Recall petition filed with Wasilla city clerk

WASILLA — Steve Menard moved another step closer to making history as the first city council member to face a recall vote.

A petition asking Wasilla voters to oust the two-time councilman was turned in Monday at Wasilla City Hall about three and a half hours ahead of a 5 p.m. deadline. The petition, which has 284 signatures, says Menard’s behavior at a Sitka hotel room while on city business in August rises to the level of official misconduct in office.

If the petition has at least the required 201 valid signatures of registered city voters, it would be the first time a recall effort of a Wasilla official would be decided by an election, City Clerk Kristie Smithers said.

In 14 years as city clerk, Smithers said she hasn’t seen a recall effort make it as far as Menard’s.

“This is the only one I’ve had and I believe it’s the only one that’s made it this far,” she said. “Nobody can recall that we’ve ever had a recall election.”

The recall effort, spearheaded by the local Conservative Patriots Group, is in response to Menard’s actions while attending the summer Alaska Municipal League 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.

An itemized bill from the hotel to the city lists damage that included two mattresses and a chair had been urinated on, a burned mattress and vomit on the carpet. After Wasilla City Council met in a 50-minute executive session after the trip to discuss Menard’s behavior, the councilman agreed to repay the entire cost of his trip, about $1,400, and was restricted from traveling on city business in the future.

Although Menard also apologized and acknowledged a longtime problem with alcohol, that he continues as a city councilman is unacceptable, said Jennie Bettine, CEO for Conservative Patriots Group. The group hoped Menard would resign, and when he didn’t, felt compelled to act.

“We had hoped he would have been man enough to man up and say, ‘I did something wrong and the people who voted for me shouldn’t have to put up with this,’” she said after CPG first submitted its petition application. “He did not choose to do that. … He should really just resign and not put the city through this.”

Wasilla resident Lydia Lyons is a signee on the petition and one of its sponsors. She said she believes when pressed to vote, residents will emphatically say Menard should not remain on the council.

“I feel like he’s a public official, and when he has behaviors that become a public issue, we should have the right to vote on that thing,” she said. “I do think he should’ve resigned, but when he chooses not to, I think we have a responsibility to have our opinion heard on the matter.”

Deana Didrickson is one of the petition’s official contacts who turned in the signatures Monday. When the document was first presented to the city clerk in September, Didrickson was asked why she felt Menard should be recalled.

“I think that’s kind of obvious, isn’t it?” she responded. “I wouldn’t want a person of that caliber representing the Mat-Su Valley. The Valley gets enough attention through other things. People call us ‘Valley trash,’ and we don’t need any of that. It was a terrible offense. What he did to that hotel room? My goodness.”

After turning in the signatures Monday afternoon, Didrickson said she still feels the same.

“I strongly believe any elected official must represent the people in an honorable way,” she said, “and what Mr. Menard did was not acceptable.”

Menard did not return telephone calls prior to press time, but has said his passion for public service and love of his community haven’t wavered. He wants to continue his work on the council, and said a month after the Sitka incident he was, at the time, 30 days sober and changing his life.

He recalled his father, former Mat-Su Borough Mayor Curt Menard, saying “Life is hard and it’s really hard if you do stupid (stuff).”

“I hear that saying in my head and my dad talking to me saying, ‘Hey, Bozo, you really got into it on this one,’” Menard said.

Menard, a former U.S. Marine, also said quitting isn’t in his nature.

“What are your options?” he said. ‘To give up? Hell no. I think I have learned from it, but actions speak louder than words. Right now, I have a lot of trust rebuilding to do.”

The Sitka incident wasn’t Menard’s first run-in with alcohol-related offenses. Alaska court records show a 2004 conviction for DUI and a 2007 guilty plea to being drunk on a licensed premises. The 2004 incident happened during his first campaign for election to the city council. At that time, he said he had stopped drinking.

Now that the recall is in the hands of the city clerk, Smithers said she will work to verify the signatures. If the petition has the required 201 valid signees, she will set a date for a special election to take to the city council on Dec. 12. Actually setting the date for a special election, which must come between 45 and 75 days after the petition is filed, is up to the council, she said.

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