In a Clarion article dated March 13th, I was misquoted and I wish to clarify what actually was said in relation to what was reported.
The article erroneously states that I said Senator Micciche disparaged me when I spoke to him of my concerns with HB77.
That isn’t at all what I actually stated. Besides, I’m fairly thick skinned, I doubt I’d mention it publicly were I the only one being disparaged.
When I spoke of the Senator’s attempt to disparage others, I was speaking of his going to the press in order to preemptively mischaracterize as ‘extremists,’ anyone who may dare object to the alleged compromise language in HB77.
In subsequent testimony given to the Senate Resource Committee, counting the various organization members, native group members and individuals, literally thousands of Alaskans registered their objections to the so-called ‘compromise language’ in HB77. Were all those everyday Alaskans extremists?
Not by any stretch of the imagination.
By attempting to label a vast multitude of everyday Alaskans as extremists, even before those Alaskans had a chance to articulate their objections, the Senator committed an unpardonable lapse of public trust.
What I did say about my own conversation with the Senator was that when I spoke to Senator Micciche about my concerns with the bill not serving the best interests of the public, Senator Micciche replied that he has ‘another side’ he felt he has to represent.
I, for one, have a problem with defining what ‘other side’ he’s supposed to represent besides the best interests of the public, but that can perhaps be answered by looking to his voting record and seeing whose interests are being served by his actions.
Senate Bill 21 comes immediately to mind, a bill which provided, without any strings attached, billions of dollars to the oil corporations. Including the oil corporation which employs the Senator.
In that case, the Senator started out saying he had problems with that bill, but in the end, despite vast numbers of Alaskans objections, he voted for it.
In the case of HB77, the Senator again started out saying he has concerns with the bill, I expect in the end, he’ll be voting for it too, despite vast numbers of the Alaskan public objecting to it. Some ‘other side’ must be appeased, no?