- Dennis Egan
-
Dennis Egan Member of the Alaska Senate
from the B districtIncumbent Assumed office
April 19, 2009Preceded by Kim Elton Mayor of Juneau, Alaska In office
February 13, 1995 – October 3, 2000Preceded by Byron Mallott Succeeded by Sally Smith Personal details Born March 3, 1947
Juneau, AlaskaPolitical party Democratic Spouse(s) Linda Egan Residence Douglas Island, Alaska Profession Radio personality Dennis William Egan (born March 3, 1947)[1] is a member of the Alaska Senate, representing Juneau, Alaska. He previously served as its mayor from February 13, 1995, to October 3, 2000 and was a member of the local assembly.[2] He was manager of Alaska-Juneau Communications, Inc., which owns the Juneau-area radio stations KINY and KSUP;[3] Egan hosts the program Problem Corner on KINY.[4]
Contents
Family
Born in Juneau, Dennis is the son of William Allen Egan, who was a legislator of the Alaska Territory, the presiding officer of Alaska's constitutional convention and the state's first governor,[5] and Neva Egan, who was Alaska's first First Lady.[6] He lived in Washington, D.C. while his father lobbied for full Alaskan statehood. Dennis, then eleven years old, appeared on I've Got a Secret when Alaska entered the Union in 1959.[7])
Professions
Egan has held a number of professions in addition to politics. Among other jobs, he served in the National Guard of the United States and assisted the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System working for Caterpillar Inc.[5] He spent a good portion of the 1970s working in various positions for the State of Alaska government.
Politics
Dennis's first attempt at politics happened in the 1980s, when he ran a primary election bid for a seat in the Alaska House of Representatives; he lost to Bruce Botelho.[5]
On the suggestion of friends, Egan ran for the Assembly of the City and Borough of Juneau in 1989.[5] He won and served nearly two full three-year terms in the Assembly from October 3, 1989, to February 1995.[2]
Juneau, Alaska, regular election, 1989 (District 1)[8] Candidate Votes Percentage Dennis Egan 3990 57.0% Joe Geldhof 2095 29.9% Lee Stoops 868 12.4% Write-in 47 0.7% Juneau, Alaska, regular election, 1992 (District 1)[9] Dennis Egan 5193 62.7% Sandy Harbanuk 3063 37.0% Write-in 22 0.3% Egan was deputy mayor[5] of Juneau in 1995. He was appointed mayor when Byron Mallott resigned in order to become executive director of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation; Mallott had believed he could do both jobs, but his plans drew criticism anyway, and he resigned as mayor.[10] Dennis Egan won reelection in 1995 and 1997.[2] The 1997 race was a landslide victory for Egan. His opponent, Cory Mann, was a "newcomer to politics", according to the Juneau Empire, and had not filed for election until October 2, five days before the vote was held.[11]
An effective mayor, Egan helped mediation efforts[5] to end an August 1997 Alaska Native Brotherhood boycott of the 51st Golden North Salmon Derby.[12] Bob Tkacz of the Anchorage Press had an unfavorable view of the Empire's support of the Derby and Egan's efforts to end the boycott.[13] In September 1997 Egan helped keep 200 United States Forest Service jobs from being moved from Juneau to Ketchikan.[5]
Juneau, Alaska, regular election, 1995 (Mayor)[14] Candidate Votes Percentage Dennis Egan 5620 57.53% Chuck Keen 2123 21.73% Mark Farmer 1847 18.91% Write-in 179 1.83% Juneau, Alaska, regular election, 1997 (Mayor)[15] Dennis Egan 5432 78.1% Cory Mann 1392 20.0% Write-in 129 1.9% Egan declined to run in 2000.[7] Instead, Sally Smith narrowly defeated Jamie Parsons, who had been mayor from 1990 to 1994,[16] by 220 votes.[17]
In April 2009, Egan was appointed to the Alaska Senate by Governor Sarah Palin to replace Kim Elton, who resigned in March 2009.[18] Palin had refused to appoint state Representative Beth Kerttula, the preferred choice of Juneau-area Democrats, to the seat. The Democratic caucus in the Senate, in turn, refused to confirm Tim Grussendorf, who Palin appointed instead. Egan was offered the position as a compromise, as a political stalemate was brewing between Palin and the Democrats.
Egan was unopposed for election to a full term in 2010.[19][20]
Radio
Egan has long been interested in radio. During high school and after broadcast engineer training, he worked at KINY in the 1960s. From the 1980s until January 2010, he hosted Problem Corner, a Juneau-area call-in show.[5] He was the Alaska Broadcasters Association's Broadcaster of the Year in 1990, and selected for the association's Hall of Fame in 2001.[21]
References
- ^ Tower, Elizabeth A. (2003). Alaska's Homegrown Governor. Anchorage: Publication Consultants. p. 61. ISBN 1-888125-99-3.
- ^ a b c CBJ Assembly members, 1970–present
- ^ Plenda, Melanie (2001-12-04). "Woman gets 45 days for forging Egan's name". Juneau Empire. http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/120401/Loc_forgery.shtml. Retrieved 2008-01-22.
- ^ Dennis Egan "Problem Corner"
- ^ a b c d e f g h Brown, Cathy (1997-09-22). "Mayor's race: Political heir vs. novice". Juneau Empire. http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/092297/lmayors.html. Retrieved 2008-01-22.
- ^ Morrison, Eric (2006-07-02). "Parade grand marshals paved the way". Juneau Empire. http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/070206/loc_20060702015.shtml. Retrieved 2011-02-15.
- ^ a b Chandonnet, Fernand (2000-11-19). "Mr. Mayor: Dennis Egan reflects on five years at the helm of Alaska's capital city". Juneau Empire. http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/111900/Ins_Egan.html. Retrieved 2008-01-22.
- ^ Juneau, Alaska, regular election, 1989 results
- ^ Juneau, Alaska, regular election, 1992 results
- ^ Germain, David (1996-10-27). "Fund Manager Gives Away Cash: Rich or Poor, Alaskans Get Dividends". Los Angeles Daily News. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/FUND+MANAGER+GIVES+AWAY+CASH+:+RICH+OR+POOR,+ALASKANS+GET+DIVIDENDS-a084000670. Retrieved 2008-01-22.
- ^ "Election spending varies for Tuesday candidates". Juneau Empire. 1997-10-03. http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/100397/lspending.html. Retrieved 2008-01-22.
- ^ Parmelee, Catherine. "More stores, ships as economy diversifies". Juneau Empire. http://juneaualaska.com/history/history_1990.shtml. Retrieved 2008-01-22.
- ^ Tkacz, Bob (1997-08-27). "Picking Derby Winners: Ad promos and boosterism overshadow "The Voice of the Capital City"". Anchorage Press. http://208.109.242.142/archives/archives/document4961.html. Retrieved 2008-01-22.
- ^ Juneau, Alaska, regular election, 1995 results
- ^ Juneau, Alaska, regular election, 1997 results
- ^ Mayors of the City of Juneau: 1970 – present
- ^ Juneau, Alaska, regular election, 2000 results
- ^ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090420/ap_on_re_us/palin_state_senate_seat;_ylt=AmXuhHBAKiR7UJUzNIr12Hg8KbIF
- ^ "Fourteen legislators will run unopposed". adn.com – Politics. Anchorage Daily News. June 2, 2010. http://www.adn.com/2010/06/02/1305181/fourteen-legislators-will-run.html. Retrieved June 7, 2010.
- ^ "2010 Candidate List". Division of Elections, State of Alaska. June 1, 2010. http://www.elections.alaska.gov/ci_pg_cl.php. Retrieved June 7, 2010.
- ^ Alaska Broadcasters Association
Members of the Alaska State Senate 27th Alaska Legislature (2011–2012)
President of the Senate: Gary Stevens (R-Coalition) • Majority Leader: Kevin Meyer (R-Coalition) • Minority Leader: Charlie Huggins (R)- Bert Stedman (R)
- Dennis Egan (D)
- Albert Kookesh (D)
- Joe Thomas (D)
- Joe Paskvan (D)
- John Coghill (R)
- Linda Menard (R)
- Charlie Huggins (R)
- Fred Dyson (R)
- Bill Wielechowski (D)
- Bettye Davis (D)
- Johnny Ellis (D)
- Hollis French (D)
- Lesil McGuire (R)
- Kevin Meyer (R)
- Cathy Giessel (R)
- Thomas Wagoner (R)
- Gary Stevens (R)
- Lyman Hoffman (D)
- Donald Olson (D)
Republican (10) • Democratic (10) • Majority Coalition (16) • Alaska Legislature • Alaska House of Representatives • Alaska State Senate Categories:- 1947 births
- Living people
- Alaska Democrats
- People from Valdez, Alaska
- Mayors of Juneau, Alaska
- Alaska State Senators
- American radio personalities
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