Frontiersman publisher responds to councilor's charges

Aug. 14, 2005

Simply Sleight\Kari Sleight

Newspaper and political careers seem to be miles apart, yet neither career is a good choice for the thin-skinned or faint of heart.

There has been a lot of media-bashing coming from many political camps over the years, but blaming the media for every political faux pas seems to be becoming more and more fashionable. Rather than take responsibility for one's actions, it's easier to blame the media for exposing a gaffe.

In the last year, Alaska's politicians have been quick to jump on the media-blaming bandwagon. Somehow, the media were to blame for Randy Ruedrich's ethics lapse. It was also the media's fault when former Attorney General Gregg Renkes' dealings with KFx came to light. And, now, some city of Wasilla officials have decided to take the same tack.

During City Council comments at the Aug. 8 meeting, Deputy Mayor Howard O'Neil chose to use his time to criticize this newspaper's coverage of the city. O'Neil stated in his address that our coverage of the council's Open Meetings Act (OMA) violation was "full of errors" and that we failed to quote any sources citing the specific violation or find an attorney who agreed the council's secret balloting violated the OMA.

O'Neil went on to say it "is the opinion of the paper that this was an Open Meetings Act violation because of only one reason, and that is that the publisher wants to take a pound of flesh from the city officials who they perceive have wronged the paper."

The city's attorney issued an opinion that stated the use of the Borda system did not appear to be in violation of the OMA. We agree. It is a perfectly acceptable method of scoring candidates.

When the Borda system includes secret balloting, however, then it does become a violation of the OMA, and infringes on the people's protected right to know.

I've read through the city attorney's opinion, and found no mention of whether a "secret" ballot was considered a violation of the OMA, mentioning only that the Borda system is an acceptable practice. It seems some on the council have placed their own spin onto what this newspaper and its publisher (me) are calling a violation.

To clear up any doubt that may be lingering, secret balloting by elected officials is clearly a violation of the state's Open Meetings Act unless the vote is an "organizational" vote. An "organizational" vote is a vote to organize an already seated body or council, such as electing a speaker of the house, deputy mayor, secretary, etc.

O'Neil also challenged the journalistic integrity of this newspaper and me in his comments. It is his opinion that we are hell-bent on making the city look bad because our low bid for the city's advertising was rejected. While we question the city's decision to award the contract to a nonlocal high bidder, that process has no impact on our news coverage.

O'Neil, and others, would like you to believe we are simply making up the OMA violation because we are mad at them for sending their advertising to an expensive out-of-town competitor. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Our news coverage of the OMA violation by the Wasilla City Council included quotes from two attorneys, John McKay and Gordon Tans, and their opinion that the secret ballot vote was a violation of the Open Meetings Act. McKay and Tans are two of the most well-versed attorneys in the state on municipal law and the Open Meetings Act.

I also understand the importance of keeping advertising and editorial separate; neither department affects the decisions made for the other. As I wrote in an earlier column, we've moved forward; the city made its decision, and it's in the past.

It should be noted that councilors Mark Ewing and Diana Straub did acknowledge the OMA violation and took action to correct it at the Aug. 8 meeting, which we applaud.

As for the remaining council members and the mayor, as the chosen leaders for the city of Wasilla, you should stand up and take responsibility for your actions and not blame the messenger.