Mayor Bronson embraces a discredited Chinese doctors theories on Covid. Amy Demboski buys a new home in Wasilla while getting roasted by a former colleague. The homeless director has gone Jimmy Hoffa while the Bronson administration plays games. A great book on one of the bravest female spies in American military history...and closing comments on Eagle Brexit.
Mayor Bronson embraces a discredited Chinese doctors theories on Covid. Amy Demboski buys a new home in Wasilla while getting roasted by a former colleague. The homeless director has gone Jimmy Hoffa while the Bronson administration plays games. A great book on one of the bravest female spies in American military history...and closing comments on Eagle Brexit.
Politics
Last Saturday
…at Changepoint church
…1,200 people
…paid a twenty dollar
…cover charge
…and enjoyed the
…two drink minimum
…of tainted Kool aid
To watch Mayor Dave Bronson
…be the warm up act
…for a discredited
…Chinese doctor
…and a cadre
…of Covid vaccine skeptics
Bronson opened
…for the crowd
…by stating his administration
…helped organize the event
…but kept it secret
…to avoid the political backlash
Jesus…this guy
…no brains
…or balls
Before he ceded the
…stage to the
…Barnum and Bailey Brothers of Science
…the Mayor told
…the crowd
…the night before he
…dined with
…the headliners
And quote
…Over a long dinner I’ve
…decided their science is the best
I’m sorry my friends…
…I didn’t realize you could
…shop for science
Then
…Bronson stated that
…security was tight
…at the event because the
…Chinese government
…was after Dr. Yan
Ohhh
…your host likes
…international intrigue
Well as it turns out
…Mayor Bronson
…gotta flair for
…the dramatic
…just like his Chinese doctor
…gotta flair for the discredited
First
…Doctor Yan was a Chinese government
…critic long before Covid hit
…she’s been a regular on Fox News and Newsmax
…for almost two years
…and she makes frequent
…appearances to groups
…like the Changepoint gathering
…that she Tweets about
…to her one hundred and sixteen thousand
…followers on Twitter
Ladies and Gentlemen
…Doc Yan
…ain’t living in the shadows
Rest assured
…If the Chinese secret police
…wanted to find her for any reason
…they could just check
…her Twitter feed
Second
…the doctor’s work
...has been widely dismissed
…and roundly discredited
…by the science community
Even the Chinese government
…not known for toleration
…was like gurrl
…sell crazy somewhere else
…cuz we all stocked up here
Dr. Yan’s studies
…were described
…as non-scientific
…factually incorrect
…and junk science
…while being written to spread
…political propaganda
Her work is the equivalent
…of science trash
So apparently
…somewhere between
…the shrimp cocktail
…and the mango mouse
…Anchorage’s mayor
…who is currently presiding
…over one of the biggest Covid
…hotspots in the country
…decided that
…Dr. Yan’s trash was
…was going to be Anchorage’s
…public health treasure
But sharing a love of
…scientific malpractice
…isn’t all Bronson and Dr. Yan
…have in common
Part of the criticism
…of Dr. Yan’s works
…has been the lack of financial disclosure
…that paid for her studies
Failing to identify your funding source
…denies public transparency
…and raises significant
…ethical questions
Wutttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt?
You mean just like Mayor Bronson’s
…repeated failures to
…properly identify his funding sources
Like last week
…when the Alaska Public Offices Commission
…upheld a $38,000 fine
…for lying about his campaign
…donations and relationships
…with consultants
So
…it’s clear both the Doc
…and the Mayor
…share the desire to mislead
…with both science and finance
So with Mayor Bronson
…tied up wining and dining
…crack pot doctors
What’s his de-facto Mayor been up to?
…it was reported that
…Anchorage city manager
…Amy Demboski recorded on a
…house last month in
…wait for it
……….Wasilla
So it would appear
…Amy Demboski
…the Anchorage city manager
…is moving to Wasilla
…or at least bought a newly constructed
…house in a new subdivision in Wasilla
However…
…there is one big problema
…with all of this
…Demboski’s position of city manager
…is required by the charter
…to live in Anchorage
So
…did she buy a home
…without first reading the city charter?
or
…is Demboski planning on moving out to Wasilla
…possibly sensing
…a future political opportunity
Meanwhile
…Demboski made
…the news again
…a few days later when
…former Assembly Chair Ernie Hall
…wrote a scathing editorial
…pleading with Bronson
…to stop letting Demboski
…be the de facto mayor
You’ll remember Bronson
…told a local rotary group
…that Demboski was actually
…running the city
…and he was focusing on the
…strategic direction
Ernie Hall
…a longtime Anchorage resident
…who served on the Anchorage Assembly
…for six years
…including two years as chair
…pleaded with Mayor Bronson
…to show leadership
“Please stop delegating
…your responsibility
…and do the job that
…you were elected
…and swore an oath
…to do
…and let Ms. Demboski do hers
Okay
…so
…the mayor is stoking the anti-vaxx crowd
…while the defacto mayor
…is buying a house in Wasilla
the question must be asked
…while these two
…are clearly pre-occupied
…and not running the city
…just how is the city running?
Leading the headlines
…last week in local government
…was the Jimmy Hoffa type exit
…of Mayor Dave Bronson’s
…homeless director Dr. John Morris
You’ll remember
…John Morris the anethiestiologist
…turned homeless director
Well
…Morris called meeting last Tuesday
…to discuss issues
…with the current mega shelter
…at the Sullivan arena
As has been reported
…the new contractor
…who was hastily hired by Bronson
…and was a Bronson campaign donor
…has been having significant health
…and safety lapses at the mass shelter
So
…13 minutes into the meeting
…Assembly member Suzanne LaFrance
…the committee chair
…asked Morris a question
…and there was no response
…he was nowhere to be found
Seriously it was like
…Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
…Morris
...Morris
…anyone
…anyone
For two minutes
…the meeting
…came to a stand-still
…while people scrambled
…to find the guy
…who called the meeting
…not even the Mayor’s Chief of Staff
…knew the whereabouts of
…the good doctor
Finally
…15 minutes into the meeting
…Jamie Allard
…who had been on the call all along
…finally announced to the group
…that Morris had quit the day before
Two quick questions:
Why the did Allard wait so long
…to inform the committee Morris
…had quit the day before
And
…since Morris
…had quit the day before
…why didn’t Mayor’s chief of staff
…know what was happening
…with her own staff
…a day later?
Moving on…
The big question is
…of course
…why did Morris quit?
With no explanation
…given by the mayor
…there are apparently
…two credible theories
…that have emerged
…Either Morris accepted a new job
…or Morris and Bronson had a
…disagreement over the direction
…of the administration’s
…policy direction on the homeless
So
…with the Sullivan Arena a mess
…and Morris’ sudden
…and unexplained departure
…where does that leave
…the homeless shelter process
As you know
…the assembly and administration
…agreed to a facilitated process
…that has produced a path forward
(Side note: )
…Every Anchorage taxpayer
…needs to thank the assembly
They were wise to
…vote down Morris’s
…$22 plus million dollar
…mega shelter proposal
…especially since the
…project was never viable
…and now the proponent
…has just quit and walked away
So
…as the cornerstone of the
…facilitated process
…the assembly and the administration
…have $15 million dollars dedicated
…for capital investment
$15 million
…in the account
…for the homeless shelter
…solution
Okay…
everybody cool on that point?
…$15 million dollars
However
…three times in
…the last few months
…the Bronson admin
…has proposed spending
…those funds
…for Covid related expenses
The assembly
…has rightfully said no
…because
…the Bronson administration
…hasn’t identified any funding
…to replace what
…has been designated
…to fund the outcome
…of the facilitated process
…the $15 million was set aside
…to shift the homeless population
…out of the Sullivan Arena
…without those funds
…there is no shift
…out of the Sullivan Arena
The bottom line
…is the Bronson administration
…is trying to
…lure the assembly into
…spending all the money
…in the account
…to defund the facilitated process
…that Bronson never liked to begin with
…and then
…he’ll blame the assembly
…just in time for next April’s election
If you listen closely
…you can hear him know
The assembly
…made the homeless
…problem worse
The assembly
…spent all the money
…for the shelter
The assembly
…should have supported
…my mega shelter proposal
…yaddah yaddah yaddah
Ladies and Gentlemen
…We’ve been saying this for two months
Mayor Bronson has never been interested
…in honest negotiations with the assembly
…and now the captain of his
…negotiating team has
…walked out the door
…without an explanation
So in the last week alone
…the Mayor’s
…homeless coordinator has gone Jimmy Hoffa
…his real estate director has gone Luca Brazzi
…his city manager has bought a house outside of the city
…he was personally fined $38,000
…for violating campaign finance laws
…and he used the power of city hall to
…organize an anti vaxx conference at a time
…Alaska leads the nation in Covid cases
So
…to quote Uncle Rico
…how we feeling about the dealio
Well
…over the last week
…the people of mid-town
…spoke for themselves
…and according to a recent poll
…on Mayor Dave Bronson
…all of Anchorage
…appears ready
…to speak as well
…last week
…Mid-town Anchorage residents
…had the ability
…to speak on
…the recall of
…assembly member
…Meg Za-la-tle
The vote
…was the Culmination
…of a year’s attempt
…led by Russell Biggs
…an angry local man
…and fueled by
…pro-Bronson forces who
…accused Za-la-tle of everything from
…being the third gunmen on the grassy knoll
…to using skim milk in her coffee
So with the same number
…of ballots cast as in the previous election
…not only did Za-la-tle
…beat the recall
…by more than 20 points
…she added 1200
…votes to her margin
…from the last time
…her name appeared on the ballot
This recall not only
…made Meg Za-la-tle stronger
…and her support deeper
…but it showed
…that Anchorage has had
…enough of the Mayor Dave
…and his never ending
…show of looney tunes
A few days after
…the recall went horribly
…wrong for Bronson
Local pollster Ivan Moore
…from Alaska Research Survey
…released new polling data
…on how Anchorage voters
…view Mayor Dave Bronson
….JUST 120 DAYS INTO THE JOB
Moore’s poll
…was conducted between
…October 22 to 27
…polled 458 voters
…with a margin of error
…of 4.6%
Mayor Dave Bronson
approval ratings
35% view his job performance as positive
48% view his job performance as negative
and 17% are unsure.
Mayor Bronson is at a 35 positive
…and the ink isn’t even dry
…on his stationary yet
Now…
the big question
“If a recall petition resulted in a special election
…would you vote to recall Mayor Dave Bronson
44% said yes they would vote to recall Mayor Bronson
39% said they would not vote to recall Mayor Bronson
So
…120 days into office
…when traditionally
…an administration is still
…in the honeymoon stage
Mayor Dave Bronson’s approval rating
…is only 35%
…and 44% have had enough of him
…and would vote
…to remove him from office
120 days into office
…after an election
…he won by less than
…1,500 votes
…and voters
…have clearly realized
…they’ve made
…a terrible mistake
Ladies and Gentlemen
…we have predicted
… on this podcast
…for the last two months
…that Bronson’s handling
…of the Covid surge
…would prove to be his
…downfall
Plus
…when you add
…in the cronyism
…the incompetence
…and the disregard
…for ethics
Don’t look now…
…but the bottom
…looks to be falling out
…for Mayor Dave Bronson
A 35% approval rating
…and 44% would vote to recall him
…only 120 days after being
…sworn into office
For those of us
...who have been keeping
…score at home
Mayor Dave Bronson’s
…unprecedented collapse
…of public support
…shouldn’t surprise anyone
He’s been a feckless Mayor
…surrounded by a
…revolving door of cronyism
…and incompetence
The pendulum is swinging back
…as evidence of the recent
…recall vote and polling data
The only question remaining
…is how low will Bronson go
…and how much
…more damage will he do
…to an already exhausted electorate
State politics…
…The fourth special session
…is over and like
…Governor Mike Dunleavy’s
…first three years in office
…it was a waste of time and money
…State lawmakers adjourned
…after being formally convened
…for 217 days
…the most of any year
…since the creation
…of the Alaska Territorial Legislature
…in 1912
Seriously
…Dunleavy kept lawmakers
…in session for almost 7 months
…and still he accomplished nothing
Of course
…Governor Dunleavy is upset
…and God only knows why
…He said the entire exercise
…was about a fiscal plan
…but we know fiscal plan requires revenue
…but Dunleavy offered
…nothing by way of new revenues
…after telling lawmakers back in July
…he’d provide options
However
…as the session drug on
…Dunleavy’s only play
…was to cheerlead for
…a super dividend
For Dunleavy
…a large PFD is the answer to everything
…when in fact it does nothing
…to address the under lying problems
…with Alaska’s economy
For Dunleavy
…if he isn’t successful
…in cajoling lawmakers into
…paying a super dividend
…his re-election chances
…are significantly diminished
Remember
…Mike Dunleavy was a candidate
…who beat Bill Walker by
…promising voters he’d deliver
…thousand more than
…Walker in dividends
Well
…a quick look at
…the scoreboard shows
…how poorly Dunleavy has
…delivered on his promise
After three years
…in office
After three years
…of paying dividends
Governor Mike Dunleavy has
…paid Alaskans
…$500 dollars less in dividends
…than former Governor Bill Walker
…did during that same time
Dunleavy’s only hope
…for re-election is
…to be able to say
…he delivered in his promise
…of a super dividend to
…his burn barrel Republican base
So
…since bullying
…extorting
…and trying to change
…investment formulas
…hasn’t worked in convincing
…the legislature to send out
…more free cash
Governor Dunleavy’s
…next battle front is
…the states revenue projections
Look for Dunleavy
…to argue that
…predictions of continued
…high oil prices mean
…Alaska can afford to send
…his burn barrel Republicans
…another government check
But once again
…his pitch will ignore reality
Once again his pitch
…will be that of Wimpy
…I will gladly pay you Tuesday
…for a hamburger today.
While the governor
…will point to high oil prices
…he’ll ignore that
…production estimates
…are overstated
…and that recently
…Alaska’s two
…greatest prospects
…for new oil production
…have been shelved
He’ll ignore
…that while
…oil prices
…are high today
…production is falling
…everyday
But Dunleavy’s push
…for a super dividend
…is dangerous in many ways
Not only because it’s
…based on
…faulty economic assumptions
…but it continues to prioritize
…dividend payments
…over
…fixing a broken economy
Dunleavy is also placing
…one of his biggest supporters
…the oil and gas industry
…right in the crosshairs
…of future taxation
…this sure as hell
…should make the industry
…think twice about writing checks
…to this guy.
When his rosey
…future production
…estimates are not reached
…the industry will be the target
…not Dunleavy
After a session
…where more house Democrats
…voted to fund
…oil tax credits
…this year than
…house Republicans
Let me repeat that
…more Democrats voted
…to fund oil tax credits this year
…than Republicans
Dunleavy’s burn barrel Republicans
…have already made it clear
…that funding a bigger dividend
…is more important than
…growing a sustainable economy
…and more important than
…the oil & gas industry
…the same industry
…they are leaning on
…to pay their super dividend
Governor Dunleavy
…is not going to stop
…trying to cook the books
…to get a super dividend
His entire political future
…rests on it.