At a special meeting Tuesday, the Assembly voted 4-3 in favor of a resolution that creates a special election in Wrangell June 19, allowing the public to vote on whether or not the majority of the hospital board should be recalled.
Unlike the Assembly’s vote on the resolution last week, four Assembly members voted “yes” on the resolution Tuesday night. All Assembly members were present for the special meeting.
Assembly members Bill Privett and David Jack spoke in favor of passing the resolution Tuesday.
Privett said those who filed the recall petitions have followed the necessary procedure defined by city law.
“This is recourse that is set up in our municipal code for them to follow, and they have done that,” Privett said. “Quite frankly, I see that we have no choice but to allow that process to go through.”
However, Assembly member Don McConachie said he did not believe it was the Assembly’s role to just “go through the motions” and approve the resolution.
“I don’t think that is what this Assembly is meant to do,” he said.
McConachie also expressed concerns of the impact a recall of the Wrangell Medical Center (WMC) Board could have on securing financing to build the new hospital.
McConachie was among the three Assembly members who voted against passing the resolution. Assembly members Pam McCloskey and Wilma Stokes also voted against it.
Assembly members Privett, Jack, Michael Symons and Mayor Jeremy Maxand voted for the resolution.
The resolution directs the Borough Clerk to create the special election for June 19.
At the Assembly’s April 14 regular meeting, Assembly members voted 3-2 on a resolution to create a June 12 special election regarding the recall petitions. The Assembly was under the impression the resolution had passed at that time, and Borough Clerk Christie Jamieson said she would go ahead with setting up the special election on June 12.
However, the following morning, on April 25, after the vote had been reviewed by the Borough attorney, as well as the Borough Manager and Jamieson, it was announced the original vote was invalid because it had only received three “yes” votes.
According to Wrangell Municipal Code, four “yes” votes are needed to pass a resolution.
Petitions to recall WMC Board members were filed at Wrangell’s City Hall in early April. The main sponsors of the petitions are Wrangell residents Gary Allen Sr. and Michael Ottesen Sr.
Sponsors had gathered between 120 and 127 signatures on each of the recall petitions within several days, before turning them back into City Hall. And, soon after, the petitions were found sufficient by the Borough Clerk, as they had the required signatures.
WMC Board members included in the petitions include Linda Bjorge, Silvia Ettefagh, Jake Harris, Lurine McGee, Jim Nelson, Delores Norman, Leann Rinehart and Mark Robinson.
Dorothy Hunt-Sweat is the sole WMC Board member who did not have a petition filed to recall her.
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