Earth to the Mayor Sullivan Tennis Lobby: The dispute over the construction of the indoor court is not about tennis. No one disputes the virtues of tennis. So quit trying to make it about the sport of tennis!
The issue is that deceptive practices were used to allocate limited funds; it is about inappropriately linking sources and uses of funds — maintenance funds being used for new construction — and it is about the subversion of the fiduciary role of the Legislature, bypassing the House Finance Committee.
The tennis court funding was slipped into the budget by a legislator from another district (Lindsey Holmes) without consultation with the legislator in whose district the tennis court project will be built (Harriet Drummond). So here is what I have tweeted to Billie Jean King and Venus and Serena Williams, whom the tennis lobby has unleashed on wavering Assembly members to get the misappropriated funds approved: "YRU4 DECEPTIVE FUNDING?! 'cause THAT is what UR supporting when lobbying for Anchorage, Ak Indoor Tennis Project!" This isn't about tennis; it's about good government.
— Elstun W. Lauesen
Anchorage
Editor's note: Elstun Lauesen is married to Harriet Drummond, one of the lawmakers he mentions.