KHNS - Haines

Haines voters will decide Tuesday whether to recall half their borough Assembly.

Three Assembly members are accused of misconduct in office.

But the discontent driving the recall is about much more than the official charges. And the recall leaders have repeatedly refused to defend their views on the record.

“I’m an obituary writer, and I feel as if there’s been a death in my family,” Assembly member Heather Lende described the personal toll of the recall. “The grief is going to stay with me.”

Lende, Tom Morphet and Tresham Gregg are the targets of this recall election.

“Politics in Haines has always been a very rough game,” Morphet said.

The three recall targets spoke during a public forum organized by Haines media. More than 30 recall sponsors or supporters were invited.

None agreed to participate.

In fact, the recall’s main sponsor, Don Turner Jr. has not agreed to any on-tape interviews with KHNS or on-the-record interviews with the newspaper.

Instead, he and other recall leaders have used Facebook, newspaper advertisements, and a 10-page mailer to share their views.

Ryan Cook is the only recall sponsor who talked to KHNS on tape. In a June interview, he said he and others started looking into a recall almost as soon as Morphet and Lende took office last October.

Cook was a losing candidate in that race.

“This town’s always been split on lots of different issues,” Cook said in June. “But since this Assembly’s been in, you’ve never seen it so split before.”

Cook and Turner handed in recall petitions in April. They included several charges against the Assembly members. Two of those charges made it past the borough attorney.

The attorney emphasized that a recall is a political, not legal process.

He did not investigate the charges, but said two of them, if assumed to be true, would constitute misconduct in office.

One is an alleged violation of the Alaska Open Meetings Act by all three Assembly members. The accusation is based on an email in which Gregg asks for Lende’s support on an upcoming vote.

He writes two other Assembly members, Morphet and Ron Jackson, are on the same page. This could imply that Gregg participated in “serial polling” or “serial meetings” – a gray area in open meetings law.

“I don’t think that one little email that asks for some support is really an offense worth of recall,” Gregg said.

The second accusation is that Morphet and Lende coerced a subordinate for personal or financial gain.

The claim stems from a debate over the Haines police blotter.

The police chief, Heath Scott, stopped releasing the blotter to the newspaper, which Morphet owned at the time, and Lende writes obituaries for. Both Morphet and Lende spoke out in support of the blotter being made public again.

The two Assembly members said calling that coercion of the police chief is absurd.

“It strikes me as strange that a grandmother of six somehow has brought the Haines police department to its knees over the police blotter,” Lende said.

Recall supporters maintain that the Assembly members abused their power in these two cases.

But the effort to oust them is about more than the grounds listed on the petitions.

The evidence of that is in the ads and flier recall leader Turner has put out. He accuses the Assembly members of yelling at borough employees and going against “75 percent” of the people in their decisions.

He also points to the Assembly firing a previous borough manager and hiring the current manager as “good reasons for recall.”

“A recall is a gun held to the head of an elected leader,” Morphet said, in response to a question about people voting for the recall for reasons not listed on the ballot. “I ask that people honor the intent of the system and consider the recall only on the grounds on which it was brought.”

If early voting is an indication, public interest in the recall election is strong. Borough manager Debra Schnabel said early voting has been “unprecedented,” with more than 30 ballots cast on certain days.

If the recall is successful and all three Assembly members lose their seats, Haines will be voting for its entire six-person Assembly in October.

Cook said it’s possible the recall sponsors could try again if Morphet, Lende and Gregg retain their seats on the Assembly.

“If they prove to us they can’t follow the rules and they give us a reason to (recall them),’” Cook said. “I don’t know. I don’t want to. I don’t want to do it again ever.”

One thing Cook and the Assembly members agree on is that the recall has been challenging. It’s divided people and damaged friendships.

Whether the acrimony continues after the Aug. 15 election remains to be seen.

Skagway leaders continue to work on a 15-year tidelands lease that would prolong a private company’s control of the waterfront.

Residents will get a chance to weigh in through a public vote.

But the Assembly is now talking about scheduling a special election later in the year, instead of rushing to meet deadlines for the Oct. 3 general election.

Over the last couple months, the Skagway Assembly met many times to discuss the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad lease proposal. And the tone during public comment has generally become more positive.

“I think you’re making progress,” port commissioner Tim Bourcy said.

“I’m more comfortable than I’ve ever been,” Jan Wrentmore said.

But there are still concerns.

“I want you to be able to work on the lease issues without the feeling of having a ticking time bomb hanging over you,” Elaine Furbish said.

The ticking time bomb here is a floating dock.

Port consultants have urged the city to start permitting and design work on the dock as soon as possible in order to get it built by 2019. That’s when bigger cruise ships that need that infrastructure are due to arrive.

“If you feel rushed, don’t rush,” White Pass President John Finlayson said.

His company holds the key to a majority of the port under a lease that doesn’t end until 2023. In order to allow the city to access the ore dock and build the crucial floating addition, the company wants to extend its hold on Skagway tidelands to 2038, another 15 years.

At previous meetings, Finlayson said White Pass would not work on the floating dock without the new lease.

He indicated Wednesday that as long as a tidelands agreement is in progress, it might be possible to start laying the groundwork for the floating dock.

“Possibly there’s a way to initiate the project, jointly initiate it, with the caveat that the town will vote for a lease,” Finlayson said.

After these comments, the Assembly went into executive session with the borough attorney for an hour and a half. When they came out, they seemed to agree on one thing.

“The timeframe to get this on an October ballot is just not realistic,” Tim Cochran said.

The Assembly discussed holding a special election, possibly in November.

In the meantime, the city’s negotiating team will continue to meet with White Pass leaders, and the Assembly will continue to discuss updates at its meetings.

Changes made to the proposed contract terms recently include a boost in White Pass’ contribution to contamination cleanup at the ore dock. That’s another component tied to the 15-year lease. The railroad would now pay $2.75 million, instead of $2.5 million. The city wants to cap its contribution at $1.5 million.

Another amendment would give the city a more active role in cruise ship scheduling, even though the lease maintains White Pass’ status as cruise terminal operator.

The agreement would require regular meetings between the city and railroad to discuss cruise scheduling and operations.

Continuing White Pass’ control isn’t what everyone wants. But a couple Skagway leaders said without the agreement, the city’s place in the cruise market would be jeopardized.

And that’s a big risk.

“We have incurred an insane amount of debt,” port commissioner Bourcy said.

He referred to Skagway’s bond debt and the town’s reliance on cruise revenue to cover budget deficits.

“Your budgets as they are, are maxed out,” Bourcy said. “You guys are using cruise ship head tax money to pay the bills for this community.”

Bourcy and others disagree with a finding in port consultant Moffatt & Nichol’s reports.

Moffatt & Nichol said if Skagway misses out on the bigger ships that need that floating dock, its overall cruise income will still increase.

But Bourcy says that’s based on a flawed assumption that smaller ships will take the mega boats’ place. He said in order for Skagway to continue paying its bills, the lease with White Pass needs to move forward.

Nearly 30 people were injured Wednesday on a tour in Skagway.

According to a news release from the city, a Unimog touring vehicle went off the road about  11 a.m. at the Alaska Excursions Dog Camp.

The Skagway company offers tours of a musher’s camp in Dyea.

The fire department and EMS volunteers responded to the scene of the accident at 10-mile Dyea Road.

Twenty-five of 28 people transported to the local Dahl Memorial Clinic were treated and released. Three were medevaced to receive further treatment.

According to the clinic’s executive director Shelly O’Boyle, injuries ranged from bumps and bruises to several broken bones and a few head injuries.

The clinic’s emergency plan was activated to respond to the accident.

It’s the first time that measure has been taken in a couple years.

In 2014, 23 people were injured when a White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad train derailed.

The fire department and municipality declined to provide any information beyond the limited press release.

A private plane crashed in November 2015 near Eldred Rock in the Lynn Canal, injuring four Haines residents, who swam to shore to save themselves.

An investigation into the incident is now complete, but it’s still unclear why the plane went down.

It’s been more than a year-and-a-half since pilot Mike Mackowiak’s plane crashed into the cold waters of the Lynn Canal injuring him and three passengers.

Still, the National Transportation Safety Board doesn’t know exactly what happened.

A final report from the group determined the probable cause to be a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. It also cites the pilot’s decision to continue the flight after seeing his fuel gauges were close to zero.

In November 2015, Haines resident Mackowiak, his wife Martha, their son Nik and friend Victoria Hansen left Juneau in a Cessna 180 bound for Haines.

But the plane didn’t reach its destination. According to the NTSB investigation, the aircraft descended into the Lynn Canal about 23 miles Southeast of Haines.

Mackowiak told the NTSB he noticed both of the plane’s fuel gauges were reading zero part way into the flight.

He told the safety board he had left Juneau with sufficient fuel to complete the trip. Mackowiak believed an electrical malfunction was causing the gauges to show an inaccurate reading.

He said the engine continued to run normally, so he chose to continue to Haines. He also told the NTSB he never smelled fuel inside the plane.

Soon after, the plane’s engine lost all power and Mackowiak was unable to restart it. He told the NTSB he couldn’t find a safe place to land on the beach, so he decided to ditch the plane in the water.

Everyone on board was able to get out and swim to shore where they were later rescued.

They all survived, but suffered hypothermia. Martha Mackowiak suffered the most severe injury and spent a couple weeks in a Seattle hospital.

She spoke with KHNS about the crash after her recovery at the end of 2015.

“I was swimming mostly on my back and I kept turning around to see how much farther I had to go,” Mackowiak said. “There was bigger swell than I expected and that kept washing over me. That whole time I was praying ‘Lord, I’m not ready to die. Not yet. Please.’”

The NTSB could not determine why the fuel exhaustion and subsequent loss of engine power occurred. The final report said it’s likely the fuel system was compromised. But, that could not be confirmed.

The plane sunk into the water and has not been recovered.

The safety board says if it is ever found, there will be further investigation.

Skagway’s longtime police chief is working without state certification.

The council that oversees those accreditations revoked Ray Leggett’s certification because, it says, there is substantial doubt that he has “good moral character.”

Leggett calls the decision a “miscarriage of justice.”

This multi-year saga is outlined in documents from a 2016 hearing in front of an administrative law judge.

It started in 2012, when Ray Leggett found out that his 21-year-old son was under investigation in Haines for credit card fraud.

Leggett’s son has disabilities, including Asperger’s. He had recently moved back in with his parents, and Leggett said one of the conditions of his son staying there was that he had to be honest.

Leggett testifies that part of his parenting approach to encourage honesty was to sometimes use a lie detector test, or a computer voice stress analysis, on his son.

When Leggett learned that his son was accused of a crime, he called then-Haines officer Simon Ford to ask about the case.

Leggett identified himself as the parent of the suspect.

Leggett told Ford he planned to conduct a lie detector test on his son and offered to share the results, an offer which Ford accepted.

Leggett thought he made it clear that he was doing this for his own benefit to see if his son was obeying the rules of living in the family home.

Leggett’s son denied the crime, and the test indicated he was telling the truth. Leggett told Ford.

All of this made Ford uncomfortable. He called assistant district attorney Amy Paige.

That’s how the incident ended up with the Alaska Police Standards Council.

After investigating, the council’s director at the time, Kelly Alzaharna, began the process to revoke Leggett’s Alaska police certification on the grounds that he lacks good moral character, a requirement for certified Alaska police officers.

It was that allegation – that he lacked moral character, that Leggett said made him fight the council.

“I think that is a huge accusation,” Leggett told KHNS. ” I did not do what they said I did and I was willing to fight it until I couldn’t afford to fight anymore.”

How do you define good moral character? That’s where the police standards council and the judge who heard the case disagree.

In 2016, after Leggett had been fighting the council for a couple years, there was a hearing in front of Administrative Law Judge Mark Handley.

The judge sided with Leggett.

He said Leggett displayed bad judgment, but that doesn’t mean he lacks good moral character.

Handley said the evidence does not show that Leggett was trying to improperly influence the investigation.

“It is clear Leggett was doing his best in difficult and unusual circumstances to get his disabled son to act responsibility,” Handley wrote.

But the police standards council doesn’t have to accept the judge’s recommendation.

And it didn’t.

In its 20-page final decision, the council said Leggett’s use of the lie detector test showed a profound lack of judgment. It says there are “severe” questions about Leggett’s impartiality and willingness to use his position to benefit a family member.

“I think it’s absolute asinine,” Leggett said.

He is frustrated that the council flouted the third party judge’s recommendation.

“The whole thing is an amazing, in my opinion, it’s a miscarriage of justice,” Leggett said.

At its March meeting, the council voted 10-1 to revoke Leggett’s certification. The revocation became final in June.

But there’s another twist – Leggett can keep working as Skagway’s police chief, even without a certification. Alaska law exempts “chief administrative officers” of police departments from the requirement to hold a state certification.

“Practically, it has no effect on his current position,” said Bob Griffiths, the current director of the police standards council.

Griffiths said even through the revocation has no practical effect, the council decided to pursue it on principle.

“The council decided that it was important that everyone be held accountable for their actions and meeting their standards regardless of how many stars or stripes they wear on their collar,” Griffith said. “They are subject to the same standards.”

It’s up to the city of Skagway, not the state, to retain Leggett as chief. As of right now, Skagway’s government has taken no public action to dismiss him.

Mayor Mark Schaefer and Borough Manager Scott Hahn did not return calls for this story by deadline.

A brown bear cub was struck and killed by a driver in Haines recently.

Wildlife trooper Trent Chwialkowski said the incident happened July 28 in the late evening around mile 9 of Lutak Road.

Chwialkowski said the driver called the police and reported striking the bear, which then ran into the woods. Chwialkowski said the driver was not an Alaska resident.

“They didn’t even have the opportunity to put on the brakes, is what they described, it just darted across the road,” Chwialkowski said. “And it sounds as if the rear tire ran over the bear. There was no brake marks in the road where they reported striking it.”

The animal was eventually found dead a couple days later.

“The condition of the hide was pretty poor, it was bloated,” Chwialkowski said. “But everything else like the skull and the claws, Fish and Game usually gets those and they’re used for educational purposes.”

Bears have been active in the Lutak/Chilkoot River area. Chwialkowski said he spotted seven bears on a recent drive between the ferry terminal and Chilkoot campground.

“The bears are definitely out at all times of the day,” Chwialkowski said. “The speed limit is 35 (miles per hour) but it’s common for people to speed out there to check on the bears. Just a reminder to slow down. I don’t know, it seems like it’s gonna be a rough year if people aren’t cautious and following the rules and giving the bears their space.”

Over the past couple weeks, the Department of Fish and Game has been vocal about giving bears space. Bear-watchers have cause dangerous situations by getting too close to the animals at the Chilkoot weir.