APOC Agency Checks Pebble Lobbying
By Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News, Alaska
Jan. 11–Two companies flew people to Juneau last year who lobbied on the Pebble prospect, and while the groups argued opposite sides of the issue, they shared one thing in common: trouble with the state’s lobbyist watchdog agency.
The Alaska Public Offices Commission voted to fine Northern Dynasty Mines $250 Wednesday for reporting the trip on its lobbyist disclosure 148 days late. Originally, the fine was going to be $1,480 — $10 for each day — but Northern Dynasty appealed.
The commission, meeting in Anchorage on Wednesday, also heard from McKinley Capital Management, which reported the trip to Juneau 153 days late, according to APOC staff, and long ago paid $1,530 before the agency could even assess a fine. McKinley is run by Anchorage businessman Bob Gillam, who opposes the potential mine.
As a firm, McKinley doesn’t have a stake in the prospect and was also traveling to Juneau on business, said the company’s lawyer, Timothy McKeever.
McKeever told the commission that APOC’s rules for what employers have to report about lobbyists are unclear and contradictory, and the commission voted to have the regulations rewritten to make them easier to understand.
The hearings marked the beginning of three days of meetings for the commission, which plans to also tackle complaints against the Republican Governors Association and outgoing Sen. Ben Stevens today.
APOC keeps track of where politicians and lawmakers get their money, and can levy fines when people or groups break the rules. Wednesday, the biggest penalty — and the biggest savings — went to the Alaska Correctional Officer’s Association political action committee.
The PAC formed back in 2004, Christina Ellingson, APOC’s assistant director, told the committee. That year it started collecting payroll deductions from members and donated money to political candidates. But it didn’t actually register with APOC, as the state requires, until last year.
The association’s business manager, Brad Wilson, told the commission he didn’t have any excuses.
“I don’t know what happened,” he said.
The PAC faced a maximum fine of more than $33,000 for the stack of violations.
The commissioners chastised the organizers, saying they let down the corrections officers who pay into the PAC, but levied a fine of $750.
The two Pebble prospect-related topics date back to February. As the Legislature was discussing the potential project, a private jet leased by McKinley Capital Management flew to the capital, along with a separate group that had flown commercially at the expense of Northern Dynasty.
APOC lobbying regulator Tammy Kempton said that because the trips included lobbying efforts, the two companies should have reported the cost of the flights to the state. After APOC contacted them, they did.
Between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30 of 2006, Kempton said, McKinley spent more than $100,000 on lobbying — including the salary of one lobbyist and related costs such as travel. Northern Dynasty spent over $278,000 during the same time period on five lobbyists and related costs. Figures for the last quarter of the year aren’t available yet.
APOC Commissioner Elizabeth Hickerson argued Northern Dynasty should pay the maximum fine, saying that any company that hires so many lobbyists should know the rules.
Northern Dynasty lawyer Tom Amodio wrote that the failure to report the trips as lobbying expenses was an “unintentional administrative oversight,” while McKeever told the commission that the way the regulations are written, it’s nearly impossible for the employer of a lobbyist to know if it has complied with the law.
Kempton said that overall, both firms have a solid track record of filing their reports on time.
McKinley paid the potential late fee in full before it was assessed, though the company could have tried to get the fine dismissed, like Northern Dynasty.
When discussion of a fine came up late in the APOC meeting Wednesday, APOC director Brooke Miles told the commissioners that McKinley didn’t want to receive a civil penalty because it might lose investors.
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