Borough mayor faces lawsuit over mushing dispute

WASILLA — A former Iditarod trainee at Vern Halter’s Dream-A-Dream Kennel has sued the Mat-Su borough mayor, claiming he breached a contract to train for the 2016 Iditarod.

Court documents show Gwenn Bogart, 57, of Meadow Lakes, has asked for a judge to return a $15,000 deposit she paid toward a training regime she pursued at the kennel beginning last summer. Bogart also alleges Halter did not pay her for an additional 150 hours of work she undertook outside the conditions of the contract, and alleges possible labor law violations as a result.

The case started out in small-claims court Dec. 4, 2015. Halter’s attorney, Eric Jensen, filed a motion to have the lawsuit elevated to district civil court Dec. 29. Bogart’s attorney, Ralph Ertz, filed a motion on Jan. 19 asking for a jury trial.

In response, Halter’s attorney has filed a counter claim alleging Bogart made the $15,000 deposit payment, but failed to make any subsequent monthly payments for the 2015-2016 training season. Because of the lateness of her withdrawal, Halter was unable to locate a replacement musher to train, according to the filing. In all, Halter is asking the court to award him $37,000, plus compensatory damages and attorneys’ fees.

Halter was elected borough mayor in November. The lawsuit does not involve the borough or any public money.

In a series of letters contained in the court file, Bogart says she was persuaded to train with Halter based on his public face representing Dream-A-Dream. Halter is a former attorney, Yukon Quest champion and past top ten Iditarod finisher. He owns and operates a dog farm, dog kennel, and bed-and-breakfast in Willow.

“Mr. Halter has a very charming and gregarious personality, entertaining the tourists and guests that visit his kennel in a pleasant and delightful manner,” Bogart wrote. “This observed behavior was a contributing factor to Gwenn’s decision to engage with Mr. Halter for the purpose of training and mentoring to prepare for the Iditarod challenge.”

However, things soured when the tour buses left, according to Bogart.

“This would change dramatically,” she wrote. “It became apparent that when the tour busses are gone, there are no guests to entertain and impress, and only the kennel help are present, there is another side to Mr. Halter. Rude and profane comments are made, orders are rendered forth in a most disrespectful and derogetory (sic) manner.”

Bogart wrote that she tried to address her concerns, but was rebuffed.

“Following several of these outbursts, Gwenn requested of Mr. Halter that ‘we need to talk,’” she wrote. “His response was ‘I don’t talk!’”

Halter’s coaching style was too abrasive, according to Bogart.

“You have stated in your letter why you have adopted your coaching/mentoring style, to make sure the mushers are tough to face the challenges of the Iditarod or the (Yukon) Quest,” Bogart wrote, in a letter dated Nov. 19, 2015.

Bogart said she was accustomed to the mentor-pupil relationship as a former participant in equestrian events on the national level. She’s also run the Sheep Mountain 200, the Copper Basin 300 and the Northern Lights 300, according to her musher biography.

“I know what it takes for me to be tough, but having my mentor be verbally abusive is not one of them,” she wrote.

The relationship continued to deteriorate through the summer, finally culminating, Bogart wrote, in a confrontation on August 1, 2015, when Halter accused her of ruining a dog team during a practice run. Letters in the file do not explain exactly what Halter said, but hint at an ill-tempered exchange.

“You ceased being a mentor/trainer and became an ogre,” Bogart wrote. “It was cruelty, not mentoring. I had to withdraw from Iditarod 2016 because you did not fulfill your part of your contract.”

Finally, Bogart confronted Halter about the situation in September, and told him he had ruined her Iditarod dreams.

“It was then that Mr. Halter made a feeble attempt at reconciliation, allowing that Gwenn had been one of the hardest workers he had ever seen and that she would make a good musher,” Bogart wrote.

Bogart had previously run the 2015 Iditarod using a team of dogs provided by Jason Mackey. Race results available online show she scratched at the Tanana checkpoint during the 2015 event. Bogart says she was unhappy for the first part of the trail, but ultimately scratched because she didn’t bring enough food, not because she was dissatisfied with trail conditions.

Bogart declined comment for this story, saying she would check with an attorney before discussing the lawsuit publicly. Ertz was in court Monday morning and unavailable for comment.

Halter directed questions about the lawsuit to Jensen, who said the lawsuit was essentially a contract question. The move to district court was intended to take advantage of that court’s more formal procedure and allow the case to be developed, Jensen said.

“To me, it’s just another contract beef between two people that needs to get sorted out, and the courts will sort it out,” he said.

Bogart’s portrayal of Halter seemed to clash with the experiences of at least one other person who trained with him.

California resident Cindy Abbott, who completed her first Iditarod in 2015 under Halter’s guidance, said she had enjoyed her time at the Dream-a-Dream kennel. Work at a kennel can be strenuous, and mushers — not just Halter — can be brusque communicators, Abbott said.

“Profane? Definitely not,” she said. “He may be short on instruction, like ‘Go boot dogs,’ instead of, ‘Cindy would you mind going and putting some boots on the dogs?’”

Abbott said work at the dog kennel frequently entailed hard manual labor akin to farm work. Abbot previously trained with Lance Mackey. Compared to Halter, Mackey was far less structured in his instruction, Abbott said. Halter had particular methods, but wasn’t abrasive or cruel, Abbott said. She also said circumstances sometimes dictated the day-to-day rhythm of work, not the contract, and she ended up performing numerous small labors not directly connected to race prep.

“Was it in my contract that I did it?” she said. “It never would have entered my brain.”

Tempers sometimes wore short, but no more than any working relationship, said Abbott, who had high praise for Halter’s methods.

“Vern’s a gentleman,” she said. “Sure, we all have bad days. I probably said a couple things. I’m sure a word or two came out once in a while.”

The overall experience was positive, Abbott said, adding that she was sorry things seemd to sour between Bogart and Halter.

“It’s really unfortunate it didn’t work out,” she said. “It could have been a nice thing for both of them.”

Contact reporter Brian O’Connor at 352-2270, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.