Palmer council OKs independent review of city ethics allegations

What you need to know:

• The Palmer City Council unanimously voted to hire an outside law firm to investigate allegations that city officials or council members violated city laws or ethics rules in decisions involving the municipal airport and golf course.
• A complaint filed by Palmer resident Drew Frohling raises questions about airport planning, golf course management decisions, financial disclosures, alleged labor law violations, potential conflicts of interest involving the city manager and the handling of public records.
• The investigation comes as the city faces a separate lawsuit alleging violations of the state’s open meetings law related to golf course management decisions. A trial is scheduled for May.
• Short on time but need the local news scoop? Get free weekly news in your inbox for Mat-Su, from Mat-Su.

PALMER – The Palmer City Council will hire an attorney to investigate whether city officials or the council violated city laws or ethics rules while making decisions about the future of the Palmer airport and golf course.

The council voted unanimously to approve the step after a late-night closed session Tuesday.

The complaint was filed with the city clerk earlier this month by Palmer resident Drew Frohling. It is part of an ongoing controversy over whether the city’s airport will eventually absorb land currently used for the Palmer Municipal Golf Course and the city’s decision last year to take over golf course management rather than continue outsourcing it to a contractor.

Frohling declined an interview request, saying his concerns are outlined in the complaint.

The complaint asks for an investigation into whether the council and members of the public received accurate and complete information regarding airport land, planning and federal aviation requirements; changes to the golf course management contract, alcohol license update, alleged labor law violations and related financial data, including how those matters were communicated to the council and public; alleged conflicts of interest involving Palmer City Manager Kolby Hickel Zerkel; the city’s handling of related public records requests; and a series of ethical and governance allegations raised by former City Council member Victoria Hudson during her resignation announcement in January.

The investigation will be conducted by an outside law firm contracted specifically for the review because attorneys with the city’s regular firm, Landye Bennett Blumstein LLP, are named in a portion of the complaint.

A timeline investigation was not immediately available.

Hiring an outside investigator is the most straightforward way to review the ethics complaint, city attorney Anna Creary told the council during a regular meeting Tuesday. The city can choose to take action on any findings except those that overlap with an ongoing lawsuit filed against the city and council in May, she said. 

That lawsuit contends officials violated the state’s open meetings law earlier this year when they made decisions about a golf course management contract. It was filed by Palmer resident Michael Borgford, a former seasonal employee of Eagle Golf Course Management Inc., which managed the facility for about two decades.

A trial in the matter is scheduled for May. 

Hudson, the former Palmer City Council member whose previous complaints about city and council accountability and ethics were included in the investigation request, said she hopes the investigation brings transparency, accountability and healing to the community. Hudson has since moved out of the city and said she did not know about the complaint before it was filed.

“I am proud to see a citizen ask for an investigation into the truth rather than allowing us to remain caught in an endless cycle of they-said, she-said,” she said in a statement. “Above all, I pray for healing for the City of Palmer, responsible stewardship of the residents' money, and a future built on truth, respect, kindness and unity.”

Palmer Mayor Jim Cooper said he also hopes the investigation reveals the truth.

“I think it’s important one way or another that we get the facts out there so everyone understands what those are as opposed to speculation,” he said. “Anything that is brought up that is a viable complaint against the city staff or anybody, that there is some kind of resolution.”

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com