Committee to discuss future of APOC

The 2002 gubernatorial election spawned 25 complaints filed with the Alaska Public Offices Commission and five lawsuits. With all that activity -- much of which was launched by the Alaska Republican Party -- it came as a surprise to some when Gov. Frank Murkowski, as part of his budget proposal, recommended APOC be eliminated.

In a transmittal letter included with House Bill 157, the bill that would eliminate the office and divide its duties between the Department of Law and the Division of Elections, Murkowski said APOC failed to fulfill its duties.

"The Alaska Public Offices Commission and campaign finance laws were generally established to accomplish three major goals: To restrict financial contributions to campaigns, to provide information to the general public as to who is contributing to whom and to enforce those laws," Murkowski wrote. "Under the current campaign finance model, the Alaska Public Offices Commission has ultimately failed in all three areas."

Murkowski cited the commission's inability to investigate claims and rule on complaints in a timely manner, which he wrote has undermined the objectives of campaign finance laws and led to APOC becoming a vehicle to focus media attention on allegations of misconduct, instead of factual reporting of contributions.

To that end, Murkowski proposed Alaska's campaign finance laws be handed over to the Department of Law, allowing complaints to be decided through the Alaska court system. This, Murkowski wrote, "should reduce allegations made for political gain and will install confidence in our reporting system."

APOC Director Brooke Miles said staff from her office have come up with alternatives to eliminating the commission and dividing the remaining workload between the Department of Law and the Division of Elections -- alternatives she said were developed with significant input from the governor's office. Her staff and APOC commissioners planned to hold a teleconference at their Anchorage and Juneau offices Monday to discuss the bill and hear testimony about potential changes that could be made to better the commission.

Miles said the discussion will precede a hearing by the Senate State Affairs Committee about Murkowski's proposal. The State Affairs hearing, which will be teleconferenced through local Legislative Information Offices, will give the public a chance to comment on the future of the commission. That hearing, she said, will begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday. Those who are unable to attend a hearing have the option of submitting written testimony or a public opinion message to committee members and members of the Valley delegation. To do so, contact the Legislative Information Office at 376-3704.

Miles said she believes eliminating APOC and forcing complaints to be filed through the Alaska court system would make elections more expensive to the state than the current setup.

"The [idea that it would] cost less money could not hold true," Miles said. She cited a case relating to the 2002 election between candidates Tom Wagoner and Jerry Ward that played out months after the election despite being dealt with on an expedited basis and, she said, racked up tens of thousands of dollars to the state in legal fees.

Instead, she suggests streamlining the complaint process to allow for a faster turn-around time on decisions. One step, she said, deals with putting some existing policy matters into law.

Currently, Miles said, the office allows those against whom a complaint is lodged 15 days to respond by policy. In many cases, she said, the respondent hires an attorney on the 14th day and that attorney asks for additional time to become familiar with the case. If it were a matter of law, Miles said, the case could proceed to the next step with or without a response.

Another idea for moving complaints along quickly, Miles said, is to give the commission the ability to deal with some issues on an expedited basis. That may involve reorganizing some of her staff's duties to allow the single investigator more leeway to concentrate solely on investigation.

"What I'm looking at would be a reallocation of resources," Miles said. "I have senior staff who may not be qualified to conduct an investigation, but could audit the documents."

With that leeway, Miles said, the commission could go to hearing in 48 hours, if it was a matter that involved illegal or improper activity that had significant bearing on an ongoing election. Other cases, she said, could proceed in 60 to 90 days.

Mark Chryson, chairman of the Alaska Independence Party, is still waiting to hear the outcome of complaints filed by party vice-chair John Wayne Glotfelty alleging that Gov. Frank Murkowski had failed to fill out at least 187 campaign income statements. He said he'd like to see the expedited consideration, as long as other complaints are dealt with in a timely manner as well.

"There are times when you have to have a priority," Chryson said, "but you can't ignore the other events."

Chryson said he'd like to hear more details about the streamlining process, but overall, agrees APOC would better serve Alaskans as an independent commission, not one with the prosecuting authority in the hands of the attorney general, a political appointee.

"It makes a heck of a lot more sense to be independent," Chryson said. He added that fairness and consistency should be the commission's top priority.

"They have been very inconsistent over how they've applied the fines and the amount they've fined people," Chryson said. "The biggest thing I want to see is consistency."