Mayor healing old wounds

WASILLA — Verne Rupright seems to work and play well with others.

That’s the sentiment many on Wasilla City Council have for the mayor three months into his first term. Current and former council members are saying Rupright’s been a breath of fresh air after taking office on the heels of a dysfunctional relationship between the council and city administration that culminated last summer in the council asking for the resignation of then-Mayor Dianne M. Keller.

“There’s just an openness there that wasn’t before,” said Councilwoman Dianne Woodruff. “That’s the biggest difference.”

Instead of personal sniping and strained conversations at council meetings, Woodruff said Rupright’s first three months in office has done much to repair the rift that had grown between the council and mayor’s office. One of the most noticeable changes is the lifting of a gag order on city employees and department heads from talking to council members without prior approval from the mayor.

The relationship between the council and mayor’s office deteriorated over the last year of Keller’s term, Woodruff said. Amidst controversy over whether the city worked to benefit a private developer, the council commissioned an independent investigation into Keller’s and the city’s dealings with Meritage Development. That probe, conducted by Wasilla-based Denali Law Group, found Keller and others in her administration made efforts to benefit the developer at the expense of local businesses.

In the wake of Denali Law Group’s findings, the council voted June 30, 2008 to ask Keller to resign, a request she declined.

“I think everybody that observed (the council and mayor’s office) knew there was a problem there,” said Rupright, who attended numerous council meetings prior to his election in October 2008. “How many councils before here in Wasilla had to hire an independent law firm to investigate the mayor? It appeared there was obviously some difficulty, but it hadn’t always been that way.”

Marty Metiva was on the council that voted to ask for Keller’s resignation and later ran against Rupright for mayor. He said the relationship between the entities had become a serious concern.

“I would say it was confrontational,” he said. “It was caustic. We were at a standstill. … Oh gosh yes, that was a concern on every candidate’s mind, I think.”

Although Rupright beat him in a runoff election, Metiva said the new mayor has made considerable progress in repairing that relationship.

“As a citizen, I’m happy now to see the reversal,” he said. “I think Verne’s done a good job. I applaud him.”

Lifting the gag order has also helped open the lines of communication for city staff. Rupright has also streamlined council meetings, which have been considerable shorter.

“The mayor definitely runs a lean meeting,” said Archie Giddings, the city’s public works director. “On the public works side, it’s always been fairly open, but we definitely got (Rupright’s) message to have an open door policy with the council.”

That’s a message Rupright said is important for the public as well. Having a gag order could make residents believe the mayor has information he wants kept from the public.

“I think that (before) all questions from council members had to be run through the mayor’s office,” Rupright said. “The council’s a very important part of representative government, and if the council members want to ask a question, there’s no reason they shouldn’t freely talk to the employees of the city, let alone the department heads. … There’s no secret stuff going on over here. That’s the whole point.”

Without that freedom, “That raises in my mind the specter of what does the mayor’s office not want out there?” he said. “Them being able to communicate with the city staff creates an air of openness. It’s like opening the doors and windows in the springtime and letting the fresh air come in.”

For City Clerk Kristie Smithers, she said she always had good access to the mayor, but said she also has noticed a change in the dynamic between the council and mayor’s office.

“As far as the council goes, yes, I think they probably do call administration staff more,” she said.

Leone Harris was elected in October, the same as Rupright, but attended many council meetings where the council and mayor would bicker.

“My perception (of that relationship) before is that it was combative,” she said. “To me, it seems wonderful. There’s not a lot of bickering going back and forth, and for the most part we’re all on the same page.”

Harris also said that, unlike the Meritage controversy, Rupright hasn’t had any controversial issues come up in the first months of his term.

“That’s probably helped tremendously too,” she said. “Maybe that came about from the spirit that was in the city administration before.”

The contention between the council and previous administration “couldn’t have gotten much worse,” Woodruff said, adding that there was no place for that relationship to go but up for Rupright.

The first three months at Wasilla City Hall have “been really busy,” Rupright said. In the end, he treats the council like he does city staff.

“It’s just good management,” he said. “The rule is take care of your people first, and I think that’s more important that anything.”

He also takes to heart a lesson he learned in the military. “You be the first one up in the morning, the last one to bed and the last one in the chow line.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.