Senator resigns Evergreen position

MAT-SU -- About 200 people gathered in Sutton Elementary School Tuesday evening to ask Evergreen Resources about their practices and coal-bed methane drilling in Mat-Su. While the meeting was going on, Sen. Scott Ogan sent out press releases stating he'd resigned from his consulting position with the company.

Ogan, in an interview Wednesday afternoon, said he did not resign because he believed his position with Evergreen to be in conflict with his role as senator of District H or as chair of the Senate Resources Committee.

"I resigned because people that I respect have a perception that I have a conflict that compromises my ability to represent them as a senator," Ogan said. "I don't think I have a conflict. I understand the perception as one."

In the press release sent out Tuesday, Ogan said his reputation was at stake.

"My reputation for stubborn integrity is a huge part of who I am," Ogan wrote. "No amount of money is worth bringing that into question."

Despite his decision to step down, Ogan said he doesn't understand the change in attitude among people he represents.

"I got elected as an Evergreen [consultant]," Ogan said. "It was no secret. I was publicly, in every community council meeting, bringing borough representatives out, bringing business leaders out to well sites, wearing my Evergreen hat."

When asked whether he believed there was inherent conflict with having a person representing a particular industry drafting or overseeing the legislation that pertains to that industry, Ogan said everyone in the Legislature is part of that conflict. As a cabinet maker, he said, he worked with legislation that affected him -- workman's compensation issues, for example.

"Everybody eventually pays taxes or dies and everybody, except one or two of my neighbors, gets a permanent fund," Ogan said. "I think we should celebrate the fact. I think it's in the Mat-Su Valley's best interest to have someone who knows what's going on -- who knows the business."

Ogan also announced his resignation during a legislative update at the Palmer Chamber of Commerce Wednesday afternoon, and said he believes his decision sets a bad precedent.

"'No good deed goes unpunished,'" Ogan said. "I think the concept of ordinary citizens working in the Legislature has taken a big step back."

Ogan said he met with Evergreen's Chief Executive Officer Mark Sexton Monday night and they discussed his options, but Sexton left it up to Ogan to make the decision, which he did Tuesday afternoon. The decision, Ogan said, became clear when he was trying to decide whether or not to attend Evergreen's Town Hall meeting held Tuesday evening in Sutton.

"I was struggling with whether or not I should go to the meeting," Ogan said. Although he said he was never a spokesman for Evergreen, and mainly coordinated tours for local officials of their well sites or met one-on-one with landowners, Ogan said he felt his presence at the meeting would be unduly scrutinized.

"It would redirect the focus on me, but I want the focus to be on the issue," Ogan said.

Ogan was still a focus at the Sutton meeting. He and Rep. Vic Kohring, R-Wasilla, who penned House Bill 69, streamlining regulations for shallow-well gas drilling, were hung in effigy outside the driveway of Sutton Elementary School. Ogan's absence at the meeting was not lost on the audience, who asked where he was. Signs in the background asked why residents should trust a company that "hire[s] one of our public servants to change our laws … and take away our rights." At the Sutton meeting, as at previous meetings, bumper stickers were handed out, proclaiming "Ogan's in bed with Evergreen but we're getting screwed!"

Although there have been rumors of a recall of Ogan running since late August, Ogan said his decision wasn't related to a potential recall.

"There's been people that have wanted to recall me since the day I got elected," Ogan said. "[My decision] was predicated on the fact that I was struggling with whether or not to go to the meeting."

Ogan said it's a relief, now, to be able to talk publicly about Evergreen. He said he had been averse to discussing the company and its projects because he could be wrongly portrayed as a spokesman for the company. He said he's excited to be involved in oil and gas development in Alaska, and feels that's where his future is.

"There's nothing that excites me and turns my crank more than making wealth from resources," Ogan said. "When I get out of this business, it's what I'm going to do."