Daily Sitka Sentinel

Sitka Leads Way In Recall Funding

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    Statewide organizers of the campaign to recall Gov. Dunleavy say they are impressed by the hundreds of Alaskans who donated over the weekend at fundraisers in Sitka, Cordova and Juneau.
    “It’s a huge deal,” Claire Pywell, Recall Dunleavy campaign manager, said of the more than $45,000 raised in Sitka. “I think it sends a really strong message not just in Sitka but statewide that folks are really fired up and committed to this cause.”
    Sitka’s invite-only fundraiser at Harrigan Centennial Hall Saturday involved a dinner at which participants called friends for donations or made contributions themselves.
    “I think folks are excited about bringing folks together,” Pywell said. A statewide organizer from Anchorage attended the Sitka event to provide an update on the overall recall effort.
    The Division of Elections rejected the preliminary recall application on Nov. 4, and Recall Dunleavy attorneys were in court the next day to file an appeal.
    Oral arguments on a summary judgment are scheduled for Jan. 10 in Anchorage Superior Court.
    “We are confident this will be treated expeditiously – we consider it good news,” Pywell said. “This is being taken seriously and we expect fair treatment and that this will be treated in an expeditious manner.”
    Pywell called the amount raised at the Sitka fundraiser “inspiring.”
    Local organizers, including Susan Litman and Beth Short-Rhoads, said some 250 to 300 people took part, either by attending and calling, or with donations. Funds donated started at $15, and at least four chipped in with their $1,600 Permanent Fund Dividends.
    “The amount of money donated and the number of individuals donating to the fundraiser shows how strongly Sitkans have reacted to the actions of our governor,” Litman said. “Alaskans care about their neighbors. The governor’s line item vetoes are more than numbers eliminated on a spreadsheet. The numbers represent real people.”
    She and Pywell said so many Alaskans are harmed by the governor’s actions, or have connections to those affected, that they want to take action.
    “Whether it is the five people losing their jobs at the Pioneer Home or the Pioneer Home residents who are being forced to leave because their monthly rent has increased from $6,000 to $13,000,” Litman said, “the teachers who have left because the school district was unable to offer contracts for the next year, the students and faculty at the university who are dealing with impossible cuts to their budget, or the communities who depend on ferries for their lifeline, I think every Sitkan has been personally affected in a negative way or know people who have been affected.”
    She added, “I have lived in Alaska for more than 40 years, and the governor’s budget last spring is the most unpopular and harmful thing I have ever seen a governor do to the people of our state.”
    Short-Rhoads said the fundraising in Sitka and across Alaska shows how strongly people believe in the grounds for the recall.
    “It’s not just about the budget being destructive,” she said today. “It’s also, there are real grounds for a recall. Most of all they believe Alaskans deserve the chance to hold the governor accountable for his incompetence, disrespect for citizens and institutions, and disregard for the laws and constitution of Alaska.”
    Pywell said she doesn’t know when the recall will come before Alaskans in an election, but hopes it’s soon.
    “Every day it’s delayed causes harm to Alaskans,” she said. “We’re in it because we believe so strongly people of Alaska have a right to choose whether he retains his job or we fire him. The sooner we can make that decision the better; we want to know who the governor is. We’re not doing this because it’s fun. We’re doing this because it’s necessary. This is about the state. This is about our home.”
    If the preliminary petition, which received 49,006 signatures (28,501 were required) is upheld by the court, the recall sponsors must gather a minimum of 71,252 voter signatures on a final petition in order to get the recall proposition on a statewide ballot.