Palin Ethics Complaint Dismissed.
Regarding this latest ethics complaint against Gov. Sarah Palin to be dismissed, filer Andree McLeod says that “her publicly funded partisan and publicly funded state staff and resources for personal partisan political purposes that have nothing to do with the state’s interests and everything to do with her personal, extremely partisan political Washington, D.C., beltway interests.”
The Personnel Board disagrees.
Here’s part of the latest press release from the governor’s office. Please note the naming of a private citizen in the title of the release, and the disclosure of the employment history of that private citizen as it relates to state government. If this stuff came from the class president in the school newsletter, people would be appalled. But somehow, if it’s the state government, it’s just fine.
Another McLeod Ethics Complaint Fails
May 27, 2009, Anchorage, Alaska – Governor Sarah Palin today welcomed the news that yet another ethics complaint against her has been officially found to lack merit and has been dismissed.Michael Geraghty, investigator for the State Personnel Board, concluded that there is no need for a hearing on the complaint filed in March by Andree McLeod, who has been a vocal critic of the governor since being denied employment with the state last year.
This is the 13th ethics complaint against the governor or her staff that has been resolved with no finding of a violation of the executive ethics act. A few more are pending.
“While the complaint process under the ethics act can be a useful tool for holding state officials accountable, it’s obvious that political opponents of the governor have been abusing the system, attempting to turn their resentments into legal issues,” said Bill McAllister, the governor’s communications director. “We’re grateful that the personnel board and its investigators have taken a rational approach to these matters, finding that the vast majority of the complaints did not even warrant the collection of evidence because they failed to assert any violation of the law.”
So, if these complaints did not even warrant the collection of evidence, according to the Personnel Board, then where are all these legal bills coming from? Could it be that the majority of the expenses came from two ethics complaints in particular?
I refer to:
Troopergate– The Legislature authorized $100,000 of state money to be spend investigating the firing of Commissioner of Public Safety Walt Monegan who refused to fire Palin’s estranged brother-in-law from his job with the State Troopers. An independent investigator found that Palin had violated the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. She then decided to submit an ethics complaint against herself in order to put the investigation into a venue run by people whose pay check she signs. Surprise, surprise…. THAT investigation found her innocent.
It’s interesting to note, that the Attorney General was originally the one giving the governor legal advice. Those communications were all subject to records requests, and were public information. Interestingly, the governor herself decided to hire a private attorney to handle that for her, knowing that the legal bills would now fall on her own shoulders.
Travelgate – That’s the one where the governor was charging the citizens of Alaska for expenses incurred by her children when they accompanied her on her travels. Airfare, hotel rooms, you name it. An ethics complaint was filed against her, and she settled by reimbursing the state almost $10,000 for money that she wrongfully took. This isn’t taking paper clips and sticky pads out of the supply cabinet. This is $10,000 worth of illegal travel expenses. The governor’s office framed it as “a mistake” that they “corrected.” Oops!
Now THAT would require some legal advice, I’d imagine.
Other than those two incidents, the administration has claimed that other ethics complaints are “frivolous,” “without merit,” “outrageous,” “asinine,” “bogus!” And now McAllister tells us they didn’t even warrant the collection of evidence. So…..what legal advice was needed?
It might be interesting to see a breakdown of charges, an itemized list from the governor’s attorney. Let’s see exactly where this half million dollars is coming from. I know if I was making a contribution to her legal defense fund, I’d want to see that. But, it doesn’t appear that this information is on the website of the hubristically-named Alaska Fund Trust.
Now, whether this complaint actually didn’t even warrant the collection of evidence is another story. Obviously if the person being investigated is the one who is signing the paychecks of the investigators, and can fire them, a reasonable person would say that this would justify a perceived conflict of interest. Linda Kellen Biegel, who has also filed an ethics complaint against the governor, attended the meeting yesterday and reported back HERE.
The Palin administration cries loudly about how the system is broken, and so do those who hold her feet to the fire. If nothing else comes of these ethics complaints, it should be a loud wake-up call to the Legislature to overhaul the process. Let’s start by creating an actual independent ETHICS Board. And then let’s get a legislature that does the holding of feet to the fire themselves, so citizens don’t have to. And THEN, let’s get a new governor. That would be a great start.
Aloha from Alaska! I’ve got my binoculars out and I’m still waiting for the S.S. Palin to hit something substantial. I understand the bilge pumps on this leaky ship are running full time however, as usual.
And to all mudpuppy friends from around the country, Thank you for your sympathy and well wishes….hankie wave, 4th of July wave, wink, wink, thumbs up, while doing the happy dance. We are having a beautiful spring here in Southeast, Alaska. My ancestors landed here in the early 1900s and they loved it then as much as we love it now…Sarah just adds another chapter to the “shyster” and “comedy” section in Alaskan history; we’ll be laughing about her antics for decades. The picture of her little knees and her pimp boots gave me a good chuckle the other day. Anyone else receiving as many comments on those boots would have retired them to the back of the closet. Not our GINO.
I’ll ask again.
Is there *any* ethics complaint this ethics review board would “approve”?
The State of Alaska needs to do something to take the mitigation of ethics complaints against the Governor out of the hands of the Personnel Board, consisting of people appointed by the Governor. Talk about the Fox guarding the hen house!
I’ve been following politics for many, many years and have never heard of a politician, let alone a governor, to have so many ethics complaints filed against them especially in such a short period of time. Personally I think Alaskans were enlightened about Sarah after she became the VP candidate. I’m wondering how she ever became elected. She lied so much and wasn’t really known so her lies must have sounded good. If she really wanted to have an open and transparent government she should have never run. True she made Alaska interesting but mostly because she is such a freaky side show. I’ve learned how beautiful the state is and that there are many interesting and intelligent people living there. Now I’m wondering if she will run for re-election. If she wins it will be startling and I will be full of pity for all of my Mudflat friends.
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On behalf of the great State of Hawaii, the “Aloha State,” I’d like to thank all you Alaskans for making us not the most corrupt State in the Union, another year running. We may have Linda Lingle and a thoroughly corrupt legislature, but you beat us every time with the unbelievable Sarah Palin. Bravo! I don’t know how you’ll ever replace her, but I have a pretty good idea when. And we’ll be waiting for you, 49! Don’t disappoint us! Find somebody worse! Make us look good!
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Kate… you want we “seduce” an editor? woo hoo!
the problem child Says:
May 28th, 2009 at 6:55 PM
Kate in Canada, I love your idea. I nominate regina (of Palingates) as editor in chief (and great resource)! I personally volunteer as a legal and other fact-checker.
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Yes I second that! She has a extensive list of “gates” and references. 🙂
Since when did Toad get a page? This is new! I usually check out the SOA page to see what idiotic press releases Palin has put out and now I see this. Do other gov’s spouses have pages on their state websites?
You’d think with the accusation of he being her “shadow gov” she’d not invite the possible negative feedback, but then my senses return to me- we’re talking about Palin here.
Lisabeth Says:
May 28th, 2009 at 5:31 PM
The press release that Palin has on her website is disgusting. I am very sorry Andree if you see this by chance. What about filing a civil law suit against Palin for defamation of character? Hoped I spelled that right. Or a lawsuit against the personnel board members themselves. I just don’t believe that every single complaint is without any merit! No way! I would defintely be sending all of this to the FBI and federal AG office.
Palins press release is so amateurish and unprofessional!!
Oh and the comments at ADN are awful. They say all the complainers are Democrats. I am way to sick of this to correct them. They are so stupid it’s a waste of energy.
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I hope someone made a screenshot of that! If I was Andree I would be contacting Rex and asking about suing the SOA and does 1-?
For big bucks! Its slander there, saying Andree just doing this b/c she was turned down for a job, WTF????
Andree is just sick and tired of it all like the rest of us!!!
I hope she gets some legal consult and Diva too.
Oops, now I see the typos. I really can do better.
OK, right here at Mudflats converge a lot of talented observers and writers, and probably the charisma to recruit experts in other areas. Could we get together and write a book?
AKM’s essay in this post made me think that the biggest reason Lady X is getting away with her behavior is that every issue is separate from another, and they vary in the kinds of boundaries crossed, and observers differ as to which ones they care about. The whole is too big for details to fit into one discussion, investigation or blog.
But surveying the whole is important.
Topic: Crossing boundaries- the ethical mistakes of lady X. This should be a fact-based analysis of where behavior transgresses or conflicts usually accepted ethical boundaries, both in law and in human decency. Some behavior may be identified as unusual but not unethical.
For example: is a politician’s refusal to accept the stimulus money because of personal or formal political belief an ethical issue?
I see a smallish book, maybe 300 pages, that contains a set of essays of sufficient quality to be used as a resource book for college ethics as it addresses behavior in business and management. I have bought collectively written books on subjects such as “The Sopronos” that have this format. See “This Thing of Ours”, David Lavary ed. That book has 18 essays by different authors, appendices, and 280 pages. So the essays average about 12.5 pages and 3000 words long.
It would begin with introductory chapters defining are ethics?- ethical and appropriate behavior, in the legal and management; Alaska’s history with these issues and specific laws; and the current impasse, starting with Troopergate.
Then one chapter for each of the major boundaries that a “gate” has violated- what appropriate behavior is, how this is defined in law or by custom, what we factually know to have occurred, and what questions or grey areas we identify. Then, what has occurred from this.
Finally, there should be conclusions drawn. Identify whether or where the existing system has failed and recommend how it might succeed. Discuss whether any regulatory system can effectively or practically deter someone determined to ignore it. Are there cost and time effective penalties? What part of the discipline is the clear daylight of public observation, and where does those itself have ethical boundaries? And, if an area is does not seem to us to be an ethics issue, say so.
Which gates and or how many chapters would follow from our own interests in working on this.
Note, if Babygate was addressed it would be theoretical, as “Some persons believe that LX lied about this issue both in the media and on record. Many other believe she did not. If in fact she did, what ethical boundaries are identified?”
Steps:
Take this into a more confidential Internet venue.
Have a free-wheeling discussion to identify the issues.
Divide them up according to knowlege and interest, with a writer, a fact-checker, and whatever other team members may volunteer assigned to each topic. Seek opinions from experts.
Elect or seduce a lead editor.
etc—
Though you wouldn’t guess it from my on-line typing, I am qualified as a text editor. Glad to volunteer that skill.
Of course, perhaps the Forum is already hard at work?
Yup, I guess it’s OK for the Queen to file 30 complaints against Wooten but the entire state has filed less than 15 against her. How long is this going to go on? She thumbs her nose at us every day. We all are afraid of a recall. And since it is apparent the Legislator will not start Impeachment proceedings, we will just have to tolerate her erratic, stupid, selfish, amateurish and pathetic behavior.
As for her Dairygate….her new little fully funded Matanuska Creamery , it is said , is not paying their bills. Watch for a new request for a new loan (wink-wink) Nothing but a subsidy—they will never pay it back….why would they….they already defaulted on over $4 million in State loans in past years. Funny how she wants the flood victims to not count on Federal or State help but she makes sure these 4 farmers and a couple others are “in the money.” Many of the missing emails Andree has been waiting for over 8 moths to get have “Matanuska Maid” in the subject line. LOTS to hide regarding money.
@ Ripley
When I envision the picture in my head of “another complaint dismissed”, I see some old White guy waving his hand and going “Feh!”
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…as she winks at the old fart and then saunters out of the room wearing her red high-healed sandals and short skirt that hikes up when she sits down.
The press release that Palin has on her website is disgusting. I am very sorry Andree if you see this by chance. What about filing a civil law suit against Palin for defamation of character? Hoped I spelled that right. Or a lawsuit against the personnel board members themselves. I just don’t believe that every single complaint is without any merit! No way! I would defintely be sending all of this to the FBI and federal AG office.
Palins press release is so amateurish and unprofessional!!
Oh and the comments at ADN are awful. They say all the complainers are Democrats. I am way to sick of this to correct them. They are so stupid it’s a waste of energy.
When I envision the picture in my head of “another complaint dismissed”, I see some old White guy waving his hand and going “Feh!”
The legislature needs to get on the stick and reform this ethics stuff. What a complete mess. And a joke. Also. Too.
OMIGosh have you seen the Sarah dumbasses on this thread.
http://community.adn.com/adn/node/141446?pageNum=4&&&mi_pluck_action=page_nav#Comments_Container
No, he’s from the Independent Baptist Church of Wasilla; her’s is the Wasilla Bible Church.
Off topic, but came across this today from another site. It’s some newspaper in Wasilla. Is this Palin’s pastor?
http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2009/05/27/faith/doc4a1b794bd0fd9907394285.txt
Hint: He thinks the AntiChrist will be gay. The comments are golden.
Whatever happend to Dairygate and the Dairy farm shennanigans with hiring people that had no clue about the industry?
The complaints didn’t even warrant the collection of evidence? Wouldn’t you think you would need to look at some evidence to determine if the complaints had merit? Wow!!!!!
It’s like Palin is the Queen of her own little kingdom up there. She would do great in N. Korea when she fails at her presidential bid. They don’t ask a lot of questions of their leader or their heads are chopped off. Perfect for Palin.
Someone needs to file an ethics complaint against the Ethics Board.
Something doesn’t smell right.
Actually, shouldn’t that be Sarah Palin…Too much “winkin” and not enough “blinkin” OR “thinkin”? We all know she didn’t blink when McOld asked her to be the veep candidate…she said so!
Now here’s another winning book title for you!
Cathy from Colorado Says: May 28th, 2009 at 12:00 PM
Sarah Palin…Too much “winkin” and “blinkin” and not enough THINKIN.
“Palin herself filed TWENTY “frivolous or merit less” complaints against Wooten. How much did THAT cost”
Add the tens of thousandths paid to that Kenai police chief, Palin, (Placed after outing Monegan ) she gave severance pay for his whole two weeks of duty.
Palin, ANXIOUS much for the drop of the ICEBERG, huh? She is doling out lame Twitters like she really really needs a friend. LMAO, I am loving the thought of her going bald before Monday trying to figure out all weekend which LIE and TWISTED DEED will be the first to hit the net. Hope there are pictures.
http://twitter.com/AKGovSarahPalin
Palin herself filed TWENTY “frivolous or meritless” complaints against Wooten. How much did THAT cost? Plenty since the repercussion of her complaints brought 2 more investigations against her.
Just think of it:
The entire state of Alaska’s population filed 13 ethics complaints against Palin, she filed 1 against herself and THIRTY against her ex brother-in-law, a state trooper!
oregonbird Says “I think any further submissions by Andree McLeod will put her in harm’s way.”
In what way? Her name is out and her face is being plastered by dumbasses as their Avatars from SarahPac. I think if there is ever a sincere opportunity, Andree, should continue her path because from what I have read McLeod, is a reasonable, articulate, genuine individual. I say bring this insanity to a head and let Andree, get first blood.
Good Point, problem child. I’d love a recording of him saying that. If true, I’d also like to know how I get my check from the DNC. All this time I’ve been expressing my disgust with the governor’s behavior for free.
Bystander Says:
May 28th, 2009 at 2:03 PM
With the Ethics Board as presently consitituted and operated, any complainant is whizzing into a stiff arctic wind.
Per my earlier suggestions, what you need is a major issue eg. taking a large advance and writing a book for profit on state time, and get it before a judge who is not appointed by Palin by way of a declaratory judgment action, and have the court decide if that is a breach of the ethics law, and, if so, the remedies, such as declaring the contract void, having to return the $, etc.
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I’m pretty sure that any complaint to a court would have to go through the statutory complaints process first. Otherwise, the judge would say, “What are you doing here, wasting court resources? There’s a perfectly good personnel board. Come back when you can establish that the personnel board has made an error of law.”
Since no one but GINO and her publisher are parties to the contract, they are the only ones who can dispute its validity. Third parties to a contract generally have little to no recourse at common law.
WT ???? arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Say NO to Palin in Politics Says:
May 28th, 2009 at 1:45 PM
The groupies are saying Scarah’s Von Flea shared with listeners on Eddie Gush show that the DNC is “behind” these ethics “attacks. That’s kinda wild speculation for a lawyer to say on a talk radio show. Does he have “facts” to back up his statements?
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VanFlein might be skating on mighty thin ice when it comes to his law license.
Has anyone told KO and RM about the Palin administration redacting intra-office emails about office attire? I’m sure they would both enjoy it.
Say NO to Palin in Politics Says:
May 28th, 2009 at 1:45 PM
The groupies are saying Scarah’s Von Flea shared with listeners on Eddie Gush show that the DNC is “behind” these ethics “attacks.
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Well, that’s a nice change from the Soros/Obama/Axelrod check-writing axis being behind everything. 😉
With the Ethics Board as presently consitituted and operated, any complainant is whizzing into a stiff arctic wind.
Per my earlier suggestions, what you need is a major issue eg. taking a large advance and writing a book for profit on state time, and get it before a judge who is not appointed by Palin by way of a declaratory judgment action, and have the court decide if that is a breach of the ethics law, and, if so, the remedies, such as declaring the contract void, having to return the $, etc.
Say No
Um, since when has “having facts” made a difference?
The groupies are saying Scarah’s Von Flea shared with listeners on Eddie Gush show that the DNC is “behind” these ethics “attacks. That’s kinda wild speculation for a lawyer to say on a talk radio show. Does he have “facts” to back up his statements?
It’s totally incomprehensible that any Ethics Board anywhere should not be independent.
Oops, silly me, that of course would necessitate some understanding of the concept of ethics.
She should be held responsible for finding loop holes to escape through. Basically what she’s done is teach her administration that it’s okay to do this, how easy it is and exactly how to do it. Shameful. She’s the one who is abusing it, not the filers.
She’ll be the first to file complaints that will stick because she’s an expert at evading them, and all that education is being paid for by her groupies, kinda like putting her through corruption college.
I also think all deliberations on any ethics complaint should be public record for legal scrutinty, otherwise how are people to know what was done to address them, how decisions were made……do they expect people to blindly “believe” without question decisions made by those who could be doing something wrong? lol……..that’s no sunshine law, that’s a bluff and smoke screen law.
btw…….what is the deal about Bristol using state resources? I must have missed that one. That seems like it should be cut and dried. Bristol is a spokesperson for Candies, not the state of Alaska. What did she do that she should not have?
Brava, AKM!
Hold Palin accountable to the same ‘open and transparent’ standards she applies to others and promised for her administration! Get the facts out and let the public make up their own mind! (last sentence is loosely quoting Palin about Renkes ethics settlement)
She is on record demanding (whining, actually) that the media report facts. Everyone….media, legislators, citizens, demand that Palin start supporting her statements with fact.
Here’s one instance of Palin asking why reporters don’t take “that extra step” to get to the facts.
http://howobamagotelected.com/sarah-palin-unplugged-on-the-media.asp
The specific statement about the reporters is from about 1:03 to 1:39 but I recommend listening from the beginning to get the full impact, especially is you want to hear whining about family rumors and anonymous bloggers. (Extremely interesting voice inflections around 00:31 to 00:36.)
oregonbird Says:
May 28th, 2009 at 12:37 PM
I think any further submissions by Andree McLeod will put her in harm’s way.
So perhaps the published fact that complaints are being dismissed without examination of evidence, by a board under the influence of Governor Palin, should be brought to federal attention by another person. One of the many politicians that are touted on this board as being ‘good for Alaska’, perhaps?
This is not something that can be dealt with by a concerned citizen. It will require clout, and a politician and attorney with ethical backbones.
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I fully agree.
And tighten up the fee’s charged for supplying emails or correspondance.
And tighten up the time frame with a no later than date.
Alaska has the 37th weakest ethics laws…….that’s only 13 from the worst, time to toughen them. I believe NJ has the best……perhaps look at the top 5 for ideas. It’s been abused long enough. People are tired of it. We should all push for tighter ethics laws in all our states.
I also don’t care for this legal fund business…….that needs work too.
I thought that Andree was receiving advice from an atty. There’s a lot of howling in the wilderness but not many willing to shoot.
I think any further submissions by Andree McLeod will put her in harm’s way.
So perhaps the published fact that complaints are being dismissed without examination of evidence, by a board under the influence of Governor Palin, should be brought to federal attention by another person. One of the many politicians that are touted on this board as being ‘good for Alaska’, perhaps?
This is not something that can be dealt with by a concerned citizen. It will require clout, and a politician and attorney with ethical backbones.
AK needs fundamental reform. It’s being run like a tin-cup dictatorship. Which was fine when is was very small. Too much power is vested in the Governor.
Her legal bills are for Van Flea to (a) find lawyers prepared to come up with the right results after their ‘investigation’, and then (b) go on the radio with Groper Burke and disparage anyone who criticizes his very lucrative client.
She’s such a sneaky snake in the grass. Best idea would be to get rid of her and then do the overhaul on the ethics process.
ouch! spam filter hurts me head!
I feel annoyed but mostly ill everytime I see information surrounding our ‘clear and transparent’ ethically challenged Gov. I can’t believe we voted her in. ‘Anyone better then Morkowski’ came back and bit us in the a@@. I would be interested in knowing how much GINO’s personnel board is getting paid.
Official statement’s like this one, and you nailed it, AKM, are so juvenile. I can only imagine that the filer’s of these complaints are mighty pissed off. How many times does the state have to remind everyone of Andree’s employment status. I only know of Andree through this blog and I applaud her efforts to hold SP accountable. It’s state responses like this one that only embolden those who file, to continue on with renewed effort. And they act for all Alaskan’s. This isn’t some revenge effort that the state would like everyone to believe in. This is about the gov and her flawed attempts to govern. She just doesn’t get it.
Yeppers, exactly correct.
Only the legislature can fix this broken mess and it’s time for them to get off their butt cheeks… let them start with the obvious problem of having any person under investigation being able to appoint the very people who would investigate ethics complaints against them. This, of course, applies only to the governor (any governor, not just Palin) but may just cure a whole bunch of the apparent political shenanigans and corruption present in the administrations of Alaska.
That Palin gets to have her appointees “investigate” her for alleged ethical breaches is a clear case of conflict of interest. That’s another thing for the legislature to address. Language needs to be included which requires the governor to refer ethics complaints levied against him/her to one of the other two branches for investigation and consideration.
And there needs to be language to the affect that complaints cannot be summarily dismissed without a clear and substantiated written explanation. Nor more of this “doesn’t require investigation” business.
I get that *banging my head against a brick wall* feeling. The whole thing is just a farce….and no one is stopping her.
I say we start with booting her out and getting a new governor tomorrow!
file a complaint against Toads page on the SOA website. it is a blatant misue of state resources linkng to a commercial website that directly benefits the Palins financially.
Sarah Palin…Too much “winkin” and “blinkin” and not enough THINKIN.
How sad.
C’mon Gryphen do it!
Clear and transparent ?? AKM – You are right , where is the itemized bill ?? More monkey business………..