Sorry, Anchorage! The Sullivan Check Has Been Cashed.
[Don't forget to tune in to The Shannyn Moore Show today HERE from 11am-2pm Alaska time. I'll be Shannyn's guest for the weekly "Thursdays in the Mud" segment from 1pm-2pm. Today's special guest is Anchorage Assembly Chair Patrick Flynn! Wonder what we'll be talking about?]
Well, one thing you can say about “Sullygate” is that it’s a big fat mess. And I hesitate to even call it “Sullygate,” because I remember back when I called the mysterious and fishy firing of Sarah Palin’s Commissioner of Public Safety “Palingate.” Then, of course, there were so many gates, they all needed their own name and the firing of Monegan became known as “Troopergate.” So, on the hunch that we may be seeing more “gates” in the future from our not-so illustrious mayor Dan Sullivan, we might need to think of another name. But, until we come up with one, ‘Sullygate’ will do. Lord knows we all feel “sullied.”
When we last left Mayor Dan Sullivan and the Anchorage Assembly, confusion reigned. The only one who seemed to have a clear head about things was Assembly Member Harriet Drummond. While everyone else was scratching their heads, and looking at the ceiling, and walking around in circles, Drummond said, “Hold on a minute.”
And then she said this: (my interpretation)
So, Mayor Dan. Your father who used to be the mayor died. And now you’re the mayor. And you keep telling us that we have no money and that the city is hurting, and you’re cutting all kinds of things like the fire department and the library among other things. And now, you’re telling the Assembly that back in the 1980s, the Assembly decided that your father was so swell that he deserved a life insurance policy from the Municipality for the rest of his life, even though no other Municipal employee gets this perk.
And then, in 2002, when the insurance company said they wouldn’t insure him any more because he wasn’t actually a municipal employee, and when age and pre-existing conditions made him ineligible for insurance from an insurance company, the city decided to pretend to be one. And you have been paying a premium between $500-1000 a YEAR for this coverage for a total of about $20,000. And now the payout that’s coming to you after your father died is $193,000.
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(Intermission) – We’re taking a little “irony break” to appreciate how Mayor Dan Sullivan has criticized conress’ attempts at health care reform, and yet is happy to take money from the government to cover health issues that disqualified his father from private sector coverage. We also appreciate the “entitlement” of George Sullivan to get this big payout that is not an option for other former municipal employees. Just sayin’.
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And then, you tried to slip past the public that this payout from city coffers was about to happen. And you told the Anchorage Daily News that you didn’t even know about this. And then when evidence was uncovered that you did know about it, you said you thought the reporter meant something else.
And then you wouldn’t tell us that you were the trustee when we voted at the Assembly. And now you admit you’re the trustee but you still won’t tell us who’s getting the money. And you don’t think there’s any reason to investigate this. And you tell us that there’s a contractual agreement, but you cannot or will not show us the contract, if there IS even a contract. And we can’t stop the process to figure out what the heck is going on, because you’ve already disbursed the money to people you refuse to identify, and you won’t give it back?
And then Dan Sullivan said this: (my interpretation)
Neener, neener neener!
And then he gave us this: (my interpretation)
Now, back to Harriet Drummond. She’s asked for something OTHER than the little present above. She’d like someone independent of the current administration to take a look at things and let us know what they find out.
Harriet Drummond, who was the lone Assembly vote against appropriating the money, has introduced a resolution calling for an independent counsel to investigate its legality.
Assembly Chairman Pat Flynn, meanwhile, asked the city attorney’s office to put together a report providing more details on how it all happened. [snip]
Drummond said her resolution should come up at the Assembly’s March 23 meeting. It asks the mayor to return the money to the city “until the Assembly is assured by independent legal counsel that payment of $193,000 in public funds is legally appropriate.”
Dan Sullivan said Tuesday that it wouldn’t be possible for him as trustee to give the money back. “The funds have been disbursed. … it would be violating my fiduciary responsibility to disburse it in any other means other than what is outlined in the trust.”
Sullivan will not list the beneficiaries of the trust, saying that it’s not public information.
For more details on this evolving story, read the latest at the Anchorage Daily News HERE.
And for a very detailed summary and analysis, nobody has taken it farther or done better than Mel Green HERE.
Thanks to Sean Cockerham and Mel Green for diving in. Gifts of virtual soap and Brill-O pads are on the way from the Mudflats.
I am looking forward to the March 23 Assembly Meeting. Can I bring in popcorn?
Can Anchorage do a vote of no confidence against the mayor? Just wondering. This absolutely seems illegal, unethical and a conflict of interest, to mention a few… Thanks Harriet was paying attention and had the wherewithall to SAY SOMETHING. Not only that, Sullivan is definitely giving Anchorage a big fat (six letters starts with an “f”) in the face and it appalls me what he’s saying and doing. This is not an honorable person, and is the icing on the cake (for him) of a very poor city leadership history, to this point. What’s next???
I have to agree with Debbie on this. An investigation is warranted, criminal, perhaps.
The DA might have a problem going after the Mayor (his Boss?).
The FBI lost its creditability with me by coming out a statement of no investigation them for Sarah ON, the 4th of JULY weekend.
The FBI lost its creditability with me by coming out with a statement of ‘no investigation’ by them for Sarah ON, the 4th of JULY weekend.
Sorry for the horrible proofreading.
If The SULLY has cashed the check…. it COULD be a good thing going forward.
Using Funds obtained ‘ illegally ‘ by fraudulent purposes makes you a Criminal.
And unless he Shows up with a Contract ( which it seems he CAN’T/won’t produce ) to prove he is legally entitled to this $$$$$$…. that should be the nail in the coffin.
As Harriet Drummond has said… ” SHOW us the contract?” It’s that Simple.
Thanks for the nod!
But a little correction here, thanks to the Begich admin emails that ADN posted with Sean Cockerham’s story last night. You wrote
But from the Begich emails, it appears that possibly even as early as 1984, people within the MOA (this woulda been during the Knowles adminstration) were acting under the knowledge that Aetna wouldn’t include George Sullivan on the MOA’s group plan because of his ex-employiness. In fact, in the attachment to the email of January 23, 2007 from Joanne Hanscom, she wrote, There has been no life insurance policy in place since he left municipal employment. (See the “Update: The Begich administration emails” part of my last post about this mess.)
Methinks that any investigation needs to begin by talking with Susan Lindemuth, who was Manager of Records and Benefits at the time that George Sullivan’s continued participation under the group plan was supposed to have been set up… but apparently wasn’t.
I hate this man.
I am pretty sure that even though I do not live in Anchorage – this money belongs to me.
People in the know, know what I’m talking about.
Nice job Dan. I hope your family enjoys that vacation or whatever fun times you’ll have on that money – my family will be struggling for years to recover from the corruption of your administration.
Ask Mr. Prevo to pray for you, you’re going to need it.
It seems to me, here far from Alaska, that being mayor of a city or town in Alaska, has some VERY impressive perks.
Why don’t some of you mudflatters go for it? Seriously, just to show the job can be done with integrity.
There seems to be a huge problem with paperwork in Alaska. Birth certificates and contracts just go missing with no way to recover them. It does seem a bit odd that the city of Anchorage would not have a copy of the contract in its files somewhere – oh, I forgot, the city is being run by the beneficiary of the contract himself. This may explain the missing document.
Can’t Anchorage recall this slimy mayor? Must you put up with him until whenever the next election is scheduled? If this turns out to be a criminal act, can you then depose him from power?
Good luck to all the good citizens of Anchorage, and Alaska as a whole. You have a bunch of cleaning up to do with the politicians that run/ran your cities and state.
If you go… try to bring along a camera to capture the ‘ Event ‘.
OR… remind AKM to bring along her new-found Toy the flip-phone camera she was sharing with us. THAT made some great !!…. YouTube videos.
And how does Sully look in pink…?
I remember the story of those ‘ pink handcuffs ‘ that they were using on Sherry Johnston when she was in Court…. Just saying….
Ooops… my question above was for ‘ Writing from Alaska ‘…. post # 1.
I forgot to cut and paste.
Maybe these will fit Sully..?
http://blogs.pitch.com/plog/pink%20cuffs-thumb.JPG
Hey, Sully, how’s that pajama-clad-bloggery-whole-world-is watching-thingie goin’ for ya? *wink wink*
perhaps the mayor could make restitution to Anchorage by borrowing $193,000 from a bank. he could borrow on the bar he owns and his house. just give the money back you thief!!!
I’m for garnishing his wages………..that’ll get his attention.
Y’know, it’s little wonder that he’s pushing for an audit of the books in Anchorage; seems that them that holler loudest about something are the ones most likely guilty of what they’re hollering about. Otherwise known as “projection” – projecting onto one’s adversaries the same goals, deviosity, and motives as one’s own.
oh dear, now I’m wondering what I fuss about the most! hahahaha
I don’t get it. I really don’t. How can he push that through without anyone seeing a copy of the contract. That makes no sense. And why would anyone be willing to just take his word that he’s the trustee? Where is the paper proving that? Just because he’s the son doesn’t mean he’s the trustee. Sounds to me like Dasturdly Dan (yes, I made up my own spelling) needs to provide something authentic or give back the money. However, if he has cashed the check, maybe that’s the best way to get rid of him. Or maybe not. Don’t you still have some criminals in office in Alaska?
And yay for Harriet Drummond! You need more people like her paying attention and speaking up.
Never a dull moment in Alaska !! Do Alaskans think this stuff up because of th e long winter nights ??? This is better than Reality TV !!!….
Wow
Just
WOW
The word “fraud” seems to be banging around in my brain.
I’m almost certain that a mayor has a fiduciary responsibility to the city as regards financial matters. It would have been simple for Sullivan to resign in favor of a successor trustee, in which case the deal would still stink, but the blatant conflict of interest would be submerged.
Also, too, fiduciary responsibility (e.g., to the Sullivan Trust) does not excuse illegal acts. If the arbitrary grant of city funds to the Sullivan Trust (which is the case, since there’s no chance George was going to live to 400, so it certainly wasn’t life insurance) turns out to be illegal, Sully’s claim of fiduciary responsibility will evaporate.
You know, in my first comment on this topic, I went through a number of reasons why the whole thing was screwed up from the beginning, but I also advanced the notion that maybe the MOA had an ethical obligation to live up to the badly-worded and worse-executed promise made by its long-ago Assembly. With further news, it now appears clear that that the Sullivan family — at least Mr. Trustee — have known for decades that this is not insurance, but more of a disguised deferred bonus. I doubt that that is what the incompetents on the ’82 Assembly thought they were creating.
Where did the cash go-? I used to live in El Paso, where the Juarez drug cartel freely shipped stuff over the border. For a relatively poor town, the Jaguar dealership was huge. Better look for newly purchased Escalades!
Is it just me, or does anyone else think Sully’s face bears a strong resemblance to former-Congressman Massa’s? Maybe it’s the hair. Maybe the eyes. I don’t know what it is ~ but there’s something… I just can’t seem to put my finger on it. Anyone? beth.
To whom did the MOA make the check out to? Was it to Dan Sullivan or “The Sullivan Trust?”
In either case, taxes will have to be done. The amount, $193,000, is a lot of money. If there isn’t an insurance policy, how do you explain to the IRS where the money came from? This check has been deposited…somewhere!
Only in Alaska…
Good work, Sean Cockerham and Mel Green!
It seems that Mr. Sullivan ought to be the featured ‘villain’ in next year’s Fur Rondy Melodrama, if the folks that put that on are still doing it…