I read with interest letters to the editor by Ken Koelsch supporters that urge people to vote for Ken as a person “who can pull us together, rather than drive us apart.” A couple quick observations on that point.
Ken was chair of the Dan Sullivan for U.S. Senate committee in Juneau. Sullivan is a member of the extreme right wing of the GOP Senate who has, as one of their goals, the complete destruction of what’s left of unions in America. In a union town like Juneau, where Sullivan was soundly rejected, I don’t consider this a way to pull our community together.
And at a recent mayoral forum, Ken stated he was against raising the minimum wage and that the market should determine wage levels. That’s not what most Juneau voters want. In 2013, former Labor Commissioners Jim Sampson, Ed Flanagan and I started an initiative drive for a modest increase in the minimum wage. The initiative passed statewide with 69 percent of the voters. Alaskans never agree on anything by 69 percent. Juneau voted for the initiative by nearly 77 percent. Clearly, Ken does not support what most Juneau voters want — raising the minimum wage.
So how is Ken going to pull us together? I consider Ken to be a longtime friend and a decent, honest person. He might make a good mayor where his political philosophy is more in tune with his constituents, but that’s not Juneau.
In her six years on the Assembly, Karen Crane has proven herself to be a friend of both business and labor, and everyone else for that matter. Some of my union brothers and sisters tell me Ken remembers where he came from and wants to be the unions’ best friend. If this is true, great. But the Central Labor Council’s endorsement of Karen Crane will still stand. Labor’s oldest and most basic promise is, “We don’t trade old friends for new friends.” Karen Crane is a proven friend.
Please join me in voting for Karen Crane for mayor. But no matter which candidate you support, let’s all get off our collective rear ends and VOTE! For a class community like Juneau to have a voter turnout of just 24 percent, like last October, is a disgrace!
Tom Cashen
Former Labor Commissioner
Juneau