Metiva, Rupright weigh in on critics

WASILLA — With a run-off election for Wasilla mayor looming, both candidates are facing a range of praise and criticism. Whether that criticism will be a game-changer for either won’t be known until Tuesday’s election, but critics and supporters of both candidates are letting their opinions be known in the 11th hour.

Wasilla residents Marty Metiva and Verne Rupright are vying for enough votes to win the city’s top administrative post, a $75,000 a year position.

As with most political races, both men have their supporters and detractors.

Metiva’s supporters often cite his vast volunteer work in the area and funds he’s raised for different causes. They say he has the enthusiasm and ideas to move Wasilla forward.

Rupright’s fans say they see in him a no-nonsense professional with a vast knowledge of civic issues. Rupright is also a polished public speaker, likely the result of his courtroom experience as an attorney. Supporters also point out, as Rupright has, that the mayor’s $75,000 per year salary would be a pay cut should he win the election.

Rupright calls the cut in income “considerable.”

Critics have said Rupright can display a rough a personality. Some have gone even further, saying his defense of criminals in court is troublesome.

Rupright is quick to point out that having a defense is every American’s constitutional right and that his job defending accused criminals does not preclude him from being a good mayor.

As a mayor, Rupright said he would be open, thoughtful, considerate and frugal. For him, it doesn’t matter who has what political affiliation.

Metiva’s critics say as mayor he would have a conflict of interest because of his wife’s position with the Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce. Cheryl Metiva is the executive director of the chamber, which works with many Wasilla businesses.

Metiva is also seen by some longtime Alaskans as an outsider who rose through the local political ranks too quickly for someone who has lived in Alaska for just over four years.

Metiva first entered Wasilla politics after an unopposed bid for city council in 2005. But Metiva said he doesn’t see anything wrong with being involved in the community one lives in, and he’s repeatedly said he plans to die in Wasilla — although not soon, he often jokes.

Critics also say Metiva’s penchant for moving around the country before landing in Alaska is cause for concern, with some saying it shows a flighty personality. But moving from state to state in the years before he came to Alaska was not because of something malicious, Metiva said.

Metiva was a regional sales manager for Delta Queen Steamboats and said the company moved him around to places where he was needed.

“I guess when you’re good at a job, the company moves you around,” he said.

Who’s behind who?

When it was time for endorsements recently, two of the three other candidates for Wasilla mayor, Steve Menard and Greg Koskela, chose to endorse Metiva.

Both men said Metiva has the temperament needed to guide Wasilla and the economic knowledge to grow the business community.

They also said while they know and like Rupright, they don’t think he’s the right man for the job this go-around.

“I know both guys, so it was a tough decision to make,” Koskela said Wednesday, adding he considered the Metiva family’s involvement in the city when deciding who to endorse.

Koskela said while he thinks both candidates have the city’s best interest at heart, Rupright’s personality turns a lot of people off.

“How you come across to people creates a perception of how you are,” Koskela said.

That statement brought a sharp response from Rupright.

“Maybe people like Greg Koskela can’t handle direct talk,” Rupright said.

He went on to say Koskela doesn’t really know him, and the few times they’ve talked wouldn’t have given him an idea of Rupright’s personality.

Koskela also said he feels Rupright wants to grow government, a charge Rupright said is not true.

Rupright, as he did in the run up to municipal elections, floated an idea to change the city attorney’s position so that person could prosecute misdemeanors in the city. The plan, Rupright said, would not only bring more income into Wasilla, but the money would pay for the city attorney’s position.

Currently, the city contracts with an Anchorage attorney for legal services, and Rupright said changing the scope of that position is not growing government.

Menard, who endorsed Metiva, said rumors claiming Metiva offered him a position on city staff in exchange for an endorsement are “100 percent false.”

Rupright has received an endorsement from the Wasilla Police Department Employees Association, which is made up of Wasilla officers and is not a union. The endorsement is significant, some say, because Rupright is a defense attorney being heralded by police officers.

Craig Robinson, vice president of the association, said both candidates were asked the same questions by the group, then the executive committee voted unanimously to endorse Rupright.

“He’s a longtime resident, he remembers the city prior to having law enforcement,” Robinson said. “He’s seen the city grow and has seen its mistakes.”

The majority of the association lives outside Wasilla city limits, Robinson said, adding he lives in Wasilla and will be voting for Rupright.

“He just has a better grasp on the issues the city of Wasilla is facing,” Robinson said.

Rupright is also being endorsed by Wasilla City Councilwoman Dianne Woodruff.

“I’m supporting him because I think he’s the best man for the job,” Woodruff said, adding Rupright is the most invested in the community.

She also said she likes Rupright’s approach to communication, and says he tells it like it is.

“I like the vision he’s communicated of where he wants to take the city,” Woodruff said.

Metiva’s past

As the run-off gets closer a quasi-organized group of Wasilla residents, some living within the city limits and some not, have raised questions about Metiva’s past. Rupright hasn’t received the same negative attention, or at least those who are ardent critics aren’t going to the same lengths as Metiva’s are.

Critics of Metiva say they want to know his status with the Mat-Su Economic Enterprise (MEE), which in April was reportedly in debt to a Canadian consulting firm. The organization seeks to help businesses and entrepreneurs create sustainable business in the Mat-Su Valley.

MEE was started in 2007 with $50,000 of seed money — $25,000 from Wasilla and another $25,000 from the Mat-Su Borough. It entered into a 30-month contract with the Sirolli Institute for $150,000.

Sirolli specializes in helping to develop groups like MEE.

According to a Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman report earlier this year, Metiva, the executive director of MEE, said the group was behind on payments to Sirolli Institute.

It’s the financial history of the group that is raising concerns with some voters who say it shows a management style.

But in an interview Wednesday, Metiva said there is no debt and pointed out the $50,000 given by the city and Borough was volunteered by officials and no one went looking for the money. The money the group did pay Sirolli covered the training session, and Metiva said Sirolli knew MEE didn’t have the entire $150,000 up front.

On Thursday, Ernesto Sirolli, the CEO and founder of the institute, confirmed Metiva’s claim.

“No community has all the money in their pocket when they start with us,” Sirolli said, adding it’s hard for communities like Wasilla to raise the entire amount and that many only get as much support as they can pay for, as MEE did.

Sirolli also said he has nothing but praise for Metiva and the MEE members who invited his company.

“We thought the people in Wasilla were fantastic,” he said. “We really love the energy of the people we met.”

Pieces of Metiva’s personal life have also been brought into the fray, including Internal Revenue Service tax liens amounting to thousands of dollars.

Critics like George Asche, who lives just outside Wasilla proper, say those personal financial issues could translate into problems managing Wasilla’s money.

The city does have a full-time finance director.

For his part, Metiva said the liens are the result of a divorce seven years ago and he’s still working to get them sorted out.

Whether that explanation will satisfy his critics in unclear.

There’s also the issue of Metiva’s wife’s high profile position with the Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce. The arrangement has been called a conflict of interest by critics like Asche.

One instance critics cite happened in 2006 when Metiva pushed for the city to begin funding a tourism bureau. The only organization to bid on the contract was the chamber. The chamber signed a $100,000, two-year contract to provide tourism bureau services.

In a progress report covering the dates June 15, 2007, to Nov. 30, 2007, documents show Cheryl Metiva received a check for $12,500.

That’s a red flag for those hoping Metiva does not get elected.

Metiva said once the chamber started working with the city, he recused himself from any vote dealing with the issue. How money from the city paid to the chamber was dispersed wasn’t up to him, Metiva said.

Still, some say by Cheryl Metiva making money off the contract, that also indirectly benefited Marty, which would seemingly be a conflict.

To others in the city, that’s just small-town life. When a couple is involved in the same town, they’re likely to cross paths somewhere.

Wasilla resident Michael Newman, in a letter to the editor printed in Tuesday’s Frontiersman, questions what the relationship between the chamber and the city will be if Metiva wins the mayorship.

On Wednesday, Metiva maintained he and his wife adhere to strict ethical rules and don’t talk about official business at home.

With the election coming up Tuesday — polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. — Metiva and Rupright are both preparing for what’s next. Some critics of Metiva have threatened to take out an advertisement deriding his candidacy if newspaper articles don’t do justice to what they say are black marks on his record.

For his part, Rupright says he’s ready to give up his law practice to become Wasilla’s mayor, which he’ll have to do if elected, while Metiva is waiting for his chance to help the city he said he’s come to love so much.

Contact Michael Rovito at michael.rovito@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.