Second sanctions of MEA board member point to harassment

MAT-SU -- Matanuska Electric association board member Michael Janecek isn't facing sanctions on conflict of interest disclosures alone -- MEA management staff have reported two instances in which they were reportedly harassed by the board member.

At the April 12 board meeting, MEA General Manager Wayne Carmony read a memorandum from MEA Finance Director Don Zoerb that recorded a verbal altercation between Janecek and four men affiliated with MEA at the co-op's annual meeting. Zoerb reported talking in a group with MEA Manager of Governmental and Strategic Affairs Tuckerman Babcock, then-MEA spokesman Mike Pauley and Kyle Parker, who has served as an attorney for MEA in the past. Zoerb said the group was within arm's reach of each other, talking, when Janecek reportedly stepped between Zoerb and Babcock. According to Zoerb's memo, Janecek said "… he was going to come clean and tell everything that happened in his discussions with the IBEW last year, and then 'I'm going to shove it so far up your a** you choke on it.'"

Following the comment, Zoerb wrote, Janecek walked away, turning around to smile and hold his left hand up to the back of his head with the middle finger extended, a position he held for a few paces before walking on.

At the April meeting, Janecek told Carmony that he'd missed the comment Babcock made back. After that meeting, Babcock indicated he'd sneered the word "Loser" back at Janecek, in the fashion of Jim Carrey in the movie "The Mask."

"I'm not surprised that you would put your spin on it like you always do, Mr. Carmony, but the comment was as vulgar and if you need a confirmation if I did that, I shall confirm that, and report to you that I meant it," Janecek said at the meeting.

Carmony asked if the board still wanted a copy of Zoerb's memo, to which Janecek responded "Stick it up your a**." Carmony reiterated what was said, then asked if the comment was "a result of something that, ah …" when Janecek asked if Carmony had misunderstood the directive.

"Why don't you say it a little louder; I don't think we got it on tape, Michael," Carmony retorted.

MEA Board President Larry DeVilbiss called the meeting back to order and Board Member Lois Lester asked for a point of order before DeVilbiss warned Janecek to "watch his tongue." At that point, according to meeting minutes, Carmony asked to speak. He indicated that he thought Janecek's behavior at the meeting was out of line.

"I would like to remind this board of directors that I am an employee of this association, and it is completely and absolutely out of order for any member of this board of directors in a board meeting such as tonight, or outside of a board meeting, to tell me to shove anything up my a**," Carmony said. "Now, Mr. Janecek cannot assert that I said something to him that was crude, or whatever the case may be, prior to that statement being made to me, and I do not appreciate it, and I would like to have something done about it."

At the May meeting, the board did act on Carmony's request. In addition to Jordan's motion to find Janecek guilty of failure to disclose discussions with the union, Jordan put forward a resolution stating Janecek's actions were "vulgar and completely incompatible with the conduct of association business." The motion stated that the board found Janecek guilty of "a grave breach of order," and censures Janecek for his conduct. As with Jordan's other motion, the sanctions will be determined at the board's June 14 meeting.

After Jordan read the motion, Janecek offered an apology, of sorts.

"It would be in order for me to apologize to the members concerning my behavior," Janecek said. "It would be appropriate for me to apologize to director Lester, Ms. [Patti] Worrell and director Daugharty. The others, not even close, considering the contact I have had with you in the past months."

After the meeting, Janecek said he still feels no need for apology to Carmony and the board members and members of MEA management he did not apologize to in April. He said the statements made were a reflection of a less-than-friendly relationship he's had with some on MEA's board and management team for the past three years.

"Our relationship is not, in any way, based in pleasant attitudes," Janecek said.

The motion finding Janecek guilty of a "grave breach of order" passed with the support of board members Bill Folsom, Linda Shattuck and Lee Jordan in favor. Both members Lois Lester and Daugharty abstained from voting. When the board considered whether Janecek should be sanctioned, the vote passed when DeVilbiss broke a tie, voting with Folsom, Shattuck and Jordan in favor of the sanctions.

At the end of the meeting, Janecek said he was surprised at the board's delay.

"I am stunned that I am invited back next month," Janecek said. "I look forward to our June meeting."

Contact Rindi White at rindi.white@frontiersman.com.