Palmer mayor Carrington: Let legal process run for council member Best

Palmer mayor Steve Carrington said the legal process has to run its course on the arrest of city council member Richard Best on a charge of driving while intoxicated before any action is taken under the city’s ethics code.

Carrington had not planned to comment until Joshua Tudor, another council member, brought it up at Tuesday’s city council meeting. Tudor said he’d gotten, “a lot of feedback,” on the issue.

Carrington discouraged discussion while the legal process is pending but members of the public spoke up during the “audience participation” part of meeting, when members of the public can speak on any issue.

Erec Anderson, a Palmer resident, called for Best to take a leave of absence from the council, or least abstain from voting, until the legal process is completed. “Driving while drunk is a serious crime,” particularly since it involves an elected official, Anderson said. This was also Best’s second arrest, the other happening in Anchorage last year, he said.

Anderson also said the lack of information available about Best’s arrest is creating “misperceptions,” in the community.