This Week In Sanity: June 11, 2021
Democratic Rep. Zack Manchin, whoops, I mean Fields, to nobody’s surprise, has thrown in with far-right Mayor-Elect Bronson after Fields called homeless individuals “vagrants” and supported the arguably racist “broken windows policing” theory in an insane letter posted to Facebook.
Fields, who gave Trump-level sexist birthday wishes to Rep. Sara Rasmussen back in March and who was forced to apologize and then forced to apologize again when his original apology was deemed inadequate by anyone with a soul, seems to be quickly morphing into the new Democrat/Republican alien politician hybrid that visits us in our nightmares.
Too harsh? Don’t judge just yet.
In July 2019, a group of Alaska legislators sent a letter to then APD Police Chief Doll and then Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz suggesting the Municipality herd up the homeless population and stick them in Chugach Park! Other
Democratsand one Republican signed the letter.
Fields was the legislator behind the letter, which drew a strong rebuke from the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska, which said that expelling people experiencing homelessness to Chugach State Park “is not only unconstitutional, it is horribly inhumane and un-Alaskan.”
Assemblyman Christopher Constant said at the time that he was “absolutely offended by this letter” and accused the Alaska Legislators of spending too much time in Juneau, telling the Anchorage Daily News, “We are working really hard…If there were an easy answer, we would have figured it out by now.” Constant even wondered if Fields was proposing “homeless internment camps.” (He’s not the only one).
Jasmine Boyle of the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness said of Fields’ letter, “I can certainly say on behalf of the vulnerable, the initial read of the letter is heartbreaking.”
Here’s the thing...the unhoused are PEOPLE, and supporting an arguably racist policing method that Northwestern debunked years ago will probably piss people off — as well as suggesting we banish a group of people to Chugach Park.
As an aside and additional note, I’m told that after the 2019 letter, everyone apologized and learned from the experience, except for Rep. Fields, who doubled down.
Here’s some further reading on Broken Window Policing:
Want to See How Biased Broken Windows Policing Is? Spend a Day in Court
The Problem with “Broken Windows” Policing
Eagle River Assembly member Jamie Allard has the super sadz this week claiming an educator sent her information about an event that seeks to raise awareness about the Astroturfed effort to ban Critical Race Theory.
Allard suggested individuals weren’t respectful of Alaska Parents’ Rights in Education or Save Anchorage — you remember Save Anchorage, right?
The “Day of Action” event is being hosted by the Alaska Coalition of BIPOC Educators (ACBE), which says of the event:
“Lawmakers in at least 15 states are attempting to pass legislation that would require teachers to lie to students about the role of racism, sexism, heterosexism, and oppression throughout U.S. history. We even have groups in Alaska doing the same thing. Groups like Alaska Parents Rights and Save Anchorage are actively suppressing the truth in our schools.”
Today’s event kicks off at 3 pm at the Martin Luther King Memorial.
At least temporarily, Assembly members LaFrance and Constant are the new Acting Chair and Vice-Chair of the Assembly. The Assembly will re-organize again when Mayor-Elect Bronson ascends his mayoral throne. All things considered, Felix Rivera did a tremendous job as Chair this year, drawing praise from his constituents after the reorganization. Rivera not only had to contend with a never-ending stream of disrespectful mask-holes during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic but also had to fight off an effort to recall him.
Not everyone has been a fan of Rivera’s, however.
Felix Rivera is the worst Assembly chair in history. A total buffoon who disrespects the rule of law and denigrates both people who testify before the Assembly and fellow Assembly members who are not part of his corrupt majority.
Former Alaska Lt. Governor Craig Campbell, Alaska Watchman, December 20, 2020
As Chair, it’s not like Rivera ever had the time to jump off the Assembly table and rescue testifiers who presented disastrous public testimony as other members do.
Anyway, congratulations to Zalatel and Constant. Get some rest, Felix. It sounds like you’rell need all the energy you can muster to get through the next three years and find some of that “good trouble” to get into.
Last, the incoming Bronson administration’s plan to put 1,000 homeless human beings into a temporary shelter will be unveiled on June 15, 2021, at 11 am during a Special Committee Meeting on Housing and Homelessness.
Progressives have begun referring to the proposed mass shelter as Bronsonville. You can find further details about the proposed project below, which totally won’t be the largest grifter project Anchorage has ever seen if the project proceeds.
https://thebluealaskan.com/bronsonville-plan-to-be-unveiled-june-15-2021/
