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Showing posts with label People Begich-Mark. Show all posts
Showing posts with label People Begich-Mark. Show all posts

Sunday, November 02, 2008

U.S. Senate candidate Mark Begich: “It’s Time to Move On”

U.S. Senate candidate Mark Begich: “It’s Time to Move On”

Related: 20081230 An interview with Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich

10.28.08

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8ZkJ-GNGRw



Comments on Stevens’ trial, Alaska’s future

U.S. Senate candidate Mark Begich said today that the jury has spoken, Senator Ted Stevens broke the law, and it’s time to move on. At a news conference in Anchorage, Begich said despite Stevens’ conviction on seven felony counts, Alaskans are resilient and will be able to move forward to address the critical challenges that face the state.

“The charges against Senator Stevens were serious and the conviction sends a strong message that no man is above the law,” Begich said. “Washington D.C. is broken and too many lawmakers are serving the special interests and not the people back home.”

Begich said while Stevens says he will appeal the federal jury’s verdict, Alaska’s issues are too important to have to wait for months or even years of legal maneuvering. Senator Stevens did a lot for our state, but that era is over, he added.

“We now have an opportunity to put this unfortunate chapter of our history behind us and focus on the future of Alaska,” Begich said. “This election gives Alaskans the opportunity to choose a different style of leadership, a different approach to addressing the important issues facing our state.”

Begich summarized his six-month campaign for reporters, pointing out he has released more than a dozen plans to deal with issues such as energy, ethics, health care and education. Begich said with the critical challenges facing the country, Alaska needs somebody with an independent style in Washington, working across party lines to solve the problems we’re facing.

“I love Alaska. This is my home. Every day I am in the U.S. Senate I will remember that and stand up for the issues that are important to us.”

Since announcing his candidacy in late April, Begich has received the endorsement of the Alaska State Employees Association/American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 52; the National Education Association – Alaska and the NEA Fund for Children and Public Education; Retired General Wesley Clark; the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) and the American Postal Workers Union (APWU).


http://begich.com/content/begich-it-s-time-move

20081028 US Senate candidate Mark Begich Its Time to Move On

Saturday, November 01, 2008

RedState: Do Not Vote for Ted Stevens for Alaska Senator

RedState: Don't Vote For Ted Stevens For Senate or Don Young for House At Large in Alaska

Party Loyalty Has Its Limits by: The Directors

Monday, October 27, 2008 at 03:52PM CDT

Comments

[…]

We stand at a perilous moment in American politics, with the real possibility that the Democrats could get to 60 votes in the Senate. This is no time for litmus tests of party loyalty, for abandoning our own. But we must make one exception: good conscience compels us to advise Alaskans not to vote for Ted Stevens for Senate or Don Young for the at-large House seat in Alaska.

We leave it to the individual voter whether to abstain or take the step of voting affirmatively for Mark Begich, the Democrat mayor of Anchorage, and candidate for the U.S. Senate, or for Ethan Berkowitz for the at-large House seat in Alaska.

[…]

But Ted Stevens and Don Young have been a pox on the Republican house for too long - too addicted to the pork barrel, too fast and loose with ethics.

Stevens' conviction in federal court today is the exclamation point on an era in Republican politics in general and Alaska politics in particular that needs to end (and which Gov. Sarah Palin has been battling to clean up). Republicans need to clean our own house. Washington cannot too soon see the end of Stevens and Young.


Read the entire post here: Don't Vote For Ted Stevens For Senate or Don Young for House At Large in Alaska


20081027 RedState Do Not Vote for Ted Stevens for Alaska Senator

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Anchorage Daily News: Anchorage Mayor Begish takes step toward Senate campaign by Sean Cockerham

Anchorage Daily News: Anchorage Mayor Begish takes step toward Senate campaign by Sean Cockerham

Begich takes step toward Senate campaign

By SEAN COCKERHAM Anchorage Daily News (02/27/08 11:20:34)

Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, sounding very much like a candidate, is forming an exploratory committee and will test how much support exists for him to challenge Ted Stevens for the U.S. Senate.

"Over the next few months I'll visit communities all across this state and ask them do they think it's time for change in Washington, D.C.," Begich said.

Begich, a 45-year-old Democrat, announced the committee Wednesday at a press conference in his East Anchorage home.

Begich said he would make a final decision on whether to run well before the June 1 filing deadline. He said the exploratory committee would allow him to raise funds from donors to travel and hear what Alaskans think about the issues.

"Taking this step allows me to talk and listen to Alaskans about whether the Senate is the best place for me to work for change for Alaska's future," he said. "And, more importantly, to listen to their challenges, their needs, their hopes, and their dreams for our great state."

Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in U.S. Senate history, released a statement saying Alaska needs a senator with clout and experience. Stevens said Begich told him that he was exploring a run.

[…]

Stevens was appointed in 1968 and has been re-elected seven times since. He's never had a close re-election campaign and often has faced minimal opposition.

The 84-year-old Stevens…

[…]

"Anyone who enters this race thinking they are entering it because of issues with Sen. Stevens, they are entering it for the wrong reasons," Begich said.

Stevens is under federal investigation as part of the broad inquiry by the U.S. Justice Department and FBI into Alaska political corruption but has not been charged. Investigators are looking into his relationship with Veco, the now-defunct Alaska oil field services and construction company, including the company's involvement in the remodeling of Stevens' Girdwood home.

[…]


Read the entire article here: Begich takes step toward Senate campaign

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/328059.html

20080227 Anchorage Daily News: Anchorage Mayor Begish takes step toward Senate campaign by Sean Cockerham

Monday, December 31, 2007

An interview with Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich


An interview with Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich

December 30, 2008 © Kevin Dayhoff http://www.kevindayhoff.net/


On December 28, I had a nice opportunity to talk with Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich; a young and energetic rising star who will in the future make a name for himself on the national stage.

For now I’ll leave that for a future column.

Yes, he is the son of former Congressman Nick Begich. Congressman Nick Begich and Representative Hale Boggs of Louisiana were the focus of a national tragedy on September 16, 1972.

Who remembers the terrible circumstances?

I was in Anchorage Alaska from December 22 – 29, 2007 and thoroughly enjoyed my visit.

As readers are aware I am not a fan of the cold or snow, but there I was looking out upon a beautiful city situated on a glacier silt plain in southeastern Alaska, picturesquely framed by the Chugach Mountain range and Cook Inlet.

On Christmas morning I was treated to a white Christmas when I awakened in Anchorage Alaska. As a matter of fact, it was a white Christmas week as it snowed everyday the entire time I was there.

I stayed at the Captain Cook Hotel which is incidentally the same hotel where one of Alaska’s heroes, our own thirty-ninth Vice President of the United States, and the 55th governor of Maryland, Spiro Agnew, stayed on an impromptu stopover in 1981.

Yes, you read that correctly, according to Anchorage Daily News columnist, Mike Dunham, who wrote a tribute to Mr. Agnew on the anniversary of his birthday in 1996; Mr. Agnew is considered to be “arguably the most important man in Alaska history after William Seward.” More on that in another column…

The temperature averaged in the teens for the entire stay – and yes, the sun only shines for about four hours a day this time of the year in Anchorage. Even then, sunlight is only distinguishable as a brighter - lighter shade of gray.

Nevertheless, I had a wonderful visiting a city I had only read about before in the context of oil exploration and politics, Native American struggles and public policy, Russian - Alaskan history, the globalization of American economic structure, and anomalies of municipal government.

For government geeks who study municipal governance, Anchorage is fascinating. Above and beyond the fact that there is no sales tax or income tax in Anchorage or Alaska for that matter, is the sheer geographic size of the municipality. The city limits of Anchorage encompasses 1,955 sq. miles or about the size of the state of Delaware. For a comparison, Carroll County is 452 square miles – and Westminster is about 6 square miles.

Meanwhile, keep an eye out for Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich. Of course, as a member of the “Mayors’ Club;” those of us who are currently serving or former mayors will have a propensity to circle the wagons and close ranks around another mayor.

That said, I was extremely impressed with Mayor Begich and chances are he will eventually succeed Alaska Senator Ted Stevens some day.


20081230 An interview with Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Mark Begich web site bio




Retrieved December 28, 2007 in anticipation of having the opportunity to interview Mayor Begich in his office:

Since his election on April 1, 2003, Mayor Mark Begich has focused on the three priorities Anchorage residents tell him are most important: improving public safety, creating jobs and economic opportunities, and relieving traffic congestion.

In his first 30 months in office, Anchorage crime rates have declined, the city is entering its 18th consecutive year of economic growth, and voters have approved the largest transportation bond package for road improvements in the city's history.

Mayor Begich was sworn in as Anchorage's mayor on July 1, 2003, following the broadest public transition process in municipal history.

The first municipal mayor born and raised in Anchorage, Mark, 43, is a 20-year Anchorage businessman. He has owned and operated several Anchorage businesses, upgrading commercial buildings and renting affordable housing to Anchorage families. His wife, Deborah Bonito, owns and operates three retail stores, which feature the products of more than 130 Alaska craftspeople.

Mark was first elected to the Anchorage Assembly in 1988 at age 26. During his 10 years in elected municipal office, he focused on strengthening Anchorage's economy, creating new opportunities for young Alaskans and sound fiscal management. He was widely praised for his ability to bring diverse Anchorage groups and residents together, and was three times elected by his fellow assembly members as Assembly Chair, Anchorage's second highest office.

Mark's parents, Pegge and the late Nick Begich, came to the territory of Alaska in 1957 as teachers. Following a career as a teacher and Superintendent of Military Schools on Fort Richardson, Nick was elected Alaska's third U.S. Congressman. While running for reelection two years later, Congressman Begich's airplane disappeared in the Gulf of Alaska when Mark was 10 years old.

From his parents, Mark learned the values of hard work, strength of family, and commitment to community. These are the values he has applied to a successful business career and long record of public service. He founded the Making a Difference Program, which seeks to set straight first-time juvenile offenders; 90 percent of the youth who go through the program do not re-offend. He has served on numerous boards, including the Boys and Girls Club, Spirit of Youth Foundation and Family Resource Center.

As chair of the statewide Alaska Student Loan Corporation, he applied sound business practices saving the corporation from bankruptcy and ensuring affordable student loans for Alaska's college and vocational-technical students for years to come. He is a corporate member of the Association of the United States Army, a member of the Air Force Association, a life member of the National Rifle Association and served on the board of the Resource Development Council.

Mayor Begich was twice named Alaska's top elected municipal official by his colleagues statewide in 1997 and 2004, and was honored as a Friend of Education by the Anchorage Education Association. For his work for drug-free and crime-free neighborhoods, he was recognized by the Mt. View Community Council.

Mark was born in the Old Providence Hospital in downtown Anchorage in 1962. He and his wife Deborah live in East Anchorage, have been married 15 years and have a young son, Jacob.

20071229 Mark Begich web site bio

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

20070820 Anchorage Mayor Begich 2007 State of the City address

Mayor Mark Begich remarks
2007 State of City Address
Noon; Aug. 20, 2007; Egan Center

Slide Presentation (5mb pdf)

(Slide 1 – Title)
Thanks, Bill. And thank you to the Chamber for your leadership and cooperation on important issues affecting our community. I appreciate this annual forum, which has become a tradition for mayors to provide an update on our city’s progress.

(Slide 2 - scenic)
I know you’ll be surprised to hear me pronounce the state of our city as excellent. With the most aggressive building boom in a generation, lower property taxes for most, and improvements underway from Eagle River to Girdwood, the vast majority of Anchorage residents believe our city is on the right track.

(Slide 3 – economic growth)
Anchorage’s economy is strong and growing. We’re enjoying our 19th straight year of economic growth, with about 2,000 new jobs already this year.

(Slide 4 - construction)
2006 set a record for the second highest value in building permits ever – topping $801 million. That includes 70 projects valued at more than a million dollars and a dozen exceeding 10 million dollars – quite significant for our community.

(Slide 5 – SOC publication)
Today I want to review the issues we’ve focused on over the past year and provide several updates on important projects and services, especially about the strength of our economy and our continuing efforts to improve public safety.

I hope you had a chance to review the State of the City publication in your Daily News this morning. There are also copies on your tables. This annual report provides useful information about developments over the past year.

After four years as mayor, I continue to be grateful and impressed by how our community generously works together to make Anchorage such a great place to live and visit.

(Slide 6 – downtown construction)
With two years remaining as mayor, I’m focused on completing many of the major developments initiated over the past few years, especially affecting the heart of any great city – our downtown. That doesn’t prevent us from new initiatives, which makes my staff nervous. I’ll touch of some of those today.

We also continue working hard to meet the basic obligation of government - efficiently delivering essential services.

(Slide 7 – budget charts)
We’re succeeding in our efforts to limit the growth in property taxes used to fund city services. Property taxes now comprise about 46 percent of the revenues used to provide city services, compared to 59 percent when I took office. And the property taxes collected for city services this year are 37 million-dollars below the tax cap.

Despite these positive trends, we continue to hear that property taxes are too high and make up too much of the city’s overall revenues. That’s why we worked with the Legislature, governor and Assembly to apply state assistance for property tax relief.

Thanks to $37 million from the state, the average single family homeowner is seeing a property tax savings this year of about $363. For 2007, the majority of Anchorage property owners paid less property tax than in 2006.

(Slide 8 - homes)
Even with these successes, the total property tax revenues to fund both city services and the school district is about 68 percent.

That’s why Assembly Chair Dan Coffey and I recently appointed a task force of business leaders to give us recommendations on ways to diversify Anchorage’s tax structure and reduce the city’s reliance on property taxes.

We’re not sure where this will end up, but I believe an open community discussion about our dependence on property taxes and the need for more diversity in our revenues is long overdue. Thanks to the Chamber for being an active participant in this important effort. We look forward to the recommendations of your work and this tax relief task force.

(Slide 9 – city workers)
We keep looking for other ways to reduce property taxes. That includes asking the Legislature to raise the 20,000-dollar personal property tax exemption, and doing the city’s business smarter. For example, an upgrade by two national bond-rating agencies is saving more than 10 million-dollars over the life of general obligation bonds sold in April.

Since launching an initiative to crack down on delinquent fines and fees, we’ve collected more than 13 million-dollars.

(Slide 10 – convention center)
Of course, the best way to strengthen our economy is through economic development. The city’s role is promoting a positive business climate and providing basic infrastructure.

The cornerstone in Anchorage’s revitalization is the new Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center. It’s now 60 percent complete, with the grand opening set for next September.
The Dena’ina Center will be a great venue for local events and position Anchorage for many lucrative conventions we couldn’t even consider before because we lacked the space. And it couldn’t come at a better time.

(Slide 11 – tourism)
I’m pleased to report just-compiled hotel room tax revenue is up a whopping 10 percent for the first half of this year. The nearly 9 million-dollars in room taxes collected between January and June is the highest ever. And that doesn’t include what’s typically the strongest quarter – July to September.

This is a sure sign of a strong visitor industry, which the Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau has been aggressively growing.

This year’s early strong numbers are thanks in part to big conferences like the International Whaling Commission and Ducks Unlimited. They helped put Anchorage on the world’s convention destination map.

Remember we based financing of the Dena’ina Center on a very conservative 1 percent growth rate. Yet we’ve enjoyed 6 to 8 percent growth over the past two years. Thanks to higher than expected revenues, we collected enough in a single quarter at the end of 2006 to cover all of this year’s bond payments.

(Slide 12 – Atwood parking garage)
The new convention center is leading the way for a major revival in downtown, not seen since the Project 80s a generation ago.

The 840-space Linny Pacillo parking garage, which will be available for convention center parking after-hours, is scheduled for completion next September. It will feature a new street-level Alaskan seafood restaurant and ice-free sidewalks.

(Slide 13 – E Street rendering)
Since the Dena’ina and Egan Centers are designed to work together for conventions, we’ve started what will eventually be 3 million-dollars in renovations at the Egan.

Connecting the two is vital, so redevelopment of E and F streets begins next summer, with ice-free sidewalks and state-of-the-art canopies especially designed for our winter city.

(Slide 14 – Museum expansion)
Numerous other downtown improvements also are underway:
• A more inviting Town Square, with better drop-offs for the Performing Arts Center;
• Distinct downtown districts, such as SONO, Historic 4th Avenue and G Street;
• The $100 million expansion of the museum.

All this development has stimulated the creative juices of private developers who are anxious to build new housing, retail and office space in the downtown.

(Slide 15 - port)
One of our most critical developments is the 400 million-dollar expansion of the Port of Anchorage, which serves 80 percent of Alaskans and handles 90 percent of all consumer goods sold north of Cordova, including the Railbelt, western and Arctic Alaska and the Aleutians.

We achieved an important milestone last week when the Army Corps of Engineers issued the Phase II expansion permit. This gives pile-drivers the green light to start building 135 new waterfront acres to accommodate huge new cargo ships which will be arriving here in just three years.

The port expansion is also vital for our military, which has been designated one of just 16 Regional Strategic Ports essential to rapidly moving military equipment to hot-spots around the world.

The Port of Anchorage is a vital transportation link for our entire state, which is why three-quarters of the expansion project is paid by state and federal dollars.

(Slide 16 – Girdwood)
The downtown area isn’t the only part of Anchorage enjoying a revival. From Mountain View to Girdwood, we’re working with private developers to renovate or build new housing, office and retail space:
Glenn Square in Mountain View;
• Tikahtnu (Tea-KAHT-new) Commons development off Mouldoon;
• A new Girdwood library and community center;
• The list goes on.

(Slide 17 – Eagle River Center)
In Eagle River, we’re working to consolidate the new home of the Chugiak-Eagle River Library, a police substation, one-stop offices for Parks and Rec, Health and Human Services and WIC, and a Community Meeting Room. Our hope is to locate all this in the Valley River Center.

(Slide 18 - roads)
All this economic development continues to put pressure on city services, especially our roads.

To relieve congestion, we’ve stepped up our investment in road, drainage and trails improvements from 30 million-dollars four years ago to 73 million this year.

Thanks to voter support for transportation bonds, we’ve got 150 city projects in the works, creating about 700 jobs. This includes work on high traffic roads like Lake Otis, Strawberry, Raspberry, Northwood, Bayshore, Arctic, the list goes on.

(Slide 19 – Bragaw ground-breaking)
I was especially excited to join Governor Palin and others last month to break ground on the first section of Anchorage’s largest ever road project, connecting the Seward and Glenn highways.

Work is underway now to relieve congestion at the Bragaw-Glenn interchange, which serves 60,000 vehicles a day.

(Slide 20 – cops)
Our other major focus is on public safety – doing all we can to make sure our citizens are safe in their homes and on our streets.

With support from the Assembly, we’re more than half-way through an ambitious effort to transform our law enforcement and public safety operations. The 50 new police officers and 35 new firefighters we have added are preventing crime, arresting more criminals and improving responses to crime and fires.

(Slide 21 – gang summit)
The Anti-Gang and Youth Violence Initiative U.S. Attorney Nelson Cohen and I launched last November has stimulated an unprecedented level of multi-agency cooperation. The focus is on three fronts: prevention, intervention and law enforcement.

While we know the long-term solution to youth violence is a safe and constructive environment, we’ve got zero tolerance for violence and gangs.

Working together, federal, state and local law enforcement agencies have brought more than 100 felony and misdemeanor charges related to gangs, guns and drugs.

We clearly have more work to do preventing and fighting crime.

(Slide 22 – Parks)
One place to invest in our youth is Anchorage’s extensive park and recreation system.

Thanks to an 8.3 million-dollar grant from the Rasmuson Foundation and voter approval of this year’s parks bond, we’re improving our parks in a significant way. We’ve built a new skate park in Spenard, and are putting dozens of youth to work through our Youth Employment in Parks program.

(Slide 23 – SART)
Another new initiative I want to highlight focuses on Alaska’s shamefully high incidence of child abuse and sexual assault.

To improve treatment for victims and increase successful prosecution of these terrible crimes, we’re combining forces between Anchorage police, State Troopers, victims’ advocates and medical professionals all under one roof.

This new facility, to open within about 60 days, will be housed near the Alaska Native Medical Center. In partnership with Providence, it will provide comprehensive and timely services in a safe and respectful environment.

(Slide 24 - military)
With thousands of Alaska servicemen and women serving our nation here and abroad, we’re doing everything possible to help ease the stress on soldiers and their families.

At my request, the U.S. Conference of Mayors has created a new Community and Military Relations Task Force to help mayors better serve their military communities across this nation.

Let me also thank my wife, Deborah, for her First Lady Military and Family Support Initiative, which has brought much needed respite to thousands of military families through free family boat cruises and holiday receptions.

And thanks to the Chamber and our entire community for being such good neighbors to our military and veterans who so enrich our city. Please join me in thanking our military servicemen and women who sacrifice so much for us.


(Slide 25 – Big Wild Life)
Residents of Anchorage - Alaska’s headquarters city - are proud of our big wild life – where we live large, dream big and accomplish goals nothing short of extraordinary.

(Slide 26 – city skyline)
Over the past four years, we’ve worked to balance our city’s budget, grow our economy and improve key services, especially public safety and transportation.

Thanks to the enthusiastic participation of residents, we are building a thriving city for today and for tomorrow’s generations.

Thank you for the opportunity to work together to make our city safe and prosperous.