Recall petition sponsors react to judge's ruling

MAT-SU -- The decision by Anchorage Superior Court Judge Peter Michalski has placed the grounds for recall against Mat-Su Borough Mayor Tim Anderson and assembly member Kelly Lankford Ladere in question, and petition holders seem to be of mixed minds as to how to handle the matters.

Sherri Mulhaney, the primary sponsor of the petition to recall Ladere, had no question as to how the matter should proceed.

"Full speed ahead," Mulhaney quipped. "We have no intentions of dropping anything."

She said she saw no reason why Michalski's decision should put a stop to her and her fellow petitioners' efforts to bring assembly member Ladere to task.

"It was a separate issue," Mulhaney said. "I suppose if [Ladere] wanted, she could file a suit, but she'd better do it damn quick."

Mulhaney estimated she has approximately 90 signatures, combined, in her petition logs for the recall of both Anderson and Ladere.

Bill Moll, who said he chairs Citizens to Restore Open and Honest Government (CROHG) and sponsored the recall petition against Anderson, said his intent is to bring a peaceful resolution to the issues that sparked the recall.

"The goal is to . . . mend and correct any misunderstandings and try and create a workable environment for everyone," Moll said. "My intent is in moving forward and working things out."

Moll said he held the petition book with the 1,200th signature for Anderson's recall, but he said he didn't think the full 2,323 signatures would be collected.

"There's a lot of reaching out going on," Moll said. "It's important to realize that as well as it's important to capitalize on it."

But CROHG treasurer Jim Turner said Moll was no longer chairman of CROHG and that his comments did not reflect the opinions of CROHG members.

"He's misrepresenting himself . . . and he's not cleared any of his statements with any other members," Turner said, "And we are not dropping the recall petition against Tim Anderson."

CROHG secretary Lucille Frey added her voice to Turner's. She said she understood Moll had resigned from his position as chair. Frey added that Moll's opinion is his alone, and is not shared by the rest of the group.

"Bill doesn't have the authority to make the final determination for the whole group," Frey said. "They will have to take it to court [to pull the petition] -- they will have to get a judge's decision on it. As far as some of us in CROHG are concerned, we're not going to let it just die. On one condition we would stop -- and that is if Anderson would resign."