Is there a vacant assembly seat? Mat-Su Borough assemblyman asks for legal opinion

PALMER — One Mat-Su Borough Assemblyman has requested a legal opinion regarding one of his colleague’s attendance record.

“Basically if an assembly member is not physically present for 90 days the assembly is duty-bound to declare the seat vacant,” Assemblyman Warren Keogh said at the end of the Feb. 19 assembly meeting.

Based on his count, he said Assemblyman Ron Arvin has exceeded that 90-day legal window for absences since the last meeting he attended in person was Sept. 24, 2012.

“We’re now past the middle of February,” Keogh said.

For his part, Arvin doesn’t deny that his work in Taiwan has kept him away from the assembly table. He said he rotates home periodically but it’s not a two-on/two-off schedule like lots of North Slope workers have. His schedule is more irregular. But he hasn’t moved to Taiwan. He still lives in Wasilla.

“I think it’s well known in the community that I attend the meetings by phone often,” he said. And he said he hasn’t really heard complaints from his constituents about the arrangement. “The issue about 90 consecutive days — I don’t really know what that means. I guess we’ll find out.”

He said he engages with his constituents in e-mails and returns all of their phone calls. Arvin said working outside the U.S. in the Far East hasn’t diminished his effectiveness as an assemblyman.

“They probably wish I was over here not paying attention and calling into the meetings and not really involving in the details of the discussions that are at hand that I am well-informed on every issue and I vibrantly engage in the discussion albeit on the phone.”

Arvin said voters knew he worked outside the country when they re-elected him in October 2012.

What did not come up during the election, was the issue of borough code and what it has to say on the consecutive absences of more than 90 days.

Assemblyman Keogh has asked the borough attorney to look into whether the rules require Arvin’s seat be declared vacant.

When Keogh brought the concern up during the meeting, Assemblyman Steve Colligan asked for an investigation into whether Keogh really lives in his district. Colligan has claimed repeatedly that Keogh lives in Palmer, not Chickaloon. Though this is the first time he asked the attorney for an opinion.

“I would I guess in response to that ask the attorney to give us a written opinion piece as to whether you need to live in the district you represent,” Colligan said.

In an e-mail late last week Keogh responded to that.

“He speculates that since I spend considerable time in Palmer working on assembly related business and don’t spend every night of the week at my home in Chickaloon, I must reside outside my district,” Keogh wrote. “Unlike Mr. Colligan’s compact assembly district of Wasilla, my district… is a huge area... To illustrate: on Thursday afternoon I made a 50-mile drive from my Chickaloon home to a 7:00 p.m. meeting of the South Knik River Community Council. I then drove the 15 or so miles back to Palmer, where I spent the night.”

Arvin said that he believes the code that states the 90-day requirement dates back to the ’70s and may be outdated and in need of update.

“Maybe the code would be well-served to get caught up with the current technology that’s available that allows people to better communicate,” he said. “Corporations and businesses large and small are ever increasing their board meetings or staff meetings by connecting them with technology rather than putting them on planes.”

He said that since members are allowed to attend telephonically he’d stack his attendance record against any other assembly member past or present. He may not be in the room but he does participate.

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.