The borough assembly on Feb. 11 unanimously approved an ordinance to eliminate the need for the public to approve the sale of borough-owned assets valued at more than $1 million.
The decision came after borough attorneys suggested the clause in Wrangell’s charter violated the state constitution, as it allowed the public to usurp the assembly’s appropriations powers.
“From a legal standpoint,” borough attorney Rob Luce said, “it’s not good practice to leave … charter sections on the books that aren’t legal or aren’t constitutional. At the end of the day, it may end up costing the borough money.”
The Alaska Constitution prohibits the borough from delegating appropriations matters to the public, something recent court decisions have confirmed.
“The Alaska Supreme Court has said that if you delegate the assembly’s authority on appropriations to the voters, that’s a no-no,” Luce said.
Most recently, the now-defunct provision was activated in 2022, when voters gave City Hall permission to sell or lease the former 6-Mile property. The borough purchased the property that summer for $2.5 million and wanted to be able to act quickly if it found a private developer interested in the land.
Borough Manager Mason said he wanted to ensure the borough made the changes as soon as possible.
“It would look really poor if we were to dispose of the old hospital for over $1 million and then bring up this (agenda) item,” Villarma said in January. “We just want to do this at a time when there were no sales pending.” The borough has been trying to sell the unused former hospital building for the past four years. The asking price is $498,000.
Ahead of the unanimous vote, Assembly Member Jim DeBord made nod to Cameron Crowe’s 1996 classic movie, “Jerry Maguire.”
“You had me at unconstitutional,” Debord quipped.
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