She also is the author of a popular blog titled, "One Hot Mess Alaska." http://onehotmessalaska.blogspot.com/ She writes and publishes multiple posts per week. She also has a public Facebook page where she shares her blog posts and also gives her opinion on all sorts of issues and current events. Occasionally, she writes a column or essay for the Alaska Dispatch News or Juneau Empire.
Ms. Bakalar is very vocal on her blog and on Facebook about her political views. See footnote.
Why is this a problem?
Ms. Bakalar represents the State of Alaska in many politically sensitive cases. She is assigned to the "Labor and State Affairs" section of the Attorney General's Office in Juneau.
Update: Ms. Bakalar is now listed as an attorney with the Transportation section.
Query: Is Ms. Bakalar able to represent the interests of Alaska and its residents in a fair and neutral manner?
Is it ethical for an attorney for the State of Alaska - especially an Assistant Attorney General in the State Affairs section who is often involved in political cases - to have a political blog?
Is it ethical for an attorney/blogger to be posting on her blog during work hours or using a State owned computer for this purpose? Is Ms. Bakalar doing this?
Check out her blog posts and see how many are posted during workdays. She has posted hundreds of blog posts on weekdays during normal business hours. Also see the post "Ms. Bakalar mixes Business and Pleasure" for more about this concern.
Footnote:
http://onehotmessalaska.blogspot.com/2015/01/lets-talk-about-revelation.html
Ms. Bakalar claims she does not blog about politics but this is simply not true.
As an attorney she knows that she is entitled to free speech. Free speech is everyone's right. You can openly admit being a racist and talk all you want, however, just because you have freedom of speech doesn't mean you have freedom from consequence.
ReplyDeleteThe hard part in all of this...is there really isn't much we can do about it. If I understand correctly, they are appointees and are not voted in...plus, with the current climate in the federal level, I would imagine she just might get a promotion.