City investigation must be independent

Council has asked attorney Tom Klinkner of the Anchorage-based law firm of Birch, Horton, Bittner and Cherot to conduct its probe, to dig deep and find out if the city and its administration have worked too much for the benefit of Meritage Development. While we agree with council’s request and commend it for moving forward with the probe, we don’t agree with its choice of investigator.

Klinkner is the Wasilla city attorney. How is this independent?

Klinkner says he can be impartial and conduct a thorough investigation, and that may be so; however, any probe conducted by Klinkner will be viewed with skepticism. If council really wants an objective, impartial and truly independent audit of the city’s actions, it should not hire someone who has such close financial ties to the city to do the deed. Klinkner and his firm benefit monetarily from their relationship with Wasilla, having been paid more than $309,000 in fiscal year 2007 and more than $32,000 so far in FY 2008. It is also inappropriate to delegate this task to someone who works as closely with city administration every day as Klinkner.

When Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig committed to launching an investigation into steroid use by players, he didn’t delegate the task to a league attorney. He tapped former Sen. George Mitchell, someone with no ties to Major League Baseball, to conduct his own independent probe.

Wasilla should follow suit. While the city may not be able to retain the services of a former U.S. senator, it could certainly pay the same money it would Klinkner to another qualified firm with no ties to the city. Council members should also be prepared to accept and act accordingly on any findings and/or recommendations that should surface from this audit.

Council has asked Klinkner to come back Dec. 10 with an estimate of how much it would cost to investigate how the city has interacted with Meritage Development and neighboring property owners. Many on council are concerned, and should be. It’s unsettling to see Wasilla Mayor Dianne M. Keller’s name signed to a letter to longtime business owners suggesting the city may take their property to benefit Meritage’s plans. It’s unconscionable the city would invite only one organization — a developer — to apply for part or all of its available $850,000 in block grant funds.

Wasilla City Council is charged with good stewardship of taxpayer money, and it’s sad council has to spend some of that investigating its own city government. But it’s the right move — one that needs to be as open, honest and unencumbered by even the slightest appearance of impropriety or favoritism. We encourage the council to move forward and challenge members to seek out and appoint a truly independent investigator, free of other remuneration from the city.