Redistricting board director dies suddenly Crime News

May 9th, 2011 by Caitlin Bartley

Redistricting board director dies suddenly

The director of the state board responsible for redrawing legislative district lines by mid-June died suddenly early Sunday of an apparent heart attack, according to friends and work colleagues.

Ron Miller

Ron Miller, who was 65 with two young children and a rich work history, had been putting in long days as executive director of the Alaska Redistricting Board, friends and colleagues said.

The board must redraw Alaska’s 40 House and 20 Senate districts to reflect population shifts from the 2010 Census, without diluting the voting strength of Alaska Natives. A final reapportionment plan must be complete by June 14, a deadline set under the state Constitution. It is challenging work that sometimes riles up people, said Michael White, the board attorney.

“You go into your public hearings, and people are screaming and yelling,” White said.

Some critics complained the appointed board’s makeup — with four Republicans and one Democrat — wired it to favor the GOP.

While politics never can be eliminated completely from the redistricting process, White said “Ron’s goal was to get a plan that could hold up in court, and that was the goal he worked for the entire time.”

Miller was decent, smart and thoughtful, White said. “He took very much to heart some of the criticism the board was getting.”

Miller tried to do things right, said a longtime friend and former Daily News reporter, Sheila Toomey. “He was someone who successfully negotiated that difficult line between political savvy and personal integrity.”

At the end of April, Miller traveled around Interior Alaska with board member Jim Holm, a Fairbanks Republican, for public hearings on how to redraw the legislative boundaries. They sought comments in Tok, Glennallen, Healy, Fairbanks and Galena.

“There was no hint whatsoever there was anything wrong with him,” Holm said.

On Friday, the restricting board held its final public hearing, a daylong affair in Anchorage that kept Miller at the office until around 7:30 p.m. or so, White said. Miller’s voice was a bit raspy.

The long days may have had a cumulative effect.

“It’s simply accurate to say he worked himself to death,” said Toomey, who had talked to him by phone several times in the past week. “He was working long hours and it was very stressful. But he didn’t complain at all. He was completely committed to the process of producing a reapportionment plan.”

Miller was pronounced dead early Sunday at Providence Alaska Medical Center, said another longtime friend, John Tichotsky. The reality is still sinking in. Miller had no history of heart trouble, Tichotsky said.

Miller was born in Kentucky and lived in Alaska about 35 years. He was a lawyer with an MBA from Switzerland and a bachelor’s in Russian studies.

His friends were delighted when he found romance late in life, Tichotsky said. His wife, Oksana, is Russian, from the Magadan region. He doted on their two children, Katya, 6, and Kolya, 7, Tichotsky said.

“It was fun to see that side of Ron evolve,” Tichotsky said. “He kind of lived a full life after he got married and had kids.”

He worked for then-Gov. Steve Cowper as an international trade specialist. He developed housing for Western oil field workers on Russia’s Sakhalin Island. He was involved in fishing ventures in Russia for years and was internal counsel for the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, according to Tichotsky.

He was active in Frank Murkowski’s first campaign for governor and in January 2003 became executive director of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority. He held the job for five years, overseeing an agency with more than $1 billion in assets. He also inherited flawed projects, including the Alaska Seafood International plant in Anchorage, which AIDEA sold under his watch. He supported Lisa Murkowski in her first bid for the U.S. Senate.

Now the redistricting board must figure out how to do its work without him. His death is a big loss, White said. White plans to meet Monday with board chairman John Torgerson to discuss what to do.

“As we moved forward, Ron would have been pretty crucial to making sure we were able to get the final product out under the deadline,” White said.

Taylor Bickford, the board’s assistant director, said everyone respected Miller.

“Ron was a close personal friend and a mentor,” he said.

Holm said he’s sad for Miller’s young family. His sudden death should make people think.

“If you love somebody and you care about somebody, you tell them that every time you see them,” Holm said.

Reach Lisa Demer at ldemer@adn.com or 257-4390.

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