Anchorage Daily News

Remember the Committee to Stop the Corruption?

They were pushing earlier this year for a ballot initiative that would forbid using public money to pay for Alaska political campaigns.

The tension at the time was that their initiative conflicted with the efforts of the "clean elections" supporters, who wanted just the opposite -- to give state politicians the option of publicly funded campaigns.

The clean elections initiative is now on Tuesday's ballot, while the "Stop the Corruption" group couldn't get enough signatures in time. Their ballot question won't go before voters until 2010.

Meantime, the Committee to Stop the Corruption has told Alaska Public Offices Commission, a state agency that oversees election campaigns, that it hasn't spent any money lately. The group's supporters say it's dormant.

But the Alaska Public Interest Research Group said that's not the case. AkPIRG says the Committee to Stop Corruption is campaigning against Ballot Measure 3 -- the clean elections initiative before voters Tuesday -- and should have to report that to the state.

AkPIRG says it filed a complaint with APOC on Friday, and writes:

"The Committee to Stop the Corruption lists its campaign address as: 109 West 6th Ave., Suite 202 in Anchorage. The group is either paying for that office or receiving an in-kind donation from someone. Their APOC report lists neither."

Anchorage attorney Ken Jacobus, who has been opposing the clean elections ballot measure, helped write the Committee to Stop the Corruption's ballot initiative. But Jacobus says he's not being paid to oppose Ballot Measure 3.

"None of this is on behalf of the Committee to Stop the Corruption. It was just a personal effort because I was asked to do it."

As for the committee's office space, he's says it's vacant. "I don't think there's a technical violation even, but if there is, we'll fix it."

Scott Kohlhaas, a Libertarian who was a sponsor of the Committee to Stop the Corruptions' ballot initiative, was identified in a recent TV news story as working with the Committee. In the story, he opposes the clean elections initiative.

Kohlhaas says the committee in inactive for now, and he was speaking on his own behalf.

Find Kyle Hopkins' political blog online at adn.com/alaskapolitics or call him at 257-4334.

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