The Petersburg and Wrangell borough codes do not prohibit family members of public officers from contracting with their boroughs.
Wrangell Borough Clerk Kim Lane said their borough manager’s son is an electrical contractor in town and he has contracted with the borough. Lane said not allowing him to do so would be discriminatory.
“In a way that would kind of be punishing them for having a business in town and not being able to be hired by the borough,” Lane said.
In Petersburg’s code, no assembly member can participate in official action if they or a member of their household has a substantial financial interest until they’ve disclosed that interest and the rest of the assembly approves their participation.
“So nothing in our code would stop the assembly from awarding a contract to the Mayor’s brother if the brother was the lowest bidder, met all the qualifications of the job, etc.” Petersburg borough clerk Debbie Thompson wrote the CVN.
Skagway’s code is similar to Petersburg’s. It prohibits an employee or assembly member from participating in an official action where they have a “substantial financial interest.”
Petersburg borough manager Steve Giesbrecht is a member of the International City/County Management Association, a professional organization that has a code of ethics its members must adhere to.
Giesbrecht said the organization is clear on conflict of interest issues and, according to their code of ethics, managers would have to find a way to recuse themselves from any part of the contract process.
“If the contractor wanted to work on borough contracts, the manager would have to find a way to recuse themselves from any part of that process,” Giesbrecht said. “It’s not the actions, it’s about what message this is sending. If I was the borough assembly in Haines, I’d be looking at what steps could they put in place to avoid impropriety.”
ICMA director of public information Michele Frisby said maintaining the public’s trust is a huge part of a municipal manager’s job.
“Anything that even gives the appearance of a conflict of interest would be unacceptable,” Frisby said.
Haines Borough Assembly member Margaret Friedenauer said she was surprised by the attorney’s memo, but the assembly will be able to find a solution.
“There is a way to adapt to it because I don’t believe anybody is being nefarious in this situation,” Friedenauer said. “There are decisions to be made on several sides.”
Assembly member Morphet wants to change borough code to allow siblings of public officers to contract with the borough. He said he wasn’t surprised by the attorney’s memo.
“There is nobody in this town who didn’t understand that Debra is Roger’s brother, that Roger holds a lot of contracts with the borough,” Morphet said. “We knew this. If I thought Debra was a disreputable person and would compromise the borough to benefit her brother, I never would have supported her for manager.”
Friedenauer said the assembly extended the meeting so everyone involved could better digest the memo information.
“It’s going to be discussed publicly,” Friedenauer said. “As part of the negotiating team, there’s nothing in the contract that is holding this up. There’s no conflict with the contract. Having this memo drop with less than an hour before the assembly meeting, we just wanted more time to think.”
Debra Schnabel said she’s sensitive to the political climate right now and appreciates the concern people have over her being hired as manager.
“We already know there’s people that think hiring me is a very bad decision,” Schnabel said. “I absolutely understand the importance of creating an atmosphere where people feel assured there is no conflict of interest. I think we do in small towns, all small towns, encounter a greater frequency of conflict because the population isn’t there.”