Joelle Hall, left, president of the Alaska AFL-CIO, listens to Matt Shuckerow, a spokesperson for a group opposed to a state constitutional convention, argue his case during Thursday night’s debate. (Screenshot from Alaska Public Media’s YouTube channel)

Joelle Hall, left, president of the Alaska AFL-CIO, listens to Matt Shuckerow, a spokesperson for a group opposed to a state constitutional convention, argue his case during Thursday night’s debate. (Screenshot from Alaska Public Media’s YouTube channel)

Constitutional convention debate gets heated

Abortion, PFD factor into forum.

“I believe this discussion will generate far more heat than light” an introductory speaker remarked which, while perhaps an accidental reversal of meaning, ended up being the reality for much of a debate Thursday night about a constitutional convention Alaskans will vote on in the November general election.

The two debaters (one in particular) favoring the convention sounded alarms about allegedly lawless government running amok at all levels, while the two debaters opposed mostly expressed general alarm about the many uncertainties approving the ballot measure will supposedly create.

But while the 90-minute clash at the University of Alaska Anchorage that can be seen on Alaska Public Media sites might not change many informed minds, it did also present a full history of Alaska’s constitutional creation and the issues likely to arise with a rewrite of the document via the convention process. A vote on a convention is required by law at least every 10 years, but none have occurred since statehood since voters have nearly always voted decisively in opposition.

Proponents of a convention, during the debate and fall campaign, consistently accuse opponents of fear-mongering with dire predictions of a radical agenda that will strip Alaskans of rights such as the privacy clause that protects, among other things, legal abortion.

“We are not running for office, we’re not going to try to score debating points and we’re not going to try to face hostile questions from the journalists,” Bob Bird, chairman of the Alaskan Independence Party, said while delivering the opening remarks for the pro-convention debaters. “We’re here to speak to Alaskans to allow them to make up their own minds and to think for themselves.”

In remarks repeated a few time during the evening, Bird also said the Alaska State Legislature’s refusal to fund a “full Permanent Fund Dividend” in recent years “is the engine that is pulling this Con Con train” and his yes-vote efforts wouldn’t exist otherwise.

Harm caused by uncertainty to residents, businesses and others if the ballot measure passes was invoked in virtually every remark by the anti-convention debate participants.

“If we go down this road we can’t and they can’t control what this process looks like or what comes of it,” said Joelle Hall, president of the Alaska AFL-CIO.

While Hall brought up abortion and Bird the PFD as early issues of focus, the debate pivoted to a wade range of issues that might get included in a constitutional rewrite, with anti-convention spokesperson Matt Shuckerow suggesting they could include fringe items such as eliminating borough governments and forcing the state to use gold as currency.

Bird immediately retorted with one of his numerous, sometimes shouted, proclamations during the evening.

“My goodness, if we had sheriffs the Huepers would not have been raided in Homer by a renegade FBI,” he said, referring to a search in April last year related to the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot in an apparent mistake. “The sheriffs are the final say and final authority in a county. I think Alaska’s boroughs have outgrown their usefulness and we have to move to Anglo-Saxon common law with counties. And the gold and silver thing? Don’t criticize me for that. It’s in the U.S. Constitution and it’s been ignored for a long time.”

The cooler contribution to Bird’s heated yes-vote arguments were made by former Lt. Gov. Loren Leman, who spent much of the debate discussing the processes of a convention and supposed safeguards ensuring residents won’t be railroaded into radical results they don’t favor.

“We believe Alaska voters will be thoughtful in selecting delegates and the delegates will be diligent,” Leman said. He asked if Alaskans believe they are better off, and “more free and more prosperous” than 10 years ago, and a constitutional convention means “the benefit to Alaska will far surpass the cost of this investment.”

A video news report shown at the beginning of the debate states a convention would cost $16 million, according to one estimate.

“You open up the constitutional convention to have a debate about the PFD that’ll take five or six years…to produce a decision that will go to the voters that they can vote up or down,” Hall said. “Meanwhile, investment goes away. Meanwhile we don’t know what our rights our. Meanwhile nobody knows what the rules of the road are while we’re having this conversation.”

Bird said it’s lack of clarity about constitutional rights — and violations “in so many ways I won’t bore you” – that are a primary reason a convention is essential.

“Both the (state) executive and legislative branches have ignored their oath to defend the Constitution by refusing to use their superior power over the judiciary to halt their brazen and numerous overthrows of the Constitution,” he said. “And now election integrity creates a pall over our state.”

Adding what could be seen — literally — as perceived weight to the sometimes factually challenged assertions by Bird and other debaters were occasional full-screen slides highlighting their claims, such as one during one of Bird’s remarks declaring in large letters “the federal government does NOT obey its own Constitution.”

Lori Townsend, news director for Alaska Public Media and the debate’s moderator, said the debaters “asked to include their own material (and) we told them they had that option.” But she said she didn’t see what was on the slides before or during the debate, which is something APM will likely reconsider for future debate broadcasts.

“I wasn’t aware of what they were going to display,” she said. “We should have said we need to see them first.”

A telephone poll of audience members — both attending in person and watching/listening remotely — during the immediate minutes after the debate resulted in 23% voting in favor of a convention and 74% opposed. That result is far more lopsided than a poll released Friday showing 30.8% in favor, 53.8% opposed and 15.3% opting for “I wouldn’t vote.”

Contact reporter Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com

Screenshot / Alaska Public Media’s YouTube channel
Bob Bird, left, chairman of the Alaskan Independence Party, and former Lt. Gov. Loren Leman make the case in favor of a state constitutional convention during a debate in Anchorage broadcast Thursday by Alaska Public Media.
Bob Bird, left, chairman of the Alaskan Independence Party, and former Lt. Gov. Loren Leman make the case in favor of a state constitutional convention during a debate in Anchorage broadcast Thursday by Alaska Public Media. (Screenshot from Alaska Public Media’s YouTube channel)

Screenshot / Alaska Public Media’s YouTube channel Bob Bird, left, chairman of the Alaskan Independence Party, and former Lt. Gov. Loren Leman make the case in favor of a state constitutional convention during a debate in Anchorage broadcast Thursday by Alaska Public Media. Bob Bird, left, chairman of the Alaskan Independence Party, and former Lt. Gov. Loren Leman make the case in favor of a state constitutional convention during a debate in Anchorage broadcast Thursday by Alaska Public Media. (Screenshot from Alaska Public Media’s YouTube channel)

More in News

Montessori materials sit on shelves in a classroom at Soldotna Montessori Charter School on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Education debate draws state attention to peninsula charter schools

Dunleavy would like to see a shift of authority over charter school approvals from local school districts to the state

The Nikiski Senior Center stands under sunlight in Nikiski, Alaska, on Thursday, March 14, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Support available for community caregivers

Nikiski Senior Center hosts relaunched Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program

Flags flank the entrance to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s office on Thursday, March 14, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Dunleavy vetoes bipartisan education bill

Senate Bill 140 passed the House by a vote of 38-2 and the Senate by a vote of 18-1 last month

The Alaska State Capitol on Friday, March 1, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
House passes bill altering wording of sex crimes against children

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer

Ben Meyer and Brandon Drzazgowski present to the Soldotna and Kenai Chambers of Commerce at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Watershed Forum gives update on streambank restoration

The watershed forum and other organizations are working to repair habitat and mitigate erosion

The entrance to the Kenai Police Department, as seen in Kenai, Alaska, on April 1, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai resident arrested on charges of arson

Kenai Police and Kenai Fire Department responded to a structure fire near Mountain View Elementary

Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, speaks in opposition to an executive order that would abolish the Board of Certified Direct-Entry Midwives during a joint legislative session on Tuesday, March 12, 2024 in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Legislature kills most of Dunleavy’s executive orders in rare joint session

All the proposed orders would have shuffled or eliminated the responsibilities of various state boards

Nikiski Middle/High School student Maggie Grenier testifies in favor of a base student allocation increase before the Alaska Senate Education Committee on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Screenshot)
Students report mixed responses from lawmakers in education discussions

Delegates from the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District lobbied the Alaska Legislature for more state funding and other education priorities

A child waves from the back of a truck as the 32nd annual Sweeney’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade proceeds down Fireweed Street in Soldotna, Alaska on Friday, March 17, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
St. Patrick’s Day parade set for Sunday

The annual Sweeney’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, hosted by the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce, kicks off at 2 p.m.

Most Read