Early voting opens Monday in Palmer's mayoral recall election

What you need to know:

• Early voting opens May 5 in a special recall election to decide whether Palmer Mayor Steve Carrington should be removed because he hired an attorney to draft a separation agreement for former City Manager Stephen Jellie without City Council approval. Election Day is scheduled for May 20.
• Supporters of the recall say the agreement was detrimental to the city and an overreach of Carrington’s authority. Carrington said he hired the attorney because of “legal uncertainties” before the council. 
• Jellie resigned in October after 53 days in the job following accusations, public outcry and legal concerns. He received a $75,000 payout. It was his third controversial exit in less than two years.

PALMER — Early voting opens Monday in Palmer for a special election to decide whether to recall the city's mayor.

Recall proponents allege Mayor Steve Carrington is guilty of official misconduct because he overstepped his authority by hiring an outside attorney without first obtaining city council approval, according to a statement printed on city ballots. The attorney was hired to draft a separation agreement for then-City Manager Stephen Jellie that contained “legal elements detrimental to the city of Palmer,” the statement says.

Carrington commissioned that agreement because of “legal uncertainties” triggered by a dramatic Oct. 8 city council meeting in which City Attorney Sarah Heath, city employees and citizens made accusations against Jellie, according to a statement from Carrington that is also included on the ballots.

Early voting in the recall election opens Monday and runs through May 19 at Palmer City Hall, according to the city’s election notice. The last day to request an absentee ballot is May 9. Election Day is May 20, and polls will be open for the city’s two precincts from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

The recall election is the latest in a string of actions related to Jellie’s short tenure as city manager.

Jellie resigned Oct. 9 after 53 days on the job. He left with a $75,000 payout required by his original employment contract and included in the separation agreement ordered by Carrington. It was his third such exit from a city in less than two years, with previous payouts totaling $200,000.

His resignation followed a public outcry over his personnel practices and rumors of planned cuts to the city's public safety budget. A statement read by Heath during an Oct. 8 city council meeting warned that Jellie was placing the city at “imminent threat” of lawsuits through a series of recent personnel directives.

The council unanimously approved Jellie’s separation agreement after a three-hour closed session. In addition to granting the severance payout, the agreement prevents the city and Jellie from suing each other, prohibits Jellie from making disparaging statements about the city and its current or future employees, and limits what the city can tell Jellie’s future employers about the circumstances of his resignation, according to the document. 

Council members Carolina Graver and Victoria Hudson have since said they felt pressured to approve the agreement and did not have enough time to review it before the vote.

Recall supporters contend the separation agreement hurt the city because it reaffirmed the severance payout, protected Jellie from lawsuits and limited the city’s disclosures to Jellie’s future employers, according to the ballot statement.

Hiring an attorney to draft the agreement was also an illegal overstep of Carrington’s authority under city law, the statement says.

“This abuse of executive power by Mayor Steve Carrington constitutes unlawful behavior by a public officer in relation to the duties of his office, willful in character,” the ballot statement says.

Palmer’s code requires the mayor to get council approval before entering into new contracts, Heath confirmed during a council meeting late last year.

Carrington said he hired the attorney because council members called for Jellie’s termination without first ordering an independent investigation and because Heath’s statement triggered an “emotionally charged” meeting after she advised employees to claim whistleblower status when speaking against Jellie, according to his ballot statement.

Multiple employees who spoke against Jellie at the Oct. 8 meeting told the City Council this month that Heath never advised them to claim whistleblower status.

Carrington said he drafted his ballot statement after reviewing previous council meetings and minutes.

Some council members questioned the format and content of Carrington’s response printed on the ballots because it includes bolded text for one sentence and refers to Heath, Hudson and Council member Josh Tudor by their full names but uses only Graver’s first name.

“You mentioned one of our council members by her first name, and you mentioned other council members by their last name,” Council Member John Alcantra said during a meeting this month. “I just found it unprofessional if nothing else.”

Carrington said he referred to Graver by her first name, Carolina, because she changed her last name from Anzelotti last year after her marriage and he worried some voters would find it confusing. He said he now wishes his statement included consistent name formatting.

Carrington sent the ballot statement to the city by email, and it was added to the ballot exactly as submitted, with no formatting or content changes, City Clerk Shelley Acteson told the City Council during a meeting this month.

Alaska state law allows elected officials named in a recall to submit a statement of up to 200 words for inclusion on the ballot. The section of the ballot justifying the recall mirrors a statement of 200 words or fewer required for the recall petition, a format also mandated by state law.

The application for the recall was filed by Palmer residents Paula Pettijohn and Cindy Hudgins. Signatures for the recall petition required by city law were collected by Hudgins and Palmer resident Andrew Hudson. Hudgins previously helped lead the 2022 council member recalls; Andrew Hudson is married to Council member Victoria Hudson.

Two campaign groups are registered to raise money and purchase campaign materials for the recall election, according to Alaska Public Offices Commission data.

A “Recall Steve Carrington” special interest group lists Hudgins and Jackie Goforth as officials. Goforth, who lives just outside city limits and is not a city voter, also helped lead the 2022 recall campaign.

A ballot proposition group registered as “NO Recall for Palmer MayorSteve.com” lists Carrington and former Palmer City Council member Richard Best as group officials. Best resigned from the council last month. 

Voters assigned to Precinct 1 can vote on May 20 in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly chambers at the borough administration building on Dahlia Avenue, according to a city election notice. Those registered in Precinct 2 can vote at the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District administration building on Gulkana Street, the notice states.

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com

This story was updated April 29 to include an early voting start date of May 5.