Politics

Commissioner defends state letter praising Parnell

A state commissioner who wrote to state retirees on official letterhead this week and mentioned that he is "very grateful for Governor Parnell's leadership" defended the document by saying it doesn't mention the election next week, so it is not a campaign document.

Administration Commissioner Curtis Thayer said he was responding to a letter sent by the Retired Public Employees of Alaska to people collecting retirement benefits. In that letter, which was not sent at state expense, Jay Dulany, president of the retirees' group, urged state retirees as well as retired teachers and retired municipal workers to carefully consider their voting options.

The response emailed by Thayer to retirees had the subject line "Keeping Retirement Promises."

Thayer said employees in the department are working hard, defended the handling of the $3 billion transfer to the retirement system, insisted that the governor and Legislature have provided strong leadership and said that "we will keep the retirement promises made to you."

"The response that we sent makes no reference to the upcoming election -- it simply attempts to clarify the record on the issues raised by RPEA in its letter. Accordingly, it is permissible under Alaska election law," Thayer wrote Friday in an email to Jim Duncan, executive director of the Alaska State Employees Association.

Duncan, who served as administration commissioner under former Gov. Tony Knowles, said Thayer's explanation "doesn't pass the red-face test, in my view."

The administration commissioner serves at the pleasure of the governor, as the position is a political appointment. Thayer, like many other commissioners, is a contributor to the Parnell campaign.

ADVERTISEMENT

"There clearly was no crisis demanding Thayer send the letter less than a week before the election," Duncan said.

Duncan said that any casual reader will read statements such as "We will keep the retirement promises made to you" and "I am very grateful for Governor Parnell's leadership" as political statements.

Thayer wrote to Duncan that communications such as those from the retirees' group "can lead to unjustified anxiety" about benefits and that he wanted to respond to assure retirees about their benefits. He said he had the Department of Law review the letter and it concluded that it was legal.

Vince Beltrami, head of the AFL-CIO, said the obvious purpose of the letter was to get retirees to vote for Parnell. In a prepared statement, he said, "It is blatant pandering, which could have just as easily been sent to retirees a week from now. Any other explanation Thayer or Parnell could offer won't pass the smell test."

Duncan said the status of the retirement plans is an election issue and the Thayer letter is a political statement backing the governor. He also said that when he was commissioner he sent the same notice to employees that Thayer distributed in September, reminding state employees that "we are prohibited by Alaska statute from using the state email system or resources for partisan political purposes and from promoting partisan preferences during work or official state business."

Dulany, in his letter, said that several key events took place this year that retirees should know about. He was critical of actions taken "without public input or scrutiny" in how the $3 billion transfer was carried out and actions that he said have increased the cost of health care for retirees.

"Please be sure you understand where each candidate for governor and for legislative offices stands on issues affecting your retirement rights and benefits," Dulany told fellow retirees.

Dermot Cole

Former ADN columnist Dermot Cole is a longtime reporter, editor and author.

ADVERTISEMENT