Leadership, fix needed in Wasilla council action

It's been nearly two weeks since an illegal nonpublic vote by the Wasilla City Council resulted in the seating of the wrong candidate, Verdie Bowen, for a council vacancy. The official city response, if it can be called that, has been to ignore that the vote violated state law, as codified in the Open Meetings Act.

Where is the leadership and strength of character that the people of Wasilla deserve on this issue?

In an act of brazen arrogance that thumbs its nose at those who elected them, Mayor Dianne M. Keller and a majority of the City Council have ducked behind Robert's Rules of Order in a feeble attempt to spit-shine their impropriety, apparently because their candidate of choice was awarded the vacant council seat after one ballot was marked and scored incorrectly.

Alaska statute 44.62.310 is remarkably unambiguous in outlining how council votes are to be conducted: "Except when voice votes are authorized," it states, "the vote shall be conducted in such a manner that the public may know the vote of each person entitled to vote." Secret ballots, then, are inappropriate. And no amount of bluster from City Hall, no executive edict, no council action and, certainly, nothing in Robert's Rules of Order can ever supersede state law when it comes to the public's right to know.

The law is equally clear about how to remedy the situation: "Action taken contrary to this (law) is voidable," statute reads. "A governmental body that violates or is alleged to have violated this (law) may cure the violation or alleged violation by … conducting a substantial and public reconsideration of the matters considered at the original meeting."

No agenda item is needed, and no advance planning is necessary. All it takes is an acknowledgement that the vote was conducted improperly, and the fix - a new vote - can be implemented immediately.

Yet the stonewalling persists. And the efforts of some to right the wrong are being met with opposition by those entrusted with upholding the public interest.

Councilor Diana Straub, who is a candidate for mayor, is showing the only real leadership on this issue. She is set to call for a fix at Monday night's council meeting and introduce an ordinance that clarifies the procedure for filling future council vacancies.

The fact that part of the ordinance would require future votes to be conducted publicly, even though this point is already well-established in state law, should be a source of great embarrassment to the mayor and those on the council who seek to perpetuate the myth that their will trumps all else.

City taxpayers would do well to pay attention to how the mayor and council respond to Straub. Because in the event of a lawsuit over this issue, they would foot the bill for the irresponsibility of their elected officials.

They should know, too, that if this fraud that has been foisted on them remains uncorrected, further remedy exists. In a thorough and well-documented explanation of the Open Meetings Act, Anchorage attorney Gordon Tans, an expert in municipal law, writes: "An elected official's violation of the Open Meetings Act constitutes failure to perform the prescribed duties of office, one of the grounds for recall of an elected official. The mere allegation of facts sufficient to establish a violation of the OMA is adequate ground to subject elected officials to recall under (Alaska statute)."

Anyone wishing to see how the mayor and council conduct business over this matter can attend Monday's

7 p.m. meeting at Wasilla City Hall. A list of names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses of the mayor and city councilors appears below for anyone wishing to weigh in on the matter before the meeting.

Mayor Dianne M. Keller: 373-7171, 373-9055 (office phone), mayor @ci.wasilla.ak.us; City councilors: Howard O'Neil: 373-2808, oneil@matonline.net; Diana Straub: 373-7230, diana lstraub@hotmail.com; Robert Sande: 376-8976, aksande@ matonline.net: Ron Cox: 373-5401, no e-mail address available; Mark Ewing: 373-2217, mewing@mtaonline.net.