 July 12, 2009
Nizich said, "Typically, the first action by these complainants has been an illegal one - to announce the filing of the complaints to the news media, in clear violation of the mandatory confidentiality in the law." He stated, "Unfortunately, unlike the legislative ethics act, there is no provision in the executive ethics act for a complaint to be automatically dismissed when it is publicized prematurely. Regardless of that, it is breathtakingly hypocritical for anyone to violate the ethics law in the very act of making an allegation against the governor." "Although the governor would not have thought it possible, the latest complaint rises to a new level of absurdity in alleging that she has been paid for interviews that she has given to the news media," said Nizich. "It is amazing to me that anyone could think that, let alone put their name behind it and once again seek to distract state officials and needlessly increase their work load. The state is losing the value of some of its expenditures when public servants are pulled away from important assignments to deal with far-fetched and mean-spirited allegations." Governor Palin said in a prepared statement, "The only saving grace in this recent episode is that it proves beyond any doubt the significance of the problem Alaska faces in the 'new normal' of political discourse. I hope this will be a wake-up call - to legislators, to commentators and to citizens generally - that we need a much more civil and respectful dialogue that focuses on the best interests of the state, rather than the petty resentments of a few." Of the ethics complaints against the governor or her staff, 15 have been resolved without any finding of wrongdoing, and four are now pending. Source of News:
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