Menard recall headed door-to-door

WASILLA — If an effort to oust city councilman Steve Menard pans out, it would be the first for the city, and the group spearheading the effort will go to great lengths to secure signatures on its recall petition.

Members of the Valley-based Conservative Patriots Group are preparing to start gathering those signatures door-to-door, said CPG President and CEO Jennie Bettine. So far, about a dozen members have volunteered to gather signatures.

“A dozen people can collect a lot of signatures, we just need to get them out there and get organized,” she said. “We’ll be going door-to-door. If people want, we’ll come to their house to get the signatures from them, that’s how important we think this is.”

The recall is in response to an August incident involving Menard in Sitka while he was attending the Alaska Municipal League’s summer meetings. When he went to check out after a three-day stay at the Westmark Sitka, the hotel discovered extensive damage to his room and charged the city $350 for cleaning costs. The damage included urine on two mattresses and a chair, a burned mattress and vomit on the carpet.

After the trip, Wasilla City Council met in an executive session to discuss Menard’s behavior at the conference and asked him to repay the entire cost of the trip, about $1,400. He was also barred from traveling as a representative of the city.

In the aftermath, Menard has admitted a longtime drinking problem, has repaid the bill for the hotel damage and has publicly apologized. He has said he’s been sober since the Sitka trip and said he believes he can be an effective councilman.

While Menard may feel remorse, Bettine said he embarrassed the city of Wasilla and should resign. If he won’t, the CPG will continue to pursue a recall and let voters decide if he should continue on the council, she said.

“People are forgiving, and he could come back later,” she said. “He should step down, take care of his issues. He can come back when he isn’t doing this kind of stuff anymore.”

CPG volunteers have until Nov. 28 to turn in the petition, said city clerk Kristie Smithers. To force a recall election, the petition must include at least 201 verifiable signatures of Wasilla registered voters, which is equal to 25 percent who voted in the last election for Menard’s seat, which was in October 2010. After that, her office has 10 days to verify the petition, Smithers said.

Gathering the signatures has just begun, Bettine said.

“Actually, it’s going well,” she said. “We’re just now really gearing up to get out there and beat the streets. There are so many people who want to sign it who think they live in Wasilla, but they live on the outskirts.”

To be safe, she said CPG is trying to verify signatures as they collect them and want to get at least 250 to 270 to be safe.

The recall isn’t politically motivated, Bettine said.

“This is about basic morals,” she said. “If you can’t stand up for what’s right and be an example, if you drink and you represent the people and you go out and do something like this, you’ve shown you’re not capable of representing the people. We don’t care who you are, it’s not about politics, it’s about values.”

Bettine said CPG would welcome Menard back on the council in a few years “when he has shown he is a responsible person.”

For more information about CPG’s recall petition, call Bettine at 354-8361.

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