The Alaska Personnel Board, clearly frustrated with the pile of ethics complaints filed against Gov. Sarah Palin, wants to publicize the cost of dealing with them.
The personnel board members decided at a Wednesday meeting to work with the attorney general's office on how to make public the cost of addressing each ethics complaint, without violating the board's confidentiality rules.
"We've spent pretty close to about a third of a million dollars, and it's getting to be really expensive," said Al Tamagni, a member of the board.
Also Wednesday, the three-member board dismissed another complaint, this one involving Palin and her political action committee, and heard testimony from a woman who asserted fear of retaliation has prevented her from filing a complaint against the governor.
The governor's office said it is the 13th ethics complaint against Palin or her staff that has been resolved without finding of an executive ethics act violation. But Palin has agreed to reimburse the state in order to settle an ethics complaint over 10 state-paid trips taken by her children. A "few more" complaints are pending a decision by the personnel board, the governor's office said.
Andree McLeod, an Anchorage activist who has filed multiple ethics complaints against Palin and her staff, said after the meeting that the board is trying to squash accountability by saying it costs too much.
It was right about here that I was going to make a snarky but obvious statement. However I don't have to because Andree McLoed, Palin's least favorite person in the world, has done it for me.
"The whole way to mitigate all this is for Palin to behave ethically," said McLeod, who filed the complaint that was dismissed by the board on Wednesday.
Of course that is the fact that seems to be lost on a lot of people.
They simply want to paint our Governor as the victim of an organized smear campaign but that is simply untrue. Our Governor is the victim of her own unethical actions.
And what is more is that the ethics complaints are being dismissed out of hand, without being given the kind of respect and attention that I feel they deserve. I am confident that if these were being vetted by a less Palin-cozy group than this personnel board the complaints would not be getting swatted away like so many errant tennis balls. (And perhaps a simple request for government e-mails would not cost a private citizen a whopping $65,000.)
It appears from my point of view that the personnel board is running interference for the Governor and sending a message to others who may dare to call Sarah Palin on her unethical behaviors not to bother.
(Oh crap! It looks like I am more or less in agreement with Dan Fagan on this issue, how did that happen? Oh well in the interest of fairness here is a link to his post on the subject.)
The First Dud's page is the real ethics violation. it links to a commercial site that benfits the Palins. end of story.
ReplyDeleteThat is exactly why everyone needs to contact CREW. It's absolutely ridiculous what this woman is getting away with.
ReplyDeletePalin should have been recalled or impeached over Troopergate. Since the personnel board let her off the hook with that one, it should be obvious the personnel board has their priorities.
ReplyDeleteWhat really got me about Troopergate was the obsessive behavior. Mr. Dude was going around taking pictures of a Trooper and the governor's office asked and received that Trooper's workmen's comp file (Wonder if Mr. Dude viewed that file?) for the purpose of proving the Trooper filed a fraudulent claim. Guess someone was upset when no fraud was found. Too bad.
Any and all costs and expenses as a result of ethics violation complaints are no one's fault but the ol' GINO herself. Send her the bill. She's the one that ran on ethics and promised an open and transparent administration. Has she lived up to her words?
Do not understand how the handpicked Sarah friendly board has spent that much money. All they are doing is reading complaint and saying ..dismissed. The board is over charging for their work.
ReplyDeleteI am no fan of Palin, but I take objection to your headline on this post. Pretty faces and lack of ethics are not synonymous. Please vote for a pretty face is she is smart, qualified and competent. Please don't be sexist.
ReplyDeleteThe Personnel board exists all the time, right? They were not convened and hired specially for these complaints? And if none of these complaints is actually investigated, where is the cost?
ReplyDeleteGryphen was correct: Do not vote for a person based on their face. Vote for their principles, experience, intelligence, ethics, etc.
ReplyDeleteWould the people on the Personnel Board be getting paid if there was never a complaint filed? Don't they have that job -- to address complaints? How can it cost "extra" when a complaint comes in? What are they being paid for in the first place? Are they losing money elsewhere when they have to meet? I don't get it.
ReplyDeleteAndree is correct, as are all of the filers of the complaints. Sarah is ethically challenged and has packed her entire administration, including the personnel board, with her personal pro-Palin posse. There is no organized smear campaign against the idiot governor. Just a lot of citizens, Alaskan and otherwise, who are tired of pulling out chunks of their hair and are literally counting the days until the 2010 election. I had hoped one of these many obvious ethical lapses on her part would stick, but it is getting pretty clear that she OWNS the right people to keep that from happening. Vote her sorry cheap ass out of office next year. Make sure you do a BIG get-out-the-vote campaign and give that twit her walking papers.
ReplyDeleteThe question should be; What has it cost the state to have a governor with questionable ethics in office?
ReplyDeleteIsn't it time for the AK legislature to step in on this? I'm not familiar with what, if anything, they can do but the different branches exist as a "checks and balances" system for a reason! It is not Palin alone who runs Alaska. She is making them all like like $hit.
ReplyDeleteThe reason Palin has all of her agencies coming out with all of this cost info is so that it makes the complainers look like the villains. As so many others have pointed out, all of those state employees are already being paid to do those things being requested of them.
Who wants to bet this is part of her PR spin in anticipation of the iceberg?
Susan in MD
Well, as mayor she left Wasilla in the red and at the rate she's going, Alaska will be in the red, too. Each day the red ink gets closer.
ReplyDeleteThe personnel board should be lecturing GINO on her unethical behavior, not the citizens filing complaints! And her putting Andree's last name on the SOA webpage is out of line. Andree needs to contact Rex and Sue GINO and the SOA!
ReplyDeleteBTW, the Dan Fagan article says that the Personnel Board is VOLUNTEER??? What the duece? Damn, I'm going back to reading LOLcats............
ReplyDeleteWho investigates the board itself? Can an ethics complaint be filed against the board?
ReplyDeleteAt what point does the FBI or District Attorney office open an investigation into a state government?
It just seems to me that there are no balances within the Alaskan state executive branch.
If a governor appoints the very people that would have the job of overseeing her or his actions, then it is already a foregone conclusion as to any investigation. This seems to be not in the interest of any states residents.
Inflated fees seems to have become viral within this branch. (ethics investigation and records request)
According to the ADN, all the current members of the personnel board were appointed by Murkowski. Surprised they'd be fans of Sarah's.
ReplyDeleteThese investigators are attorneys in private practice hired by the board. Who pays their fees? Do they charge regular legal fees? I guess it could add up if you're paying regular attorney fees to investigators who I guess are like prosecutors who decide if the complaint warrants an "indictment" of sorts (if you were in criminal law). If indicted, then the charge goes to the board for a "trial." That's kinda how it works I think.
As she said, "I will do what I want until the court tells me I can't."
ReplyDeleteShe said, court.
I don't understand why the RICO Act doesn't apply to organized crime in Alaska.
ReplyDeleteAlaska has been purchased. It is among the most corrupt states, considering the tiny population, it has the highest % of corrupt officials. When/where are Alaskan rulers not blocking justice in one way or another?
There are no RICO experts in Alaska?
http://www.jurispro.com/category/rico-racketeering-s-417/AK
Alaskans think the restaurant in Anchorage is the only RICO? Taco Rico?
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/23/cheney-linked-to-stevens-corruption-trial/
This website may answer some of your questions about the Personnel Board. http://www.gov.state.ak.us/boards/factsheet.php?i=077
ReplyDeleteThe "expense" they are complaining of is the cost of hiring the outside counsel they have to use to screen complaints against GINO.
Gryphen,
ReplyDeleteI just posted this link to the story on Regina's blog. You, Regina, Celtic Diva and AKM could email Heather Burke who broke the FOIA Parliament Scandal and ask for her opinion and or advice.( I emailed her already)Her background is as an Investigative Reporter. She might comment or give opinion.Here is her story.(an the email link)The link doesn't paste..?
www.guardian.co.uk/plitics/2009/may/15/mps-expenses-heather-brooke-foi
The problem child-the cost of the expense is outside counsel.
ReplyDelete~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ethics board should be chewing her(GINO) Ass about not acting Ethically instead of putting it on the people filing complaints, there is something ass backwards about this whole thing, its like shoot the messenger!
State of Alaska Office of Boards and Commissions Roster
ReplyDeletehttp://www.gov.state.ak.us/boards/rosters/board077.html
PERSONNEL BOARD
Debra E. English, Alaska Communications Systems,
Reappointed 1/29/2008
Laura Plenert, Ted Ferry Civic Center
Date Appointed 3/10/2004
Alfred L. Tamagni, Sr., Financial Diversified, Insurance and Pension Services International
Date Appointed 3/1/2006
It's all about Troopergate.
ReplyDeleteIf Palin had been honest, she would have said something like "I was really concerned about this Trooper. Todd and I may have said or done some things we shhouldn't have because of that concern."
Instead, she did everything in her power to lie and cover up her misdeeds- only disclosing the truth if caught on tape, ie Frank Bailey.
After her VP nomination, she filed the complaint against herself. I'll bet that's the biggest expense accrued by the Personnel Board to date.
Why don't they complain about that one?
Somewhat off-topic, but the GLOBE June 8th issue ("Obama Gay Cover Up!") has on page 42 breaking news that GINO is getting seven million dollars for her book deal, but that it will be a whitewash job, designed to make her look good for 2012.
ReplyDeleteThe GLOBE is our friend, as they go into some detail as to the family dirty laundry, principally GINO's "shotgun" wedding, her "rumored" affair with Brad Hanson, Track and Bristol's drug use, and the screaming matches and tantums she threw behind the scenes during the campaign. She and Cindy McCain despise each other, but "make nice" in front of the cameras.
I bet Cindy McCain would love to write a book of her own, but it would reveal how close they came to tricking the American public into putting this ignorant, ill-tempered woman in the White House.
Cindy McCain's father was a mafia henchman. There is nothing clean about Mccain. I would not be surprised if he knew all the worst sordid details about Palin and just thought it would be a no brainer to cover up, like his connections are pros at doing. For whatever reason he decided on her, once it was on they do what they do to dress her up. When he saw her in action up close and she humiliated him, they all must have detested what they got into. Meghan and Cindy could write and interesting book but they are trained to play the game.
ReplyDeleteTom Gosinski, a former employee of the medical-aid charity Cindy McCain used as personal supplier of Percocet and Vicodin, is speaking out publicly for the first time.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Whistleblower_breaks_15year_silence_to_allege_0911.html
Google John McCain and names like William Rehnquist, The Arizona Republic Investigative Reporter Don Bolles, Kemper Marley Sr., Kathleen Hensley Portalski, Tom Gosinski, James Hensley,
Killing journalists:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Bolles
Troopers dub Mat-Su area the meth capital of Alaska
http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/030805/sta_20050308002.shtml
To anon 3:32, the title "Obama gay cover up" doesn't give me a lot of confidence in the Globe. What Globe is this by the way? The only one I know is the Boston Globe I don't see them publishing this.
ReplyDeleteI agree Andree needs to sue and report this board to make sure the investigations really are objective. They seem biased. Palin seems to have everyone wrapped around. She is sickening.
This is a bit OCD, but has anyone compiled a list of Palin's friends/high school classmates who were hired as a result of her being mayor and then "governor"? It would be interesting to know what their qualifications were educationally as well as job-specifically as well as salaries.
ReplyDeleteI cringe at the travesty of her Governor-Ship, but await the iceberg in patient, but eager anticipation.
A list of friends/high school who were hired mayor/gov is important to document for a complete picture of Sarah's m.o.. I hope to see that list with each background soon!
ReplyDelete