By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
Organizers will continue gathering signatures in the new year as the Recall Dunleavy campaign moves forward in hopes of removing the governor from office in a special election.
While the legal process for removing a sitting governor is lengthy, campaign chair Meda DeWitt said in a video conference Tuesday that she’s unwilling to accept two more years of the Dunleavy Administration.
“Do we really want two more years of breaking the law and taking apart the fabric of our society? Just in our last budget he reduced the ferry system yet again – and that is one of a myriad of things he’s done,” DeWitt said.
Among other transgressions, proponents of the recall assert, Dunleavy has broken Alaska state statute by refusing to appoint a judge; by violating ethics laws; and covering up sexual harassment by a former attorney general. The group also criticizes the governor’s budget proposals, which have included shuttering the Alaska Marine Highway System and slashing education spending.
For Erin Jackson-Hill, a volunteer organizer with the recall, the effort to unseat the governor means “the future of our state,” she said.
“I’ve lived here since I was one. Alaska is my home and I love it dearly and I love the people. It means the world to me to see it thrive, and this governor is the antithesis of a good leader. He has broken the law, he has misrepresented himself. He has decimated the economy, he has destroyed our university system. He is going after education. He is going after the ferry system. As a lifetime Alaskan he doesn’t represent me and he doesn’t represent what I know to be Alaskan,” Jackson-Hill said over the video conference.
The signature gathering effort subsided due to the coronavirus outbreak, but organizers said they plan to use a variety of COVID-safe signing methods in the coming months.
Local recall organizer Beth Short-Rhoads told the Sentinel the group has advanced the campaign with drive-through signing events, as well as mail-in booklets.
Short-Rhoads, like other Recall Dunleavy organizers and volunteers, argues that the governor is a threat to the state.
“He is still pursuing this agenda, and if there has been any tempering at all of that, it’s because of the recall,” she said.
Even during the pandemic, the recall effort has gathered another 25,000 signatures, she said.
That brings the effort to about 50,000 verified signatures, with 71,252 needed to force a recall election.
However, Short-Rhoads noted that most of her volunteers are over 65 and safety concerns are paramount.
“We don’t want to push them to do anything they are not comfortable doing,” she said.
Following the November general election, Short-Rhoads said, many people thought the recall effort was done, but that was incorrect.
“A lot of people thought the recall was over. We kind of faded into the background,” she said.
Overall, a high rate of Sitkans have added their names to the recall petition.
“Sitka has knocked it out of the park as far as signers go. Per number of registered voters in the city, we have a very high percentage… It’s one of the highest in the state,” Short-Rhoads said. Out of the 2,627 Sitkans who cast ballots in 2018, 1,316 have signed the petition so far, she said. For an Alaskan recall petition to result in a new election, the petition must be signed by at least one quarter of those who voted in the previous election, in this case the 2018 election.
Looking to the coming weeks, she said locals can expect phone calls to people who have previously expressed interest in the recall but have not signed the formal petition.
Back on the video call, Recall Dunleavy legal counsel said that once all the signatures are gathered, the state Division of Elections will have 30 days to certify the numbers, then between 60 and 90 days to hold a special election.
Short-Rhoads said any Alaskan interested in the recall effort can find more information and can request a mailed signature booklet at recalldunleavy.org or by calling 866-744-6425.
“If you get in touch with us we will get you a petition… Time is of the essence, we are hoping to be done with this by mid-March,” she said, adding that she is optimistic that the group will get the needed signatures and force a special election.
