Can you afford to place a full-page ad in the Kodiak Mirror? Can you afford to give the maximum ($1,000) to your favorite political candidate? Can you afford a lobbyist to go to Juneau to represent you? If you are like us, the answer is more than likely no! Only the very wealthy, PACS, corporations and the corrupt VECO executives can afford this kind of money.

We here in Kodiak are having enough difficulty just keeping up with gas, oil and food prices. For this reason, it is high time that we Alaskans bring some sanity back to the election process. The passage of the Clean Elections initiative, Ballot Measure No. 3, will begin this change. Alaskans, after all, have the most compelling reason to begin cleaning up our elections. The conviction of many corrupt politicians and the likely possibility of more make this initiative even more imperative.

It is time we level the playing field and make it more likely that candidates, who could not previously afford to run for office, will now be able to do so. We need more candidates running for office that are not beholden to Big Oil or corporations. Just think how large our permanent fund would be if we had been getting our fair share of oil revenue over all these years. Certainly large enough to double or triple our current permanent fund dividend, if not more! Please join us in voting yes for the Clean Elections initiative, Ballot Measure No. 3 on Aug. 26!