price of oil dropped precipitously.  Even before the recent refusal of some the country's biggest banks to fund any more Arctic oil projects.  Then the oil companies didn't bid on the ANWR lease sales.  

But the oil diehards, like Governor Dunleavy, even proposed legislation to get Alaska agencies to boycott those banks.  And to offset the apparent lack of interest in bidding on the ANWR leases, The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, a state owned entity, was the biggest leaser in the auction, bidding about $12 million of the $14 million total bids.   This, from a strong supporter of Donald Trump and the Republican Party that is constantly attacking Democrats with the label "socialist."

It's hard to change habits.  Our brains even change physiologically so we can do those habits almost without thinking.  We all know that mastering all the hand and foot and eye coordination connected with driving a car safely in traffic is rather daunting at first.  But eventually most of us get to the point where we drive almost on autopilot, sometimes even getting to our destination without even realizing it.    

I think about Anchorage's legendary mall builder, Pete Zamarello.  A Greek-Italian immigrant to the US, he worked in construction and then switched to being a builder.  Anchorage is littered with his strip malls.  He'd figured a formula that made him rich.  But when the hot, pipeline economy ended in the 80's, he was still on autopilot.  Cranking out strip malls is what he knew how to do.  

The ADN wrote when Zamarello died:

"That optimism was on full display in 1984, when Zamarello pooh-poohed predictions of an Alaska economic crash. 'The gurus of financing say that we're going to have a catastrophe, but we're not," he told Alaska Business & Industry magazine then. "This downturn won't happen. The next 10 years are going to be even better.'"

But it did.  The blog Wickersham's Conscience wrote:

"In the Alaska real estate crash of 1984-1986, Zamarello helped kill half a dozen financial institutions, bankrupted construction companies and their suppliers and ended up in bankruptcy himself."

The bankers had also gotten into a pre-crash Zamarello lending habit.  

And that's where we are today in Alaska.  Those who have prospered most directly from oil - those in the oil industry, the oil support industry, and the oil supported legislators - are having a hard time turning off the oil habit. They want to keep doing what they've always done, even though the conditions have changed. And since everyone else in Alaska has benefited indirectly because oil made up 90% of the State budget, many others keep expecting to be able to go on living the good life with no individual state taxes and even a $1000 or more Permanent Fund payout every year.  

We're like the rich kid whose Dad has gone bankrupt, and she's having trouble with the fact that her credit cards have been cancelled and the mansion has been replaced with a much smaller apartment and she's going to have to get a job to help out.  

We often don't see what's directly in front of us.  I think about the story of the Japanese businessman watching how Alaska fishers just tossed all the fish eggs.  His reaction created a new product with a large market in Asia for fish roe.  (I can't find this story online, so take it with a grain of salt.  But I could find documentation that the herring fishery was revitalized by selling herring roe to Japan. And, of course, the indigenous peoples of Alaska had been harvesting herring roe for centuries.)

Alaska Constitution Article 8 - Natural Resources

§ 1. Statement of Policy It is the policy of the State to encourage the settlement of its land and the development of its resources by making them available for maximum use consistent with the public interest. § 2. General Authority The legislature shall provide for the utilization, development, and conservation of all natural resources belonging to the State, including land and waters, for the maximum benefit of its people.

And that's where we are now.  While the state's GOP keeps pointing to the State's constitutional duty to develop natural resources as the reason to keep pumping oil, they fail to see the most famous and sustainable and valuable resource of all - our huge, mostly untouched, natural beauty and our wild fauna a flora.  These are things the world knows Alaska for.  These are the things they come to Alaska to see.  Tourism is way below oil now as a source of income for the state, but it has huge potential.  

We have some of the largest tracts of nature left in the world.  Let's exploit it - sustainably - for tourism, for the health of the planet, for science, for spiritual renewal.   In a world fast becoming urban and electronic, Alaska is an oasis of peace and calm as well as awe inspiring powerful natural phenomena from grizzly bears to glaciers to giant mountains and volcanoes and earthquakes.  

We'll still produce the oil in existing developed fields.  The earth still needs oil as we move to more sustainable and less climate changing sources of energy.  But the world knows that we must reduce our carbon output.  Just as it was clear to people not living in West Virginia and Kentucky that coal mines had to shut down, it's clear to those not financially benefiting from oil, that the age of oil is over.  That's why the banks decided not to finance Arctic oil development and why nobody bid on the ANWR leases.  

Everyone knows but our governor and those whose incomes come directly from oil.  Even the large oil companies know.  

[Yeah, I'm not sure if the title is inspired or awful.]

Blogging Fun - Visitors From Around The World Check Out Seven Year Old Post About Mr. Doob

 

Blogger says I have published 6914 posts since 2006.  There are another 594 drafts that never got published.  Statcounter gives stats on the visitors to the blog.  Their count is significantly lower than Google's (who bought Blogger a while ago.)  But Statcounter makes it easy to see details about who is visiting.  I've posted about this before, but it's important for people to realize all the finger prints they leave behind when they visit a website.  (I think you should be able to click on the image and enlarge it to see it larger and focused better, but after recent 'improvements' at Blogger, I can't tell until I publish it. After posting:  Yes, click on it and see it much bigger and clearer.)

In recent weeks I've notice a lot of people visiting a post entitled "The Yeti of Creative Coding - Who is Mr. Doob?"  When I originally published that in August 2013, there wasn't much about Mr. Doob and I scrounged bits and pieces to put the post together.  It was a fun post to write because Mr. Doob was (at that time at least) an elusive programmer who made cool graphics online.  I even found an interview with him that revealed a bit more of his bio.  

So, the other day I collected from my Statcounter data all the visitors they reported who had visited the seven year old Mr. Doob page in the past 24 hours.  (They keep coming and the Dutch example above is from the latest Statcounter pages.  

Riyadh, Ar Riyad, Saudi Arabia

George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

Sibiu, Romania

Pune, Maharashtra, India

Batangas City, Batangas, Philippines

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Rogers, Arkansas, United States

Orem, Utah, United States

Centreville, Virginia, United States

Palm Coast, Florida, United States

Markham, Ontario, Canada

Bloomfield, New Jersey, United States

Bronx, New York, United States

Laveen, Arizona, United States

Villisca, Iowa, United States

Hamilton, Ohio, United States

Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, United States

Ashland, Ohio, United States

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Medan, Sumatera Utara, Indonesia

Tampere, Western Finland, Finland

Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Quezon City, Philippine

This was the order of the visits.  My guess is that you see more international ones when it's early morning (like midnight to 6am)  in the US.  

And if you want to see what's drawing them, below is the link.  A fun break from the other issues we're constantly dealing with.  

https://whatdoino-steve.blogspot.com/2013/08/who-is-mr-doob.html  

AK Redistricting Board: January 26 - Approving Their Own Pay And Per Diem, Public Hearing Notice & Public Records Policies

 The Board met and passed the policies recommended by the staff.  The main change they made was to combine the meals ($60) and incidentals ($25) into on $85 which, it seems bumps up their meal allowance when traveling.  There was no mention or discussion of whether it was appropriate for that to cover alcohol.  Board member Melanie Bahnke, the President and CEO of Kawerak,  a Native non-profit Corporation of the Bering Straits Native Association, asked that her pay go to Kawerak because that's the corporation's policy when employees do this sort of work on corporation time.  Staff thought that could be arranged but will check.  

One item was added to the published agenda - an update on the progress of the website. The staff is working on it, but no dates were given for when it goes up.

Chair Binkely reiterated several times that these policies could be revisited and amended if that seemed necessary.  

I posted the other day saying I didn't think a board like this should be asked to set its own compensation.  I further raised various ethical and socio-economic questions about the role of public boards like this.  My personal sense is that in many cases per diem and travel allowances are often abused by both private and public sector employees.  I agree fully that members of such boards shouldn't have to spend out-of-pocket to serve on boards, but I also feel that given Alaska's severe cutting of public programs because of the drop in oil revenues, that members of public boards, particularly when they have other well paid jobs besides their board appointments, should be very conscious that many people, many children in Alaska today eat on much less than $60 a day, let alone $85.  

Again, this is something I feel is important and not really aimed at the Board itself, but more at the contradictions between some politicians who vigorously promote cutting the budget and then want to be generously compensated by a government agency.

Below is my rough transcript of the meeting as I listened in by phone.  Occasionally I had trouble identifying who was speaking and I try to indicate that with a question mark.  This is not verbatim, but it's enough to get the gist of the discussion.  Audio tape will eventually be up at this link (and later on their own website when they get that up. 

[I've included some of the staff recommendations from the Documents for the meeting which were online as well.]

Alaska Redistricting Board January 26, 2021

Present:  Board members: Nicole Borromeo, Melanie Bahnke,  Bethany Marcum, Budd Simpson, John Binkley, 

Staff:  Peter Torkelson and TJ TJ Presley 

Open meeting at 2:34

Approval of Agenda - Simpson - amend to add # 6 Webpage

Adopted

Agenda

1. Call to order

2. Establish a quorum

3. Adoption of agenda

4. Board Policy Review and Discussion

a. Public Meeting and Notice Policy

b. Public Records Policy

c. Member Compensation Policy

d. Member & Staff Travel Per Diem Policy

5. Adoption of One or More Board Policies 

Added new 6 -Website progress -  and made Adjournment 7

6. Adjournment

1. Board Policy Review and Discussion

Turn it to Peter

Peter:  Worked through this.  TJ drafted the first two. (Hard to understand)

Public Meetings and Notices Policy:  

Melanie - about screens on Zoom

Dept Director TJ Presley:  

Public Meeting - how the board communicates to public about when there’s a meeting.  Executive and Legislative branch policies.  Executive Branch uses public meetings - all bodies, pretty broad.  

Notice given reasonable time, but no definition.  (Reviewing info in documents covered in earlier post on the Board.)

Banke:  It’s hard to understand, very muffled.

Move to Second Policy Public Records Policy

Hoping to procure a minutes taker as well.  How to keep records varies.  AIDEA - has statutory requirements.  Legislature has uniform rules - court proceedings electronically.  

In this case Board could adopt Legislative or Administrative. 

Staff recommendation - electronic recordings and minutes provided.  (Again see previous post )  

More discussion about TJs audio.  

Peter doing quick summary.  Here’s the official written staff rec:

Meetings and Notice

“Staff Recommendation: Redistricting Board should adopt Alaska Open Meetings law, AS 44.62.310, as its public notice requirements. This action directs staff to ensure notice of themeeting, its location, attachments, and teleconference options, would be posted to the Alaska Public Notice System website within a “reasonable time”. Staff will further make notice of its meetings available on the legislative website.

It is the policy of the Alaska Redistricting Board that the board comply with the Alaska Open Meetings act and seek to provide 72 hours of public notice prior to board meetings with 24 hours notice being allowable. Notices shall be posted to the State of Alaska Public Notice System.

Advance public notice can be difficult if you aren't organized or if things come up at the last minute, but it's important for the public to be able figure out when the board is meeting.  Furthermore, while the State Public Notice System is there, it's not something that most people regularly use.”

Public Meetings 

"Staff Recommendation: Adopt a policy that includes recording and maintaining electronic copies of the audio recording of each meeting and keeping minutes that capture votes, motions, and a “brief statement of the position of any Board Members who makes a statement on the issue before the board” (This is modeled on legislative committee minute recording language). This could be a simple summary like, “Member A expressed concern that the proposed House District 12 did not take into account the city boundary”

It is the policy of the Alaska Redistricting Board that meetings be electronically recorded and made available to the public and that written minutes be kept of each meeting which identify motion makers, seconds, vote tallies and a brief summary of the concerns of any Board member who states a position on the issue under consideration.

Binkley:  Public Notice questions?

Borromeo:  Public Notice.  On Legislature’s website?  Tied to Governor’s office?  I had problems finding us.  

Peter:  We were under umbrella of Legislature because they funded us.  Now on both  Alaska Notice dot Gov [I'd give you a url if I could figure out the right one- Steve] also on http://w3.akleg.gov/index.php#tab4 (?)   So we’d be on both.  

We have our own website being set up and we’ll notice there as well and also have email notification for those who subscribe.  

Binkley:  Compensation Policy.  The Constitution says they should be compensated.  Board members spend a lot of time on Board matters not just on meetings.  We send hundreds of pages to the members.  Done on daily rate, but should also cover hours working on Board issues not at meeting.  

We recommend $477.  Legislators at $486.  We don’t know how many weeks we’ll have before Census Data arrives.  This is our 8th meeting.  Board has been in place about 5 ? months.  

Banke - My company policy says it should be directed back to the organization since I’m doing this on company time.  Otherwise I have to take personal leave each time.

John?:  Check with Leg Legal.

Peter:  Staff will check on how this gets done. I think it’s possible, but we need to check

Borromeo?  - Presume every day a Board meeting being held?  Not per day, right?

Peter:  Per Board Meeting Day.  

Budd:  If 15 minute meeting, say procedural, I wouldn’t feel right about taking a full day meeting rate.  Perhaps a half rate for shorter meetings.  

Binkley?  - in my experience - corporate boards, sometimes preparation is lengthy even if meeting short.  It’s hard to quantify every possibility.  It should balance out with time you spend preparing, meeting with public, but no recognition on that.  Maybe we can proceed and make adjustments.  I don’t see these policies as static.  

Banke:  Hand up?  No, forgot to put it down.

Borromeo:  I have same reaction that Budd did.  I don’t think any of us accepted appointment to this Board to make money.  In another board it’s a sliding scale.  This is a high meeting fee, but it is in line with other Boards and commissions and if we can review it in the future, I’m comfortable moving forward.

Binkley:  Travel and Per Diem Policy

Peter:  Given COVID right now different.  2010 Board did numerous meetings around the state.  We should be able to travel in the future.  We’ve looked at different options.  Using the AK Boards and Commissions policy.

Actual housing costs.  $60 food and incidentals.  We felt $25 for incidentals and $60 for transportation.  

[From the documents:

"Staff Recommendation: Adopt a policy based on the State of Alaska Boards and Commissions Per Diem table with actual lodging and $60 per day for meals. Amend this to include up to $25 for incidentals and $60 per day for ground transportation or car rental to reflect the fact that board members may be sent on road shows to distant communities with little logistical support available on the ground. Provide the Board Chair the ability to waive policy caps if there is documented need (for example, renting a car in Utqiagvik may cost more than the specified daily car rental rate).

“'It is the policy of the Alaska Redistricting Board that members and staff receive per-diem reimbursement for actual lodging, meals to a value of $60, actual incidentals to a value of $25 and ground transportation to a value of $60 per day for board related travel that is authorized by the Board Chair or Executive Director. Reimbursement for actual costs incurred over the maximum amounts may be made at the discretion of the Board Chair.’”]

Banke:  Up to $25 for incidentals.  Is that by request or added to meals?  

Peter:  You can submit receipts for optional - topped at $60 and topped at $25.

Barromeo:  All sounds good except for the meals at $60 per day.  You’d be hard pressed to eat at that price in even Anchorage and Fairbanks.  Can we raise it to $75?  What do others think?

Budd Simpson:  Agree it would be tight.  Either way works for me.  

??? :  I agree with Nicole.  What if we just mix meals and incidentals at $85 and all it good.

Peter:  Board traveled with lots of maps that required skycaps to get them on planes.

Bethany? :  I’m comfortable.  I don’t thinks it’s reasonable to raise the rate, but if we merged with incidentals I’m ok, but otherwise don’t think we should raise it above $60.

Barromeo:  I like the suggestion to merge the meals and incidentals to $85 and above that give receipts and get approval.

Binkley:  Public Notice - Should include meetings AND Hearings   and agree to change the per diem to meals and incidentals together at $85 and other actual expenditures require receipt and approval.

Banke?  - Can we hold off til Peter gets confirmation they can take care of my issue of giving my payment to my corporation?  

Binkley - I don’t think adopting this language would preclude that from happening.  

Motion to adopt these?  Seconded.  Discussion?  Hearing nothing.  Motion adopted.

Web page discussion:  Peter.  We need to have a website so public can be introduced to what we’re doing etc.  Also posting existing districts and maps.  So public will have ready access to maps as they are adopted.  Map section is core to website.  

I can post some mock up examples for public to see.  

Binkley:  appreciate what you’re doing and that you want to get it out to the public so we can get public input.  Any other comments?  

Budd:  Thanks to the staff for putting that together, Like the idea of using the old map as a graphic for this.  Beside being interesting, it doesn’t emphasize urban or rural areas like modern maps do.  

Barromeo?  Thanks for making the changes I sent the other day.  

Adjournment, but anything else first?  

Barromeo? - consider prioritizing with various organizations to say what redistricting is - time to educate public before we get into the details.  

Banke - traveling during quarantine hard from Nome because of quarantines, but things getting better, but next week I get my second shot.  More available for people in rural areas than for Anchorage folks.

Adjourn?  Borromeo, move.  Budd Second.  

Adjourned.  2:35

How Much Does It Cost To Eat Out In Anchorage? The Redistricting Board Thinks $6o A Day Isn't Enough

The staff of the Redistricting Board today recommended a per meeting compensation of $477 a per diem for meals of $60, and incidental costs allowance of $25, and a ground travel allowance of $60. The incidentals were taken from the previous Board that said often they carry lots of maps and other displays for traveling to various communities and that requires extra costs getting those things onto planes.  Hotel allowances were "actual costs." 

I thought, overall, the Board members sounded responsible about this.  While I personally think pay for such service should be more like an honorarium, I also don't think they should have to pay out of pocket to travel to the meetings and spend the night away from home.  Further what was approved was within the general parameters of other Boards and Commissions.  

A couple members of the Alaska Redistricting Board today said the equivalent of "You can't eat three meals in Anchorage for $60."  In the end they combined the meal allowance and the incidentals into a single category of $85, which, for the most part means there's now an $85 a day meal allowance.  Any incidentals above that need receipts and approval to get reimbursed.  So, that also means that if the Board member eats for $50 a day, they'll probably get an extra $35.  (I don't think they need to show actual costs below $85, but I'm not sure.)

I also don't think that the Board should be put in the position to decide how much they should get paid.  The legislature should spell out guidelines for this.  

All that said, I think it's also reasonable to consider that lots of people are eating courtesy of the Food Bank these days.  That lots of Anchorage kids are not eating much at all because schools aren't open and they aren't getting the free meals they normally get there.  And there are lots of people who, when they go out to eat, go to food courts, fast food restaurants, or order pizzas.  

I'd also guess that everyone on the Board has made contributions to charity greater than they'll get back in the $25 per diem they'll get each time they travel.  So, just for appearances, it would be a nice gesture for Board members to accept the $60 limit and if they want to eat fancier than that, or have drinks with their meals, they pay for that out of pocket.  After all, if they stayed home, they would probably spend at least $25 on food anyway.  

I've traveled for work and I know that it's often useful to have meals with colleagues at conferences. But the Board members can't get together in groups of more than two (I think) without it being considered a secret, un-noticed Board Meeting.  And the Board members are all likely folks who know lots of people in Anchorage who will invite them for a meal while they are in town.

But to help them find places to eat for under $60 I here's Trip Advisor's list of place to eat on the cheap in Anchorage.  I suspect they are so refined that they can't eat at these places while they are in town for meetings.  

Here's the menu for one place on the list:  Arctic Road Runner:

"BIGGER, BETTER, MEATY BURGERS

the following are 1/4 pound patties, served on a hamburger bun, unless otherwise roasted. we cook our burgers "medium well" unless you request otherwise.

"All American $4.35

ketchup, mustard, onion.

Alaskan Banquet $5.25

mayo, lett, tom, onion.

Arctic Cheese $5.50

mayo, lett, tom, onion & amer cheese.

Bacon Burger $6.30

mayo, lett, tom, onion, amer cheese & bacon.

Pepper Burger $5.95

mayo, lett, tom, onion, 1/2 mild chile pepper & mozz. cheese.

Kodiak Islander $6.15

mayo, lett, tom, onion, 1/2 mild chile peppers 1/2 slice. each: bologna, salami, ham, amer, mozz, cheese. an onion ring to top it off.

Kenai Whopper $6.50

our biggest meaty burger. two 1/4 pound patties, mayo, lett, tom, onion, 1/2 mild chile pepper & mozz cheese.

Mexican Burger $5.95

mayo, lett, tom, onion, 1/2 mild chile pepper, meat sauce & amer cheese.

Nature Burger $6.15

on a wheat bun. mayo, sprouts tom, onion & mozz, cheese, not this is not veggie burger."

Uncle Joe's Pizzeria has pizzas from $8.99 to $13.99 and a bunch of salads for under $6.  

Most dishes at the Thai Kitchen are $13 and rice comes free.  Three people could have a filling meal sharing, Thai style, a green curry, pad thai, and cashew chicken.

There are pages and pages of places to eat on Trip Advisor's list.  

Campobello Bistro is a little more upscale, with real tablecloths even, but you can get several different pastas for under $20.  Yes, if you add a salad and dessert, you're going to have to keep your breakfast and lunch combined under $20.  [UPDATE Jan 27, 2021:  a reader informed me this restaurant has closed.]

Part of me says, this is small potatoes.  The state spent too many millions buying ANWR drilling leases in (legitimate) fear that no one else would bid.  

Another part of me says, a few dollars here and a few dollars there start to add up.  Assume the five members of the Board all spend $85 for meals when they travel to Anchorage for meetings - if and when it's safe to do that - say for 100 days.  How much does that extra $25 add up to?  (Some may travel more than others, but just to ballpark this let's go with this.  The last Board ended up taking three years to get their work done, so I'm sure there will be more than 100 per diems racked up by the Board.)  

That's $25 X 5 X 100 = $12,500.  Again, not a lot in terms of Alaska's budget. But $12,500 savings here and $10,000 savings there, adds up.  The Governor says that we have to make millions more in cuts to the Alaska budget. Other legislators argue there's fat to be cut. Well, here's a place to do that. It's not so much large expenditures that are they problem.  They get lots of scrutiny.  It's more stuff like this that tends to be invisible in the budget.  

And, while the Board member bios aren't up yet for the Board members, it doesn't appear to me that any of these people are strapped for money.  They don't have to do this to make ends meet.  It's an honor and a public service to be performed.  One Board member today said that when members of her Corporation serve on boards like this on company time, they get the boards to give the money straight to the corporation.  (I'm guessing she makes a lot more on her regular salary anyway.)

And a third part of me thinks about the fact that these Board members are doing this for the people of Alaska.  How connected are they with the people of Alaska if they either can't imagine how to eat out in Anchorage for $60 a day or they can't imagine eating at places that don't have cloth table cloths and where they can't get a few drinks with the meals.  (The Board did not talk about whether the meal allowance will cover drinks too.)  $60 a day is more than many families spend a day on food.  

Final Note

This issue isn't really about the Board.  It's about how people in different income brackets think about what is normal, think about what level of restaurant is suitable. It's about a system that goes well beyond the State, where people get perks with their jobs that allow them to stay in hotels and dine in restaurants that would stretch most people's budgets, because the company or in this case the government is paying.  I'm all for reimbursing legitimate expenses, but when government employees are traveling they should be reimbursed to stay in the least expensive accommodations that are clean and and quiet enough to do work and close enough to places they have to go to minimize extra costs for transportation.  If that doesn't suit the traveler, she is free to stay and eat at better places by paying the difference from their own pockets.  I think most Alaskans would agree. Legislators often go after travel budgets when they want to cut agency costs.  I think a lot of travel is necessary.  Much of it has long term benefits to the organization.  Cuts should be on the edges to allow reasonable, but not extravagant travel. 

There was more to the Board meeting and I'll talk about that in a different post.  Tomorrow I hope.  I would add that for the most part I think the Board members discussion was reasonable.  But I do think the issue about not being able to eat in Anchorage for $60 a day does reflect that at least some on the Board have different standards of acceptable eating than many of the people whose district boundaries they are going to be setting.

50

 This was my bride and me 50 years ago yesterday.  We had to celebrate via internet with our kids and grandkids.  Then we had a surprise party in reverse.  Some friends decided to break the isolation with a zoom get together.  So we surprised them by announcing it was our anniversary.

The actual event didn't have many people - just our parents, my brother, and the couple that negotiated peace between me and J's parents.  

Alaska Redistricting Board Meeting Next Tuesday - January 26, 2021 2:30pm - How Much Should They Get Paid? How Easy Should It Be To Follow What They Do? [Updated]

[Updates January 25:  I've added a couple of extra sentences which I've [bracketed].

So many momentous things happening that it's hard to blog meaningfully and not just repeating what readers already know.  Have some things I'm working on, but they aren't ready.  

But at this point it's easy to just offer a heads up about the next redistricting board meeting, with a thank you to EB who alerted me.  

[That's what I wrote yesterday, but when I started looking at the agenda, questions came up.  So I'll raise them here at the top and then give more details down below.]

How easy should it be to find out when meetings are and are audio tapes enough record or should there be transcripts?  If the Board isn't going to offer transcripts within a week of a meeting, then they should use the kind of system the Anchorage Assembly uses that allows people to search topics on their video tape (in this case audio tape.)

How much should the board get paid?  The recommendation is $477 a day.  100 days would be $47,700 for a 'volunteer' board.  That's twice a week per year.  Last time they met 5 days a week at times.  There is a lot of work, but the Anchorage Municipal Assembly makes $45,000 a year and I'd say they have a lot more work to do.  Aside from Assembly meetings, they have works sessions, Community Council meetings, PLUS they have to raise money and campaign for reelection.  Then there's also a budget for per diem.  Somehow the staff recommends the DOD per diem.  Not sure why other than it was more than the State per diem.  

Should they even be the ones to determine their own pay?  There aren't many government jobs where the incumbent decides her own pay.  This is the Board's fault.  The legislature should make this decision or give it to the State Officers Compensation Commission.

The Agenda

State of Alaska Redistricting Board

Date:  January 26, 2021   Time:  2:30 pm

Place:  Teleconference:

Public Numbers: Anchorage 563-9085, Juneau 586-9085, Other 844-586-9085

[I'd note the State's Public Notice website offers this link as well:  http://akleg.gov]

 Agenda

1. Call to order

2. Establish a quorum

3. Adoption of agenda

4. Board Policy Review and Discussion

a. Public Meeting and Notice Policy

b. Public Records Policy

c. Member Compensation Policy

d. Member & Staff Travel Per Diem Policy

5. Adoption of One or More Board Policies 

6. Adjournment

Here are the staff recommendations for items 4a, 4b, 4c, and 4d:

4a. Staff Recommendation: Redistricting Board should adopt Alaska Open Meetings law, AS 44.62.310, as its public notice requirements. This action directs staff to ensure notice of themeeting, its location, attachments, and teleconference options, would be posted to the Alaska Public Notice System website within a “reasonable time”. Staff will further make notice of its meetings available on the legislative website.

It is the policy of the Alaska Redistricting Board that the board comply with the Alaska Open Meetings act and seek to provide 72 hours of public notice prior to board meetings with 24 hours notice being allowable. Notices shall be posted to the State of Alaska Public Notice System.

Advance public notice can be difficult if you aren't organized or if things come up at the last minute, but it's important for the public to be able figure out when the board is meeting.  Furthermore, while the State Public Notice System is there, it's not something that most people regularly use.  

I'd recommend:

• The Board continue to use the State system.  But most members of the public are not familiar with that system and aren't likely to find it easily.
• The board set up its own website where they include announcements of meetings and documents and access to tapes and transcripts of meetings.  It would also be a place where people could easily get links to listen in to meetings
• They set up a system so that people interested in the Board can get emails alerting them to new meetings.  

4b.  Public Records

"Staff Recommendation: Adopt a policy that includes recording and maintaining electronic copies of the audio recording of each meeting and keeping minutes that capture votes, motions, and a “brief statement of the position of any Board Members who makes a statement on the issue before the board” (This is modeled on legislative committee minute recording language). This could be a simple summary like, “Member A expressed concern that the proposed House District 12 did not take into account the city boundary”

It is the policy of the Alaska Redistricting Board that meetings be electronically recorded and made available to the public and that written minutes be kept of each meeting which identify motion makers, seconds, vote tallies and a brief summary of the concerns of any Board member who states a position on the issue under consideration.

My comments:  The last board had a policy of making transcripts of all meetings.  This was a good policy, but implementation was problematic.  Instead of having transcribers at the meetings, they recorded the meetings and sent them in for transcribing.  This took eight weeks or longer, in part because the transcribers couldn't identify who was talking much of the time.  

Just making an audio tape is MUCH cheaper, but it's difficult for the public to listen to hours of tape.  In a transcript you can search (unless they make it in a format that isn't searchable) and find things you are looking for much easier.  And it is much easier to scan through a written transcript than a tape.  

Now, if they use a system like the Municipality uses, which allows the public to search the video tape for the topic they are looking for, that could be useful.  

Minutes that list the bare minimum are almost useless.  We don't need to know (in most cases) who moves and seconds a motion.  We need to understand the debate and reasoning behind decisions that were made and that can only happen if there are verbatim minutes.  Yes, the tapes are there, but for the reasons mentioned above, most people simple won't have the time to listen to hours of tape.  This gives advantages to organizations that can hire people to do that kind of work.  

[I'd also note that by having virtual meetings, there is no way for the public, so far, to have informal conversations with the board members during breaks and after the meetings as there was previously. Yes, people can send emails, though I haven't found these publicly listed yet.  And that's not the same. For example, there is no process for comments - like these here - to be conveyed to the Board.  In the public meetings I could have raised these issues with members before the meetings and during breaks.  And all the Board members' emails were posted on the Board's website.

I'd also note   

4c.  Member Compensation  

Staff Recommendation: Adopt a compensation policy of $477.20 per day. Legislators are currently compensated at $486.88 per day while the legislature is in session. Staff will assist in documentation and submission of board member days of service.

“It is the policy of the Alaska Redistricting Board that members be compensated at the rate of $477.20 per day. Compensation shall be paid beginning with the Board’s first meeting.”

The $477 figure comes from figuring out the 2010 Board's pay and adding 19% inflation.  If the Board meets 100 times a year, that's $47,700.  [The last meeting took about 30 minutes.  That comes to over $900 per hour.  Of course, later meetings will take longer.  And when comparing to the last redistricting board,  one has to consider that the current board meetings so far have been, and probably for quite a while will be, virtual meetings.  There is absolutely no travel time.  Travel per diem is set for actual costs, but does not consider the members' time getting to and from meetings.]  I checked with an Anchorage Assembly member.  As I mentioned above, they get $45,000 a year, not sure how many actual assembly meetings there are because I don't attend regularly, but probably at least 26, plus they have lots of work meetings, community council meetings, and tons of reading to do for each meeting.  And they have to raise money and campaign for election.  And they are directly accountable to the public.  

Like the Board, the Assembly is not considered a full time job.  I think the Board should consider a cap on how much they get paid per year.  

4d.  Member & Staff Travel Per Diem Policy

 "Staff Recommendation: Adopt a policy based on the State of Alaska Boards and Commissions Per Diem table with actual lodging and $60 per day for meals. Amend this to include up to $25 for incidentals and $60 per day for ground transportation or car rental to reflect the fact that board members may be sent on road shows to distant communities with little logistical support available on the ground. Provide the Board Chair the ability to waive policy caps if there is documented need (for example, renting a car in Utqiagvik may cost more than the specified daily car rental rate).

“'It is the policy of the Alaska Redistricting Board that members and staff receive per-diem reimbursement for actual lodging, meals to a value of $60, actual incidentals to a value of $25 and ground transportation to a value of $60 per day for board related travel that is authorized by the Board Chair or Executive Director. Reimbursement for actual costs incurred over the maximum amounts may be made at the discretion of the Board Chair.'”

I think my issue here is NOT with the staff recommendations, per se, but with the fact that travel expenses for government employees is often a way to travel nicely.  "Actual lodging" means if they choose to stay at a nice room at the Captain Cook it costs the state a lot more than if they stay at a more economical hotel.  I think there should be language like "actual rate up to $150 a night."  If they choose to stay at a more expensive hotel, they can pay the extra.  Or the number might vary if, for example, they stay in a remote area with limited and expensive availability.  And there would be a difference between season and off-season rates.  Again, for meals.  If the Board members stayed home, they would spend a certain amount for food any way.  

At the very least, I think the Board should publish quarterly the expense accounts for each Board member.  The Alaska legislature does this.  The Board should too.  I was never able to get a budget for the last Board - though that wasn't something I put too much effort into.  So, yes, we (the public) ought to be able to see the Board's budget and actual spending.  

Winter Tree Trimmers Spend 45 Minutes On The Mountain Ash

 The other day the Bohemian Waxwings came to harvest the berries of our Mt. Ash trees out front.

Today the moose were here to trim the tree a bit.  

While the young one was feasting, the mom was acting as lookout.

I'm guessing that one benefit of dirty windows is that moose are more likely to see the glass.  When it was looking in like this I was hoping it wasn't thinking about tasting the green things inside.   There was a spring visit long ago when just outside the windows was a row of budding tulips and I watched from two feet away as she - one-by-one - took each tulip bud.  

Getting Vaccinated

This is an account of getting vaccinated Monday January 11, 2021.

In the Bingo like hit and miss of online appointments, I'd first gotten my wife on a waiting list at one clinic.  I got on as well, but she got a confirmation email and I didn't.  Most locations that showed up online had no available appointments. 

I started just rebooting the page several times a day, figuring that maybe if I get on just when someone puts up their announcement I can get an appointment before the run out.  About 6:15pm, I think on Friday, the Anchorage School District (ASD) had 259 appointments available Tuesday, January 12.  I snagged one for 3:30pm.  Then I started again, immediately, for my wife, but there was nothing left.

The next morning I suggested my wife check again - it was 7:15am.  The ASD had a lot again.  She tried to register, but it wouldn't allow her email. She was on an iPad, so I tried on my laptop.  There were still appointments and I was able to get her one at 1:45pm Monday January 11.  

I was seeing stuff online that things were a little loosey goosey about walk ins.  So I went with J to the ASD.  There was a short line outside - maybe 6 people.  I went in with Joan.  They checked her driver's license and pointed her in one direction.  I explained that I came with her, but had an appointment for the next day, could I possibly get my shot then and not have to come back.  She took some information, gave me a sticky note, and pointed me to another line.  It curved around back to the sign in desks.  There were white markers on the floor showing where 6 feet apart was.  Everyone, of course, had on masks.  A few people had plastic shields as well.  

This picture shows the line just after the sign in.  You can see the white 6" markers.  And there were a lot of chairs around for people like the man in front of me who had a cane.  Up ahead are the banks of tables for people to register people.  

The people who had appointments had been sent to another line, directly to the nurses giving the shots.  It was to the left of that cone on the far left.  

You can see a man sitting down signing in.  On the other side was someone just filling in the info that we had to fill in on the computer.  But these guys had to power to give us appointments right then and there.

This is pretty much the same picture, EXCEPT the guy you see where the main had been sitting in the previous picture was sanitizing the chair and table.  As soon as the guy got up, he swooped in and sprayed.  The person in front of me was moving up to the next white dot.  

Way up ahead are all the people with the needles.  It looks far, but with everyone 6 feet apart, it didn't take long.  

This is the nurse who vaccinated me.  The story in the newspaper was that school nurses were being used for this.  I looked at all the vaccine she sucked out of vial into the syringe and I knew it was going to hurt.  

But I was wrong.  She was great.  I barely felt the needle go in and the vaccine going into my arm was not seriously painful at all.  A mild irritation.  

She then pointed me to the next stations and explained what would happen.  

J wasn't as happy about the nurse who vaccinated her.

Someone took me to a table with a laptop to make my appointment for me second vaccination February 5.  Again, it was like the form I had filled out online, except there was no guessing if there would be an appointment. And this time I had to check yes for have you been vaccinated for COVID and mark 2nd rather than 1st.   Though we've since learned that the original plan to reserve a second vaccine for people when they got their first one has been abandoned as they try to get as many people vaccinated as possible.  They did that on the belief that there was plenty of reserve vaccine nationally.  But that turns out not to be true.  So at this point we're going on faith that there will be a second dose of Moderna on February 5.  

J was finished but saw me and came over to help me get the next appointment.  

Everyone was polite and ready to help.  The six foot distancing was violated a lot - obviously when I got the shot - but also by patients trying to figure out where to go.  

Somewhere along the line we got vaccination cards with the date and Moderna marked.  Someone suggested I take a picture of it, which I did.  That was a good idea since I already don't know where my card is.

The next station we signed out.  He checked that it was 15 minutes since we'd gotten the injections.  And off we went.  

Neither of us had any side effects but a sore arm, mine was barely noticeable.  The next day all my usual aches and pains were absent.  That only lasted a day.  

And I have to say I felt significantly lighter.  While I think I'm doing pretty well in isolation - certainly not bored - the idea that by mid-February I'm going to be significantly less likely to contract COVID, and if I do it should have much less severe effects on me, was liberating.  

So now I have five weeks to clean all the boxes that we have downstairs.  I can make a dental appointment while I still have teeth.  And I can get out and collect signatures for the Recall Dunleavy effort.  

Do I feel guilty that I got vaccinated while others have not?  I think guilty is a little strong.  I do think people who work in grocery stores and other essential jobs should be getting their shots now, but they are in this tier.  I'm also in this tier because I'm over 65.  But basically, I don't think that my waiting is going to make a difference.  (Yes, if all the healthy seniors waited a bit it might, but that isn't going to happen.)  And with the sizable number of people who are reluctant to get vaccinated - even health care workers - I think the push to just get vaccine into people's arms is the right approach.  We don't want any wasted doses because they were taken out of deep freeze but not enough people showed up in the next five days.  

Let's hope President Biden will be able to get the public administration of all this better organized and more efficient and effective and equitable.   We do know that the scientists and the president will be sending the same message out.  Let's hope that Trump's twitter ban means he won't be continuing to pollute the truth at nearly as high a level as he has been.  

Nature Keeps Doing Its Thing Despite Human Beings

 Humans have changed the landscape of the earth ever since they settled down in one place and began cutting down trees.  With modern technology we've been changing the earth at a devastating pace.  But nature is resilient and ever evolving.  Even if we were to kill half the life in the oceans and destroy half the landscape, nature measures time in millions and billions of years.  It will endure.  And if we aren't totally crazy, life forms will survive.  I even wonder whether COVID isn't one of nature's adaptations to human life, a way of slowing us down to allow other life forms to escape our hunger to destroy.  

But there is still much of nature to still awe and amaze us.  The other night when the clouds had briefly left the Anchorage sky, I walked out onto the deck and tried to capture the beauty of the frosted trees in the backyard.  The image on my iPhone was pretty dim, but editing tools on my laptop enabled me to get it back to what it actually looked like, and even more dazzling than it really was.  

And Sunday we enjoyed one of my Anchorage winter highlights - the visit of the Bohemian Waxwings to harvest the berries on our Mountain Ash trees.  They come in swarms of 30-50 birds, swooping down and then abruptly taking flight and then returning.  

Arnold Schwarzeneger Puts January 6 Insurrection Into Context

I invite you to spend seven minutes listening to Arnold Schwarzeneger's analysis of the insurrection we watched the other day.  He steps back and looks at what happened in the context of his own childhood growing up in Austria after World War II and the legacy of the war - his father and all the neighbors' fathers coming home drunk several times a week and beating his kids.  He likens last week to Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass) when Hitler incited mobs to go out and destroy all the synagogues and Jewish shops.  Often on November 9 my mother would remind me about Kristallnacht which she witnessed as a 16 year old Jewish girl in Germany.  So his comparison hits home for me.

Schwarzeneger doesn't dwell on details but strongly outlines the danger, what we must do, and a reassuring belief that we will do what is necessary and come out of this stronger.   

It mirrors my sense of things.  Americans have denied having "a single racist bone in my body" as long as I can remember.  Trump has called on those racist bones and people have shed their lie and found the courage to proclaim what they really believe.  Now the widespread legacy of racism in this country is out in the open where it can't be credibly denied.  So we have finally gotten past the first step of healing.  

It won't be easy.  The tens of millions of Americans who voted for Trump range from Neo-Nazis to people who simply believe the old Republican ideals of free market and rugged individualism, to those whose jobs have been automated or transferred overseas,  and those with a very literal belief in the Bible.  Their self insecurity has made them susceptible to the professional level propaganda and lies of the Right - from Swiftboating John Kerry, to denial of the dangers of smoking, guns, and climate change.   

Those of us who supported Biden must find the will to punish the worst of the transgressors, and find ways to respectfully find common ground.  Yes, there are many things we have in common - experiences (war, union membership, religious organizations, music of our youth), passions (gardening, dancing, drinking, fishing, cars, sports teams), and family (from dysfunctional families to happy families and for older folks, devotion to and from grandchildren.)  Let's find ways to start with those common bonds and then ease into the more difficult discussions.  Listening and asking questions rather than challenging.

Here's Arnold.  I can't quite remember him so on point and articulate.