Tshibaka, who claims to be efficiency expert, signed off on plan to pay barista $350 an hour

Since Kelly Tshibaka is making her expertise at saving the state money a central part of her argument for sending her to the U.S. Senate, Alaska news organizations should dig into the question of why she approved a plan last summer to pay a former barista $350 an hour—a total of $358,400 for six months.

After I wrote about this and other exorbitant elements in the Tandem Motion consulting contract, Tshibaka submitted a press release that Alaska news organizations ran with no questions asked last September.

She made the false claim that one of the project leaders was a “former head of operations and HR for an international corporation (who also happens to enjoy staying connected with her hometown community by serving as a barista when she visits home.)

As I wrote here on Sept. 14, 2020, Tshibaka exaggerated the amount of experience that this person had and misled Alaskans in the process.

The contract worker was a young woman from Outside who had been head of operations and human resources for five months in 2020 at a one-year-old company that had from 11 to 50 employees. The former barista had earned a master’s degree in 2020 and also worked as a freelance consultant in early 2020.

Tshibaka referred to me as a “fake news blogger,” a flogger, which is not nearly as imaginative as the inflated description she provided in her press release about the resume of the former barista.

One of my biggest concerns with this contract, which was signed in mid-August for $4.5 million and then cut by $1.1 million on Sept. 8, was that Tandem Motion alleged that it was in charge of a state project for Tshibaka in 2019, though Tshibaka said at the time that Tandem Motion was not in charge of the effort, but was merely a subcontractor.

There was no secret about Tshibaka’s support for Tandem Motion because she, along with four of her subordinates and fellow Commissioner Jason Brune, wrote letters of recommendations for Tandem Motion that were included in its offer.

Following my blog posts about the former barista, the contractor dropped her from the work without explanation, finding another person for the $350-an-hour gig. It was the result of “negotiations,” the state claimed.

Alaska news organizations never reported on the extraordinary steps Tshibaka took to steer the contract to Tandem Motion, didn’t correct her press release or ask why the barista had been deemed qualified to collect $358,400 for six months.

Your contributions help support independent analysis and political commentary by Alaska reporter and author Dermot Cole. Thank you for reading and for your support. Either click here to use PayPal or send checks to: Dermot Cole, Box 10673, Fairbanks, AK 99710-0673.