The hunters could end up squeezed in their own traps

Frontiersman editorial board

Picture a hunter out on the trail, his rifle dropped to the ground at his feet. He's running around in circles, screaming, with a game trap snapped shut on his head. It could happen -- to members of the Matanuska Electric Association Board. For several years, some members of the board have been laying an intricate trap line of bylaws in an attempt to snare board member Michael Janecek.

MEA voters got to Janecek first; he attended his final meeting as a board member was Monday, and after an exchange of demands for apology, reminiscent of a playground debate between pre-schoolers, an era came to an end with no apologies and no love lost.

The stage is set for ironic turns on the wheel of fortune for the remaining board members, however. Some of the very people that helped engineer the bylaws web may find themselves unable to navigate their way safely out of the field in years to come. It could well become a classic case of, "Be careful what you ask for."

The bylaws cover a wide range of potential infractions from finance disclosures to disclosures of contact with certain people or groups to mandatory drug testing. Ambiguities about timing and specific definitions of what constitutes an infraction are sufficient allow vindictive board members to use the bylaws as a blunt weapon instead of as a tool to ensure ethical behavior and efficiency.

When you've worked this hard to trap an enemy into a misstep, there's always the danger that you'll trip over your own mess.

There's also no easy way to clean the mess up. The board can't go back and repeal cumbersome or over-meticulous bylaws in the near future, because that would make it all too clear that those bylaws were written with one member in mind (rather than with better operations in mind). For that reason, the board will have to step very carefully through its own bylaws for at least the near future. Some people will be watching closely, and even a small infraction could become a large headache for a board that has already taken a few lumps on its image.

Of course, on the positive side, Janecek hasn't left without some useful contributions. He and his lawyer has given board members a good road map for navigating through the arcane rules. He's taken the board to court more than once, and has so far prevailed. Whether he gets an apology or not, the board might at least thank him for that road map.