The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Partners supply APOC with evidence of wrongdoing by Alaska money manager, anti-Pebble groups during ballot initiative campaign
The Pebble Partnership, in conjunction with the Resource Development Council for Alaska, has filed a complaint with the Alaska Public Offices Commission, alleging 18 violations of Alaska campaign law.
The 20-page complaint, supported by about 200 pages of evidence, outlines a joint effort by the Renewable Resources Coalition, Alaskans for Clean Water, Americans for Job Security and Bob Gillam to conceal about $2 million in contributions from Gillam in support of Ballot Measure 4 during Alaska's 2008 primary election.
The APOC complaint marks a shift by the Pebble Partnership from defending its to efforts develop a giant mining operation in the Bristol Bay region of Southwest Alaska to going after those who may have broken the law while spending millions of dollars trying to convince Alaskans that such a mine should not be built.
"In the weeks and months following the August 2008 primary election, we received and reviewed information that warranted the complaint we submitted to the Alaska Public Offices Commission," the Pebble Partnership said in a brief statement.
"APOC is the appropriate venue for this kind of information. The complaint speaks for itself and the rest is up to the government to investigate," the partners wrote.
Evidence from disgruntled fundraiser
Much of the information to which the Pebble Partnership is referring came from Robert Kaplan, founder of Los Angeles-based Fund Raising Inc. Kaplan was apparently compelled to turn over evidence of campaign wrongdoing when the anti-Pebble groups refused to pay him for his services.
In an effort to collect an outstanding debt, Kaplan emailed Renewable Resources Coalition Chairman Richard Jameson. In the email, Kaplan told Jameson that he was owed at least $264,069 in commissions for Fund Raising's assistance with the Ballot Measure 4 campaign, but the final amounts would not be known until the Renewable Resources Coalition, Alaskans for Clean Water and the Renewable Resources Foundation reported their contributions.
It was not Jameson, but McKinley Capital Management CEO Bob Gillam, who answered Kaplan's email.
In it, Gillam wrote, "I appreciate your position but we specifically excluded funds that I contributed which includes monies to Americans for Job Security and other monies I contributed otherwise."
Diverting focus from Gillam
The anti-Pebble syndicate - which apparently did not want the public to view Ballot Measure 4, also known as the "Clean Water Initiative", as a proposal sponsored primarily by Gillam - hired Kaplan because of his campaign fund-raising expertise.
In a March 18 email, Renewable Resources Coalition founder Art Hackney told Kaplan: "We'll need $2.5 million to get through the Initiative battle - which I expect to be on the August 26 primary ballot. Gillam needs to have half of that raised so he isn't targeted as the only funder - with a 'vested' interest since his lodge home is in the area of the proposed mine."
Hackney went on to explain to Kaplan that the anti-Pebble group "set RRC up as C6 to veil contributors."
Hackney was not the only one apparently eager to give the perception that the "Clean Water Initiative" had broad support. Scott Hed, director of Sportsman's Alliance for Alaska, asked Kaplan how his organization could help show widespread support for the anti-Pebble movement.
"Since we're attempting to show support for the Clean Water Act (sic) from many people/many places (aka "lots of people other than Bob Gillam"), how do you suggest we accomplish that?" Hed asked Kaplan in an email.
"If I take a portion of my auction proceeds, should I run that through RRC?" Hed also queried.
AJS launders Gillam's money
According to the APOC Web site, Americans for Job Security, a Virginia-based soft-money advertising organization that is not required, or willing, to disclose the source of its funding, contributed $1.6 million to the "Vote yes on 4" campaign. Much of that money, according to Pebble proponents, came from Gillam.
Hackney - an Anchorage-based political consultant whose firm, Hackney & Hackney, Inc., reportedly earned between 10 percent and 15 percent of money spent on the "Alaskans for Clean Water" campaign for handling most of the advertising - sits on the board of directors of Americans for Jobs Security .
In a March 28 email, Hackney invited Kaplan to come to Anchorage to meet with Americans for Jobs Security President Mike Dubke, Renewable Resources Coalition Chairman Jameson and Brian Kraft of Alaska's Sportsman's Lodge.
In the days leading up to the 2008 primary election, Alaskans Against the Mining Shutdown, the group opposing Ballot Measure 4, challenged the Alaskans for Clean Water campaign to reveal the source of the soft-money contributions it received.
Willis Lyford, campaign director for Alaskans Against the Mining Shutdown, said Alaskan voters deserved to know who funded the anti-mining campaign, and "we will make this request of AFCW every day between now and the election until they make full disclosure."
Lyford accused AJS of being a soft-money shadow group with questionable campaign practices.
The Alaskans for Clean Water group refused to identify the source of the Virginia organization's contributions.
The Resource Development Council and the Pebble Partnership, in their complaints to APOC, wrote that "in the context of the discussion about (Kaplan's) commissions owed on donations to Alaskans for Clean Water, the evidence strongly suggests that the Americans for Job Security donations to Alaskans for Clean Water were actually contributions of Mr. Gillam's money."
Renewable Resources efforts questioned
More than half of the complaints filed with APOC were against the Renewable Resources Coalition and its involvement in the Alaskans for Clean Water campaign. The complaints allege that the coalition violated campaign finance rules by not reporting to APOC the money and resources it used to influence the ballot measure outcome and the source of those funds.
The APOC complaint also included evidence that the coalition was also used to conceal contributions made by Gillam. The coalition reported to APOC a $150,000 contribution to pro-Ballot Measure 4 coffers, but an email to Kaplan, also sent to Gillam and Hackney, from the coalition director said the group would not be able to make the contribution unless Gillam added to its coffers.
"As you can see, unless Bob gives us $100,000, or you raise it for us, we are not in any position to donate to (Alaskans for Clean Water)," Coalition Director Jameson wrote. "Give me a call this afternoon to discuss this, and how else we might be able to help the passage of (Ballot Measure 4)."
Evidence presented to APOC indicates that Gillam responded, depositing $350,000 into the Coalition's account in early June. The Coalition then donated $150,000 to Alaskans for Clean Water two days later, retaining $200,000 to spread its own anti-Pebble message.
The evidence points to multiple instances where the Coalition directly advocated for voting for Ballot Measure 4 via Web site, email, radio, television and print advertising and mailings.
When the Coalition's support for Ballot Measure 4 is put in context, Pebble advocates said it is clear that the group's anti-Pebble and anti-mining message were intended to influence the outcome of the election and therefore should have been reported to APOC.
Gillam makes good on ultimatum
While Gillam, in an effort to portray widespread support for Ballot Measure 4, attempted to hide the extent of the money manager's support for the initiative, observers have speculated from the beginning that he was the principal financier of the anti-Pebble movement.
It is believed that Gillam's motivation for preventing development of a mine at Pebble is the beautiful wilderness home he maintains about 25 miles away from the proposed mine site. Besides a wilderness retreat, the house located on the shores of Lake Clark has been used as a meeting place for anti-Pebble planning and as a perk for big contributors to the "Yes on 4" campaign, according to documents supplied to APOC.
Alaska's mining industry has become the target of five "citizen initiatives" since Rep. Jay Ramras, R-Fairbanks, warned Alaska miners in late 2006 that Gillam aimed to bring a mining tax initiative before voters.
Ramras has said that he opposes the Pebble Project at which the initiative was aimed.
"Bob Gillam, who is a very unique individual, has a mind to assert a public ballot initiative to tax the industry depending on the industry's posture toward the Pebble mine," Ramras told the Alaska Miners Association. "That is like an ultimatum and something that you might want to consider because it would put together pretty draconian measures that would be pretty punitive to the industry."
When asked, Ramras said he thought that the miners did not take his warning seriously, and they were underestimating their adversary.
In addition to the money allegedly funneled into the campaign through hidden channels, Gillam has reported to APOC $820,000 that he spent to convince voters to approve the anti-mining legislation.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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