OPINION: Salary commission shenanigans leave Alaskans wondering if the fix is in

Wow! Rarely are we treated to political clumsiness of the caliber involved in the recent kerfuffle over a state commission’s recent legislative pay raise recommendation.

Alaska’s unpaid, five-member State Officers Compensation Commission makes salary recommendations for the governor, senior executive branch officials and legislators. Its final report is sent to the Legislature. If lawmakers do not pass a bill rejecting the recommendations, they become law.

In early January, the commission recommended pay increases for the governor, his commissioners and department heads - but, alas, nothing for legislators. In a fit of pique, they passed legislation rejecting the commission’s recommendation.

In quick order, two of the panel’s five members bailed out and Gov. Mike Dunleavy booted the other three out the door before quickly appointing five fresh faces.

He tapped Donald Handeland, who says on his website he is active in Republican Party politics; Miles Baker, who had worked in Dunleavy’s office; Duff Mitchell, Juneau Hydropower’s managing director; Former Gov. Sarah Palin’s education commissioner Larry LeDoux, and Jomo Stewart, a former GOP state House candidate and president of the Fairbanks Economic Development Corp.

The new guys met the first time March 15, with just 48 hours notice, and here is where it gets messy. The first thing the fledgling commissioners did in their 15-minute meeting was to waive the panel’s rule calling for a 20-day public notice of meetings. Then they tacked on a big fat pay raise for legislators to their previous recommendations of pay hikes for Dunleavy and company. Did I mention the meeting lasted just 15 minutes?

Only one person, a guy who identified himself as Richard, testified and the commission then approved the legislative salary hike. He may have been the only person other than the commissioners who knew of the meeting. Richard accused the commission of being a “rubber stamp” and suggested lawmakers “failed in their duties.”

The commission generously recommended a 67% pay raise for lawmakers, boosting their salaries to $84,000 a year from $54,000 - half what department heads receive under the proposal. The jump would be lawmakers’ first pay raise since 2010. Most lawmakers also can collect $307 in per diem - tax free - per legislative day. For a full 121-day session, that would mean being paid about $121,000 annually - with about 44% of it tax-free.

With the legislative pay raise in hand, Dunleavy vetoed the bill that would have rejected the earlier commission recommendations, allowing the entire pay package to become law. It should tick off Alaskans that, in about the time it takes to make breakfast, the commission made a mockery of public notice for the meeting and unanimously passed, with no real discussion or public feedback, such a huge salary increase - and 67% is not chicken feed.

A cynic might think there was political canoodling between the governor and lawmakers well outside the public’s view to ram home the deal in minutes. A cynic also might wonder what the governor gets from the Legislature for rejiggering the board. Nothing, after all, is free in politics.

Alaskans certainly can debate whether lawmakers deserve such a whopping raise. Some will agree they do. Or, like Richard, they may see lawmakers as having “failed in their duties.” It is tough to disagree and the evidence is almost overwhelming. We live in a state with no fiscal plan after years of kicking that can down the road. Each year brings a brawl over the Permanent Fund and its dividend. Chronic debt has drained billions from state savings accounts over the years to buoy profligate spending based on educated guesses about oil revenue. We have what can best be described as a troubled educational system and an economy that cannot get up off the canvas. People are leaving. Some communities, in this, the 21st century, still have no sanitation facilities or running water. Where is the Legislature in all this?

It can be argued maintaining two households in Alaska during the legislative session is expensive; that $54,000 a year will not attract the best and brightest to the Legislature; and, that 10 years is a long time without a raise while the cost of living climbs. It also can be argued $121,000 encourages a Legislature of professional politicians. But that debate should be in the open, not out of public view in a deal that appears rigged from the get-go. Instead of a planned, reasonable approach to raises, this is what we get.

I am an unabashed fan of H.L. Mencken, a journalist, essayist, satirist and cultural critic, who was no fan of government. He wisely opined, “Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.”When it comes to self-serving politics carried out with little regard for rules or public involvement, we all should be.

Paul Jenkins is a former Associated Press reporter, managing editor of the Anchorage Times, an editor of the Voice of the Times and former editor of the Anchorage Daily Planet.

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