Here are a couple of observations from last week's general election.
First, it appears state Rep. Bill Thomas, who calls himself the only commercial fisherman in the Alaska Legislature, might have lost his seat.
The Haines Republican currently stands 43 votes behind Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, Democrat from Sitka.
State election officials still must tally absentee and question ballots.
Even if Thomas somehow rallies past his young challenger, he won't keep his powerful post as co-chair of the House Finance Committee. That's because the House majority leadership on Thursday installed Rep. Alan Austerman, R-Kodiak, as committee co-chair, with Rep. Bill Stoltze, R-Chugiak, continuing as the other co-chair.
In other action, Alaska voters handily approved a $453 million bond issue for port and other transportation projects statewide.
The bonding package includes $10 million toward a proposed expansion of the Seward Marine Industrial Center.
This is of great interest to Coastal Villages Region Fund, a fishing company operating under the federal Community Development Quota program.
Coastal has amassed quite a fleet of fishing vessels, from salmon tenders right up to the 341-foot factory trawler Northern Hawk.
Coastal wants to "Alaskanize" its operations, which would involve basing its vessels not in Seattle but in an Alaska port, specifically Seward.
But $10 million doesn't get the job done. Recent studies have shown it would take several times that much to expand Seward's port sufficiently to accommodate Coastal's full fleet.
It would appear Coastal is working to woo as large a public subsidy as possible for its fleet relocation.
And why does Deckboss make such a remark?
Here's a press release from Coastal, issued on election day last week, that includes supportive comments from Alaska's entire congressional delegation, as well as state Rep. Paul Seaton, R-Homer.
Showing posts with label Thomas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thomas. Show all posts
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Friday, October 26, 2012
What's the deal with Rep. Thomas?
Earlier this month we reported that a Southeast Alaska commercial fishing group was endorsing state Rep. Bill Thomas for another term, despite his "conflict of interest" in trying to influence state salmon fishery managers.
The suggestion of a conflict is rooted in two facts: Thomas himself is a commercial fisherman, and he holds considerable sway over the Department of Fish and Game budget as co-chair of the House Finance Committee.
The Haines Republican appears to be in quite a battle for re-election this year.
Since that initial report, Deckboss has acquired a raft of public records, including email and other documents, from Fish and Game that shed light on Thomas and his dealings with the department.
The records center on the state's management of the 2011 salmon fisheries in northern Southeast, the legislator's home region, and the rivalry between two gear groups — gillnetters and seiners.
Thomas, a gillnetter, appears to push managers for actions that would benefit the gillnetters.
As an example of the records we obtained, here is an internal memo known as a notification of legislative contact in which a Fish and Game supervisory biologist details a call from Thomas.
Thomas, according to the memo, complained that gillnetters had been restricted but not seiners.
He said he would take his concerns to the Fish and Game commissioner and the state Board of Fisheries.
He asserted he was the only commercial fisherman in the Legislature.
And he noted that he "had done a lot for ADF&G's budgets."
More instances of Thomas contacting department staff can be found in this string of documents. Note that some sections have been redacted.
The Petersburg Vessel Owners Association endorsed Thomas, but told him his in-season interactions with Fish and Game managers constituted a "conflict of interest."
"Salmon management and allocation issues should be addressed in the appropriate forums and through the proper channels, allowing due process to take its course," the group said.
Deckboss has not contacted Thomas regarding this issue. But certainly he is welcome to respond.
The suggestion of a conflict is rooted in two facts: Thomas himself is a commercial fisherman, and he holds considerable sway over the Department of Fish and Game budget as co-chair of the House Finance Committee.
The Haines Republican appears to be in quite a battle for re-election this year.
Since that initial report, Deckboss has acquired a raft of public records, including email and other documents, from Fish and Game that shed light on Thomas and his dealings with the department.
The records center on the state's management of the 2011 salmon fisheries in northern Southeast, the legislator's home region, and the rivalry between two gear groups — gillnetters and seiners.
Thomas, a gillnetter, appears to push managers for actions that would benefit the gillnetters.
As an example of the records we obtained, here is an internal memo known as a notification of legislative contact in which a Fish and Game supervisory biologist details a call from Thomas.
Thomas, according to the memo, complained that gillnetters had been restricted but not seiners.
He said he would take his concerns to the Fish and Game commissioner and the state Board of Fisheries.
He asserted he was the only commercial fisherman in the Legislature.
And he noted that he "had done a lot for ADF&G's budgets."
More instances of Thomas contacting department staff can be found in this string of documents. Note that some sections have been redacted.
The Petersburg Vessel Owners Association endorsed Thomas, but told him his in-season interactions with Fish and Game managers constituted a "conflict of interest."
"Salmon management and allocation issues should be addressed in the appropriate forums and through the proper channels, allowing due process to take its course," the group said.
Deckboss has not contacted Thomas regarding this issue. But certainly he is welcome to respond.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
PVOA endorses Rep. Thomas for another term, but chides him for salmon fishery 'conflict of interest'
The Petersburg Vessel Owners Association, a top Southeast Alaska commercial fishing group, has endorsed a slate of candidates for the upcoming election.
Among these is state Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Haines, a commercial salmon drift gillnetter and one of the Legislature's most powerful members as co-chair of the House Finance Committee.
PVOA's endorsement of Thomas comes with an admonishment. Some members of the organization believe the lawmaker has displayed a "conflict of interest" in apparently trying to influence state salmon fishery managers.
So indicates a recent email to PVOA members from the group's executive director, Julianne Curry. Here it is:
From: Julianne Curry -PVOA-
Date: October 1, 2012 11:37:21 AM PDT
To: Petersburg Vessel Owners
Subject: General Election November 6th, 2012
PVOA members,
Please check your email filters, we have had several problems lately in getting emails to our membership.
At a recent PVOA meeting the membership endorsed candidates for the upcoming general election to be held on November 6th, 2012. Based on experience with the fishing industry, leadership positions, and years of dedicated service to the region, PVOA supported the full slate of incumbent candidates for Southeast and for the U.S. House. Since the last census, Southeast lost more residents than any other region in the State. Due to census-based redistricting, Southeast is losing a Senator and a Representative from the Alaska State Legislature. In order for Southeast to continue to have a voice in the State legislature, be sure to vote on November 6th, 2012 and encourage others to do the same.
Senate District Q: Bert Stedman
House District 31: Cathy Munoz
House District 32: Beth Kerttula
House District 33: Peggy Wilson
House District 34: Bill Thomas
U.S. House of Representatives: Don Young
In response to concerns from PVOA members the following letter was sent to Representative Thomas:
Representative Thomas,
Attached you will find a letter of endorsement from PVOA for the upcoming general election. As the Co-Chair of the House Finance Committee, your work to fund the ADF&G budget has had a major impact on projects in Southeast that are important to our membership. In the 2012 session alone, you established annual funding items including: Southeast Alaska sockeye and Chinook salmon stock assessment at $550,000 a year, a Southeast Alaska pot shrimp fishery in-season management project at $70,000 a year, and a Hugh Smith Lake sockeye and coho adult enumeration project at $120,000 a year. You also helped attain a demersal shelf rockfish and lingcod stock assessment at $340,000 a year and you were instrumental in attaining four years of funding for genetic stock work to determine sockeye stock of origin in the Chatham and Icy Straight corridor for $300,000. It is imperative that the fishing industry has someone to fund important ADF&G projects as well as our ports and harbors and hatcheries. As the only remaining commercial fisherman in the State Legislature, you provide a strong voice for our region.
As a multi-gear multi-species fishing organization, PVOA currently represents over 100 vessels and businesses operating primarily in Southeast Alaska. Of our 85 vessels, 42 of them are Southeast seiners who depend on sustainable management of our salmon resource to ensure a healthy future. Some of our members have expressed concern regarding your interaction with ADF&G’s in-season salmon management. PVOA’s endorsement was made possible by your long list contributions to Southeast and the fishing industry, but also by your willingness to reconsider your approach to how you participate in the management and allocation process of the Northern salmon districts. While we respect any individual’s right to offer potential knowledge and opinion to ADF&G personnel, we feel your service in the Legislature makes in-season interaction with ADF&G a conflict of interest. Salmon management and allocation issues should be addressed in the appropriate forums and through the proper channels, allowing due process to take its course. In the future, we would like to sit down with you and other regional fishing associations to discuss concerns we share regarding Northern salmon management and allocation.
We thank you for your years of service in the Legislature. We look forward to continuing to work with you on common goals and issues that are important to the fishing industry and Alaska. Please feel free to contact myself of any member of the PVOA Board of Directors with any questions or comments you may have. Each of the Board members have been CC’d on this email for your convenience and I would be happy to provide you with their phone numbers if you wish to speak with them in person.
Julianne Curry
Petersburg Vessel Owners Association
Among these is state Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Haines, a commercial salmon drift gillnetter and one of the Legislature's most powerful members as co-chair of the House Finance Committee.
PVOA's endorsement of Thomas comes with an admonishment. Some members of the organization believe the lawmaker has displayed a "conflict of interest" in apparently trying to influence state salmon fishery managers.
So indicates a recent email to PVOA members from the group's executive director, Julianne Curry. Here it is:
From: Julianne Curry -PVOA-
Friday, June 25, 2010
New laws aid injured fishermen, salmon industry
Gov. Sean Parnell was in Petersburg today and signed into law two pieces of legislation important to fish folk:
Senate Bill 163 revises the Fishermen's Fund, a kind of state insurance program for commercial fishermen who are injured or fall ill on the job. The new law increases the claim allowance from $2,500 to $10,000. The Fishermen's Fund is what's known as a "payer of last resort." That means, for example, that the fund can pay for care in the case of an injured fisherman who is underinsured. The prime sponsor of SB 163 was Sen. Joe Paskvan, D-Fairbanks.
House Bill 344 extends the salmon product development tax credit by four years, through 2015. This tax break has been around since 2003. It was among steps the state took to help the depressed salmon industry better compete with fish farmers. The goal is to encourage processors to add value to the salmon. Equipment for filleting fish, removing pinbones and packing salmon in convenient pop-top cans are examples of investments eligible for the tax credit. The new law adds ice machines to the list of qualified investments. Processors already have earned several million dollars in credits, the Department of Revenue says. The prime sponsor of HB 344 was Haines Republican Rep. Bill Thomas, himself a commercial fisherman.
Senate Bill 163 revises the Fishermen's Fund, a kind of state insurance program for commercial fishermen who are injured or fall ill on the job. The new law increases the claim allowance from $2,500 to $10,000. The Fishermen's Fund is what's known as a "payer of last resort." That means, for example, that the fund can pay for care in the case of an injured fisherman who is underinsured. The prime sponsor of SB 163 was Sen. Joe Paskvan, D-Fairbanks.
House Bill 344 extends the salmon product development tax credit by four years, through 2015. This tax break has been around since 2003. It was among steps the state took to help the depressed salmon industry better compete with fish farmers. The goal is to encourage processors to add value to the salmon. Equipment for filleting fish, removing pinbones and packing salmon in convenient pop-top cans are examples of investments eligible for the tax credit. The new law adds ice machines to the list of qualified investments. Processors already have earned several million dollars in credits, the Department of Revenue says. The prime sponsor of HB 344 was Haines Republican Rep. Bill Thomas, himself a commercial fisherman.
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