Permanent Fund 'coup' moves Jason Brune to trustee chair, replacing Ethan Schutt
Gabrielle Rubenstein announced plans to resign from the Alaska Permanent Fund Board of Trustees Wednesday, but not before providing a key vote in removing Ethan Schutt as chairman and replacing him with Jason Brune.
Former Attorney General Craig Richards referred to it as a “coup.” I heard last week from other sources that the trustees had informally discussed in advance the plan to make Brune the chair, violating the open meetings act.
The vote was 4-2 with Richards and Schutt opposed.
The Anchorage Daily News has the best coverage.
Referring to his “coup” comment, Richards said, “It’s exactly what it was, and I think it’s beneath the behavior of this board.”
Richards is right about this.
The normal process is to decide on officers of the trustees at the September meeting. Rubenstein said her resignation will take effect August 1. It makes no sense to have her vote on choosing a chair and vice chair of the trustees a week before her resignation takes effect.
Revenue Commissioner Adam Crum was named vice chair. Crum, DOTPF Commissioner Ryan Anderson, Rubenstein and Brune voted to name Brune chair.
Under existing law, the governor has the sole authority to appoint members to the trustees. The law requires that the revenue commissioner serve as a trustee, along with one other commissioner and four public members.
Schutt’s term expired July 1, but Gov. Mike Dunleavy did not act until last week to reappoint Schutt. The governor’s office had refused to say in advance whether Schutt would be reappointed and continued to say nothing after his term expired.
At some point, enough members of the Legislature may wake up to the need for a structural change. Rubenstein said that she never asked to be a trustee—it was Dunleavy who recruited her—and she didn’t have enough time to continue to serve.
Brune served as a trustee while working as environmental conservation commissioner under Dunleavy. After he left his state job, Dunleavy named him as a public member a year ago. His term expires in 2027.
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GOV. MIKE DUNLEAVY was invited to sit near former President Donald Trump during the last night of the GOP convention, creating a new wave of guessing among Republicans that if Trump wins and if the GOP controls the Senate, Dunleavy will be able to quit his job and land a job with Trump, perhaps Interior Secretary. Dunleavy has two years left in his term.
The Republican blog is dreaming about this and about pressuring Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom to abandon her run for Congress to clear the way for Nick Begich III. The GOP blog, which promotes Begich at every opportunity, is warning that if Dahlstrom remains in the race, that will increase the odds that Rep. Mary Peltola will be reelected.
“By dropping out after the primary election and helping Nick Begich, Dahlstrom might cement her standing with Alaska Republicans, and by getting the governorship with Dunleavy’s departure, Dahlstrom could win two additional terms as governor, setting herself up for a potential 10 years as governor going forward,” writes Greg Sarber, who owns 12 percent of the company that runs the GOP blog.
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