It appears that U.S. Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka is following a “Do what I say, not what I do” policy.
She recently declared her candidacy for Lisa Murkowski’s Senate seat, touting herself as dedicating “her career to exposing waste and fraud” and “always mindful of good stewardship of public funds.”
Yet the ADN reported she submitted a claim for the state to pay her moving expenses for her move from the Lower 48 to Anchorage in 2019, in the amount of $81,277.
Several questions come to mind. Weren’t there any qualified Alaskans that Gov. Mike Dunleavy could have hired to be commissioner so the state would not incur any moving expenses, let alone more than $81,000?
Why isn’t there any maximum limit for moving expenses of public officials to be paid by the state? After all, don’t we won’t to promote Alaska hire, not incentivize out of state people to become public officials in Alaska? Why was it appropriate or necessary for Dunleavy, when hiring Tshibaka, to simultaneously create a new state job of assistant commissioner for the Department of Education for Tshibaka’s husband in order to hire her?
Why isn’t Ms. Tshibaka required to pay back at least a portion of her relocation expenses, since she quit the commissioner job after only serving two years and before the end of the governor’s term?
— Joanne Kell
Anchorage
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