Port and harbor advisory committee chair Terry Pardee withdrew his resignation as chair of the committee on Wednesday.
Pardee initially resigned his chair because borough staff said he violated Alaska’s Open Meetings Act when a presentation by Yukon industry representatives wasn’t listed on the PHAC’s agenda. Pardee said he received a call the day before the March 24 PHAC meeting from a Yukon representative to provide information related to the Lutak Dock. Seven industry representatives, including from Yukon mining companies, attended the meeting and discussed the possibility of exporting ore from Lutak Dock. At the time he said that he would have put the presentation on the agenda had he received the information sooner.
Pardee told the CVN this week he initially resigned as chair because he “wanted to make peace.”
Pardee said he has since debated whether he was actually in error.
“I am still doubtful that I was,” Pardee said. He said he wants to consult legal counsel as to whether he violated the OMA by not including the presentation on the agenda. That, he said, will determine whether he resigns as chair.
The OMA requires that “reasonable public notice shall be given for all meetings required to be open under this section. The notice must include the date, time, and place of the meeting… The notice shall be posted at the principal office of the public entity or, if the public entity has no principal office, at a place designated by the governmental body. The governmental body shall provide notice in a consistent fashion for all its meetings.”
Borough staff were unavailable to comment by press time because they were involved in labor negotiations.