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Nominee for State Assessment Review Board introduces herself; committee forwards name to joint session amid name discrepancy
Summary
The governor's appointee to the State Assessment Review Board introduced herself as Jana Wellstein and described her legal and land-use experience; the Finance Committee recommended forwarding the nomination to joint session but the committee record later lists the name as Jane Wilson, a discrepancy noted in the transcript.
The Alaska Senate Finance Committee on May 4 heard from a nominee for the State Assessment Review Board and recommended that the nominee's name be forwarded to the joint session for consideration.
The nominee introduced herself in committee as "My name is Jana Wellstein," stating she is a lifelong Alaskan from Irving and that she practices law in Anchorage as the principal attorney at JDW Council, which she said she established in 2015. She described more than a decade of work focused on administrative law, regulatory matters and land-use issues, including property valuation disputes and handling property assessment appeals and Department of Revenue audit termination matters.
She told members she previously served five years on the Anchorage Planning Board and currently serves on the Alaska Advisory Oil and Gas Royalty Board, where members review proposed royalty-in-kind contracts and prepare written recommendations to the legislature. She also said she is a commercial property owner and landlord, and argued that those experiences align with the State Assessment Review Board's requirements.
When the committee took action, a committee member reported that the Senate Finance Committee had reviewed the qualifications of the governor's appointee and recommended that the name be forwarded to the joint session for consideration. The chair asked if there was objection; none was recorded and the committee submitted the name for joint-session consideration.
Name discrepancy: the transcript records the nominee's self-identification as "Jana Wellstein," while the committee motion and record identify the name to be forwarded as "Jane Wilson." The committee did not address or reconcile that difference on the record during this meeting; the transcript therefore documents both forms of the name.
The committee adjourned after forwarding the nomination and announcing items to be considered at the next day's meeting.