Political Contributions
Dear Editor: Tuesday evening, the Sentinel reported on the 9th Circuit Court’s decision on out-of-state of Alaska contributions toward our in-state political campaigns. Their decision was that there is no longer going to be a cap on out-of-state contributions to in-state campaigns but Alaskans will continue to have in-state contribution caps. The decision of the 9th Circuit this week is an illustration of the destruction of our political influence as individual citizens and residents of Alaska.
WHAT THE CASE WAS ABOUT: Our Alaska law restricted an individual’s contribution to a candidate for state office to an annual limit of $500 and aggregate limits on the dollar amount a candidate could accept from political parties or individuals who were not residents of Alaska. This law was proposed by citizen initiative, passed by the Legislature in 1996, amended by initiative in 2006 to restore and reaffirm the $500 contribution limit, and approved with a margin of 73 percent of the popular vote.
The stated purpose for Alaska’s campaign finance law is to restore the public’s trust in the electoral process and to foster good government, based on findings that “(1) campaigns for elective public office last too long, are often uninformative, and are too expensive; (2) highly qualified citizens are dissuaded from running for public office due to the high cost of election campaigns; (3) organized special interests are responsible for raising a significant portion of all election campaign funds and may thereby gain an undue influence over election campaigns and elected officials, particularly incumbents; and (4) incumbents enjoy a distinct advantage in raising money for election campaigns, and many elected officials raise and carry forward huge surpluses from one campaign to the next, to the disadvantage of challengers.”
The Supreme Court decision in Citizens United 2010 restricted the reason states can limit campaign contributions to preventing “quid pro quo corruption.” All other objectives, such as reducing the amount of money in politics, “cannot survive constitutional scrutiny,” according to the Citizens United Supreme Court decision.
Sitka’s Response to Citizens United: Resolution 2012-15 ‘‘A Resolution of the City and Borough of Sitka to Support Amending the U.S. Constitution to Restore the People’s Power to Limit Corporate Influence in Elections and Policymaking.’’
Sitka’s Assembly unanimously passed a resolution in July of 2012, condemning the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision, Citizen’s United VS the FEC, which was one of three decisions the Supreme Court used to remove limited political contributions from corporations and other entities. It gave them more political influence than ordinary citizens have, by labeling money as free speech. Sitka’s resolution supports “amending the U.S. Constitution to limit corporate influence and restore democracy in our elections for the benefit of the American people.” Other Alaskan cities have since passed similar resolutions, with more on the way to joining us. In addition 19 states and 800 municipalities have passed similar resolutions, calling for a Constitutional amendment overturning Citizens United.
You can read Sitka’s Resolution by taking these steps: CityofSitka.com / Departments / Municipal Clerk/ Ordinances and Resolutions / Under Search put 12-15/ Year put 2012/ Next Box Click on Resolution/ Leave File and Text Checked/ Press Search/ Click File #/ Under Attachments (above History) click #1 for the unsigned copy with supporting information or #2 to just read the signed resolution.
NEXT STEPS: There is currently an effort to pass an Alaska State Resolution to support the overturning of Citizens United and become the 20th state to have passed a resolution. Sitka’s Resolution supports this effort. Passage of a Constitutional amendment requires two-thirds of both Congressional houses to pass the proposed amendment and then three-quarters of the state governments to ratify it. The pathway to that succeeding is to have as many States as possible be supportive from the beginning of that process.
In order for a State of Alaska resolution to succeed, the resolution needs to be sponsored and introduced in our State House and Senate. We all have a stake in this: Contact our State Sen. Bert Stedman by phone 747 2952 or email: Senator.Bert.Stedman@akleg.gov and contact our House Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins: jonathan.s.kt@gmail.com or call at jonathan.s.kt@gmail.com. Please ask your family and friends throughout the State of Alaska (and in other states as well) to do the same.
To defend the will of the people of Alaska and many other U.S. states and municipalities we need to pass a constitutional amendment saying the court majority was wrong: 1) money is not protected speech, 2) corporations are not people with constitutional rights, and 3) our elected officials have the authority to regulate campaign finance broadly in the interests of good government and citizen trust.
Sincerely and thank you,
Libby Stortz, Kent Barkau
and Kay Kreiss, Sitka
Thank You, Sitka
Dear Editor: After four years, my time at Raven Radio is winding down. In December, I’ll be moving to Washington, D.C., to pursue an international reporting fellowship with NPR. In January 2019, I’ll spend five months reporting on ecological migration in Mongolia, telling the story of a nomadic population adapting to change. You’ll hear those stories on NPR programs in the spring – my voice still on the airwaves, just at a slightly different time!
KCAW’s fabulous 2017 winter fellow Katherine Rose will be taking over as interim reporter until a new individual is hired next year. Working alongside KCAW’s new general manager Becky Meiers these past few weeks, I can assure you our public radio station is in extremely good hands. Becky is creative, courageous, and works in service of the community.
Readers and listeners to Raven News, thank you for calling and stopping me in the street with tips and ideas over the years. You are the very best of news hounds. It’s been a total and utter privilege being this community’s reporter. I love this job. I love this town. I love the people who live here.
I find it incredible that Baranof Island has over a dozen reporters for a mere 9,000 people. Kids recognize James Poulson at the Daily Sitka Sentinel and land a front-page photo by the age of 5. By age 10, they are speaking with confidence on Raven Radio’s Morning Interview. In school, their teachers give them assignments based on the Assembly meetings. I’ve seen them in the audience, furiously taking notes. By age 15, they are testifying before the School Board about programs that matter to them based on news they’ve read. At age 35, they are running for the Assembly for the very first time and recording a commentary at the Cable House. The bond between democracy and information, between government and media, is powerful and truly worth protecting on the local level. Thank you for supporting local journalism and local journalists in Sitka.
I ask you to please give whoever fills my shoes your full support. Be open and guide them to the truth, as they fumble around and learn which questions to ask. Reporters are human beings after all. Know that any community journalist is only as informed as the community that invites them in. It takes trust on both sides, and in that respect, I’ve been very lucky. This is a somewhat intimidating job, but possibly the best public radio job in the whole world. Former reporters Ed Ronco and Rachel Waldholz told me that, and I agree.
I’ll be making more stories in the days leading up to my departure, but not without first saying: thank you Sitka for all the ways you’ve invited me into your lives. Thank you for generosity and teaching me that no person is a stranger for long. If you have any thoughts or questions, get in touch with Robert Woolsey or myself at news@kcaw.org. My personal e-mail is eka610@gmail.com.
Emily Kwong,
Raven Radio Reporter
Visit Downtown
Dear Editor: Thank you to the following downtown businesses for housing the Brave Heart Volunteers’ Chair-ity until Thursday, Dec. 6.
Goldsmith Gallery has a colorful children’s chair by Cara Murray and an adorned buckskin chair by Kim Elliot, which is a tribute to her mother. Mountain Miss has the “Odd Pair” chair and stool/table by Kristina Cranston and Tommy Joseph. Russell’s is displaying a musical chair by Lois Verbaan. Robertson’s Art Gallery is housing “Our Town” children’s table and chairs by DJ Robidou. Silver Basin has “Fred’s Creek cabin” rocking chair by Kailee Cunningham. These silent auction chairs will turn into a live auction on the night of Dec. 6 at the Harrigan Centennial Hall. Start bidding now on these creative works of art.
Brave Heart Volunteers
