They Nailed It. Gold Star for ADN’s Sullivan Smack Down!
OK, as much as I want to just copy and paste the entire thing here, I don’t want to make the Anchorage Daily News mad at me. They live off clicks, and I don’t so I’ll send you over there, and then you can come back here. And while you’re over there, do leave a comment. They’re filling up fast.
The ADN has weighed in on Mayor Dan Sullivan’s latest ethical lapse. I refer to the fact that he accepted payment for a faux insurance policy for his father that came out of city coffers. Despite apparent attempts to make this one fly under the radar, it didn’t.
And when the Anchorage Assembly tried to put a hold on the payment of $193,000 until we figure out if it’s even legal – oops! Bad news. Looks like the city cut that whopping huge check at the speed of light, and it got “disbursed” by the Trustee….aka Mayor Dan Sullivan. Most of us have to wait six weeks for a check. Strange.
For all the background, I refer you HERE. And don’t forget to follow the links!
So, Anchorage is $193,000 poorer, and Mayor Dan Sullivan and unnamed parties (we were told it’s none of our business by the Mayor) are $193,000 richer. And the “contractual obligation” the Assembly was told about doesn’t appear to exist. Cries of “Show us the contract!” have gone unanswered.
Hmmmmm.
So here’s the “bottom line” from the ADN editorial staff:
In defending his actions, the mayor stresses his fiduciary responsibility as trustee to seek payment. What about his fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers of Anchorage? That comes first.
Mayor Sullivan didn’t seek these circumstances, but he should have been able to deal with them in a straightforward and ethical way.
After heated public reaction, the administration says it has no problem with an independent legal review. Late, but good. We’ll wait for the outcome of that review before we pass judgment on the propriety of the insurance payout.
But this much is clear now: Where there’s a conflict of interest, the mayor has to make clear that he serves the citizens of Anchorage first and foremost. In this case, he did not.
BOTTOM LINE: The mayor’s conflict of interest was clear.
(clap clap clap clap clap) Well done, ADN. You nailed it.
Thanks for the heads up, I got right after it! *wink*
Recall the bastard.
I thought it was a timid slap, not a hard smack.
ADN needs to keep on this. I have lost count of the many times they tell us the beginning of a great story, but then it turns into a cliffhanger and we never get the rest of the story. Is it because there really wasn’t anything more to it worth printing, or were those in power at ADN warned off, or bought off?
I think they should do a story on the Palin’s *cabins*, and how about the 2nd one not showing up on assessments. And speaking of that cabin/chalet, I took a quick look at properties for sale on the ADN, and there surely isn’t anything half as nice as the Palin’s, but all are priced much higher than their assessment of $99,700.
AKM – You have such a way with words – you throw out the bait and then slowly reel us in like fish. Great job – love reading your stories!
I just added an update to my post you linked to (thanks Jeanne!) — since I’m not yet done with the huge chronology I’m working on. I’d hoped to be done with last night … but it’s one of those things that comes with working a 40-hour a week job which is not to write my blog (wouldn’t that be nice… I’m so jealous of you & the other bloggers who are supposedly getting paid the secret big bucks to rank on Palin!) & needing to take care of responsibilities at home, including my responsibility to myself to not overtax myself into depression (a number 1 priority for me) or lack of sleep. I did add to my chronology during my lunchtime today, but nope, still not done. It’ll be worth the wait. I made some recommendations in the post update to where to catch up on the Sullygate news in the meantime. (I’ve been keeping up a bibliography, which has everything I’ve been able to find on Sullygate.)
Nailed it, and stuck the landing as well. Go get ‘em, Anchorage!
Aren’t there any other stock photographs available of Sullivan? There have to be some that don’t make him look like an embezzler who’s just been dragged into a police station!
He Does look sleazy-slimy to me. I’m not one to “judge a book by its cover,” but every photo I’ve seen of him gives me the heebie-jeebies. *shudder*
pvazwindy, I think Irishgirl might recommend a much bigger smackdown, also, too. Have you seen the big old halibut she uses for such occasions?
No shortage of crooks ‘n’ liars in politics, but many more eyes on “all of ‘em [we] find in front of [us]“!!! Many more boots on the ground, also, too…a whole lot of yellow wellies, eh?
Well it’s about damm time the ADN did something ethical its own self. Good job.
Still won’t go to their site, haven’t for months due to their sellout to Palin – gotta get those clicks!
And apparently, according to the ADN’s Alaska Politics Blog, the assessment of $99,700 is for BOTH of SP’s cabins? Is the assessor’s office kidding?
http://community.adn.com/node/150717
Lol Big Pete….He does look like a small time crook!
Martha Unalaska Yard Sign: I differentiate between the ADN’s high muckety-mucks & the actual reporting staff — some of whom are better than others, certainly, but those that are really good deserve the paycheck, which the clicks help bring in. Sean Cockerham wrote a first class article (& David Hulen edited it) about the Sullivan insurance thing, which is led me to looking further into it in the first place.
I agree with the “sellout to Palin” comment, but that’s the high mucketies, not the reporters. GreatGranny2C earlier commented ADN needs to keep on this. I have lost count of the many times they tell us the beginning of a great story, but then it turns into a cliffhanger and we never get the rest of the story. — yeah. My case in point was what I dubbed Palin’s “2 million dollar meme” last July: her claim that “frivolous” ethics complaints (the largest of them being the one she filed against the state) had cost the State of Alaska 2 million dollars. I wrote a bunch of posts about that. Sean Cockerham was also working on that, & in fact I had some correspondence with him at the time which drew his further attention to the pitiable crapole spreadsheet that the Office of the Governor put together trying to back up Palin’s claim. Linda Perez ultimately admitted there were problems with the spreadsheet & that the Office of the Governor was going to look further into the problems that Cockerham brought to their attention. He reported this on the ADN’s Alaska politics blog on July 10.
I expected there to be a full story actually published in the paper after that — but there never was. And I don’t think that was by Cockerham’s choice. I’ve never asked him (& he might be constrained from telling me even if I did), but I personally believe that ADN’s high muckety-muck management (it’s owned by out-of-staters) put a halt to any further follow-up on the pitiful excuse for a spreadsheet because it was embarrassing to Palin. (I didn’t follow up myself because I was in Spokane with my family at the time at a memorial for my dad, & when I got back I was all about the equal rights ordinance.)
(You can see how pitiful the spreadsheet as by searching on “Palin ethics complaints” on my blog.)
Oops. Correction on my prior comment: should say:
They sound like Monday Morning Quarterbacks to me. I’m sorry, I used to be a huge ADN fan but they are pretty late in the game for bringing the public eye on State / city matters of consequence.
Had they (and not the bloggers) ran hard at the story, Dan perhaps would have sniffed the air before signing that check.
From the perspective of a Lower 48′er, this stinks to high heaven. My thanks to AKM and Mel for your postings on ‘Sullygate.’ And, admittedly, to the ADN (Sean C. in particular) for taking it to the MSM, such as it is.
I’ve known of mayors down here forced to resign for much less tomfoolery than this self-aggrandizing act. What on God’s green, Irish, earth drove DS to think this would be even slightly above board? By not being upfront about the details, he’s exposed himself as being opportunistic and downright greedy, especially when he says the Municipality is “so broke.” This act, and all the others committed by Ted, Don, Scarah, and others ad infinitum make me feel so sorry for Alaskans. Time to take back your state from the grifters!
One thought on the Palin cabins: to me, it looks like the one picture (on here) showing the cabin in question seems to show an unfinished structure. I don’t see any form of siding, only what looks like plywood/OSB and window frames. I could be wrong, but maybe that $99,700 only represents a partial assessment on an unfinished structure? And why no obligation to pay the back taxes? Take her to the cleaners I say.
My 3.68 cents worth (2×1.84 – being the ratio of AK fed tax to fed payments)
It’s going to take more than one gold star for me to spend my limited free time over at ADN (aka “Palin’s Personal Scrapbook of Lies and Booster Club”).
I do have respect for Sean Cockerham, though.
The ADN did run hard at the story. That’s how Sean Cockerham’s article came to be written! And it’s not immodest to say that of all the bloggers, I’m the one (at Henkimaa) whose been running hardest at the story (in terms of actually digging into the facts of it, not just commenting on it) — & I never would have done so without Sean Cockerham’s story and the Muni documents that ADN made available to me & other bloggers through its public documents request.
I agree thoroughly that the ADN isn’t as good as it used to be. But there’s still some really high quality stuff being done there, by reporters like Cockerham. The problem isn’t the reporters, its whoever is making decisions on the management end of things who are letting reporters go to save money (most newspapers are in trouble right now) & not letting the good reporters they still have keep following the stories that matter. But in this case they did.
It pisses me off to see people throw out the baby with the bathwater on this.
I agree that some of the remaining staff at ADN are working hard and doing a good job. Their numbers are dwindling due to massive layoffs, and there are only 24 hours in a day. I’d hate to have their resources and be responsible for covering all the corruption. They did do fluff pieces on Palin during the election – mostly “I got my photo with the governor, wow!” in that little shrine in the corner. They were at ground zero. Hit from the left when they didn’t come down hard. Hit from the right if they didn’t come down hard the other way. It was a sh*tshorm up here, and they were in the middle of it.
They are now at the whim of McClatchy. They should have stayed local, and they would have kept their integrity and made money. As much as I have a hard time with them, it will be bad news if they fold. I’ll focus on praising them when they do good, and telling them when they don’t.
Politicians are the same everywhere! I know there are some very upstanding people that are working for the good of their community; but, these back room deals that get explained away when they are brought to the public’s attention happen everywhere!
Alaska needs to step up it’s game with the people they elect. Anchorage has a third-stringer acting as captain of their team. JV anchorage!… bordering on special olympics. This stuff is no-brainer material yet seems to have to play out anyway. Run Homer Simpson for mayor- it will be a vast intellectual improvement.
Don’t the rich just get richer and that’s the way it works? Am I missing something here? This is status quo for politicians and I seriously doubt that any of us “untouchables” can correct it.
Can a city be an insurance company? No!
Mel – it’s always awesome to hear your reasonable voice!
However, the ADN is permanently off my consumer support list. They took hours and hours from my life prior to the election, and after, until I canceled my username and had written many emails to the editorial staff about the commenting system, the lack of follow up on stories, and the apparent fear of the half term Gov. I liked keeping up with the Rural Blog by Kyle, but got discouraged when he wouldn’t answer multiple emails generated by another blog I work with. In other words, they are not acting like an Alaskan newspaper in their dealings with readers.
My own newspaper, the Juneau Empire, has showed a lot more initiative and real reporting compared to the ADN. I’m very proud of the Empire! Well, since they obviously regretted their endorsement of Palin for the VP slot. Weird, because the ADN did not endorse her, then they turned into fluff and were silent on very important issues.
So until the ADN acts like a local paper again, they will never get my readership.
Not “my own” newspaper, but my “home town” newspaper in case my goof wasn’t obvious.
I posted the following over on ADN:
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Ya’ know, there *might* be a debate over: 1) whether it’s fiscally ‘responsible’ to give out a lump-sum $193K payout when the city is slashing/denying funding for services left and right, and/or 2) if current-Mayor Sullivan’s putting his fiducary ‘responsibility’ to his late father’s Trust *over* his fiduciary responsibility to the citizens of Anchorage is either wise or ethical…
But, *BEFORE* there is any debate on *those* issues, doesn’t anyone realize the PRIMARY issue is: WHERE IS THE POLICY/CONTRACT? Surely there *must* be a copy of it somewhere ~ can *no one* produce it?
Would anyone pay me $193K on ‘my word’ that I just got notification from PubClearingHouse that I’d won? Just sayin’…
Read more: http://www.adn.com/2010/03/16/1186467/our-view-insurance-payout.html?mi_pluck_action=comment_submitted&qwxq=5773890#Comments_Container#ixzz0iU1ycJui
~~~~~~~~~
Seems to me, when it comes to figuring out the whole Sullygate thing, the cart is being put before the horse. Puts me in mind of what I understand to be the premise for Matt Damon’s latest movie: “Green Zone”; Damon’s character is operating under the (mis)belief/impression that there *are* WMDs!…and without questioning for a minute the reality of the WMDs existence, he responds accordingly.
In regards Sulllygate, the question *should* be: Is there any hard-evidence, credible proof there even IS a contract/policy? Is there any thing spelling out all (or any!) of the terms, conditions, etc. of said? Anchorage’s City Council assuming there IS one and acting accordingly, is *not* hard-evidence, credible proof that such a policy/contract actually exists! And Sullivan’s “Trust me; there IS a life insurance policy on my late father that the city must now pay for/contractually fulfill,” is *not* hard-evidence, credible proof of ANY such policy/contract, either.
Might it not be a good idea to FIRST find (demand) proof that there even *is* a policy/contract…or is that a ‘minor detail’? Surely the Trustee of the Fund would have that particular policy/contract in his possession…otherwise, how would that Trustee possibly know what was in the policy/contract for the City of Anchorage to ‘make good’ on?
As far as the ‘already-disbursed’ monies, goes ~ just because the Trustee of the Fund has divvied up the windfall amongst who-knows-who, does NOT mean –*until* the matter is settled– the entire amount cannot be returned to the city coffers. Could I (or you) say to anyone who had refunded/paid/disbursed money to me (or you) *without* due deliberation and consideration: “Sorry, the money in question -all the money you gave me/the Trust- has already been spent; you might as well just kiss it goodbye and, furthermore, how’s about you drop the whole issue,” as Sully now appears to be saying? beth.
An aside: Heck, has any one (outside, probably, the AK Commission on Salaries and Emoluments) even seen the policy in force for (1st Edition) Mayor Sullivan *before* he left the mayor’s office? Were/are there any caveats, disclaimers, whatevers in that policy that might be a tad pertinent to *any* discussion of any *subsequent* policy that may –or may not!– have been drawn up? b.
It is not just a matter of whether there was a contract. And contract also has to be legal. I seriously doubt the city charter gives anyone or any group the authority to provide insurance to a private citizen or ex-mayor.
It does not sound as if there is a contract at all, rather this is a gift because the city gained nothing and had no chance of gaining anything.
So I think Dan lies. Had he said hand me a $ 193,000 gift (instead of pretending he had a contract, the whole State would be laughing at the crook.
Sullivan’s been a dirty douche bag since day 1!
Have left a comment on a couple of AK websites, but one issue that hasn’t been addressed in any of the commentary I’ve seen is the taxability of the payments. Insurance proceeds are income-tax free, while death benefit only (DBO) payments are not. Insurance is regulated by the state, Alaska Division of Insurance, and they could determine whether or not the arrangement qualifies as “insurance”.
http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/03/16/unstoppable/
Bible spice is on the cover of Macleans magazine this week (Canada’s time magazine). After throwing up, I decided to read it and came across these wonderfully descriptive sentences aout her (on the 3rd page of above article);
“In the long run, she’s very much a negative. She’s so divisive and she has nothing to offer. She is, really, truly ignorant about issues. It’s breathtaking in many ways.”
The article is well worth a read and that last bit brought a Cheshire cat smile to my face.
Philip Munger’s take on this issue:
http://progressivealaska.blogspot.com/2010/03/daily-news-sells-out-once-again.html
@13 Mel:
Yeah, I agree. ADN’s beat staffers work hard for their bucks, and for the most part they do a good job. Unfortunately, every medium has an owner and editorial board, and ultimately they’re the ones to decide what goes out to the public. That’s just how it goes. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. But I think every reader should be aware of the political leanings of the medium they’re reading — because it can totally color the truth.
Not to get into the details, but I gave some input to a story for an Anchorage medium, and a day or so after the story appeared, the writer quit. I don’t think it was an accident, and (not really knowing exactly what happened) I don’t think I blame the writer.
If we look at this on a national level, well then ………. isn’t Rupert Murdoch doing the same thing as McClatchy?
Our media aren’t doing their job. They aren’t responsible. They’re going after the money/politics — instead of the truth. Truth is hard. Money is easy.
Someone needs to contact the Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi. (I used to be a member of a student chaper – they’re the primo journalism professional society.) Media ethics are in question — big-time.
Or maybe I should say, the ethics of the owners.
———–
Oh yeah, forgot to mention — Kyle’s blog has always been good, IMHO.
@24 Beth:
Yup, get down to basics. Like in Kindergarten when we had to learn our colors and letters before we could read and write.
Any auditor would tell you — first, you make sure you have documentation for every transaction. If there’s nothing to back up that $193K payment, that will probably be a problem.
There is no excuse for “already disbursed.” If it was wrong, it needs to be undone. Period.
I agree with Phil Munger. This is a nasty media-control issue, as well as a question of missed story content. We have things to worry about here in Alaska. Well said, Phil.
http://progressivealaska.blogspot.com/2010/03/daily-news-sells-out-once-again.html
I think the current mayor Dan Sullivan is a scuzz ball. I still can’t quite believe he got elected . . . but people voted for him so the majority of Anchorage citizens think he is competent to be their mayor. I can’t believe it but, then again, millions voted to re-elect George W.
BUT. . .
this life insurance payout doesn’t sound all that bad. It’s not like the current mayor did this. The assembly of the city made a compensation agreement with the first mayor Sullivan, in 1982 they agreed to provide him with a life insurance policy with a payout of $193,000. It was a sweetheart, insider deal. The old geezer was never charged the kind of premiums a private insurer would have charged and maybe that part was also sleazy.The whole thing is sleazy.
But the fact remains that the people’s representatives made the deal with the first mayor Sullivan . . . and the city was stuck with it.
There is a lot of slime in this city’s government . . . it looks like the slime goes back to, at least, 1982. I don’t like this current mayor Sullivan but he is not in the wrong on this one. What, his family should give up $193,000 that the city promised his old man because the younger Sullivan is now mayor? I don’t think the legal system works that way. Sullivan . . and his father … . scored bit time. .. but the scummy deal was struck in 1982.
One of the issues at hand is whether that 1982 deal was actually even legal. And the Assembly was told there was a contract, which there doesn’t appear to be. And they refused to disclose who the trustee was at the Assembly meeting. It was later discovered that the trustee was Dan Sullivan. Lots of hinkiness all around. AKM
Are you kidding me? Sullivan might be guilty of a “conflict of interest”? LOL.
What a hard hitting editorial this was. It looks to me that Sullivan’s tie might be a bit crooked as well. Perhaps that would be a good follow up to this one.
Where’s the FBI ?????
@BigSlick
I’m (not so secretly) hoping that the reason we can’t see them is because they are actually competent this time around.
Didn’t they prosecute some mayor somewhere for stealing a few hundred in Walmart gift cards? Where the hell is ANY law enforcement in Alaska with regards to public corruption?
There is simply no such thing as a “conflict of interest” in this state. None. Public office (in Alaska) is meant to enrich oneself or friends personally.
What’s the difference between Mayor Sullivan and a catfish?
One is a dirty, slimy bottom feeder and the other is just a
fish!
DD
Time for the city, and other entities to require blind trusts (that are never really blind, but are at least 2nd party) for any outside income source.
And of course at the very least disclosure of conflict of interest, or self interest.
Ethics, unfortunately, have to be legislated.
Basically Sullivan has scammed the city.
Yes, Marnie. That and for the City to realize that it has an absolute fiduciary duty to the tax payers. The Council needs to demand the return of the tax payers’ money from Mr. Sullivan. When it comes to this matter, the Council has failed in its fiduciary responsibily. Time to correct that blunder.
There is a second Editorial on the matter at the ADN:
Our View: No Debate?
Commenting on the Assembly voting to pay Sulllygate without checking into the legality of the matter, and not answering Harriet’s questions. It is a bit better written then the first, and has not had very much comment.