Open Letter to Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski suggesting where to donate Veco's tainted funds

May 19, 2007

By Ray Metcalfe - Dear Senator Lisa Murkowski,

Operating on a wing and a prayer and a shoe string, a hand full of people with very little resources formed a group named "Citizens for Ethical Government" set out to expose Veco's executives and the people they bribe for what they are.

While collecting signatures for Ben Stevens' recall and suing the Division of Elections for blocking our efforts to do so, we ran straight into the biggest brick wall state government could muster.

The state supplied Ben Stevens with over a dozen attorneys to assist Ben Stevens in fighting us and concealing his fraud. Simultaneously, Senate President Ben Stevens passed a law intended to shackle "Citizens For Ethical Government" with the attorney's fees he and the state encountered in their efforts to conceal Ben's fraud.

Ben Stevens then used that new law to sue "Citizens For Ethical Government" for over fifty thousand dollars in damages he claimed to have encountered as a result of our effort to recall him.

A hand full of people took huge risks and burned up a lot of shoe leather in their endeavor to rid Alaska's government of Veco's corruption.

Although we appear to be off to a good start, there are still over 22 legislators in Alaska's legislature who owe their political lives years of help they got from Veco. Consequently, we still have a long way to go if we are to be truly successful in driving a wooden stake through the heart of the corruption that has griped this state for so many years.

What could not be a more appropriate use of Veco's tainted money than to use it to help rid Alaska from the corruption Veco has woven into the fabric of Alaska's Legislature.

Your contribution to "Citizens For Ethical Government" would be sincerely appreciated.

Ray Metcalfe is a former Republican legislator from Anchorage and longtime government watchdog. He is chairman of the Republican Moderate Party. Contact him at RayinAK@aol.com.