Where’s Sarah?
That’s the title of buttons some in the Alaskan Legislature during a special session she called, but stayed at home during. As I’ve said, those of us in Illinois have seen this before and it wasn’t terribly fun the first time.
Or the umpteenth time.
Her record in 19 months is quite funny and familiar.
She chose not to live in the Governor’s mansion which I’ve never held as a big deal. I do think not being around enough is part of Rod’s problem with the Lege–Jim Thompson didn’t have the same problems because he would go to Springfield and even go on the floor to talk and schmooze.
But the next part is what kills me. Imagine if Rod charged per diem to work out of his Chicago office? The Republicans and, let’s be honest, I would go crazy on the him for it.
She does exactly that. As the Washington Post pointed out, she claims per diem for nights that she spends in her home in Wasilla and works in her Anchorage office. Again, imagine Rod claiming per diem for working out of his Chicago office.
But that’s not the end of the story. When the Legislature held a Special Session in Anchorage, she complained about the costs. That was on June 26, 2007. If you look at the per diem reports and the expenses the Governor claimed from June 19, 2007 to July 16, 2007 includes travel to the Special Session in Anchorage which is about a 45 minute commute from Wasilla. So she claimed travel reimbursement for her regular 45 minute commute. For the same session she criticized for costing too much.
Now let’s fast forward to the Special Session she called for October and November of 2007 to deal with oil royalty tax rates. It was held from October 19th to November 16. She largely didn’t attend–sounds familiar, right? Apparently some of the Lege members made up Yellow Buttons with “Where’s Sarah?” on them.
During that heated session she claimed per diem for at least 14 days for staying in Wasilla and working in Anchorage while the legislature was in session in Juneau. She charged to commute 45 minutes. There are a lot of folks living in Elgin who’d love that deal for working downtown.
The state finance director, Kim Garnero, said Alaska law exempts the governor’s office from elaborate travel regulations. Said Leighow: “The governor is entitled to a per diem, and she claims it.“
Mind you, her travel is covered to Juneau and all costs including lodging are covered while in Juneau. She chose not to attend, but charged to continue working from Anchorage.
Adding to this, she called another Special Session for her push to get the natural gas pipeline constructed.
You might think it was called for Juneau to save costs…not so much:
Lawmakers spent the last three weeks holding hearings outside the capital, making stops in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Palmer, Kenai, Barrow and most recently Ketchikan. (AP July 9, 2008)
Even better:
Gov. Sarah Palin‘s gas line presentation will be held May 28-30, but it may take place before a sparse crowd.
House Speaker John Harris, a Valdez Republican, said Tuesday he will not cover travel and lodging expenses to the briefing in Anchorage.
Harris said money should not be spent on discussions that ultimately will take place in the special session that will begin just one week later in Juneau. (AP April 30, 2008)
The Lege actually passed something in the Anchorage meeting they had that Palin criticized.
Palin’s special assistant Joe Balash said using repetition as an excuse not to attend, “gives short shrift to the complexity and sophistication of work that’s been done.”
What’s even better–during the summer of 2008, many of the Lege members couldn’t find reasonable housing because the summer tourism started and Juneau became overrun with cruise ships in port. She largely stayed in Anchorage while pushing the Lege to get the deal done–and yet they didn’t even have decent housing. So….the Governor’s mansion was empty while Lege members stayed in town in places like an RV and their offices.
As I said, I’ve seen this play, and I didn’t like the ending the first time. For those not getting it–put Rod Blagojevich in for Sarah Palin.