Anchorage mayoral candidate Dan Coffey devoted his opening statement at a Monday forum to defusing the backlash over the letter his lawyer sent last week to radio and TV stations to suppress an accidental recording in 2008.
Coffey pulled back from the letter's threats of lawsuits and criminal prosecutions against anyone who would air the embarrassing recording, in which Coffey and another Anchorage Assembly member talked about using campaign contributions as a weapon to achieve political goals. Coffey was chairman of the Assembly at the time.
"I'm not going to sue anybody," Coffey told the audience at the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce's "Make it Monday" forum, in his first public comments on the letter. "I never intended to sue anybody."
The recording was made from the backseat of a taxi shared by Coffey and an ally on the assembly, Bill Starr. With his cell phone in his pocket, Coffey accidentally dialed an Assembly foe, Allan Tesche. Tesche wasn't home, but the conversation was recorded on his answering machine.
The letter from attorney Thomas Amodio demanded that news organizations not broadcast his conversation with Starr even though the recording was widely distributed in 2008. Amodio's letter warned broadcasters that airing the recording would be a violation of state and federal law because neither Coffey nor Starr gave permission for it.
Coffey told the Chamber audience he had been concerned the tape would be edited or manipulated to take out the men's laughter or "to imply wrongdoing." He said he hired Amodio to "research and inform broadcasters about the law, not to threaten them."
Amodio's three-page letter never mentioned the possible editing or manipulation of the conversation.
Coffey told the audience he's never heard the tape and has "repeatedly tried" to get a copy.
"If I had the tape, I would play it for everyone," Coffey said.
In an interview after the forum, Coffey said he only read the first page of Amodio's letter and did not see the final paragraph threatening to sue media that broadcast the recording. He said it was a mistake to not read the letter all the way through, and he "could have stopped it" if he had.
However, the first paragraph of the letter said a broadcaster who aired such a recording "commits a crime, as well as being subject to civil damages."
Apart from Coffey's mention of the taped conversation at the start of the forum, the topic did not come up again, including during a section in the forum in which the four candidates who were present asked one another questions. Ethan Berkowitz was the only one to direct a question at Coffey, and his question focused on facilities for chronic inebriates like Karluk Manor and how Coffey would take steps as mayor to develop similar facilities.
Other questions, in front of a business-oriented crowd, revolved around the candidates' qualifications to be mayor and their ideas for responding to declining state and local revenues.
Moderator Steve Johnson, the head coach of the University of Alaska Anchorage debate team, also asked about the candidates' "top priority" if elected mayor; Amy Demboski, Coffey and Berkowitz all talked exclusively about public safety. Andrew Halcro emphasized local economic growth before turning to public safety and issues tied to alcohol and homelessness.