I had planned to offer an entry on Football Fannie next; but I have had some technical difficulties scanning some of the relevant material. So...you get some more legislative stuff without adequate documentation. But trust me...
So a few anecdotes about one of my favourite legislators of the early 80's is the order of the day.
Without a doubt, the legislator I found most intriguing in my early years - and for a number of years therafter for that matter - was Senator John Sackett. Senator Sackett was Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee the first several years I worked for Legislative Finance. He claimed Galena as his residence, an Athabascan community on the middle Yukon. Senator Sackett was not only an Alaskan Native but also a Republican and gay - an unlikely combination then as now. He was also a true eccentric in many other respects. And he was regarded with fear and loathing by many of his urban colleagues.
My first Sackett story is strictly second hand. As I understand it, there came a time when Senator Sackett, Jay Hogan, Bob Grogan (a fiscal analyst with Legislative Finance) and several other legislators had the opportunity to attend a conference in Denver. They all checked-in at the hotel and then decided to go to supper together. Senator Sackett had his heart set on a particular restaurant; but when they all arrived and asked to be seated, they were informed that jackets and ties were required. Only Senator Sackett had a jacket and tie. While the rest of the assembled Alaskans were engaged in a discussion of where else they might go to dine, John turned to the maitre d' hotel and said "I guess that will be a table for one." Gotta love it.
My own first personal professional experience with Senator Sackett is memorable insofar as it taught me an invaluable lesson about the legislative process - do NOT make a move without knowledge of all the players involved.
My first session as a fiscal analyst saw me in charge of the "development" budget category, the smallest of the various budget categories and deemed most appropriate for the trainee. It consisted of a bunch of boring regulatory functions as well as some of the more entrepreneurial endeavors in which the State was becoming involved by virtue of its new found oil wealth. Like promoting agriculture (growing barley near Delta Junction and promoting dairy farming in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley), building dams for hydropower 'til hell won't have it, and generally promoting international trade. With the exception of some of the hydro projects, most of these initiatives have long since sunk without a trace. And deservedly so...although not without taking millions and millions of dollars of bullion with them to the bottom.
My first House Finance budget subcommitee Chairman was a freshly minted Republican legislator from Anchorage by the name of Dave Cuddy. Mr. Cuddy was the scion of an Alaskan banking family and, yes, this August went down to ignominious defeat in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate - whipped like the family mule by our recently indicted Uncle Ted Stevens. In the early 80's he was just a pup, and not a particularly promising one at that. Not a bad person, just someone with few people skills and not that bright. His mantra, as was and is the case with so many of these rubes was small government, free enterprise, and the like - without the slightest idea of what any of that might mean in the real world.
Still, as a public servant, and a young analyst out to make his mark, I regarded it as my solemn duty to further his goals notwithstanding my own personal reservations as to either his competence or his agenda.
After much hand-holding and generally futile efforts to educate my young Master about State Government, we presented a subcommittee budget report to the full House Finance Committee. Among the various budget cutting strategies proposed was the elimination of the State of Alaska's internationl trade office in Tokyo, Japan. At that time Alaska had trade missions in Tokyo and in Copenhagen, Denmark; and for reasons that I have long since forgotten I had concluded that the Tokyo office was the least productive of the two.
Unlike most of Rep. Cuddy's proposals, the elimination of the Tokyo office survived the House Finance Committee mark-up and was incorporated into the final House Budget. The Senate did NOT include this reduction in their version of the budget (I don't even remember with whom I worked on the Senate side).
When we got into the Conference Committee on the Budget Senator Sackett, the Senate Co-Chairman of the Conference Committee, much to my surprise, made a motion to restore the Tokyo trade office and to eliminate the Copenhagen office instead. After the meeting where this occurred, someone (I REALLY don't remember who or exactly when) explained to me that the incumbent in the Tokyo trade office happened to be Senator Sackett's boyfriend and the incumbent in the Copenhagen office happened to be the then sitting Attorney General's ex-wife. The only thing that perplexes me today, given the State's plump fiscal situation at the time, is why did the AG's former spouse get thrown under the bus? I do not know - and if I ever did know, I have forgotten.
In any event, I learned a valuable lesson and have since vowed, in the unlikely event I should decide that I want some sort of memorial upon my departure from this life, my tombstone should read as follows:
One last Senator Sackett story. I don't recall what year this occurred...it's likely that it was after I left Legislative Finance and was working for Representative Al Adams - but the date is not important.
The Senate Finance Committee, then as now, met most mornings at 9:00 AM. And while 9 AM Senate Standard Time has always been an extremely flexible concept, I recall one whole week in particular where, even by the whimsical standards of the Senate , the delay was most mysterious to all of us awaiting their convening.
On Monday morning, we all assembled for Senate Finance. As I recall, it was near the presumed end of the session and there were lots of bills on the agenda. After cooling our collective heels for an hour-and-a-half or so, the Chairman's staff person came out and announced that the hearing had been cancelled for unspecified reasons.
Tuesday morning. Same thing.
Wednesday morning. Ditto.
Thursday morning. No meeting.
Friday morning. Cancelled.
Late on Friday afternoon we got word from Chairman Sackett's Office that there would be a Saturday morning Senate Finance Committee meeting. And we damn well better be there!
At some point I wandered down to the Chairman's Office and asked his staff just what in the hell had been going on... The Chair's staff sheepishly confided that every morning the past week Turner Broadcasting System had been showing a Judy Garland film and Senator Sackett had simply been too caught up in the drama to attend a hearing.
It's good to be the Chairman.
For the past ten years or so John Sackett has lived in Palm Springs with his partner (yep, the Tokyo guy) although I understand he has spent the last couple of summers in Fairbanks.
I would love to go out to dinner with him and his partner. I would even be willing to wear a jacket and tie.
So a few anecdotes about one of my favourite legislators of the early 80's is the order of the day.
Without a doubt, the legislator I found most intriguing in my early years - and for a number of years therafter for that matter - was Senator John Sackett. Senator Sackett was Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee the first several years I worked for Legislative Finance. He claimed Galena as his residence, an Athabascan community on the middle Yukon. Senator Sackett was not only an Alaskan Native but also a Republican and gay - an unlikely combination then as now. He was also a true eccentric in many other respects. And he was regarded with fear and loathing by many of his urban colleagues.
My first Sackett story is strictly second hand. As I understand it, there came a time when Senator Sackett, Jay Hogan, Bob Grogan (a fiscal analyst with Legislative Finance) and several other legislators had the opportunity to attend a conference in Denver. They all checked-in at the hotel and then decided to go to supper together. Senator Sackett had his heart set on a particular restaurant; but when they all arrived and asked to be seated, they were informed that jackets and ties were required. Only Senator Sackett had a jacket and tie. While the rest of the assembled Alaskans were engaged in a discussion of where else they might go to dine, John turned to the maitre d' hotel and said "I guess that will be a table for one." Gotta love it.
My own first personal professional experience with Senator Sackett is memorable insofar as it taught me an invaluable lesson about the legislative process - do NOT make a move without knowledge of all the players involved.
My first session as a fiscal analyst saw me in charge of the "development" budget category, the smallest of the various budget categories and deemed most appropriate for the trainee. It consisted of a bunch of boring regulatory functions as well as some of the more entrepreneurial endeavors in which the State was becoming involved by virtue of its new found oil wealth. Like promoting agriculture (growing barley near Delta Junction and promoting dairy farming in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley), building dams for hydropower 'til hell won't have it, and generally promoting international trade. With the exception of some of the hydro projects, most of these initiatives have long since sunk without a trace. And deservedly so...although not without taking millions and millions of dollars of bullion with them to the bottom.
My first House Finance budget subcommitee Chairman was a freshly minted Republican legislator from Anchorage by the name of Dave Cuddy. Mr. Cuddy was the scion of an Alaskan banking family and, yes, this August went down to ignominious defeat in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate - whipped like the family mule by our recently indicted Uncle Ted Stevens. In the early 80's he was just a pup, and not a particularly promising one at that. Not a bad person, just someone with few people skills and not that bright. His mantra, as was and is the case with so many of these rubes was small government, free enterprise, and the like - without the slightest idea of what any of that might mean in the real world.
Still, as a public servant, and a young analyst out to make his mark, I regarded it as my solemn duty to further his goals notwithstanding my own personal reservations as to either his competence or his agenda.
After much hand-holding and generally futile efforts to educate my young Master about State Government, we presented a subcommittee budget report to the full House Finance Committee. Among the various budget cutting strategies proposed was the elimination of the State of Alaska's internationl trade office in Tokyo, Japan. At that time Alaska had trade missions in Tokyo and in Copenhagen, Denmark; and for reasons that I have long since forgotten I had concluded that the Tokyo office was the least productive of the two.
Unlike most of Rep. Cuddy's proposals, the elimination of the Tokyo office survived the House Finance Committee mark-up and was incorporated into the final House Budget. The Senate did NOT include this reduction in their version of the budget (I don't even remember with whom I worked on the Senate side).
When we got into the Conference Committee on the Budget Senator Sackett, the Senate Co-Chairman of the Conference Committee, much to my surprise, made a motion to restore the Tokyo trade office and to eliminate the Copenhagen office instead. After the meeting where this occurred, someone (I REALLY don't remember who or exactly when) explained to me that the incumbent in the Tokyo trade office happened to be Senator Sackett's boyfriend and the incumbent in the Copenhagen office happened to be the then sitting Attorney General's ex-wife. The only thing that perplexes me today, given the State's plump fiscal situation at the time, is why did the AG's former spouse get thrown under the bus? I do not know - and if I ever did know, I have forgotten.
In any event, I learned a valuable lesson and have since vowed, in the unlikely event I should decide that I want some sort of memorial upon my departure from this life, my tombstone should read as follows:
Elmer Alan Lindstrom
1955 -
"He aimed at Tokyo and hit Copenhagen"
One last Senator Sackett story. I don't recall what year this occurred...it's likely that it was after I left Legislative Finance and was working for Representative Al Adams - but the date is not important.
The Senate Finance Committee, then as now, met most mornings at 9:00 AM. And while 9 AM Senate Standard Time has always been an extremely flexible concept, I recall one whole week in particular where, even by the whimsical standards of the Senate , the delay was most mysterious to all of us awaiting their convening.
On Monday morning, we all assembled for Senate Finance. As I recall, it was near the presumed end of the session and there were lots of bills on the agenda. After cooling our collective heels for an hour-and-a-half or so, the Chairman's staff person came out and announced that the hearing had been cancelled for unspecified reasons.
Tuesday morning. Same thing.
Wednesday morning. Ditto.
Thursday morning. No meeting.
Friday morning. Cancelled.
Late on Friday afternoon we got word from Chairman Sackett's Office that there would be a Saturday morning Senate Finance Committee meeting. And we damn well better be there!
At some point I wandered down to the Chairman's Office and asked his staff just what in the hell had been going on... The Chair's staff sheepishly confided that every morning the past week Turner Broadcasting System had been showing a Judy Garland film and Senator Sackett had simply been too caught up in the drama to attend a hearing.
It's good to be the Chairman.
For the past ten years or so John Sackett has lived in Palm Springs with his partner (yep, the Tokyo guy) although I understand he has spent the last couple of summers in Fairbanks.
I would love to go out to dinner with him and his partner. I would even be willing to wear a jacket and tie.
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