Politics

Walker and Mallott pick Juneau for swearing-in

JUNEAU -- Gov.-elect Bill Walker will be sworn into office in the state capital, leading to sighs of relief in Juneau, which is still smarting from former Gov. Sarah Palin's decision to be inaugurated in Fairbanks.

Following Palin's abrupt resignation, new Gov. Sean Parnell was then sworn in in Fairbanks as well.

But Juneau Sen. Dennis Egan is praising the decision by Walker and running mate Byron Mallott to be inaugurated in Juneau.

"I'm really happy that this is back in Juneau, but there will be inaugural balls all over," Egan said.

"This is going back to how it used to be," he said.

Inaugural balls are typically scheduled by local communities early in the following year.

The Walker-Mallott swearing in will be held at 11:30 a.m. Dec. 1 at Juneau's Centennial Hall, followed by a community reception with cake and punch.

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Supreme Court Justice Daniel Winfree will swear in Walker.

The inauguration itself will feature remarks by both Walker and Mallott, as well as music and the traditional singing of the Alaska Flag Song. Then the two men will leave to sign paperwork at just about the time set in the Alaska Constitution, which calls for the transfer of responsibility to take place at noon of the first Monday in December following the election. They will return for the reception.

The event will be carried live on KTOO-TV's 360North network and online and will be made available to other Alaska TV stations. Longtime Alaska newsman Dave Donaldson will host the broadcast.

The decision by the new governor to hold a Juneau inauguration, possibly helped by the fact that Lt. Gov.-elect Mallott lives in Juneau, may help the new team get off on a positive note with capital city residents, though the Walker-Mallott ticket won 60 percent of the Juneau vote anyway.

But Juneau is always sensitive to slights to its status as the capital city, with Palin's 2006 decision to hold her inauguration in Fairbanks seen as a slap in the face by some.

That led the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner to assure Juneau residents that their concerns about the inauguration move were overblown, and that it was just part of honoring the 50-year anniversary of the state's Fairbanks constitutional convention, as Palin said.

"If we were to find out that the new governor had indeed just used our city as an 'anywhere but Juneau' inaugural location, you can bet we would not take that well -- at all," the News-Miner said.

"But that just doesn't seem to be the case," the paper concluded.

Later, when Palin resigned and Lt. Gov. Parnell was suddenly elevated to governor, he was also sworn in in Fairbanks.

But Sean and Sandy Parnell have had a positive relationship with Juneau that the the Palin family never did, and when he won a full term on his own in 2010, his inauguration was held in Juneau and featured many prominent local citizens.

Walker campaign spokesperson Lindsay Hobson said the decision was an easy one.

"I think Bill and Byron together wanted it to be in the capital," especially with each coming from different communities. "I think it made a lot of sense to both of them to do it in Juneau," she said.

Hobson said she had no word yet on who would emcee the inauguration. Palin's Fairbanks inauguration was emceed by Iditarod champion Libby Riddles. Juneau's Dennis Egan attended to represent his father, Bill Egan, former governor and chairman of the Fairbanks constitutional convention.

Egan called that a "bizarre" experience, but said that even though he was a former Juneau mayor he was not representing the city.

Juneau's Alaska Committee, which works to secure the capital by making it a better seat of government, is helping fund the 360North broadcast. Committee Chair Wayne Jensen called it a "good idea" to have the inauguration in the capital again.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that Bill Egan emceed Gov. Sarah Palin's inauguration.

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