Little Information Comes from Mayoral Candidate Forum

Candidates gave vague answers and incorrect information

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By Bill McAllister
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Story Created: Mar 12, 2012 at 7:34 PM AKDT

Story Updated: Mar 12, 2012 at 7:41 PM AKDT

ANCHORAGE - What if you gave a mayoral candidate forum and none of the candidates showed up?

Much the same result came from the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce forum at the Dena’ina Center today.

Although plenty of people attended, there might have been little illumination about the choice Anchorage residents face April 3.

The format was rigid.

There was no direct interaction among the candidates.

In one round, each candidate got a different question - allowing for no contrasts on positions, and factual errors did not get corrected by moderator Bruce Bustamante.

The mayoral forum was a far cry from the mash-ups national Republicans have offered in the presidential race. For example, the candidates never talked directly to each other.

They had little chance to elaborate on their answers, as when Assemblyman Paul Honeman talked about his goals. “The first is to restore the public's confidence in the public process and I’d love to explain more about that."

He never did.

Incumbent Mayor Dan Sullivan talked about four areas he'd pledged to improve in 2009's race. "And I think you're going to see over the course of this forum and over the course of the campaign that we've made significant progress in every one of those areas."

Nope, not in this forum.

Included were two long-shot candidates, Phil Isley and Bob Lupo.

Isley inaccurately said new public employees would be enrolled in the defined benefit retirement system.

Lupo indicated he thought that Hollywood movie producers pay taxes in Alaska, which they don't.

Lupo made references to his girth and age. "Let me look at my notes here. The one thing that goes when you get this old is your short-term memory. Oops! 10 seconds. OK, I’ll talk to you later."

Isley strayed far afield. "It seems kind of strange to me that you have a major highway that doesn't connect to a major airport."

Sullivan was taken far afield, with a question about a bill in the legislature for increased money for school breakfasts. "I think we're starting to enable more and more parents to not be parents."

Honeman, a former police officer, took one direct shot at Sullivan, concerning a delay in holding a police academy. "As a result, not sure if we can directly tie it to, but in forbes.com this last fall, we were listed as the fifth most dangerous city in America."

Sullivan was not asked for a response, although earlier he said that crime is down in Anchorage.

One round started off with no talking at all. "We call them 'show of hands' questions, so I’ll ask a question and ask if you support that particular issue," Bustamante said.

Hands down, the forum did little if anything to illuminate the mayoral race.

A chamber spokesman described the forum as "somewhat traditional, non-partisan and educational."

But it managed to avoid the two hottest topics in the mayoral race - Honeman's charge that Sullivan’s job of snow plowing leaves a lot to be desired; and a radio talk show host who used to work for Sullivan claiming that Honeman failed to take action when he was with the Anchorage Police Department that might have headed off serial rapes by a former officer.
 

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Kelly Tjaden said on Friday, Mar 23 at 10:51 AM

Snow has nothing to do with it. Ths issues are much larger, but apparently not apparent to any of the 3 competing for mayor of Anchorage. Our candidates are as potentially dismal as the poor examples holding up expensive suits on the national Republican side. Canada has offered help. I say "Canada for Mayor of Anchorage". Listening to a candidates forum on native issues this morning on KNBA - dismal. We should just give all three of these guys snow shovels.

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AnonyBS said on Tuesday, Mar 13 at 7:22 PM

Pauly write that comment himself?

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Anonymous said on Tuesday, Mar 13 at 2:09 AM

I think Paul Honeman is the best person for the job of Mayor. He is open and fair minded. He relates well to people from all walks of life. He has been a resident of Anchorage for 39 years and spent 23 years on the Anchorage police force. Paul has been very hardworking on his Mayoral campaign. As a Community Patrol Member he took time away from his campaign to help look for Samantha Koenig. Paul explained to me that he is a father and he simply couldn't do nothing. He wasn't tooting his own horn about helping. I mentioned to him that I saw him in the background on some news coverage. Helping one person or the entire community we have Paul's focus. I've been a volunteer for Paul's campaign and it's been a pleasure working with Paul and hearing his ideas and direction for Anchorage. He has my support and vote and I hope he will have yours too!

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