In December, the Landmine published a story that detailed numerous trips that North Slope Borough (NSB) Mayor Josiah Patkotak took to various cities in Alaska, the lower 48, and Peru. He was accompanied by his wife and children on several of those trips.Â
The article stemmed from an early December meeting of the NSB Assembly. In the meeting, the Assembly passed a change to their code that allows the spouse and legal dependents of the mayor, and the spouses of Assembly members, to travel on the Borough dime for official business. The final vote was 8-3.
But the Landmine later learned that the Borough had been paying for the travel of his family since he was elected mayor in 2023.Â
Patkotak’s father, Crawford Patkotak, is the chair of the NSB Assembly. He introduced the ordinance that changed the code to allow the NSB to pay for the travel of family members.
The Landmine has now obtained – through a records request – the receipts and records for all of the travel.
The records show that Patkotak and his family have enjoyed opulent travel including premium business class on LATAM Airlines round trip from Los Angeles to Peru, all first class travel on Alaska Airlines and other airlines, and multiple stays at luxury hotels in New York City and Washington D.C., to name a few.
The records include more than 450 pages of receipts, emails, and authorizations. You can view the entirety of the records here. (This PDF is compressed as it includes 13 separate PDFs that have been combined into one, so some parts are blurry). Some personal information has been redacted by the Landmine.Â
Below are some highlights of the travel.Â
- A September 2024 trip to Lima, Peru with his wife and one child for the International Whaling Commission. The documents show the estimated cost of the trip was $11,300 but ended up costing nearly $16,000. The trip included round trip first class travel on Alaska Airlines from Barrow to Los Angeles and round trip business class travel on LATAM Airlines from Los Angeles to Lima. It also included ten nights at the Delfines Hotel & Convention Center in a “deluxe suite with jacuzzi, sauna, living room and golf view” for a total cost of more than $3,600.Â
- An October 2024 trip to New York with his wife and one child for a bond sale. (This trip also included a cancelled trip to Reykjavik, Iceland. It’s unclear if his wife and child ended up accompanying him on the New York trip as there are no Alaska Airlines flights for them in the records, but he did list them attending on a travel list he submitted to the Assembly.) The trip included first class travel on Alaska Airlines as well as three nights at the New York Marriott Marquis on Broadway at a cost of more than $4,100.Â
- A nearly $19,000 charter on Bering Air in August 2024 that included his wife and three children.Â
- A July 2024 trip to Washington D.C. to meet with the congressional delegation and other meetings. This trip included first class travel on Alaska Airlines, a premium chauffeur service to and from Ronald Reagan Washington International Airport, and several nights at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill (there are multiple reservations in the records).Â
- A February 2024 trip to Los Angeles for an investment conference and helicopter expo. This trip included first class travel on Alaska Airlines and Delta.Â
- A January 2024 trip to Philadelphia for “Leonardo Helicopter negotiations.” This trip included first class travel on Alaska Airlines.  Â
- A December 2023 trip to Anchorage with his wife and three children for the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission. This trip included first class travel for everyone and eight nights in the Captain Cook at a cost of nearly $3,500.Â
- A November 2023 trip to Seattle for an EPA Consent decree meeting. This trip included first class travel and a three night stay in a suite at the Emerald Queen Casino and Hotel.Â
The records also show several thousand dollars of “travel advance” checks made out directly to Patkotak. These appear to be cash advances for travel, or as some may call it “walking around money.” Here is an example of one.Â
Patkotak earns a salary $281,000 – a 3% increase from the previous year’s salary of $273,000.Â
I used to work for crooked Adam Crum at Department of Health. He got HR to agree to a disability accommodation that he was so fat that anytime he traveled, he needed to be in first class and anytime he stayed in a hotel, he had to be in a deluxe suite. All that to say, I absolutely believe every fact that stated in this story.
Wow, must be nice to have a job where you get to jet off to all those places, all while someone else picks up the tab. Here I am, stuck at my desk, reading about all those amazing trips… maybe I should start running for office!
Considering the bank accounts and budget of NSB given the population size, the travel expenses are less than a drop in the bucket.
It’s about ethics, no doubt. Just because the moneys there doesn’t mean you have to spend it.
This guy is a cheap crook. He should run for President.
Yeah, but at least it’s for semi-official borough related business and not thousands of dollars for seal skins or cakes paid to relatives…it’s just lavish plane tickets and resort stays across the world for himself and his family. Don’t get me wrong if I were a constituent of his I’d be upset as well, but I’d also know what the numbers are in the borough bank accounts, where it comes from, and why it’s being spent the way it’s being spent. I’d prefer an article on the waste of money that our legislature is planning on wasting this cycle, but… Read more »
The republican aspiration of the last 15 years to run government like a business is a monkey’s paw wish.
I hope we get some more snow, soon.
Arctic sheikh.
Have you tried that new taco place on Tudor ?
He probably got the jacket in the picture free also. Cradle to grave society.
Now Landimne and all you naysayers need to turn your attention to the corruption going on in AK Capitol. The Republican’ts clowns continue to rubberstamp unacceptable payraises and golden parachute bonuses for doing their parttime job.