News from Patrick Flynn

Since my decision to cancel a work session on the so-called “Wheeler report” I’ve received a few inquiries asking why, and where we go from here?   One woman even accused me from hiding the report from the public (incorrect, but I sent her a copy of the report just to make sure she had it).

First things first, the report is available for review by anyone who’d like to see it.  If you’re among that group you can download a copy here.  Secondly, while the report is voluminous there are a couple passages I’d like to highlight, both from the conclusion:

“We conclude that Mayor Begich knew that revenues for the 2008 and the 2009 budgets were reasonably certain to be less than appropriations and that the shortfall would have a significant impact on the Municipality’s financial well-being, but did not timely report this to the Assembly.”

Critics of the report have alluded to a variety of contradictions and inaccuracies while others have indicated there is more information to be found (and there are certainly details that, for whatever reason, are not in the report).  But in reading that passage I infer that the report’s author(s) feel someone broke the law which, to me, means it’s appropriate to provide the report and supporting documentation to either the municipal prosecutor’s office, Alaska’s Attorney General or even, as at least one person suggested, a federal law enforcement agency.  While the Assembly could continue to lead the inquiry anything we do is inevitably tainted by political viewpoints.  As I explained to one gentleman, I feel the issue has evolved from an investigative phase into a potential prosecution phase, and that is outside our function.  So it’s my hope that any additional inquiry necessary to decide whether the facts merit indictments can be conducted by the appropriate agency.

Meanwhile, the other passage I’d note reads as follows:

We recommend the Assembly and the Sullivan Administration amend the Code to fully implement the Charter provision to avoid any further debate on what is expected of the executive branch under §13.06(a).

This gets to the heart of the “he said, she said” debate surrounding this subject.  What information should be reported to the Assembly, when should it be presented and in what form?  We have a passel of proposals on this very topic that the Assembly has been working through and I expect we’ll enact one or more of them, or an amalgamation of them, by end of this month.

In short, this is not a case of letting bygones be bygones, this is about parceling out the work those best equipped to take the next steps.

Regards,

Patrick