PETERSBURG – The Petersburg Assembly is being accused of violating the Alaska Open Meetings Act in a recall application that is sponsored by 12 community members, including city employees and two former mayors.
The petition seeks to oust four members from office, including Nancy Strand, Jeigh Stanton Gregor, Eric Castro and Kurt Wohlhueter. Member Jeff Meucci is immune to recall because of his recent appointment, according to Alaska Statute 29.26.240. And member Bob Lynn’s term is over in October. Mayor Cindy Lagoudakis is not included in the applications to recall. She has said she would likely not seek re-election.
The four were not immediately available to comment.
Deputy Clerk Melinda Swihart confirmed that Power & Light Electrician Gary Morgan submitted a recall application for the three Assembly members on Tuesday.
“The applications were sent to the Borough attorney for review,” Swihart said in an email. “At this point, we are waiting to hear back from her on whether the grounds for recall meet the requirements.”
The petition, led by Morgan, says the Assembly failed to perform prescribed duties after holding a private meeting in May, also known as an executive session.
The closed-door session was held to discuss potential financial, safety and personnel matters related to the proposed restructuring of the Electric Utility, according to its minutes. The meeting lasted about an hour.
The language of why the session took place is where Morgan and his attorney are taking aim. Morgan singled-out the Assembly’s decision to discuss personnel matters in a closed tsession, citing a pretext that the Assembly must name a specific person.
“Personnel is the only thing that jumps out at me,” said Tom Amodio, Morgan’s attorney. “I think they need to be more specific. Based on precedent, it makes grounds for recall.”
He continued: “I don’t have any position on whether those things happen,” adding that Morgan only hired him to review the grounds for recall.
An executive session may be held to discuss a person if “subjects that tend to prejudice the reputation and character of any person, provided the person may request a public discussion,” according to section 310 of the Open Meetings Act.
The petition says the Assembly — excluding Meucci — “ignored warnings that this meeting was a violation of the Alaska Open Meetings Act.”
When the application process
started two weeks ago and former Mayor Ted Smith reportedly picked it up, he said he “handed it off” to
another person, and Morgan at the time was not involved with the recall effort. Now Mr. Morgan is the primary contact on the petition and former Mayor Ted Smith is the secondary contact, placing them both at the front of the proposed recall.
“We are not recalling the community, we are giving the people in this community the opportunity to recall those members,” Morgan said. “They were not doing their due diligence when they
decided to have an executive session.”
If the Borough verifies the application, Morgan and the 11 co-sponsors will have to find 283 verifiable signatures to be considered for the ballot in October.
“This has gone way too far,” said Smith, who served in public office for 25 years. “The Assembly is not being transparent. They are not being fair to the public.”
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