Duffy stays

MAT-SU -- The Mat-Su Borough Assembly, after debating whether the issue even merited consideration, agreed via a supermajority Tuesday to retain the services of borough manager John Duffy.

At Tuesday's meeting, the resolution requesting Duffy's resignation -- a resolution put forward at the assembly's Sept. 4 meeting by departing assembly member Larry DeVilbiss -- appeared on the consent agenda, but was pulled for discussion by assembly member Sara Jansen.

Jansen made a motion objecting to consideration of the resolution. That motion required a two-thirds vote of approval and failed to achieve that majority, with four voting in favor of considering the resolution.

Discussion of the matter followed and, in the discussion, DeVilbiss mentioned his reasoning behind his Sept. 4 request.

"This is not something that I did lightly," DeVilbiss said. "It's not something that I did just because Friends of Hatcher Pass asked me to, although they did."

Friends of Hatcher Pass (FoHP) is a political action group headed by former assembly member Jim Turner and is made up of other former borough officials and land owners in the Hatcher Pass area.

DeVilbiss said the actions of the borough, over the past year, have left him with a lack of confidence that several borough projects will move forward. He said Hatcher Pass had, in his estimation, come to a point where nothing will be built and Port MacKenzie is now facing additional studies, besides those that were previously completed.

"Now, at the port, after years and years of planning, suddenly we don't have any goals," DeVilbiss said. "I think it would be in the best interest of the borough to not have a planner as a director or manager; we need a doer."

Assembly member Talis Colberg suggested an amendment that would change the resolution's wording to reflect its actual intent.

"What this has been all about has never been the Open Meetings Act . . . the Open Meetings Act was cured," Colberg said. "It's about a difference of opinion in how the last election turned out."

The Open Meetings Act of which Colberg spoke referred to a recent decision by Palmer Superior Court Judge Eric Smith, in which Smith found the borough violated the Open Meetings Act and the Public Records Act.

Smith also found that both violations were cured by subsequent actions by the borough.

Colberg's amendment, which suggested Duffy's resignation would effectually put him into the position of a scapegoat, was ruled out of order and Colberg withdrew the amendment.

Assembly member Kelly Lankford Ladere said she believed FoHP and Citizens to Restore Open and Honest Government (CROHG), the two groups that pressured the assembly to ask Duffy to resign, must have some kernel of truth in their reasoning behind the request. "These things don't happen simply for sour grapes," Ladere said.

Assembly member Jim Colver, stating that it was time to put differences aside and move forward together, took a more patriotic stance.

"Leadership steady at the helm is what America needs right now," Colver said. "We're not going to go anywhere fighting each other."

Assembly member Dan Kelly expressed sadness that people he considered friends resorted to distasteful tactics to try to get what they thought of as justice.

"I certainly take offense to blackmail," Kelly said. "When we were threatened that if we don't do this, we'd be recalled."

Kelly referred to comments that were brought up by CROHG president Bill Moll during the audience participation section of the Sept. 4 meeting, in which Moll -- a former planning commissioner -- suggested the assembly ask for Duffy's resignation or be faced with individual recall petitions.

After the comments wrapped up, the matter was brought to a vote and DeVilbiss was the lone person in favor of requesting Duffy's resignation.

"I'm very happy with the show of support and kind words from members of the assembly, as well as the support from members of the audience," Duffy said Wednesday. "I'm looking forward to doing what I can do with other borough employees to make the borough a better place to live."