Domestic politics: Fairbanks Assembly tries meeting at home
Four members who met believed they were abiding by state law, though local law prohibits what they did
FAIRBANKS - Four members of the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly are accused of violating local law after meeting in private at a new member's house.
"There's a real public trust issue here," said Assembly member Cynthia Henry, who brought the matter up Thursday before the Assembly.
"The public expects our meetings to be in public," said Henry, presiding officer of the panel. "I'm frightened on behalf of the public."
Assembly members believed the meeting was allowed under state law, although local law prevents more than three Assembly members to gather in one place without notifying the public, said borough attorney Rene Broker.
This is the second time two Assembly members, Bonnie Williams and Garry Hutchison, have been part of an unpublicized meeting that drew criticism.
Williams called the Oct. 15 meeting at the house of newly elected Assembly member Terry Aldridge, according to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Also present were Hutchison, newly elected Assembly member Charlie Rex and members Earl Romans and Randy Frank.
The topic of discussion was who should become the next presiding officer of the panel, Williams said. No vote or decision based on consensus was made, she added.
"I thought I was calling a proper meeting," Williams said. "I honestly believed that it was legal."
Four sitting Assembly members attended the Oct. 15 meeting. Rex and Aldridge had not yet been sworn in.
It's unclear what sort of discipline, if any, will occur. Assembly member Eileen Cummings, a member of the panel's ethics committee, said that issue needs further discussion.
Assembly member Hank Bartos called for an investigation into the matter and the resignations of the Assembly members who were present at the secret meeting.
Assembly member Tim Beck wants the meeting disclosed in the members' personnel files with the borough.
Henry said she no longer wants to head the panel.
"I don't want to lead this band of thieves," she said.
Some members apologized for the meeting.
"I thought that what we were doing was just normal politics," said Romans.
Williams and Hutchison drew fire in 1999 for their involvement in an unpublicized meeting with then-members Rick Solie and Mike Prax.
The meeting, which was held in the borough administrative center, was billed as a leadership session and a door was left open. A note about the meeting was posted in the borough building, but Assembly members were angered because they and the public weren't notified.