Palmer City Council allowing memorial plaque to be displayed at MTA Events Center

PALMER — The Palmer City Council voted 4 to 1 to allow a memorial plaque dedicated to the late Dave “The Hammer” Hanson to be hung back up at the MTA Events Center during the recent regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday, Feb. 8.

Dave’s widow, Diane Firmani, said they put up a memorial plaque at the Brett Memorial Ice Arena Oct. 16, 2021. She said they hung up a second plaque at the Palmer ice rink the following day. She said that the plaque taken down for not following the proper procedures.

“There was a simple solution four months ago. There was a simple solution two weeks ago, and There was a simple solution now,” Firmani stated during the Feb. 8 meeting. “Please let common sense prevail and give Hammer he so deserves and put up the plaque.”

During the previous council meeting on Jan. 25, Deputy Mayor Pamela Melin stated that there was an error in the existing legal language, which caused this issue to begin with. She asked to bring the city’s honorarium procedure to the Palmer City Council at the next meeting so the council members could get the process finalized. The motion was seconded by several members.

During the Feb. 8 meeting, Councilmember Brian Daniels asked to bring the vote to grandfather the plaque into the existing memorial policy back up for reconsideration, and Councilmember Richard Best objected.

“There was already a policy. We just weren’t following our policy is what it was. The story in the newspaper and some of the way things were being talked about in the last couple of meetings were inaccurate,” Best said.

Palmer Mayor Steven Carrington called for a short break to research the topic with the council. When the meeting resumed, Councilmember Jill Valerius asked city attorney Sarah Heath if they could give direction to the city manager or community development director regarding the matter.

Heath said when councilmember Daniels asked to reconsider a motion that had been previously considered a motion that had previously been reconsidered, the timeframe was out and it was not specifically on the agenda, but asking for a vote for directing the city manager is procedurally allowed.

Best objected again.

“My objection is we’re going give direction on a policy situation that the council in years past already created policy and now something didn’t jive that followed that policy. An employee made a wrong direction and we’re going to redirect it with making more bad policy and more corrective action that goes in opposition of the policy that’s already been set? I’m confused as to why we’re having this discussion,” Best said.

Valerius asked to hang the plaque back up by being grandfathered into the existing policy and Daniels seconded.

“I do hear the idea of bringing this on the agenda and having a public discussion about that, and on any other issue, I would be behind this. What is different to me about this is, this has gone on for months, the public has been vocal about it. We have been talking about it. The solution seems incredibly clear, and I think we’re doing a huge disservice to Miss Firmani by not addressing this. I cannot in my mind imagine why there is such an opposition to doing something that seems very simple, very straightforward. We should have done it last meeting,” Daniels said. “We already have a policy in place that we’re introducing so we don’t have to deal with this again. We are dealing with everything right now, and I hope that we can put a lid on this and do right by Dave Hanson, Miss Firmani, and their families.”

Deputy Mayor Pamela Melin said that she understood that there was a policy in place, but it was decoupled and it was supposed to be worked on further.

“It just doesn’t make sense to me to keep debating this,” Melin said.

Several community members urged the council to allow the plaque to return to the MTA Events Center during the Feb. 8 meeting, including Stan George. He asked the council to make a “one-time approval” to honor Dave’s contributions to the Valleys hockey community.

“I’m not here to place blame. I’m not here to point fingers,” George said. “This simple request has been drawn out for over three months, and I would ask that you make that decision tonight, to put that memorial back up on the door with verbal support from the council, and going forward, put something in place so… other families wouldn’t have to go through the same process.”

All participating council members voted yes to grandfather the Dave Hanson plaque in and allow it to be hung back up except for Best who voted no.

During a follow-up interview, Firmani said that she was relieved that the matter was finally resolved and she plans to hang the plaque back up at the MTA Events Center Friday, Feb. 11.

“Finally,” Firmani said. “I’m glad it’s over because it was tearing me up.”

Firmani said that she was thankful for all the public support from community members. She said it was a testament to Dave’s impact on the local hockey community.

“That warmed my heart,” Firmani said.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com