Council nixes code change

Nov. 28, 2006

By MARY AMES

Frontiersman

WASILLA - A standing-room only crowd wanted to speak on a proposed ordinance Monday night, but remained largely silent while Wasilla City Council members debated whether to even allow the ordinance to go forward.

The ordinance would have replaced the city code that exempts the city from the Public Employees Relations Act, and would have allowed the Department of Labor jurisdiction over terms and conditions of employment of city employees, who now serve at will.

Mark Ewing, the council member who proposed the ordinance, said getting it on the agenda was &#8220like pulling teeth,” and accused Mayor Dianne M. Keller of lobbying council members to reject the ordinance by inserting a letter in the packet, which was an internal memo to the mayor from Sandra Garley, deputy administrator.

The letter said fiscal information about the ordinance was incorrect, and that there would be a &#8220significant fiscal impact.”

Ewing said the council had an obligation to hear the other side.

&#8220Shooting this down tonight is not only wrong, it's an abomination,” Ewing said.

Doug Holler was the only other council member who spoke in favor of the ordinance.

&#8220We should hear a lot more information on it,” Holler said. &#8220We haven't had a chance to look at both sides.”

The ordinance failed in a 3-3 vote, with council members Ron Cox, Greg Koskela and Marty Metiva voting against it.

Koskela took Ewing to task over the ordinance.

&#8220Why did you just throw this at us?” Koskela said. &#8220I heard their side of the story at the employee meeting.”

At a Nov. 2 employee meeting, several city employees spoke, but members of the Wasilla Police Department declined to attend. Lt. Craig Robinson was there, and spoke as a representative of the Wasilla Police Officers Association. He told the council why officers chose not to attend the meet-and-confer meeting.

&#8220The council has been instructed not to act on issues brought before them at this meeting,” Robinson said then.

Judy Patrick, a former council member, cautioned Monday night's council to consider very carefully before it &#8220opened a can of worms.”

Rick Manrique, a Wasilla police officer, was the only city employee who spoke at the beginning of Monday's meeting, and responded to Patrick's comments.

The police have safety concerns, he said, and issues had come up before with no resolution. He'd sat at a table with Patrick in the past, he said.

&#8220We wanted to make changes in regards to our reserve program,” Manrique said. &#8220We have citizen volunteers with no body armor and no weapons. Judy Patrick was concerned with her personal liability, not officers' safety.”

The crowd applauded Manrique, but no other audience member addressed the issue until the end of the meeting.

During the final public comment session, Steve Stoll said it was wrong not to allow people to be heard on the issue.

&#8220The employees are boiling over,” Stoll said.

Rebecca Lopez, a dispatcher with Mat-Com Public Safety, said an officer shot in the line of duty shouldn't be dropped from the force six weeks later, and employees should have fair and unbiased representation.

&#8220Let us discuss PERA,” Lopez said. &#8220You didn't allow that. This is a dictatorship, not a democracy.”

Erin Cox, who also works as dispatcher, said that, as a former shop steward for Alaska Airlines, she saw resolutions between employers and employees benefitting both sides.

However, she said, &#8220you're not willing to work with us.”

Cox spoke to Keller, and said that the memo Keller included in the packet told employees they weren't important enough to research the fiscal impact of the ordinance.

Kristi (Witherspoon) Muilenburg, a former Wasilla police officer, told the council she was injured in the line of duty, had her request for &#8220light duty” denied, and had used all her leave when she was diagnosed with cancer. She had to quit the force, she said, and had to live in another officer's garage. Muilenburg had brought her light-duty request before the city council, and was told it would be decided on a case-by-case basis.

&#8220I was willing to give everything - to die - for the city of Wasilla,” she said. &#8220That's no way to be treated.”

Koskela's proposed creating an employee-relations subcommittee to listen to employees' concerns and bring those concerns back to the whole council, and the council approved it 4-2 with Ewing and Cox voting no.

&#8220It's a bunch of window wash,” Ewing said. &#8220It's one step forward and two steps back.”

The audience, many carrying signs supporting the Wasilla Police Department Employees Association, applauded Ewing's comment.