Borough mayor should rescind unauthorized communications

Editor’s note: Mat-Su Borough Assemblyman Warren Keogh read this statement into the record at the Mat-Su Borough Assembly meeting July 16 and sent a copy to the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman for publication in the wake of a related story printed July 14.

I am concerned about recent news stories that have appeared in the TV news and newspapers, concerns specifically about recent statements and actions by, you Mr. Mayor.

Over time, Mat-Su Borough Mayor Larry DeVilbiss has increasingly taken it upon himself to represent the views of the Mat-Su Borough without direction or authorization of the assembly. The most recent example of this inappropriate behavior regards the State Redistricting Board’s activity redrawing boundary lines for state House and Senate districts.

The mayor has offered up statements to the press, to the public and to state agencies without input from the assembly. For example, Mayor DeVilbiss wrote a letter to the State Redistricting Board asking that it make changes to legislative boundaries. He also attached several GIS files and PDF maps with boundary modifications, reported in the press to be generated by Assemblyman Steve Colligan, who has been much involved creating district boundaries for the Republican Party, an Alaska Native corporation and other entities.

Such arbitrary statements and actions by the mayor, with the apparent assistance of one assemblyman, are contrary to the borough code and the assembly’s longstanding policies and procedures. As an assemblyman, I find it disturbing to hear a TV news story or read newspaper articles in which the mayor speaks on behalf of the borough without the knowledge of the majority of the assembly.

The code says our “ceremonial” mayor can only “sign documents on behalf of the borough upon assembly authorization,” in contrast to this unauthorized letter.

Our communications policy more explicitly states that, “… mayor communications to legislators, the governor, state department personnel or other official agencies purporting to represent an action or position of the assembly shall only be transmitted by, or at the direction of, the assembly and shall represent the majority opinion of the assembly.”

There was no recent direction by the assembly for anyone to represent the borough on redistricting matters or to recommend specific and detailed boundary changes.

Our communications policy further states, “All official communications by the assembly and mayor will be routed to the clerk, who will route a copy to the mayor and assembly and keep a copy on file in the clerk’s records.” There is no copy of the mayor’s correspondence with numerous attachments in the clerk’s office because the mayor kept his letter and communications hidden, sent from a personal rather than official email account and not on official letterhead. The clerk was unaware of these communications, as was the borough manager, attorney and even the mayor’s secretary.

What are our alternatives when elected officials quietly slip communications to decision-making bodies or the press purporting to represent borough residents? We could do one of two things:

1. Do away with the rules we play by so any assembly member and the mayor can purport to represent the borough without assembly authorization to the public, to the press, to state or federal agencies or anyone else.

2. We can follow the rules of the game, be accountable for our statements, rescind them when they are not authorized and publically apologize when we overstep the limits of our position.

I again offer the reminder, as I have done publically in the past, that the people of the Mat-Su Borough have chosen to have a strong assembly/strong manager/weak mayor form of local government. In 2010, the public voted down an effort to change that balance of power to a strong mayor/weak manager method of governance, as exists in the Municipality of Anchorage for example. It appears not everyone has gotten the voters’ message.

Let’s keep the voters’ wishes in mind, let’s rescind the unauthorized mayoral communications, and let’s limit our actions and statements in the future to what is lawful.

Warren Keogh lives in Chickaloon and represents District 1 on the Mat-Su Borough Assembly.