Alaska political roundup: Walker hires photographer and new press secretary

With the Alaska Legislature's special session wrapped up, things have settled down in government and politics — at least inside the state. In Washington, D.C., Sens. Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski are at the center of Republican efforts to open part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling and to overhaul the nation's tax code.

With attention focused there, here are some of the things happening behind the scenes in Alaska.

Walker hires new press secretary and photographer

Gov. Bill Walker, with a year left in his term, has hired political reporter Austin Baird as his new press secretary.

Baird, 28, covered the last two sessions of the Legislature for KTUU, Anchorage's NBC affiliate; he's also done stints at the Associated Press and Alaska Dispatch. He starts Dec. 18 at a salary of $110,000, working with another former KTUU reporter, Walker's communications director Grace Jang.

Baird's move means the Capitol correspondents for Alaska's two biggest TV stations won't be covering Juneau this year. KTVA's Liz Raines, who's also covered the last two legislative sessions, has returned to an Anchorage-based position.

Baird, in an email, said being on "the other side" will be different.

"But my core goal remains the same: to give Alaskans an honest look at what state government is doing and why," he said.

Walker has also hired a new "director of public engagement": David Lienemann, who was former Vice President Joe Biden's official photographer.

Lienemann worked for Biden for eight years — in 47 states and 64 countries, with seven trips to Afghanistan and Iraq, according to his website. He's married to Sydney Lienemann, an aide to Anchorage Democratic Sen. Tom Begich.

Lienemann starts Monday at an annual salary of $85,000. Jang said Lienemann's job would entail "photography, social media, writing, other duties as assigned."

Walker has also hired a new assistant legislative director, Elizabeth Bolling. Bolling was formerly an aide to Rep. Dan Ortiz, I-Ketchikan.

Walker puts on full-court press on gas line

A new trove of calendars released by Walker's office shows the lengths to which he went to press American and Chinese officials on the state's big natural gas pipeline and LNG export project.

Walker announced on Nov. 8 that the state signed a non-binding deal with three big Chinese entities to advance the project.

[Related: Here are five big questions about Alaska's gas line deal with China]

His calendars, released in response to a public records request, show a string of meetings with high-ranking officials in China, and from President Donald Trump's administration, in the weeks leading up to the announcement.

On Sept. 25 in Beijing, Walker met with Wang Yang, vice premier of China's State Council — the country's cabinet — as well as U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who was on a trip there.

The next day, Walker met with officials from China's Ministry of Commerce, as well as Sinopec, China Investment Corp. and Bank of China — the three businesses that signed the LNG deal with Alaska.

The following day, there were more talks with Sinopec, then a meeting and an "Alaska reception" with Terry Branstad, the U.S. ambassador to China and a former governor of Iowa.

A month later, Walker held another round of talks in Washington, D.C., including a breakfast with China's ambassador, Cui Tiankai. Other meetings were with Allen Turley, deputy assistant commerce secretary for China and Mongolia, as well as with three high-level White House aides, including Gary Cohn, Trump's chief economic adviser.

Other entries on Walker's calendars from September and October include a previously reported call with former President Barack Obama, and a dinner with Chris Hughes, a Facebook co-founder who's among several entrepreneurs interested in the Alaska Permanent Fund's annual dividend payments to residents.

LNG project, legislative salaries in focus next week

Alaska lawmakers will have their first formal opportunity to question Walker administration officials about the Chinese LNG deal at a hearing Monday in Anchorage.

Keith Meyer, head of the state-owned Alaska Gasline Development Corp., is briefing the House Resources Committee at 6 p.m. at the Anchorage legislative office building, 1500 W. Benson Blvd.

AGDC's own board of directors is also holding a meeting Thursday. The corporation hasn't published an agenda yet, however, and a spokeswoman, Rosetta Alcantra, wouldn't release one Friday.

Meanwhile, an independent commission will take public testimony Wednesday on its proposal to slash Alaska legislators' annual salaries and daily expense payments.

The State Officers Compensation Commission is proposing to cut legislators' salaries by 10 percent and to reduce their per diem payments to roughly $80 from current levels as high as $295.

[Related: State commission recommends slashing lawmakers' salaries, expense checks]

Some legislative critics have argued that lawmakers should be doing their own belt-tightening as they reduce spending by executive-branch agencies amid Alaska's budget crisis.

But legislators haven't seen their salary boosted at all since it was set in 2010, and some assert that reducing compensation would make it harder to attract qualified candidates.

New commissioner at commercial fish commission

Gov. Walker has appointed a longtime Juneau lobbyist, Fate Putman, as a new commissioner at a state fisheries agency that's been criticized for its low output, even as its commissioners earn salaries of more than $130,000.

Putman will replace Ben Brown at the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission, which is charged with establishing and overseeing the state fisheries that are limited only to permitholders. Brown announced his departure last month, as three other employees also left the agency.

[Related: An Alaska fishing commission has worked itself out of a job. But its commissioners still make more than $130,000 a year]

Putman is a Democrat who ran for the Legislature unsuccessfully in the 1980s. His main lobbying gig now is working for the state's largest public employee union, the Alaska State Employees Association, for which he's paid $82,000 a year. His other contracts last year paid him another $90,000.

Walker's press release about Putman described him as a Juneau attorney and setnet fisherman and didn't mention his lobbying contracts.

Putman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

Alaska Oil and Gas Association spokeswoman heads to new PR firm

Sarah Erkmann Ward, external affairs director for Alaska's main oil industry group, is leaving her job to head a new public affairs agency, Blueprint Alaska.

Ward, who currently works for the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, is partnering with Jennifer Thompson. Thompson owns Thompson and Co. Public Relations, which has offices in Anchorage, New York City and Houston.

Ward was once communications director for former Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan. Her new firm "will focus on influencing public policy and opinions, building and maintaining relationships with the public and finding common ground with stakeholders," a press release said.