By James Brooks
Alaska Beacon
Craig Richards, a longtime member of the board in charge of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, has been replaced.
On Monday afternoon, Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced he had selected Ralph Samuels, a former state legislator, businessman and tourism expert, to serve on the board in a public seat formerly occupied by Richards, whose term was slated to expire this year.
The board directs Alaska’s $85 billion Permanent Fund, whose investments are the source of more than 60% of the state’s general-purpose revenue. That money is used annually for services and the annual Permanent Fund dividend.
Richards had served on the board since 2015, first under then-Gov. Bill Walker, and then under Dunleavy, who appointed him to a four-year term as a public member of the board in 2021.
Paulyn Swanson, the corporation’s communications director, said after the initial publication of this article, “it is our understanding that Craig resigned.”
Richards did not immediately answer a message left on his cellphone. It was not immediately clear whether he had sought another term but was passed over by the governor.
Samuels also did not immediately answer a message left on his cellphone.
“The Trustees wish to express our gratitude to Craig Richards for his years of service and wish him our best,” said Jason Brune, the chair of the board of trustees and a former Dunleavy cabinet member.
Of Samuels, the governor said, “He is a lifelong Alaskan with an innate understanding of our state’s business and political landscape. As a Trustee he will bring that experience and insight to managing Alaska’s sovereign wealth fund not only for today, but for future generations of Alaskans.”
Under Richards, who chaired the Board of Trustees from 2018 through 2022, the board launched a controversial in-state investment program that has yet to deliver positive results.
The board in recent years has also intensified its warnings about the threat that the fund may run out of spendable money in the coming years.
An analysis paper commissioned during Richards’ time on the board suggests that a constitutional amendment may be needed to change the Permanent Fund’s structure to firmly cap the amount of money that may be spent from the fund and to consolidate the fund’s current two-account structure.
James Brooks is a longtime Alaska reporter, having previously worked at the Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, Kodiak Mirror and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. A graduate of Virginia Tech, he is married and has a daughter, owns a house in Juneau and has a small sled dog named Barley.
Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
