Contributed by Mike Shower
My last article in The People's Paper was about Alaska's budget problems. I noticed the other candidates had articles about themselves, and perhaps I should too. I'm a veteran and started my 24+ year career at the Air Force Academy. I’ve been a pilot since high school and have flown continuously for 35 years, including F-15Cs and F-22s as a fighter pilot, MD-11s at FedEx as an airline pilot, and a host of general aviation aircraft. I share a small plane with two friends and spend a lot of my free time flying the bush fishing, hunting and exploring. I've many combat hours in Iraq and Serbia, including a confirmed Mig 29 shootdown in aerial combat. I attended and taught at the US Air Force Weapons School (aka Top Gun), where I decided I wasn't busy enough (sarcasm) so got a master's degree in business.
I had the good fortune to be one of the eight original pilots selected to run the initial F-22 Operational Test to determine if the jet was combat ready – and it was! I've been an operations officer with 250 people and the most diverse job requirements on a base. I was selected as the first F-22 Squadron Commander in the Pacific, and took command of the 90th Fighter Squadron in May of 2007 at Elmendorf AFB. I finished off my active duty career in 2010 as a joint staff officer in charge of Northern Edge Alaska, an exercise with 10,000 participants spanning 14 time zones, 350 tactical aircraft and a Carrier Battle Group in the Gulf of Alaska training our young men and women.
I was stationed twice in Alaska, first in 1993, and we've called Alaska home since. We've been all over the world and found no place like it. We couldn't stand the thought of leaving again, so we retired from the Air Force, sold our Eagle River home and moved to the Mat-Su. I occasionally do part-time work for AK Supply, a small business involved in oil and gas logistics, but work mostly government military support contracts. I also sit on the board for Ink Digital Solutions as an advisory member on business strategy. I stayed out of politics due to my military time, and the biggest thing I'd been involved in was a short stint as Ben Carson's Alaska campaign director until he dropped out of the race. Being a senator was never on my radar, nor was running for office. This saga was a wild turn of events for our family, from a quiet life to sitting in the senate seat. In fact, from a Friday morning phone call to a Monday night appointment by the governor, that's how fast this happened.
My wife of 30 years, Michelle, and I have three children and two grandchildren (with another on the way). One of the biggest reasons I'm willing to serve in Juneau is to find a solution to our fiscal situation as a state so our children and grandchildren inherit a stable, not bankrupt, Alaska.
What did I do after being appointed to this seat in late February? I refused to join the majority caucus where I'd have been told how to vote on many items. You need to know if the candidate you're going to vote for will join the caucus or not - it's critical to whether we'll see any change in Juneau! I focused on the most important issues to you (PFD, Budget, Crime), fought and voted for putting the statutory 50/50 split of the PFD into the constitution, and attempted to get a constitutional spending limit brought to the floor, but was denied by Senate leadership. Working with an Anchorage Democrat and Republican, the three of us used Rule 48 (last used in 1990) to force leadership to have hearings on and move SJR1 (the 50/50 PFD bill), SB127 (repeal and replace of the SB91 criminal justice reform bill) and HB214 (Bree's Law). I voted against the bloated operating & capital budgets. I voted against SB26, which is the restructuring of the PFD into a percent of market value approach that opens the door to government taking more of the PFD for government spending.
I ask you to find another senator or candidate who did, or will, take a stronger stand for what the people want to see done, (or not done!), by government – who bucked the system from the beginning because it's coercing legislators to vote in ways contrary to what is best for the people and Alaska. I can and did reach across the aisle and will work with anyone willing to do the right thing regardless of party or ideology. My positions aren't promises, they're a proven track record. I'm not intimidated by the system or anyone in Juneau (just ask them!). As Paul Harvey said, “Now you know the rest of the story.”
Please… Get out and vote in the August 21st Primary! If you want to know more, go to www.MikeShower.com or send me an email at contact@mikeshower.com.
God Bless!