Take-over in progress at borough

I am a member of the Mat-Su Board of Ethics, but I am writing as a private resident to share my concerns about some things the Mat-Su Borough Assembly is trying to implement that are detrimental to our rights.

The assembly is trying to take away the powers and duties of the Board of Ethics by stripping due process from the board and replacing it with one person who will be the sole hearing officer. This hearing officer will make all the decisions pertaining to the ethics case that has been brought forward by a concerned resident.

The hearing officer will be a paid employee of the Mat-Su Borough. This is a grave concern to me because the paid hearing officer can be persuaded by anyone; whereas, by continuing to have a five-member Board of Ethics who all volunteer their time and diverse perspectives.

The Mat-Su Borough Assembly is trying to make it where it can get advice from the Mat-Su Borough Attorney's office. In the past, this has always been a problem. Borough attorneys have been concerned about a possible conflict of interest.

Currently, any assembly member or borough employee can go to the Board of Ethics to get an opinion as to whether they have a conflict of interest. The Board of Ethics is a neutral body with diverse perspectives.

The assembly wants extreme leniency in matters of conflicts of interest. Assembly members could abuse their duties pertaining to certain situations that could be beneficial to the assembly's vote. The assembly could decide that the assembly member(s) with a conflict could vote on anything of their choosing.

The assembly added to the code rewrite (2.71.220 Protection of Public Interest), "However, the code shall be narrowly construed where it would limit or hinder an elected official's right and duty to vote or otherwise participate on any issue before the elected body or in performing their duties as local legislators."

If you read the code rewrite, you will find there is nothing hindering assembly members from doing their jobs effectively and efficiently.

Our veterans have fought for our freedoms and the Mat-Su Borough Assembly is trying to strip us of those same freedoms. I hope reading this will prompt borough residents to participate in the audience participation part of the Jan. 17 assembly meeting. This is where we, as residents and veterans of the Mat-Su Borough, can voice our concerns and tell the assembly it needs to be fair and transparent.

You can also contact your assembly representative. If you are not sure who your representative is, contact the Mat-Su Borough Clerk's office.

Transparency includes all text messages received during an assembly meeting. According to the Alaska Open Meetings Act, all text messages received must be made public; however, they have not done so (here).

These are just a few things of concern. It is time for voters to get involved and start demanding answers from the Mat-Su Borough Assembly regarding conflict of issue policies.

Charissa Cherry is a member of the Mat-Su Board of Ethics.