Menard recall clears hurdle, faces more

WASILLA — Efforts to recall city councilman Steve Menard hit a bump in the road but might be back on track.

The application for a recall petition filed Sept. 2 cites misconduct in office during a now-infamous city trip to Sitka last month to attend the Alaska Municipal League’s summer meeting. Menard checked out of a hotel room there but staff demanded $350 to fix damage he’d done to the room, including a burned mattress, a chair that had been urinated on and vomit on the carpet. The city paid the bill so Menard could fly back home, but immediately sent him a bill.

Menard has since apologized, told the public he is cleaning up his act and quitting drinking and refunded the $1,400 cost of the trip. And his fellow city council have barred him from traveling on city business for the remainder of his term.

Members of the Conservative Patriots Group, which filed the recall application, have said they don’t think council went far enough in sanctioning Menard. They say they don’t want someone who behaves that way while conducting public business to represent them on the council.

The city clerk’s deadline to respond to the application passed this week but although there was the right number of signatures on the petition, they weren’t from qualified city of Wasilla voters.

“Although they were borough residents they weren’t city residents,” said deputy city clerk Amanda Charles.

But the clerk didn’t deny the application, electing instead to hand it back to its sponsors and give them a week to get three more Wasilla voters to sign. But first the clerk consulted an attorney.

“The attorney opinion agreed that they could have additional time,” Charles said.

Sponsors had until this coming Monday to resubmit the application but turned the signatures in on Thursday.

“There was four of the six signatures that were city residents,” Charles said.

Which, of course, would put them over the top but it’s not quite official yet. Recalls follow a pretty standard script in Alaska. First the clerk reviews the application completeness and to make sure the reasons stated for recall are valid. That review has yet to occur because head city clerk Kristie Smithers is out of town until next week.

But if she deems the application proper, sponsors will be handed a petition on which they must get a quarter of the number of people who cast ballots selecting someone for the seat Menard eventually won.

That’ll need about 200 signatures, since 800 voted in 2010 in the five-way race Menard won with 283 votes.

If the sponsors can get that many Wasilla residents to sign their petition, the matter would go to a special election.

Menard has said in previous interviews that he will not resign. He said he is passionate about his work on the council and loves helping city residents with their problems. Indeed, he said, “they’re going to have to get me kicking and screaming” to drag him off the council.

His term on the council expires in 2013.

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