By ALEX GIMARC
Must Read Alaska reported Mike Robbins’ candidacy for Republican Party chairman.
Robbins is a long-time party activist and local businessman, currently the Executive Director for Anchorage Community Development Authority under Mayor Dave Bronson. He is currently vice chairman of the Alaska Republican Party.
He is a long-term local businessman and entrepreneur, mostly in the media world. His skill stack includes things like advertising, public relations, logistics, marketing, management, radio and television. These are all valuable skills when dealing with the gaggle of cats we refer to as the Alaska Republican Party. Note that herding cats is my cynical description of the task at hand. Appears the candidate’s view is more nuanced, referring to it as leading cats, which may be a far smarter approach.
One example to consider would be his leadership of the Anchorage Community Development Authority (ACDA), the former Anchorage Parking Authority. Previous head of the Authority was one Andrew Halcro, who served five years.
Halcro, a left-friendly Republican, enjoyed complete support from the Mayor Ethan Berkowitz and Austin Quinn-Davidson administration and veto-proof democrat majorities on the Anchorage Assembly. It didn’t go well, ending with his fiery resignation letter Mar 2021. Issues identified by Halcro included financial difficulties, disputes with Muni staff, bad faith dealings, unexplained delays, and failure to keep promises made. In short, everyone else’s fault.
Robbins was nominated to replace Halcro by Bronson and confirmed in 2021. Since that time, stories about dysfunction at the Authority have all but disappeared, which in government is usually a Good Thing. Better yet, the job seems to be getting done. Competence? What a concept.
Contrast the two situations. Both Halcro and Robbins are local businessmen. Halcro had support from all levels of the Muni government. Robbins has the support of the mayor who appointed him but has to deal with an actively hostile (to all things Bronson) Assembly. Robbins figured out how to build a working relationship with the Assembly majority not to simply benefit either side of the political divide, but rather to promote and improve Anchorage as a community as a whole. In other words, doing what the Authority he is leading is chartered to do.
Bottom line is that the Authority has managed to stay out of the news and get something positive done in a tough environment. To me, not only does this clearly demonstrate the ability to herd (or lead) cats, but to do so successfully. Imagine what that skill stack could do with an eager, frustrated, underperforming Republican Party.
There is a web page for Mike Robbins candidacy with both phone and e-mail contacts listed. He does respond.
If we are to get back into the business of defeating democrats and removing them from the levers of political power, Mike Robbins would be a good place to start.
The election for Party Chair takes place at the State Convention here in Anchorage, April 19-21. The choice is yours. Refusing to make one is also a choice, though a less constructive one. This is going to be a difficult election cycle. Be prepared. Selecting the right party chair is one way to be properly prepared.
Alex Gimarc lives in Anchorage since retiring from the military in 1997. His interests include science and technology, environment, energy, economics, military affairs, fishing and disabilities policies. His weekly column “Interesting Items” is a summary of news stories with substantive Alaska-themed topics. He was a small business owner and Information Technology professional.
