Alaska Personnel Board picks up new Palin-related complaints Nick Cargo

Published: Tuesday October 14, 2008





Print This Email This The board that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin called upon to handle the "Troopergate" investigation is handling new complaints against her, the Anchorage Daily News reported.



Gov. Palin filed the complaint on herself with the state Personnel Board, saying she hoped to "clear the air" over her actions in the dismissal of Walt Monegan, Alaska's Public Safety Commissioner, separate from the state legislature's probe, which she charged was politically biased. The legislature's recently released report found that Palin acted within her power to dismiss Monegan, but broke state ethics law by joining her husband Todd in efforts to fire state trooper Mike Wooten, who was going through a divorce with the Governor's sister. Monegan believed that he was fired for his refusal to dismiss Wooten.



Tim Petumenos, the Personnel Board's investigator, did not say who else was targeted in the complaints, but did say that he refused to make the Board's probe of Gov. Palin more public because other officials were involved.



Two known ethics complaints involving the Governor are known. Activist Andree McLeod says that preferential treatment in hiring for a state position was given to a supporter of Palin, and the second, filed by the Public Safety Employees Association, says that Wooten's personnel file was illegally breached by state officials. PSEA executive director John Cyr said on Monday that the union will amend the complaint so the Personnel Board also probes "harassment" of Wooten.



The entire article can be read at this link.



