Keller threatens to throw member out

August 18, 2006

By MARY AMES

Frontiersman

WASILLA - The mayor of the city of Wasilla threatened to have a council member removed by the police chief from Monday night's council meeting.

&#8220Hold your tongue, or I'll have the chief remove you,” said Mayor Dianne M. Keller to Mark Ewing during a dispute over who had the floor.

The council had just voted down an ordinance proposed by the mayor that would have defined the powers of the airport manager as a peace officer per Alaska statute.

Both the airport manager and the police chief positions are held at the pleasure of the mayor.

The majority of public testimony ran against the ordinance, and raised liability concerns over an armed constable confronting pilots, but the mayor expressed concern about liability from a different perspective.

The council should consider the people at the airport and an incident reported to her by Tom Westall, airport manager. A loose dog ran and a child chased the dog, Keller said.

&#8220I want the council to really consider what would happen if that happens again and the kid or dog is struck by a propeller,” Keller said.

Ewing said he had to go with public testimony at the meeting. If a pilot was upset by the actions of a city employee and got &#8220behind the stick” when angry, it would be a serious liability for the city, he said.

&#8220I've been getting letters and calls for years,” Ewing said. &#8220Maybe it's time to have Westall step aside.”

The mayor called a point of order, but Ewing continued to speak and told audience members they could state their views for the reporters in the back of the room. Keller said all discussion should be directed toward the motion and not toward a person. Tensions in the room didn't ease when the other five council members addressed the issue.

Ewing called the question, compelling the council to vote, and the motion failed. The audience applauded. Ewing then made a reference to the city's code compliance officer, who is not allowed to carry a firearm, and the mayor threatened to have the police chief remove Ewing from the council chambers.

Keller said she would have Chief John Glass escort Ewing out for five minutes.

Several heartbeats of silence followed before the council went on to other business.

Ewing said later he told Chief Glass it would be preferable to spend five minutes with him in the entryway than spend five minutes with the mayor. Ewing added he would have left out of respect for Glass, but also would have made sure the meeting came to a screeching halt.

&#8220She was out of order,” Ewing said. &#8220I didn't yield the floor. We've been playing with Dianne's Rules of Order and that's got to quit. She makes the rules and she changes the rules. It's like playing without rules.”

What gets him, Ewing said, was the code compliance officer, Mike Rager, has eight years of training as a police officer and is not allowed to carry a weapon. But Mayor Keller, in a previously reported statement, said she can't tell city employees to not carry a weapon at work.

&#8220What other city in the U.S. allows city employees, at their discretion, to carry a weapon?” Ewing said.

Kristie Smithers, city clerk, said she had never seen an elected official removed from a meeting. Smithers has been Wasilla's clerk for 10 years and was deputy clerk for the Mat-Su Borough for nine years before that.

&#8220I don't know if she (Keller) has the authority, but I've never seen it happen,” Smithers said. &#8220I remember really heated times over the years. Typically, they would just take a recess.”