Ramras is a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor involved in a close race against Mead Treadwell in the GOP primary. The election is Tuesday.
The complaint by Anchorage resident Steve Flory alleges Ramras knowingly violated state election law by directing his business, Pike’s Waterfront Lodge, “to commission, produce and finance a series of extensive, statewide television commercials prominently featuring and extolling only Mr. Ramras, and thinly and falsely disguised as bogus ads for his Fairbanks lodge.”
The Monday hearing is only a request to hold an accelerated hearing on the complaint itself. There will be no inquiry at the Monday hearing.
Ramras on Saturday called the complaint and hearing request, which were received by APOC on Friday, “frivolous.”
“I think it’s an effort to smear a good man’s name inside the 72-hour window before the election,” Ramras said by telephone from the Kenai Peninsula, where he was campaigning. “The complaint is without basis.”
Ramras noted that the hotel ads, which were run heavily in the Anchorage television market, have not been broadcast since June 26. He said he suspended the two hotel ads in question well before the 45-day blackout period in advance of the primary election, as he said is required by state law.
Ramras, who has been representing District 10 in the state House, also said he was told by his advertising representative and one of his aides that APOC earlier
this year found no problem with the ads. Flory, in his complaint to the commission, accuses APOC executive director Holly Hill and the commission of providing “mistaken and public representations” about the applicability of Alaska to Ramras’ hotel ads.
Flory contends in his complaint that the ads violated Alaska’s law regarding corporate contributions to political campaigns. He argues that two Pike’s lodge ads “convey essentially the exact same campaign theme and message blatantly promoting” Ramras. In one ad, Ramras touts his views on an in-state natural gas pipeline. In the other hotel ad, Ramras talks only of positive energy while urging people to stay at his hotel. He says “We’re Alaskans and we’re looking to improve ourselves, our homes, our families and our businesses.”
Flory said he filed the complaint and hearing request just days before the election because he only recently learned that those he thought were going to file the complaint earlier in the year hadn’t done so.
“I thought it had been filed back when (Anchorage television station) Channel 11 did a story” in June, he said Saturday by phone while driving back to his Anchorage home.
Flory is a member of the Anchorage Fish and Game Advisory Committee to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
He declined to say who he is supporting in the race for lieutenant governor.
Contact Managing Editor Rod Boyce at 459-7585.
I do beleive that the way Jay runs his businesses is a good indicator of what he will do for us if hes placed in Juneau.
The man has no tact, no finger on the pulse of his voters and has never given me the impression that he cares.
The few time I have spoke with him I have had walked away feeling very much that he would rather not have to deal with what the voters consider to be issues. He's pretty self absorbed.
I do agree with other posters in that his big campaign signs are uglier than sin.
Let's get honest. His campaign signs look like spray-painted graffiti.
The public has police that arrest people that vandalize our public spaces in such a way. He's trying to grab attention any way he can... looks like he thinks we can be 'marketed' to by remembering his 'sell' message any way he thinks it will work. No taste, no class, no care for those of us that have to look at it. Maybe he should hire someone to put his spray-painted message on his hotel? I'm guessing he wouldn't want that, but why not?
Guess what he'll be like with more power?
I personally heard him drop the F-bomb in reference to his constituents during a break in a public event.
Politics aside for a second, Jay is not a nice guy. He doesn't even act like a nice guy unless there is a camera in his face or he's handing out buttons.
And his campaign signs are ugly. Sorry to throw that in there, but true.
In 2008, I stayed at Pike's Waterfront Lodge and noticed that the elevator inspection certificates had been expired for more than 1 year. That hotel serves thousands of guests, and elevator safety inspections are the least of things that must be done right to maintain a hotel in good standing . Why did I notice? Because the certificates are prominently displayed for all to see within the carriage. How many other guests, many tourists, noticed they weren't cared about by the proprietor of the establishment?
I've personally been served hairs at the Food Factory with burgers wrapped around them. Is this his fault? Who knows? Who does he hire to do things right? Who's supposed to be working to ensure that public safety and health codes are maintained beyond the absolute minimums? Obviously he isn't. I think we all have stories about the Food Factory, and it's not about being a well-respected business entity in our community. Over the years he's built up quite a reputation for stiffing and haggling with tradesmen who do work on his facilities and then not paying his bills as pledged, from my discussions with local plumbers and other skilled tradesmen.
As a concerned constituent, I've attempted to contact him via email regarding corruption of our elected officals by BP. Not a single word returned from him. That clued me into what the man will ignore in order to keep appearances.
What else has he not been doing correctly? He'll probably tell you that it's not his job, that someone else is responsible, that he doesn't run day-to-day operations (maybe that's the case) but he's the guy in charge, and he certainly has a lot of input since he's on the TV so often telling us about his establishments - and he stands to benefit when his employees cut corners to enhance his profit. If he can't run his own businesses correctly, why would we want him in Juneau running our state?
It appears that Jay Ramras doesn't operate his businesses ethically, and is only out for Jay Ramras. We have a good thermometer reading of what we can expect if we were foolish enough to elect him as part of an administration governing our public trust. Do you want him in Juneau? I don't.
As to Jay's character, it bears repeating that the article on Jay's airplane tantrum is an Alaska political CLASSIC:
http://www.themudflats.net/2010/08/02/jay-ramras-airplane-seat-with-no-class/
"People_who_care wrote on 08/21/2010 07:00:24 PM:
Read what highly regarded Fairbanks resident Nancy Dewitt reported about her recent encounter with Ramras on an Alaska Airline flight."
Credit to the Mudflats:
http://www.themudflats.net/2010/08/02/jay-ramras-airplane-seat-with-no-class/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKa8sW01P_s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dAONy3HtrA
It does seem like a pretty sleazy way to get Pike's to cover his costs to me.
From mistreating employees to just about getting kicked off an airplane for his blatant disrespect of the rules he has all the qualities of a politician. Unfortunately Bill Allen is gone from Juneau but from Jay's voting record it appears that he has fallen into favors with another oil executive.
After nearly loosing the last election to Frank Turney at least all voters can rest easy knowing Jay Ramras will be done representing us in Juneau after this fall. I look forward to seeing Jay doing what he does best, wearing the chicken costume on his tv ads.
This APOC complaint is a calculated attempt to sway the vote as a last ditch effort. Treadwell has been trying to buy the Lt. Gov. seat ($500,000 of MTs own money versus a measly $60,000 in total campaign contributions from others). Forty percent of the $60,000 comes from outside of Alaska…more specifically from Washington DC & Virginia.
His attempt to buy the seat is failing, so now he is trying to steal the votes to ensure that he wins.
The APOC complaint is being used as a destructive campaign strategy: try to destroy your opponent’s chances to win just days before the election by filing frivolous APOC complaints. We saw that happen in Fairbanks last year.
But I wouldn’t expect otherwise from a Washington DC bureaucrat who is supported by Washington insiders who do not have Alaska’s best interests at heart.
Watch out, Alaskans! A vote for Treadwell is a vote against Alaska. If you vote for him, you will be sealing Alaska’s fate. Mead will Tread Well on our interests with his DC cronies.
For more info on Flory: http://www.courtrecords.alaska.gov
For years I've watched him use his business for important public purposes. He's sponsored fundraisers for the Food Bank, Imagination Library and others, covering all the meal and room rental costs, so the proceeds could go entirely to helping others. He led a campaign to help get thousands of pounds of food to the rural areas of the state when they needed it. And behind the scenes with no fanfare at all, he's helped individuals and our community when no one knew it.
Jay is a leader who gets things done! I suppose that bothers some people. I, for one, consider it a privilege to vote for such a hard-working, dedicated, compassionate trailblazer.
If Fairbanks wants affordable energy and a strong economy so our kids can come back here to work, Jay Ramras is the man you want in the Lt. Gov's chair.