Video Clips

Quoted moments from Alaska public meetings, hearings, and press conferences.

Andrew Gray “Because it's just simply not the law. It's misleading. We don't need this language.”

Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260805-1130 Ballot Measure 3 Hearing

Mike Chenault

“That clarity matters. It helps prevent confusion. It closes potential loopholes.”

Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260805-1130 Ballot Measure 3 Hearing

Andrew Gray “In 2023, when Tupe Smith and Whittier was encouraged to run for school board by teachers at the school where she volunteered, um, and then was elected, it wasn't because she thought she was exploiting a loophole. The folks didn't understand that they couldn't vote. American Samoans didn't know. And at the time, neither did the Anchorage Elections Office nor the Division of Elections itself when people were seeking clarity on this issue, if they could vote.”

Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260805-1130 Ballot Measure 3 Hearing

Andrew Gray “Where is the loophole? Why are we putting people in jail or charging them with crimes if it's not a crime?”

Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260805-1130 Ballot Measure 3 Hearing

Andrew Gray “We're going to add this and it's going to change nothing in Alaska. And that's unfortunate because we do need to change it because a terrible injustice is happening”

Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260805-1130 Ballot Measure 3 Hearing

Andrew Gray “These American nationals are not allowed to vote in local and state elections in Alaska, and that's why they were arrested. So when you say we have a loophole, wouldn't that loophole have applied to these American nationals to be able to vote? I don't understand where the loophole is.”

Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260805-1130 Ballot Measure 3 Hearing

Nancy Dahlstrom “Unlike legislation that's debated in the legislature, this initiative cannot be amended or altered.”

Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260805-1130 Ballot Measure 3 Hearing

Andrew Gray “I would love to have the freedom as a legislator to bring forth legislation that might allow American Samoans in Alaska who are American nationals but not U.S. citizens to vote in local and school board elections so that we don't have what happened in Whittier where 11 people were arrested”

Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260805-1130 Ballot Measure 3 Hearing

Andrew Gray “in the United States today, Alaska has a larger American Samoan population than any other state behind Hawaii. So it— this is a real issue in our state.”

Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260805-1130 Ballot Measure 3 Hearing

Tama Solanoa

“A lot of people don't realize that I am not allowed to vote, and even some of my colleagues and friends, when they hear that I don't have a right to vote in this day and age, they are taken aback in a sense that they don't understand why I can't vote.”

Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260805-1130 Ballot Measure 3 Hearing

Calvin Schrage “the courts have upheld campaign contribution limits, recognizing that the risk of corruption is a true and real danger to our democracy.”

Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260805-0900 - Ballot Measure 1 Hearing · Aug 5, 2026

Calvin Schrage “that changed in 2021 when a federal court struck down Alaska's voter-approved campaign contribution limits, resulting in elections where a donor can give unlimited amounts directly to a candidate.”

Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260805-0900 - Ballot Measure 1 Hearing · Aug 5, 2026

Calvin Schrage “By voting yes, Alaskans are choosing to reinstate fair, reasonable, and constitutional campaign limits.”

Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260805-0900 - Ballot Measure 1 Hearing · Aug 5, 2026

Calvin Schrage “instead adjust these limits every 10 years based on the inflation over that 10-year period to ensure that they do stay up to date, limiting candidates from receiving very large, potentially corrupting donations”

Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260805-0900 - Ballot Measure 1 Hearing · Aug 5, 2026

Calvin Schrage “In 2006, 73% of Alaskan voters confirmed these values by supporting strict contribution limits to keep big money from dominating our political landscape.”

Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260805-0900 - Ballot Measure 1 Hearing · Aug 5, 2026

Bryce Edgmon “Will the House please come to order. Will the clerk please note those members present.”

Alaska Legislature: House Floor Session, 8/3/26, 1030am

“The committee will be entitled to the same board RFI process that any board member can request information through. And so that access to information isn't driven by myself, it's driven by our policy.”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“$680,000 to ensure that student athletes enrolled in any sport retained or restored for FY27 by prior board action can safely and equitably access district-level competitions and regional or state-level competitions via district.”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“We're not investigating past decisions. We're not investigating— I mean, this is, for me, we have got to move forward. So I just think we need to be real clear about what the purpose of this committee is.”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“I am optimistic with the— that the funds will come through given the circumstances that exist today. So I will support it because the alternative hurts kids, and I don't want to do that.”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“the charter, the— with this duration in the charter concerns me. The deadline of having, of having to complete all of this work— I recognize it says unless extended by action of the Anchorage School Board— but having to complete all of this work by December 31st, recognizing we have holidays built in there and likely no work would be happening during that time, feels like a very short and unrealistic window by which to complete something of this magnitude”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“016S would generate 45 new FTE and would direct the administration to allocate those FTE to new teachers, building substitutes, and/or counselor FTE, not just FTE.”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“the board chose to adopt language essentially calling for a future committee process focused on addressing a refined version of right-sizing, recognizing that the goal is to improve, and there are certainly opportunities for improvement in our last right-sizing initiative and the vote that occurred regarding school closures.”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“I just want to make sure that this committee is going to get the full support of information they want about the process that has been used in the past. They're going to want to know what was the selection criteria for Campbell, what was the selection criteria over all the other schools”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“And that 4% is an obligation we're supposed to maintain. So we're really being placed in a difficult position. But I also think realistically, we're not going to not get some funds.”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“If any part of the business comes through with like a 2-1 vote, I would like the, the charter to require the committee to have that minority 1 vote get a narrative opportunity to explain itself in the report.”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“We have spent down to 5%. We have had 1 out of every $100 available to us, that 5th percent, to deal with emergencies. And this proposal Allocating 6.8 of $7 million.”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“the simple answer is yes, we would be able to deploy those resources almost immediately. I actually have a tentative meeting scheduled with my team tomorrow based on what happens this evening so that we can get started on that process.”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“As chair, I was tasked with generating a proposal for a joint committee with the assembly on the topic of rightsizing. I can fathom the scope of a board committee on rightsizing. This is what it looks like. I am having a challenge generating feedback and a proposal on a joint committee related to rightsizing.”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“having a contingency for should the amount of revenue that we're hoping and projecting and have been told, you know, that we should be able to account on doesn't manifest, what would be the backup plan?”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“I think maybe getting to $32 million is under question, but I don't think we're committing a fund balance in its full— that will— that doesn't have guaranteed restoration of revenue.”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“I did want to just make sure that at least for me, this is not an investigatory process.”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“I would like to propose that we really privilege the idea that narrative data is the primary means of data collection that this committee should be gathering, because we already have the demographic data, we have the accounting data, we have the instructional data. I would like the board to specify that narrative data is necessary in the guiding principles of this document.”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“there certainly is a possibility that the, the state might be short on its revenue projections. There is a very real possibility that districts will not get the full funding that was outlined in the law.”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“I would respectfully bow out of participating as a committee chair of this committee if the deadline were to remain December 31st, because I, I worry that, um, that would come across as feeling pretty disingenuous to the community if we're trying to complete an entire listening effort by December 31st.”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“So from the superintendent, why was Campbell selected over all other schools? I mean, you know, it's had 100 people on waiting lists, only STEM and all that. But regardless, they're going to want those questions. I want the commitment that the administration and of course the board president to be behind their rights to get all the information they need”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“The proposed duration is 7/16 through 12/31 of '26. The purpose is to facilitate collaborative, transparent, and community-centered processes for evaluating how the district should approach rightsizing should future enrollment, financial, and operational conditions warrant such consideration.”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“The charter that I received names me as chair, so I've been thinking about this for several weeks. Through the lens of Chair, and I did— I spoke with Member Lessens last night about realistically what does January, February look like. I'm very confident that we can manage a deadline that goes past that”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“the original proposal I put together was one for $6.5 million. $1.8 Million, which would net us about 50 FTE.”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“I haven't wanted to spend down to fund balance down to 5%, and I never thought I would co-author a memo suggesting we spend down to 4%. I have been deeply grumpy— is a polite word— this weekend, not at the maker of the original memo, but at the circumstances in which we find ourselves It's atrocious”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“I'm going to support this because the alternative is unacceptable. Uh, not filling these positions are going to hurt the kids.”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“Accounts to spending 97 cents of that dollar at this point in time. So does that— I'm hoping that can help frame the level of investment that this proposal does.”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“we are eligible to receive up to $32.2 million, but we could also still receive amounts less than that. So it is truly a waterfall amount of funding, meaning there are a few other priorities that the legislature will have to pay out prior to school districts receiving whatever is left over.”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“my proposal is to extend the duration of the committee through no later than the next reorg, which is the maximum amount of time in our bylaws. Is there any opposition to that?”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“there should be, uh, like student pathways mapped more carefully according to the, the changes that have already been in, like, the Cascade that we— I don't think we have a good appraisal of those student pathways. And I think a catalog of these resources going in the public face in real time.”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“recognizing that while it does prove a risk for the district, it also means that if the legislature were not to give us a single cent, we could technically cover that expense. Again, not without some risk exposure, but also recognizing that the price of oil has been very high.”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“Since I'm on the committee as well, I'm just wondering, we have not even met, the three of us, to even map out the work or come up with a timeline. I do think the committee needs some flexibility in what that— and maybe some checkpoints along the way.”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

“the S version still would approve and authorize the superintendent, superintendent to appropriate $6.8 million of the $7 million remaining in fund balance, in unreserved fund balance, to reinstate up to 45 school-based FTE and restore levels of service for secondary student athletes for the 26-27 school year.”

Anchorage School Board: 08/04/2026: School Board Work Session · Aug 4, 2026

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