<\/a>Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska President Chalyee Éesh Richard Peterson asks a question to the four gubernatorial candidates who will appear on ballots in November. (Screenshot \/ AFN livestream)<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, reading more from notes than during some other answers, recited a long list of figures he says shows his commitment to public safety such as crime being at a 41-year low (a drop that also largely coincides with the COVID-19 pandemic). “We have lots of work to do, there’s no doubt about it, but we’ve done tremendous amounts of work,” he said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
A more specific public safety question focused on a large number of inmate deaths<\/a> in state correctional facilities this year, some for reasons still not publicly known. Dunleavy offered an largely “nothing to see here” reply that drew attacks from his challengers.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t “So far the investigations have shown none of these individuals have died at the hands of others,” he said. While the state is “always looking at what we can do to improve, we always have folks who pass away in our care…once we find out how these individuals passed away I think most people will realize they passed away either from health issues or suicides.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Gara, the harshest critic of Dunleavy’s record among his challengers during the campaign, said at least three of the deaths have been confirmed as suicides and attacked the governor’s lack of a response to addressing the problem.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t “You do not put a suicidal person in solitary confinement in the cold when they need help,” Gara said. Furthermore, with other deaths “the families have been asking to see the videos the state has not released.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t The question of making videos from correctional facilities public was emphasized by Walker, who as with some other issues during the campaign embraced a controversial decision to release a video in an inmate death despite being told the state could be sued.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t “I said ’we should be sued,’” Walker said, adding more treatment for substance abuse and mental health is needed because “prison is not a rehab facility.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Pierce, in a relatively short response, said he agrees with the challengers more evaluation of incoming inmates is needed along with more open disclosure when deaths occur.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t The housing of residents has been a dominant issue during the campaign due to lack of availability and affordability, and the candidates’ responses were as varied as the types of homes in the Last Frontier.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Pierce said he favors public-private partnerships, and providing land and resources by obtaining those under federal control.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t “Alaskans need to take control of themselves,” he said. “We need to take responsibility for ourselves. We’ve watched the federal government put a lock on Alaska.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Dunleavy, as a fellow Republican, also said he favors less federal control such as “making sure you can use our own timber through regulation to build housing by reducing lumber costs.” He said his administration has also been trying to address the problem through actions such as seeking lower interest rates through the Alaska Housing Finance Corp.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t AHFC funds exist, but are not being spent to provide housing, Gara countered. He said other funding sources such as Housing and Urban Development and tribal entities are not being fully utilized, and repeated his oft-stated goal of eliminating oil tax subsidies to companies as a way of generating more than $1 billion annually for state programs.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Walker, taking a different track, focused on reducing energy costs, especially in rural areas facing astronomical prices.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t “You can’t bring businesses there and jobs there without bringing down the cost of energy,” he said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t