42 months in prison for Kohring

Posted by matsublog

Posted: May 8, 2008 - 12:00 pm

From David Hulen, ADN state/local news editor --

Former Wasilla state Rep. Vic Kohring was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in federal prison this morning for his role in the Veco corruption scandal. You can find extensive coverage on the ADN home page and our Alaska Politics blog.

Below is a story today from one of our Valley bureau reporters, Stephanie Komarnisky, with Mat-Su reaction to Kohring's conviction. We're interviewing people in his old district today, and we'd also like you to let us know what you think about all this. Is the sentence fair? Has Kohring's conviction changed the political landscape in the Valley?

Valley voters still divided on Kohring

By S.J. KOMARNITSKY
skomarnitsky@adn.com

WASILLA -- Jim Garhart and Bill Stanfill believed in Vic Kohring.

They liked the big, affable Kohring's preference for minimal government and his pledge to hold the line on taxes.

But when it comes to how much prison time the former Wasilla legislator deserves for his conviction on federal corruption charges, the two men part ways.

Garhart, prior to Kohring's sentencing, said anything over a year is a crime. He admits his own experience with the law may color his opinion. He wears an ankle bracelet as part of his own conviction for growing marijuana, or what he described as "felonious farming."

Garhart said Kohring was one of the best, most helpful legislators he's known. Taking money from Veco Corp. chief executive Bill Allen while the legislature was debating oil taxes was wrong, Garhart admits. But he said he doesn't believe Kohring was selling his vote.

"There's two things -- malfeasance and misfeasance. I think his was misfeasance," he said. "It was totally naive, but I think he just thought he was being friendly and helping them out. He was always a big advocate for oil and gas anyway."

Stanfill, on the other hand, wouldn't be sad to see Kohring locked away for the five years prosecutors recommend.

"Everyone's saying, 'He needs to take his medicine.' "

A retired insurance salesman, Stanfill said he voted for Kohring in 2002 before being apportioned out of his district. But he became disillusioned with the former drywaller after questions surfaced about whether he really lived in Wasilla, given that his wife lived in Oregon. After Kohring was charged in the corruption case, Stanfill hung a sign outside his home on Trunk Road that read "CONVICT" with the letters VIC highlighted in red.

"He was a conservative. He didn't think giving everybody a bunch of money was the answer to everything. (But) apparently taking money was not a problem," Stanfill said. "For people to feel sorry for the guy now, why?"

The two views mirror a split Kohring engendered throughout his 14 years representing Chugiak, Peters Creek and Wasilla until his resignation last July.

First elected in 1994, Kohring championed small government. His supporters lauded his efforts to cut funding for public broadcasting and the arts and found his frugality refreshing. Kohring, for example, often slept on his office couch during the legislative session.

A sour taste

Critics, however, saw in him a poor representative who reduced politics to a slogan and stuck to it, regardless of the actual merits of a policy.

Gilbert Lucero, until early this year the Mat-Su Democratic Party chairman, said Valley Democrats were exasperated by Kohring's repeated landslide wins despite what they considered his ineffectiveness as a legislator and unanswered questions about his residency.

"They used to call Bill Clinton the Teflon president," he said. "I think he should be called Teflon. Everything slid off him."

Even some of Kohring's one-time fans are now his critics.

Rob Bynum, who owns an auto repair business in downtown Wasilla, said he and his wife voted for Kohring several times because of his emphasis on honesty and his belief in small government. Now Bynum feels betrayed.

"For me, it's left a sour taste in my mouth for government," he said. "I believe he probably started off with a good heart and a good plan and then he got sucked in. I just wished he had held to his convictions."

Garhart, known locally to many as Lazy Mountain Jim, said Kohring espoused a vision of government that appealed to many in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Kohring seemed to walk the talk, and that really pulled people in, Garhart said.

He said he met Kohring in 1994 after he noticed a tall, gangly guy standing alongside the Glenn Highway waving a campaign sign.

Later he often went to Kohring's town meetings, where constituents inevitably asked for government help, he said. What was refreshing about Kohring was his candid response.

"People would come in wanting more money for this or that and he would say, 'OK' and turn to other people in the audience. 'When you convince them to take money from their program and give it to you, I'll support it,'" Garhart said.

Still, watching the secretly recorded tapes in which Kohring took money from Allen in a Juneau hotel room disturbs him, Garhart said.

"The thing I had the hardest time with was when he took the money, then the next thing out of his mouth was, 'If there's anything I can do for you.' That's the one that really gives me pause," he said.

Empathy, not sympathyFor the most part, talk about Kohring in his hometown seems to be subsiding.

Alice Massie, a former Republican district chairwoman for Wasilla and a member of the Mat-Su Republican Women's club, said she hears little talk about Kohring at party functions or at her Guys & Gals hair salon in Wasilla. But there's little doubt that his actions have left some lasting bitterness among his peers.

People do feel empathy for Kohring, she said. His father is suffering from Alzheimer's and his wife is reportedly filing or has filed for divorce. But she said: "I wouldn't say there's sympathy."

Rep. Mark Neuman, a Big Lake Republican who served with Kohring for three years, also feels little sympathy. In Juneau, Kohring was always an enigma to his peers, Neuman said. He didn't socialize much and made his decisions based on what he thought was right. But what he did plays into people's worst fears about politicians, he said.

"I think there's a general feeling of almost feeling insulted," he said. "There's a lot of hard, hard working people who are dedicated. We miss our anniversaries, our kids' graduation, very important times with family to make Alaska a better place. It paints the public legislature as a whole that way."

Lucero said Kohring's fall opens the door for Democrats in the Mat-Su. But whether a Democrat may eventually represent the Valley remains to be seen.

More liberal-leaning candidates have been elected to local bodies, most notably on the borough Assembly since Kohring's scandal, but Republicans still hold all statewide seats in the Mat-Su.

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