Wasilla Project

Thank you brave people of Wasilla!

2008-11-14T20:40:11-08:00

On November 4, 2008, hope trumped fear. The people of conscience in Wasilla have shown that a small town in Alaska can foster large minds as well as small ones.

Today is the day

2008-11-04T07:07:20-08:00

print and post your own evolve the vote sign

Election 2008 Voting Information

Today, November 4th, is Election Day!

Where and when do I vote?

Find your polling place, voting times, and other important information by checking out these sites and the hotline below. These resources are good, but not perfect. To be doubly sure, you can also contact your local elections office.

VoteForChange site: voteforchange.com
League of Women Voters' site: vote411.org/pollfinder.php

What should I do before I go?

After you've entered your address on either Vote For Change or Vote411, read the voting instructions and special rules for your state.
Voting ID laws vary from state to state, but if you have ID, bring it.
Check out all the voting myths and misinformation to look out for: http://truth.voteforchange.com/

What if something goes wrong?

Not on the voter list? Make sure you're at the right polling place, then demand a provisional ballot.
If you're voting on an electronic machine with a paper record, verify that the record is accurate.
Need legal help? Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE.
Try to get video of the problem and submit it to VideoTheVote.org

Sarah Palin: The email scandal

2008-10-28T12:02:04-07:00

On a personal note, all of us here at the Wasilla Project have been overwhelmed at the response to our videos. We've been surprised at the number of former friends and colleagues of Palin's who have come out of the woodwork to send us emails of support and appreciation. We started this project with the idea that we'd spend the weekend in Wasilla and come back with enough footage to create a short citizen's essay video about Palin and her hometown.

In that short weekend (which stretched to 3 days) we met many great Wasillans who gave us their interviews and tons of support to produce what became 4 complete and separate videos. We have enough footage to produce at least 2 more compelling videos, but all of us have had to get back to our day jobs! And I have to say, we are a little tired of making videos about Sarah Palin... as fascinating as she is.

We hope that this series of videos have helped people to understand a bit more of who Sarah Palin is and some idea of what she might be like as a Vice President or even President. Today, as we launch the description of our 4th and final video, we've hit 100,000 views on YouTube.

For all of you who have spent countless hours forwarding links to our videos across the web, thank you! You've made it all worth it. For those of you who haven't, well, there is 24 hours in each day as my grandpa in Nebraska used to say.

With the election less than a week away, the Wasilla Project posts it's 4th and final video. This video is on Governor Palin's use of a personal Yahoo email account to conduct state business. Palin and her aides have been found to be in violation of a state ethics law during the Troopergate scandal by a bipartisan Alaskan ethics investigation. They released a 300 page report early October as a result of an investigation that began before McCain picked her as his running mate. Part of the investigation of the committee centered around emails that Palin and her aides traded back and forth, emails that also included Palin's husband, the Alaskan citizen Todd Palin.

In our video, Andrée McLeod, a government watchdog, contends that using a Yahoo account for state business and keeping those emails from the official record of state business is unethical. In early October of this year, Alaska State Superior Court Judge Craig Stowers agreed. While he didn't ban the use of Yahoo or other 3rd party email accounts for state business, he ruled that e-mails sent or received through Gov. Sarah Palin's personal e-mail accounts are public records if they concern official state business. Palin and her aides have gone to great lengths to make sure that the mails they've released have had large sections withheld or redacted. Emails that Palin or her aides cc'd to her husband Todd, who is a state citizen and not an elected official, should have been part of the public record and were withheld or redacted as well.

With the controversy of the $150,000 clothes shopping spree, and her appearance on SNL dominating coverage of Governor Palin, this story has been seriously underreported. We feel that it's very important for people to know that on even the most basic level, Sarah Palin has not been transparent or reform minded in her time as governor and that she has had serious ethics problems at home.

In this video we interview:

Anne Kilkenny – longtime Wasilla resident and government observer.
Zane Henning – is a Wasilla resident, politically conservative, and active as a researcher and government watchdog.
Andree McCleod – is a government watchdog who has been investigating Palin’s use of Yahoo email while governor.

We look forward to your comments and ideas. Thank you for watching!

Paul Lundahl

Wasilla Project

October 29, 2008

Resources

Sarah Palin's powerful "First Dude"

Palin, like Rove before her, stayed off government e-mail servers

"Cracks appearing in Palin's "reform" facade" by Alex Koppelman

ADN Recent Story on the Case

ADN Editorial

Sarah Palin: Fiscal Conservative?

2008-10-16T09:01:07-07:00

On the heels of the final, historic 2008 presidential debate, the Wasilla Project releases Part 3 of our series, where we examine Palin’s record as a fiscal conservative. Clearly, the economy has emerged as the dominant issue of the 2008 presidential campaign and we hope that this video will be a useful contribution in understanding some of the history of Palin’s public service in Alaska.

After 8 years of a Republican White House, there still seems to be a reality distortion field around the concept of “Fiscal Conservative”. Governor Palin presents herself as a fiscal conservative who has a record of helping taxpayers in her state. The reality has often been quite different.

It’s surprising that someone who came into office as mayor promising to cut wasteful spending and lower property taxes, actually left office with Wasilla over $20 million in debt. Records show that when she entered office Wasilla's debt was one million or less.

Some $14-15 million of the over $20 million in debt was due to a hockey rink she built while in office, land for which Wasilla originally negotiated the purchase of for $145,000. They eventually paid out nearly $1.5 million for the land, not counting legal fees, due to Palin moving forward on the project before the city had clear title to the land. This echoes in significant ways Palin’s later negotiations as governor on the Alaskan pipeline, where she committed $500 million in taxpayer money, without assurances that a Canadian company would even build the pipeline.

As the economy worsens in the United States, markets around the world are crashing and people are losing their homes and pensions, it’s irresponsible not to question the economic positions and records of the candidates. In the case of Palin, her record has been extremely troubling and reflects part of the reason that she has lost credibility with so many Alaskans in recent weeks.

In this video we interview:

Victoria Naegele – former editor of The Frontiersman, Wasilla’s hometown paper. Victoria is currently on the fence about Palin as governor today, but was sharply critical of her during her first few years as mayor. In her interview, she expressed hope that Palin had learned lessons while mayor that could make her a better leader.

Anne Kilkenny – longtime Wasilla resident and government observer.

Dianne Woodruff – Wasilla city councilwoman. Dianne is intimately involved in the current finances of the town and the efforts to improve the living conditions there.

Zane Henning – is a Wasilla resident, politically conservative, and active as a researcher and government watchdog.

Andree McCleod – is a government watchdog who has been investigating Palin’s use of Yahoo email while governor. Palin has used Yahoo mail for government business, which has been counter to her image as supporting open and transparent government. Palin's Yahoo email has remained hidden from investigators and doesn't enter into the state archives as her official governor's email address would.

Resources
Wall Street Journal on Hockey Rink Troubles
CNN on Trail of Bills as Mayor
Article in Salon about Palin’s Record as Mayor
Remodeling her Office
Village Voice article on Palin's history of fiscal management

Second Wasilla Project Video Launched - Sarah Palin: Religion in Politics

2008-10-10T15:43:21-07:00

In this, the second of four videos by the Wasilla Project, we are covering Sarah Palin's background as a social conservative, and how she has used her religious affiliation to advance her political career.

In 1996, when Sarah Palin first ran first mayor of Wasilla, she brought new elements into the race that her townspeople had never experienced before. The position of mayor in Wasilla had traditionally been secular and non-partisan, and she ran a campaign that featured both her fundamentalist Christianity and her opposition to abortion. Many observers felt that they were unusual issues for small town politics, but they proved successful in the conservative climate of the times. Sarah Palin beat her opponent John Stein by more than 200 votes. The final tally was 617-413. Palin’s fundamentalist church affected the community in other ways as well, such as taking over the local hospital board and banning abortions. The ban was challenged in lower courts and when the hospital appealed to the Alaskan Supreme Court, their ban was denied in a landmark decision that made national news at the time.

In this film you’ll see the following people from interviews we conducted September 26th-28th, 2008:

- Anne Kilkenney, Wasilla resident. Anne's letter about Sarah Palin to friends and family became a viral sensation after Palin's nomination as Vice President by McCain.
- Victoria Naegle, former editor, The Frontiersman. Victoria was a key observer of Palin in her first 2 years as mayor. The Frontiersman had a contentious relationship with Palin in the first 6 months of her time as mayor.
- Dianne Woodruff, Wasilla City Councilwoman. As a member of the Wasilla city council, she's witnessed the social and financial aftermath of Palin's terms as mayor.
-Howard Bess, Baptist Minister and Mat-Su Valley resident. He and Dr. Susan Lemagie fought to keep abortion safe and legal in the Mat-Su valley where Wasilla is located. They eventually won a landmark case in the Alaskan Supreme Court against the hospital board that Palin had helped to get elected.
-Geran Tarr, Chair Alaska Women’s Lobby. Geran has had first hand experiences in supporting women in Alaska.

We feel that with an issue as controversial and important as this one, the more information people have about this issue, the better. Below are resources that may be helpful in order to better understand the issues we raise in our video. We look forward to your comments and ideas. Thank you for watching!

Resources:
New York Times Article on Palin's Time as Mayor
Article in Salon on Pastor Howard Bess
Anne Kilkenny's Letter

Credits:
Eric Ladenburg, director, editor
Erik Johnson, exec producer/research/internet strategist
Arianna Pilram, co-producer/research/assistant editor
Julie Griesert, co-editor
Paul Lundahl, co-producer/co-editor
David Driver, director of photography
Glen Janssens, director of photography
Jordan Weill, co-producer, photographer, online editor
Ikuko Kobayashi, art director, motion graphics
Michael Becker, composer
Chris Krotky, composer
Carla Hardaway, voiceover
Rachel Gaunt, project angel
And many thanks to the people of Wasilla, Alaska who supported this project!

Sarah Palin: The rape kit controversy

2008-10-08T21:24:00-07:00

Erik Johnson

Want to help get the word out? Help us subtitle our videos in other languages

2008-10-08T20:09:29-07:00

Are you bilingual and able to take some time to help us subtitle our videos in other languages? Just go to this public spreadsheet:
SarahPalinAndRapeKit_Translate

And translate the film into any other languages you speak. Once we have a complete translation in a language, we'll add a new subtitle track to the film in YouTube.

If your language isn't in the spreadsheet, just add it.

We hope to have it translated in Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese and French. But we'd love to make it available in other languages as well.

Are we appreciative of your help? You betcha!

Thank you in advance for all that you do.

- The Wasilla Project Team

Mayor Sarah Palin and the Rape Kit Controversy Video

2008-10-08T19:40:38-07:00

Why did we produce this video?

Our initial reason for starting the Wasilla Project was to learn about who Sarah Palin is from the people who know her best, folks from Wasilla, Alaska, Palin’s hometown. A group of 7 filmmaker friends got together, organized the plans, raised money for flights and soon we were off to Wasilla, to interview real people there about the Sarah Palin they know, and make a series of films that hopefully give a thoughtful, authentic view of who she is.

While the team’s political beliefs tend toward left of center, we hope that the films we produce will reach people no matter where they fall in the political spectrum.

As often happens, what we found when we arrived was far different than our expectations. People in Wasilla were very eager to help us, but very reluctant to be on camera. Governor Palin has had quite a history of political turmoil during her time in public office, and there was a lot of concern from people who know her not to get on her enemies list by speaking frankly on camera. Nevertheless, we were able to secure interviews with people whose concern for getting accurate information out to the public, was greater than their concern for their political future.

As we arrived in Wasilla and our original 3 scheduled interviews turned into 12, we found that we had acquired material for a much broader range of subjects than we anticipated. We are now in the process of creating 4 films on Palin to distribute between now and the election. Of the 4 films, we felt that this one, on the controversy of the police chief of Wasilla charging victims for the rape kits and whether Palin, mayor of Wasilla during that time knew, was the most important to get out first. We struggled to cover it in a way that gave the perspective of Palin and her supporters on the issue, but the topic was so disturbing that in the end, we just let the people we interviewed speak for themselves.

In this film you’ll see the following people from interviews we conducted September 26th-28th, 2008:
- Eric Croft, former Alaska state representative, Democrat, and sponsor of the 2000 bill which made it illegal to charge rape victims for rape kits in Alaska.
- Tara Henry, forensic nurse who has conducted many exams in Anchorage, Alaska.
- Dianne Woodruff, Republican Wasilla resident and member of the Wasilla City Council. Diane is no longer a republican, but an independent.
- Dr. Colleen Murphy, former Alaska Violent Crimes Compensation Board, where she heard first hand accounts of victims being charged for their forensic exam.

I’m sure that this story will continue to develop and we hope that this video will be a positive contribution to helping the American electorate understand the issues that it raises.

We feel that with an issue as controversial and important as this one, the more information people have about this issue, the better. Below are resources that may be helpful in order to try to understand what happened in Wasilla around violence against women between 1996 and 2000, the years in question where it has been acknowledged that this occurred. We look forward to your comments and ideas. Thank you for watching!

Paul Lundahl
Wasilla Project
October 8, 2008

Resources:
Thoughtful overview of the Controversy from Media Matters
Politifact on whether Palin Knew
Wasilla’s statistics on Sexual Assault (note that these are often significantly under reported)
Wasilla Paper’s Original Article on the Practice of Charging Rape Victims

Credits:
Paul Lundahl, director
Erik Johnson, exec producer/research/internet strategist
Arianna Pilram, co-producer/research/assistant editor
Julie Griesert, co-editor
Eric Ladenburg, co-producer/co-editor
David Driver, director of photography
Glen Janssens, director of photography
Jordan Weill, co-producer, photographer, online editor
Ikuko Kobayashi, motion graphics
Michael Becker, composer
Chris Krotky, composer
Carla Hardaway, voiceover
Rachel Gaunt, project angel
and many thanks to the people of Wasilla, Alaska who supported this project!

The Wasilla Project is a volunteer effort, with airline, hotel and food expenses funded by the friends and families of the people above, we are grateful for their support to make this project a reality.

HD Version of Wasilla Project's First Video is now Online

2008-10-08T19:31:25-07:00

If you'd like to see or share a higher quality of the Wasilla Project's first video - Sarah Palin: Rape Kit Controversy, you can see it at this link.
HD Version of Sarah Palin: Rape Kit Controversy
It's a bit nicer than YouTube....

Wasilla Project: The Team

2008-10-01T00:39:03-07:00

Jordan Weill