Assembly members walk out

PALMER -- Phrases like "witchhunt" and arguments over potential lawsuits peppered discussions after three Mat-Su Borough Assembly members, in protest of a mayoral veto, walked out of the meeting Tuesday -- necessitating that the body adjourn for lack of a quorum.

After seeking a legal opinion from the borough attorney of whether a walkout was permissible by borough code, assembly members Kelly Lankford Ladere, Talis Colberg and Bruce Bush gathered their paperwork and left the meeting, leaving the veto by Borough Mayor Tim Anderson to be discussed at the assembly's March 18 meeting.

Anderson said leaving the matter on the table for two weeks was exactly what he was seeking to avoid by using veto power to stop a motion put forward by Ladere. His veto remains in effect, although a motion to overturn it was halted by the walkout.

At the meeting, while commenting on several issues, Ladere asked that Planning Commissioner Lee Sharp, who has been on the commission since 2000, be removed from his appointed position as commissioner. The motion was in response to public testimony heard at the meeting from audience members.

Six members of the audience testified about events they said took place at the planning commission's Monday evening meeting. Calling it a frightening scene, Butte resident Lucille Frey related her belief that Sharp had improperly asked questions about a case currently in Palmer Superior Court.

Four people who testified before the assembly were not at the commission meeting, but read from a document describing events at the meeting. According to the unsigned document, two questionable acts took place. Ken Hudson, the borough's chief code compliance officer, discussed the status of actions pertaining to North Star Speedway -- two of which are in litigation -- while "being drilled by Lee Sharp." The document states that Hudson was told "by the borough attorney numerous times to stop talking about the case, but Lee Sharp continued to ask questions and Ken Hudson continued to answer."

Hudson, according to the document, later made a comment related to problems with code enforcement that the writer called "very, very disturbing." According to the document, Hudson said the assembly had turned down a request for a black helicopter and napalm -- presumably to be used on code violators.

According to a tape of the planning meeting, Sharp had asked Hudson about the borough's ability to enforce the codes the borough operates under. Hudson responded that, like the North Star Speedway case currently going through Palmer Superior Court, the court system was one tool used to enforce code.

"They never fund my black helicopters that I asked for, so I can't go napalm them," Hudson said. "That pesky legal system keeps getting in the way."

Hudson, Wednesday, said those comments were meant as a joke.

"It's a kind of comment I've made many times when people are frustrated that the borough does not immediately force someone to [come into compliance]," Hudson said. "Obviously, this time, unlike all the other times, it caused part of this controversy and … for that I apologize."

Borough resident Penny Nixon followed Frey's testimony at the meeting, and asked for Sharp's dismissal. Mary Psenak also requested resignations from both Hudson and Sharp.

"These two men discussed, in public … a matter that is in litigation," Psenak said. "If, by some stretch of the imagination neither of them didn't know this, the assistant borough attorney told them enough times …"

Patrick O'Connor also testified about the meeting, saying he was "fed up with the performance that went on …" His comments were followed by those of Sherry Trboyevich, who said little about Sharp, but expressed her shock over Hudson's black helicopter and napalm comments.

"These people work for you and me and all of us in the Mat-Su Borough," Trboyevich said. "Please, let's not have something like that happen again -- it's pretty awful."

Michelle Church, the second of the two testifiers who were present at the Monday meeting, told assembly members that, while she felt Hudson's comments about the helicopter were "flippant and disrespectful," she disagreed with other testifiers' interpretations of Sharp's questions.

"The questions Mr. Sharp was asking were not being considered under appeal," Church said.

Under assembly member comments, Ladere requested Lee Sharp be removed from his position on the commission. Her motion was met with some immediate opposition.

"I think you might be a little premature, myself," Anderson said. "You might want to review the tape and get some facts first."

Ladere did request a tape, but reiterated her motion. Anderson accepted the motion, and Ladere immediately moved to postpone the decision to the assembly's March 18 meeting.

When asked Wednesday why she had made the motion, Ladere said she "just chose to do that." She said she made the motion on behalf of those who testified about the issue. She said she had not yet listened to the tape and said she may change her mind afterward, but did not know what action she may take if she changes her mind.

"I don't believe the assembly has anything but hearsay evidence," assembly member Jim Colver said at the meeting Tuesday. "We don't know the facts. We've asked the manager to look into it …"

Assembly member Jody Simpson spoke in favor of postponing the measure, but said she was not comfortable voting on it at all, without any details.

"I don't really understand the methodology of moving it now and postponing it," Simpson said. Simpson requested a transcript of the meeting be made.

"The issue is whether the borough attorney repeatedly, more than once, asked for this conversation to cease," Ladere said.

Mary Kvalheim, who served on the planning commission with Sharp, said she'd vote for the postponement, but not because she was inclined to vote for Sharp's removal.

Bush said he believed it was a good idea to make the motion "so people will be aware of it," and said he believed there should be a reprimand available for people who don't follow the advice given by borough attorneys.

The motion to postpone the decision passed unanimously, but that didn't keep it off the table for long. After a lengthy at-ease, Anderson chided the assembly

"I'm highly disappointed that we went to this level of having somebody removed without any facts," Anderson said during his comments. "I would certainly expect more out of this group than taking an action without any of the facts."

Anderson moved to veto the motion, and Kvalheim moved to override the veto. But some assembly members disagreed that the matter should be settled at that meeting.

"I think you're achieving the opposite of what you intended to do," Colberg told Anderson.

Anderson said he was trying to make the issue more fair to Sharp.

"It's not fair to have Mr. Sharp on trial, basically, before we have the facts," Anderson said. "If you hear the facts and want to bring it back at that point, then I would certainly entertain the facts."

With five votes needed to override a veto, Colberg said he wasn't willing to cast a vote.

"I'm going to abstain on this vote -- I think it's idiotic," Colberg said.

Ladere asked what the consequences of abstaining from a vote were and assistant borough attorney John Aschenbrenner, citing borough code and Alaska's Title 29, said members present must vote unless prohibited from voting by a conflict of interest.

"I guess I could leave," Ladere said.

Colver asked if it was possible to, as is done in the Legislature, put a call on the house, prohibiting members of the body from leaving before business is finished. After an at-ease, Anderson said research indicated that couldn't be done.

Ladere, Bush and Colberg all immediately gathered their belongings and departed. Without a quorum, Anderson adjourned the meeting.

After the meeting, Anderson said he had used his veto power because he believed asking for the removal of a board member should be weighed carefully, not based on hearsay.

"I think this is not a good process," Anderson said. "It makes more sense to get your facts first. If they would have stayed and voted, then it would have been off the table and it wouldn't have been hanging out there."

Sharp, Wednesday, said he was confident the assembly members, after listening to a tape of the commission meeting, would find he had not acted inappropriately.

"I haven't talked to anybody who was at the assembly meeting," Sharp said. "But I think that anyone who listens to the tape of the planning commission meeting -- I don't think they'd have any problem with anything I said."