Ousted public safety commissioner: Palin image damaged
Published Monday, October 13, 2008
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Stumble It!WASHINGTON -- Former Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan said Monday he feels "relieved" by a legislative report concluding that Gov. Sarah Palin abused her authority by trying to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper.
"I've never contested my firing. My firing was completely lawful," Monegan said in a nationally broadcast interview. "It wasn't that I was fired that I asked any questions. It was, what were the reasons for the firing."
Monegan declined to say in an interview with NBC's "Today" show what legal options, if any, he might be exploring in the wake of the findings announced late Friday in Alaska by investigator Stephen Branchflower.
Monegan did say that he and his family were pleased with the report's conclusions.
"Actually, I feel relieved," he said. "My wife and I have been through a lot. It's not a matter of being revenged. It's just strictly a matter of being relieved." Monegan was interviewed by telephone from Alaska.
In his report Friday to a bipartisan panel that looked into the matter, Branchflower found Palin in violation of a state ethics law that prohibits public officials from using their office for personal gain. Palin has said that Monegan's tenure as the state's lead law enforcement officer ended because of policy differences.
The inquiry looked into the dismissal of Monegan, who said he lost his job because he resisted pressure to fire a state trooper involved in a bitter divorce and custody battle with the governor's sister.
"I feel vindicated," Monegan had said late Friday. "It sounds like they've validated my belief and opinions. And that tells me I'm not totally out in left field."
On Monday, Monegan said the controversy "really isn't about me."
"I think that we're more concerned about our governor," he added, "and I think she took a big blow to her credibility and more significantly to her promises of being open and transparent."
Asked how he planned to vote in the November elections, Monegan said he didn't want to say, telling his interviewer that's why they "put those little curtains around" the polling booth.
Community Discussion
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Monigan should have declined the interview if it wasn't really about him. He must have an agenda.
Monegan should have declined the interview if it wasn't really about him. He must have an agenda.
Comm. Monegan:
I bet you feel relieved after all this. I have heard you have a good reputation and to have the Governors husband and her paid staff hounding you about a personnel matter which you inherited must be difficult.
I know many Commissioners who would have caved. Ms. Palin is certainly guilty of terrible judgment in allowing Todd to act as an official in official business.
We all thought he was up at Prudhoe cleaning up the BP mess. Turns out he was the Governor's gatekeeper. Now we learn he is preparing a "career" with the Alaska Mining Industry. Is it Pebble?
I'd suggest he go back to work cleaning up Prudhoe. If he wants to become an official he ought to run for an office. Even then he couldn't legally get into the State's personnel business.
Now I see where Sarah is going after Sen. McCain for not lying enough about Senator Obama. They've had to cork her: see http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/wo...
Turns out she's not a Maverick, but she is a Rogue (see wikipedia).
I always wondered why the Newsminer put Palin's picture, next to Stevens.
Guilt by association?
Everyone is so good at denying. Is that what they teach in political boot camp? Just shout Americanisms and avoid the truth...people are just too dumb to understand. I don't want "my leader" to have two mouths...and I will keep dreaming that will happen some day. I would NEVER vote for McCain just because of his running mate. She has proven she hasn't an ethical bone in her body. She wants the top dog spot so bad she will do anything to get it. Watch your back Sen. McCain.
Believe nothing you hear, and half of what you see. Sarah is screwing up, sure, but who doesn't do that, if she learns from her mistakes, she may be a better person for it. Nobody can guarantee anything, when there are so many people in a position of control of the government. Your vote is as good as mine and we shall see.
Guilt by Association:
Obama and his top legal financial advisors - CEO of Fannie May and Freddie Mac.. Yah.. And getting campaign money from this "tax payers" home mortgage loan corporation.
Oh Yeah, Acorn.. voter fraud investigation going on in there... voter workers are beign investigated and 2 out of 5 workers are suspect and pending criminal charges for using their association with Acorn to cast votes by animals, dead people, children, etc etc. And punching in 20 voting papers from one actual voting sheet. Acorn gave campaign money to "The one" Acorn: Federally funded.. meaning, our taxes help pay for this organization.
Ahh, Bill Ayers... Terrorist and admitted recently that he would do it again if given the chance to bomb for their cause. Anti America, Fr. Flager, Rashid Khalidi, Ahmed Yousef,
Kadafi endorses Obama... Reverend Wright (20 yrs),
O'Denga.. Kenyan relative responsible for the civil unrest of their region, his tribe the Luo vowed to cause trouble if O'Denga lost the presidential election in Kenya. the Kukuyu tribe was annihalated after his defeat for presidency. Obama has been in plenty of contact with this man as early as 3 months ago. In Dec 07, Obama supported O'Denga try to get elected.
guilt by association... I definately would question 1 association, but more than 5???
What others are saying....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpar...
ouch.
I am glad they moved these insubordinate employees out for employees that adhere to their boss. For dam sure get rid of the cop that tasers his own child. Get real liberals. I wouldn't vote for biden because of his running mate.
can sarah actually complete an entire sentence?
Whatever little bit of damage he thinks may have done to her credibility is not even close to the damage he has done to his own. She was vindicated in the firing of him, which was the main point of the investigation. The fact that this "investigation" was driven by her opponents in the legislature gives it little weight.
The findings that Mr. Palin made a few phone calls to try and get, what he considered, a rouge trooper removed from his post should be no different than any individual calling and making a complaint. It should have triggered an investigation, and the removal if it was warranted.
The public should be more concerned that the troopers union has enough pull to keep someone in a position of authority when, if all the reports are true, they should have been removed based on the use of bad judgment and poor decision making.
Oh, the daily undoing of Sarah. How about that speech in Virginia today? Hysterical!
A few phone calls? HA
Driven by her opponents? HA (try unanimous vote to investigate and unanimous vote to release; yes, I agree that Sen. French should have recused himself, however, I don't think French's few loose-lipped comments had anything to do with the outcome or the investigation for that matter--note that even most of the Rs on the council said the report was professional)
You are listening to the spin doctors too much, Scotty. Sad really.
tok242,
What is really sad, is that as our highest ELECTED public official, she has been admonished for firing someone that she had the RIGHT to fire.
Lost in all of this process is that fact. The rest of the stuff is just noise.
But, it also sends a message to EVERY person elected to state government positions. No matter how egregious the conduct of someone that works for the state, you better not have anyone closely related to you call and complain, right or wrong.
Also tok242, what was her personal benefit from all of this, and how is she in violation of the state ethics laws. The findings fail to talk about this, but maybe you know more and could enlighten the rest of us...
Love it when the Palin bashers come out of their holes. Can she even finish a sentence, now that was funny. Are all of you related?
Nutty, your the only one to write a blog worth reading.
MCCAIN/PALIN 08,
NOBAMA, NOBAMA, NOBAMA
I can't wait until Monegon and Wooten GO AWAY!! Both are a disgrace to the uniform.
Wow! CNBC McCain, up 7 points, Barack Hussein Obama, wants to tax Wall Street, Ouch!
Can't we all just "move on?"
Scotty, you didn't read the findings or the report, did you? Basically what the report said is that yes, she could fire Monegan, but no, you cannot give your non-elected husband a shadow office and let him harass public officials under the assumed authority of the Palin name. Nor can she do it herself or by proxy through her top staff.
Do you know how many people told her that she was violating the ethics act along the way? Do you know how many people were pressured to bow to the Palin's demands.
I love the part about how Bailey called Monegan 3 times between Sept 06 and Nov 06.
First time "will you be in a campaign ad for us?" "No."
Second time "will you be in a campaign ad for us?" "No."
Third time "do you want another job?"
hmmm. Something is rotten in this state of Denmark and it is her and her explanations of why he was fired and for what reasons. It is also her ability to blur her ethical responsibilities like not releasing personnel documents to the media. (In case you didn't catch it, one reason Palin filed the complaint against herself with the Personnel Board was b/c there is a provision which allows a complainant to waive confidentiality. In this case, she used to release bits and pieces of Wooten's personnel file, those bits which she thought most incendiary. Also, you might not have caught it but if you look at the original complaint she filed with the personnel board, SHE CITED the Dept of Law FAQs, which specifically say:
Complaints against a state trooper must be filed in writing with the Juneau Office of the Commissioner. Complaints may be mailed to: Office of the Commissioner, PO Box 111200, Juneau, AK 99811 or faxed to (907) 465-4362. These complaints will be reviewed by the Commissioners office and forwarded to the appropriate parties.
You don't have to believe me, but it's all right here conveniently located in the footnotes:
http://media.adn.com/smedia/2008/09/02/1...
That, my friend, is sad. High school at the governor's level.
No, roadtrip, some of us believe that if you are out there portraying yourself as able to take the most ethical and righteous actions, then you ought to be able to WALK THE WALK.
tok242,
Sad is the fact that you expected her to send a letter to someone who she placed into a position of authority. No matter the issue, that is ridiculous. It certainly points out the pettiness of Monaghan and his need to seek revenge for being removed, no matter what the circumstances.
And just how did he harass the public officials, he made calls as a concerned citizen. Just because he is the governors husband should give it no more weight. But then, you probably think it should have been written in triplicate and double spaced.
And the thing about calling to ask him to campaign, you would expect that someone appointed by the governor would be more than willing to do that, if not, then "do you want another job".
p.s. if your in Denmark why do you care....
tok242,
And I don't care what her reason was to fire him, it could have been for wearing plaid pants to work. It makes no difference. He served at her request, and whatever reason she gives should be good enough. Many governors before her have fired people for less and it didn't make the headlines like this has. It is clearly him seeking revenge....
I have very little respect for someone who made "end-runs" around their boss & after being fired for it, spun the issue to support the liberal left agenda at Alaska's expense. Shame.
Still voting for Palin.
When you work for the government, do you sign a confidentiality contract when hired?
Scotty,
No, she could have simply fired him and not made up 4 different excuses for why she did so which "evolved" after the McCain team jumped in. She didn't need to fill out a duplicate or a triplicate form...however, if her husband was such a concerned citizen (I can't believe you can even pretend to make that argument with a straight face), then he should have followed THE REGULATIONS AND NOT CALLED FROM THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE OR EVEN MENTIONED THAT HE WAS A PALIN FOR THAT MATTER. Clearly, you really have no idea of how the ethics law THAT SARAH PALIN SIGNED INTO LAW IN 2007 is supposed to work. Behaving in an ethical manner UNDER STATE LAW, covers both direct actions and actions where there would APPEAR to be a conflict.
A judge ORDERED Palin to stop his personal campaign (vendetta)...but I guess he is above the law to you.
Scotty,
I forgot this reference for you:
Gov. Sarah Palin Signs Comprehensive Ethics Bill 7/9/07
http://gov.state.ak.us/archive.php?id=49...
http://dwb.adn.com/news/government/story...
Goldstreamer, not sure if this is the question you are asking but yes personnel records ARE confidential under state law. Following is the statute:
AS 39.25.080. Personnel records confidential; exceptions.
(a) State personnel records, including employment applications and examination and other assessment materials, are confidential and are not open to public inspection except as provided in this section.
(b) The following information is available for public inspection, subject to reasonable regulations on the time and manner of inspection:
(1) the names and position titles of all state employees;
(2) the position held by a state employee;
(3) prior positions held by a state employee;
(4) whether a state employee is in the classified, partially exempt, or exempt service;
(5) the dates of appointment and separation of a state employee;
(6) the compensation authorized for a state employee; and
(7) whether a state employee has been dismissed or disciplined for a violation of AS 39.25.160 (l) (interference or failure to cooperate with the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee).
(c) A state employee has the right to examine the employee's own personnel files and may authorize others to examine those files.
(d) An applicant for state employment who appeals an examination score may review written examination questions relating to the examination unless the questions are to be used in future examinations.
(e) In addition to any access to state personnel records authorized under (b) of this section, state personnel records shall promptly be made available to the child support services agency created in AS 25.27.010 or the child support enforcement agency of another state. If the record is prepared or maintained in an electronic data base, it may be supplied by providing the requesting agency with access to the data base or a copy of the information in the data base and a statement certifying its contents. The agency receiving information under this subsection may use the information only for child support purposes authorized under law.
tok242 thanks, so Monegan had no legal right to say anything about his time of employment to anyone, during or after?
goldstreamer: Actually it was Palin who thrust his record into the spotlight so I think he legally has the right to rebut assertions made by his employer that may have been false. This statute is designed to prevent employers (Palin, in this case) from releasing employee (Monegan) information so your conclusion is incorrect. It is not the same as the employee signing a confidentiality agreement.
Ethics and personnel law are very compicated, I will give you that. But someone elected to the highest office in state gov't (as Scotty put it) should know (or listen to his/her advisors about) how to behave so as not to run afoul of it. You may forget that Palin's advisors did say "STOP!!!"
" A former ethics adviser to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin warned in July that firing her public safety commissioner would become a "grave concern" for her administration.
Wevley Shea, a former U.S. attorney and fellow Republican, urged Palin to apologize to former Commissioner Walt Monegan and fire anyone on her staff who discussed her former brother-in-law, state Trooper Mike Wooten, with the commissioner.
"Your 'political advisers' have given you poor counsel; the situation is now grave," Shea wrote in a July 24 letter to the governor. "I recommend the following action 'now' to restore your credibility and Alaska's bright future with you."
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/11/p...
(You can look up other sources for that if CNN is "too liberal" for you.)
Strong women with moral convictions have this effect on liberals. Any way I feel for Monegan but sometimes crappy things happen and when they do most of us find a way to "move on".
Hey tok, how did www.moveon.org get started? I forget.
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