Windbreak owners seek redress from city

WASILLA — Bob Andres says he and his wife, Annette, don’t want to be in the news anymore.

But after the couple, who own the Windbreak Café in Wasilla, recently requested more than $44,000 from the city to compensate for time spent digging through public records after their business was threatened, they may have to wait to see that wish realized.

The Andres have spent more than a year challenging Wasilla Mayor Dianne M. Keller and some of her staff, culminating in a city council-commissioned investigation into allegations the mayor and city worked to benefit private development firm Meritage Development Group LLC.

Keller and her administration were accused of using scare tactics to get business owners, including the Andreses, on board with a development plan. Meritage is looking to develop a large commercial complex next to Sportsman’s Warehouse and wanted to build a road that would have run through the properties of nearby businesses.

An Aug. 24, 2007 letter with a paragraph threatening eminent domain became the focal point of the investigation.

Keller and her staff, namely Public Works Director Archie Giddings and Economic Development Planner Casey Reynolds, were accused of working to benefit Meritage at the cost of the business owners.

All three have maintained they did nothing wrong.

After the Andreses made Wasilla City Council aware of what was going on, the council hired a private law firm to investigate. That firm, Denali Law Group, concluded that Keller and some of her top staff sent threatening letters feigning eminent domain in an attempt to get cooperation from the businesses. Denali Law Group, in its report, faulted Keller, Giddings and Reynolds for working to benefit Meritage.

The investigation climaxed June 30 during a heated speech by Keller at a city council meeting in which she lambasted Annette Andres, saying she was personally hurt by the testimony Annette Andres had given during the investigation.

But there’s more to the story than what played out in the city council chambers a few months ago.

The nuts and bolts of the investigation largely began after the Andreses spent countless hours poring over public documents requested as part of their own investigation into the potential fate of their business.

In a letter sent nearly two weeks ago to the city, Bob and Annette Andres say they want to be paid for their troubles.

“I don’t want to fight with the city,” Bob Andres said Monday, adding he’d rather concentrate on positive aspects of living in the Mat-Su Valley.

Even so, the couple wants to be reimbursed equivalent to half Keller’s $75,000 salary, or $37,500. They are also seeking another $7,000 to cover expenses, including costs for advice, gathering paperwork, obtaining copies of e-mails and electronic records from the city, the Department of Transportation and others, according to the letter.

“The time we spent to uncover the wrongful tactics of the city employees caused both my husband and I to use time that we otherwise would have used for the benefit of our restaurant and hotel business,” Annette Andres says in the letter.

While nothing has been filed in court, the letter is written as an affidavit, with the Andreses as the plaintiffs and Keller, Giddings and Reynolds as defendants. That was done because the Andreses were informed by the city’s attorney, Thomas Klinkner, that the couple has no proof pertaining to the amount of work they did, Bob Andres said.

So the Andreses filed their letter as an affidavit, in essence swearing to their claims.

On Monday, Bob Andres called the debacle over the Meritage investigation one of the worst times of his and his wife’s lives. He said Annette cried many times over the ordeal.

In the end, Keller declined to resign after the council voted 4-1 requesting her to do so. Keller has never admitted any wrongdoing and has not publicly apologized to any of the parties involved.

A message seeking comment from Keller was not returned Monday. She was not present at Monday’s city council meeting because of illness.

Whether the city will agree to honor the monetary request from the Andreses is unclear.

Councilwoman Dianne Woodruff, perhaps one of the most vocal opponents of Keller during the investigation, said she believes the Andreses should receive some sort of compensation. How much, though, is up for debate.

“I think we need to have a discussion,” Woodruff said. “I think we owe them something.”

Deputy Mayor Kristofer Larson, the lone vote against asking for Keller’s resignation, opted for discretion on the issue.

“It’s nothing I want to comment on,” Larson said. “It’s a sensitive legal matter.”

One concern is if the Andreses are paid for uncovering what many have called wrongdoing, what’s to keep the masses from turning out with similar claims seeking compensation? Woodruff said that’s a risk she’s willing to take.

“Realistically, if people are finding where the city has ignored code or engaged in wrongdoing, then the city ought to be paying,” she said.

Contact Michael Rovito at michael.rovito@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.