Wrangell Sentinel -

People are growing increasingly cynical about government: How money is spent, how hiring decisions are made, and how it seems there are few consequences for actions that hurt the public.

Yet too many elected leaders continue making bad decisions that add to the cynicism.

Such as Gov. Mike Dunleavy appointing to the University of Alaska Board of Regents his former chief of staff whose poor judgment — and illegal actions, according to a judge — cost the state at least half-a-million dollars.

Tuckerman Babcock, a longtime political adviser to the governor, had orchestrated what amounted to...